By now, your senior should have received a couple of emails regarding this Saturday's event that we briefly noted in last week's message to senior parents. We have also posted an alert to social media -- which we realize they are more apt to look. We want to update parents on more information that has developed for what is now being dubbed "Senior Parade," as well as new information about some of the other events to come.
Cap and Gown Distribution - now dubbed "Senior Parade"
Status:
Our "Senior Parade" will take place on Saturday, May 16th with students asked to arrive by 10:30 a.m. to line up for the event. A map was provided to students via their student email accounts. It is important for the students to view this map as the line-up will not be through typical campus entrances. Students should use the entrance adjacent to the Christian church to the south of our property (the road that leads to the stadium main entrance/Holy Spirit athletic fields). ALL seniors are invited to come, as we will not only distribute gown packages, but we also have a couple of surprises for the students.
Because of social distancing guidelines, students should not expect to get out of their cars. As for parents, if you would like to ride along with your students, you are more than welcome to do so!
Regrettably, if you look at the weather forecast, the chances of rain in San Antonio for the next two weeks are really not favorable for a parade. BUT, we know that Texas weather changes all the time, so we are going to monitor the weather through Thursday and will make a determination of whether to postpone, announcing that to parents and students via email message on Friday, May 15th. Even though we normally want rain in south Texas, a few prayers for a nice day Saturday, wouldn't hurt!
Most regalia will be available to the students later in May, but we do hope to get NHS stoles into the proper gown packages for this Saturday. Please know that, like the gowns, NHS stoles are to be returned to school staff immediately following the graduation ceremony.
Senior Sunset
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This has not yet been announced to the students, but please have them save the date of Thursday evening, May 21st for a Senior Sunset event. We will be sending the students more information, that will include a description and a sign-up link by later this week. As part of this event, we are planning another special surprise for the seniors.
Alumni Tribute/Collections Day/Regalia Distribution
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We had not mentioned this in our last correspondence, but once again, please have your senior save the date of May 29th for yet another occasion. On this day, Antonian faculty and staff will be receiving any item from seniors that needs to be returned to the school, whether that is a Chromebook, a library book, educational resources provided by teachers, extracurricular uniforms, etc. On this day, Antonian alumni will be on campus to offer their congratulations to the seniors with a special treat. Graduation regalia such as honor cords, stoles, etc. will also be distributed. More details about this occasion, including a list per student of what items are expected to be returned, will be sent to seniors and parents at a later date.
Baccalaureate Mass
Status:
The Archbishop announced in a decree dated May 11th, that daily Masses will once again be permitted beginning May 19th and that weekend Masses may begin the weekend of May 23rd-24th assuming that churches follow the Guidelines for Reopening Mass to the Public. We will be reviewing these guidelines and working in conjunction with the Archdiocese to determine our best plans for a Baccalaureate Mass. No matter the form, we would like to announce that we plan this celebration for June 5, 2020 at 7:00 p.m. Unfortunately, we will not have the Archbishop as the celebrant, but our beloved Fr. Brian Garcia '04 will serve as the main celebrant with a couple more priests who are close to the Antonian family to join the celebration.
More news to come.
Commencement
Status:
We are happy to announce that we will have a live graduation ceremony! This will take place on June 6th at 8:30 p.m. at Ferrara Field on Antonian's campus. Attendance will need to be limited and we are in the process of determining exactly what our capacity can be. We are also still working on live stream plans, so other family members can watch.
The staff of Herff Jones informed me that there was a typographical error on its part in the production of the original graduation invitations, so they will be reprinting invitations. We have provided them with the updated time, location, and date. We will keep you posted when the new invitations are received.
I believe this is all that we have for you now, but we will continue to keep you updated periodically. If you have any questions, please do reach out to Diann Montemayor at dmontemayor@antonian.org. 