Complex sentence: She grew up in Pontchartrain Park, a predominantly African-American middle-class neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana and in 1979 graduated as valedictorian from Saint Mary's Dominican High School in New Orleans.
Split into simpler sentences: She grew up in Pontchartrain Park, a predominantly African-American middle-class neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana. In 1979, Jackson graduated as valedictorian from Saint Mary's Dominican High School in New Orleans.