Did you have a middle-school (or Jr. High) graduation?

[NotUrsula]

I've got an 8th grader this year, and I keep hearing so much angst about how it's so awful that they can't have the "traditional" middle-school graduation due to the pandemic. My question at this point, Is that really traditional? One of my older kids had one, but it was the first I'd ever heard of; I certainly didn't have one, and DH didn't either.

(Full disclosure, the district I was in at that age had a strange way of grouping grades. We had "Jr. High", which was 7th, 8th, and 9th grade together at that school, so there really was no change after 8th grade. However, we didn't have any kind of special ceremony or celebration at the end of 9th, either, we just relocated to the high school building and quietly slunk on into sophomore year.)

PS: Since we're telling stories ... for my HS graduation I had an absolutely roaring migraine and wanted to stay home, but my sister had driven in for the occasion and threatened me with death if I didn't walk. So I did, and the photos show me looking VERY green, with my eyes squinted because of the pain. We went straight home afterward because I was so sick. I try not to think too much about that one (and I left for college the following morning, so there wasn't much chance to savor being "done".) The graduations for my two University degrees were much more joyous and important to me, even though I was just a speck in those much larger crowds.

 

[nene0182]

I did. I grew up in small town pretty much in the middle of nowhere that only has a K-8 school. After that, my class of 16 went to 5 different high schools in other towns.

 

[sam_gordon]

I don't remember when after 8th grade, but 7-12 were all in the same building.

My two oldest did have a "ceremony", but my youngest didn't (because of Covid). For her, the school had a "drive by" graduation... parents drove their kids by the school where the teachers/administrators waved to them.

 

[KrazeeK120]

I did. My son goes to the same school I did and they still do 8th grade graduation, cap and gown and everything.

 

[kymom99]

Yes I did as did my son

 

[mamamary]

I had an 8th grade graduation but it was 1-8 grade private school. My kids went to public school but there was no middle school graduation.

 

[BrianL]

I had an 8th grade graduation but my school ended at 8th grade. Back then 7th and 8th were called "Junior High" and my school was K-8 only. I was there for all 9 years, one of three students to do so, and we were all in the first Kindergarten class at that school.

 

[Wendy1985]

Yes I remember it well it around when graduation came out and one of the parents teaching it to us to sing at graduation

 

[Colleen27]

I didn't. We had an 8th grade trip and a "farewell" dance that was the first dressy-dance of our school years, but no graduation. I went to a public district where there was one middle school and one high school so really not a lot changed between 8th grade and 9th. It was all the same classmates, just in a different building.

My daughters' school does an 8th grade graduation, but it is a private K-8 and the kids scatter for high school so graduating from middle school there feels more like an ending. Of the 8 kids in older DD's class, they went on to 5 different high schools. So I understand the impulse to mark the last time they're together with some sort of event/ceremony. They don't do a cap & gown but they have a mass for the families followed by a short farewell from the staff and from a student who is chosen to speak, similar to a high school valedictorian, and the 7th grade parents put on a casual picnic reception afterwards for the "grads" and their families.

 

[DVC-Don]

No. Only had a high school graduation that I attended. College, did not attend either one, just made sure they had the proper address to mail them to.

 

[abdmom]

I had an 8th grade graduation over 40 years ago. I'm old, lol.

 

[mjkacmom]

Our middle school is 7th and 8th, across from the high school. Middle school graduation is on the football field just like high school, gowns but no caps. Our kids grew up in our town, so we all graduated, about 300 kids.

 

[BlueStarryHat]

I did have an 8th grade graduation, but it was a long time ago, 1981. We all wore dresses and suits instead of caps and gowns, and the girls all got a long stemmed rose to carry while the guys got a carnation for their lapels.

 

[NYCgrrl]

I had one back when they were called JHS in NYC, and if you called it intermediate or middle school, you were pegged as a Long Islander, or maybe even a Jerseyite, LOL.

No cap and gown (thank goodness. I’ve issues with them in the lower grades) but all girls in white dresses and boys wearing ties during the graduation assembly.
Most parents took their children to Jahn’s Ice Cream Parlor for a kitchen sink; the better-to-do took them to the Hawaii Kai on Broadway for dinner (also where most everyone’s Sweet Sixteen took place). It was the first summer in 6 or 7 years there was no reading list or “What did you do for your summer” essay and the graduates made the best of it not knowing what the years to come would bring.

 

[Southernmiss]

Our kids 7th/8th grade middle school had a 'moving on' ceremony.

It was a combination awards day and closing ceremony type event.

When our youngest finished 8th grade, our auto was packed.

We had one of those 'You just finished 8th grade, what are you going to do now?' Answer: I'm going to Disney World moments and we did!

 

[Kae]

No

 

[holden]

I had one but I went to Catholic school. After 8th grade we went on to high school, so we had an 8th grade graduation, dance, etc.

My DD18 and DD14 go/went to public school. Middle school here is grades 7-9. There is no graduation from middle school here. Ninth graders are physically in the middle school building but follow the high school curriculum, so they are kind of in limbo not really fitting in with either place.

 

[mamamary]

I had one back when they were called JHS in NYC, and if you called it intermediate or middle school, you were pegged as a Long Islander, or maybe even a Jerseyite, LOL.

No cap and gown (thank goodness. I’ve issues with them in the lower grades) but all girls in white dresses and boys wearing ties during the graduation assembly.
Most parents took their children to Jahn’s Ice Cream Parlor for a kitchen sink; the better-to-do took them to the Hawaii Kai on Broadway for dinner (also where most everyone’s Sweet Sixteen took place). It was the first summer in 6 or 7 years there was no reading list or “What did you do for your summer” essay and the graduates made the best of it not knowing what the years to come would bring.

I remember going to Jahns in Brooklyn with classmates after an event at my high school.

 

[Skippy918]

Middle school where we live doesn’t get a formal graduation. They do have a class party. All the kids move over to the same high school. 5th grade had a ceremony and it was nice.

I had an 8th grade graduation back in my day cause it was a k-8 catholic school and we all went to various different high schools.

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

Yes. I went to a K-8 school and they had one after 8th. My kids had/will have one after 6th and one after 8th, although the schools call them promotions. The 6th grade one is a little more informal - no caps/gowns, while the 8th grade one has gowns, but not caps. They are a big deal around here, so not having a "normal" one as a 6th grade parent is a bummer. I won't put it on the same level as a high school graduation (which actually is in person this year), but I am sad about it. They're doing a drive through at the elementary school this year, which I guess is better than nothing, but feels REALLY silly since kids are back in person.