Dear Parents of the Class of 2020:
I hope that all of you are safe and healthy!
For the benefit of all, I offer this recap of the Zoom call meetings held on Monday for the class of 2020 graduation. I thank all of you who were able to participate!
Participants in the Town Halls included representation from 28 Senior class families. Earlier in the day, the President of the Senior class met with the Principal.
At the top of the meeting, I reviewed the decision-making process for conducting a Zoom Graduation Ceremony on May 21st. Key factors included the three phases of the White House Guidelines for Opening America Again
https://www.whitehouse.gov/openingamerica/
and the priority of ensuring the safety and health of the members of our community. I also shared the challenges of planning, given the changing directives from the Illinois State Board of Education. On April 29th a list of prohibited events was published; several of those events became permissible just three days later on May 2nd.
We heard that people valued the ceremonies that would:
- Allow family participation
- Provide photo opportunities on campus
- Focus on a student-centered experience
We also heard a number of people prefer to wait to hold any type of ceremony until late June with the hope that a traditional ceremony could be held at school.
Below is the link to a brief survey (the red button), where you can let us know which of the graduation options you prefer. The survey will take less than 5 minutes to complete.
Please complete it by noon on Thursday May 7
.
This will allow us to pull responses together so I can represent the perspectives of parents in a meeting with the GP Executive committee later on Thursday. The Executive Committee of the Board of Directors willI ultimately make the decision. I hope to get back to everyone with our decisions by the weekend, or at the latest on Monday.
In the survey, the options are listed in terms that are referenced in the IDPH/ISBE Guidelines, so please refer to those agin if needed. I am also listing brief reminders of what each option refers to below.
After completing the survey, if you'd like to write further suggestions, you can do so through the "suggestion box" link. This is also below, in a blue button.
Thank you for your collaboration!
In Providence,
Tom Bednar
President
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Virtual Ceremonies
- Virtual Ceremonies -- All participants remote via Zoom on computer or smartphone
Ceremonies that Maintain Social Distancing Guidance
- Drive-in - All students and their immediate families gather in the parking lot in their cars for the ceremony. Students exit their cars when their name is read for a photo.
- Drive-through -- All students and their immediate families drive through the parking lot according to a schedule. Students exit their cars for a photo.
- Individualized at School -- Students only walk across stage in cap and gown for photo op
- Individualized at Home -- Student photo op in cap and gown at their home
