Greetings to the Class of 2020 and their families,
As you know, as part of our celebration on July 1, we are creating a virtual commencement ceremony. The video will be shared on our district YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/csd99media at 7:00 pm on July 1st.
The video will feature some of the traditional aspects of a commencement ceremony and will prominently feature members of the class fulfilling some of the traditional roles. After the virtual ceremony has finished broadcasting live, it will be available as a standalone video to watch at your convenience.
In addition to the virtual ceremony, we invite all graduates to participate in our in-person stage ceremony during the day of July 1. We are excited that the latest guidelines from the health department allow us to give students a chance to walk across a stage in cap and gown and receive a diploma.
Due to the logistics of keeping everyone at a safe distance, we will hold the “ceremony” in front of the building and use the large bus lot on the south side of the school. Like the senior drop off day, cars will enter the bus lot from the east, near the intersection of Dunham and Norfolk. Cars will proceed along the curbside in front of the building. Upon exiting the car, the graduate will check in with the name reader and the photographer before proceeding towards the stage. Student names will be read and then the graduate will cross the stage and receive their diploma cover. After exiting the stage, the graduates will pose for a picture in front of a special Class of 2020 backdrop and then pick up their diploma and copies of the official program. Finally, the graduate will pose for a picture with Marty, the Mustang statue. After this last photo, the graduate will re-enter the car before the family departs, turning west onto Norfolk.
Here are the guidelines for the event:
- Every graduate is allowed to have one car drive through the event. While we will not limit the number of people in the car, the licensed driver has laws to follow. Additionally, the DuPage County Health Department has asked us to remind everyone that car occupants should be from the same household.
- It will be helpful at check-in if you put a piece of paper in the passenger side of the dash stating the students last name followed by the first name (ex: Doe, John).
- The car will travel a parallel path as the graduate and will be less than 15-20 feet away “from the action” at all times.
- While pictures can certainly be taken from the vantage point of the car, there will also be a professional photographer on site. We have made arrangements to have pictures taken of each graduate in each of the three key stations. We will provide these digital images to you at no cost. Details of how to have the pictures emailed to you will be provided on a flier that will be included in the envelope with the diploma.
- Graduates should arrive at their assigned time only. We have carefully orchestrated the event so that we can safely get all graduates through the event in a timely manner and home before the release of the virtual commencement video.
- The approximate arrival times are as follows. As mentioned, families should arrive on campus from the east. When you exit the lot, you will be directed to go west (turn right).
A - C 10:00-11:15
D - G 11:15-12:30
H - L 12:30 - 1:45
M - O 2:15 - 3:30
P - R 3:30 - 4:45
S - Z 4:45 - 6:00
- If weather prohibits us from conducting part or all of this activity on this day, an announcement will be posted on the website by 9:00 am, and an email sent. We will use July 2 to reschedule anything that needs to be rescheduled to another date.
- Any graduate who is unable to attend this event can pick up their diploma in the main office at South High School after July 1 (or July 2 if a rain date). The office is open from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm, Monday through Thursday.
If you have any questions, please contact Ms. Martinez at jmartinez@csd99.org or Mr. Schwartz at eschwartz@csd99.org, or call the main office at 630-795-8500 during office hours.
We look forward to seeing members of the Class of 2020 and one car of guests on July 1st.
Stay well,