Parents of HS class of 2020

[JimMIA]

Very happy to learn that my son will be starting his freshman year on campus. They will have classes until Thanksgiving and then have finals online.

Is that Notre Dame?

 

[rlk]

Is that Notre Dame?

No, UT Austin. I read Notre Dame will start two weeks early and end the semester at Thanksgiving Break.
I'm looking on the bright side--we'll save money on one roundtrip airfare.

 

[Monykalyn]

No, UT Austin. I read Notre Dame will start two weeks early and end the semester at Thanksgiving Break.
I'm looking on the bright side--we'll save money on one roundtrip airfare.

ya know-that isn't a terrible idea with starting earlier and ending just as flu season also ramps up...Shows that an administrator somewhere was really using his thinking cap

 

[JB17]

Well today was supposed to be the day... The grad of our oldest son should have been happening in a few hours. Instead it's another day schooling from home for the kid. No in person school for the remainder of the year and our city's school board has cancelled all grad celebrations and might have a half day informal celebration in the fall.

It has been a tough road for him at school as he is on the Autism spectrum and struggled with school initially. His Kindergarten teacher wasn't even going to let him move on with his class. As it turns out she was just a crappy teacher.

Now he has been on the honour roll for his entire time in high school and was even thinking of throwing his name in for valedictorian. He is off to university in the fall (well as it now looks like his university is going to alternate delivery methods so he gets to stay at home and do online learning at this point).

He still struggles a little socially and doesn't have much in he way of friends away from school. We were planning on one last family trip to Disney which was supposed to be March 20-27. We have rebooked for October but that is not a definite go yet due to a change in my job status. I keep thinking about when I graduated and what a big milestone it was for me. I feel so disappointed that with everything up in the air he doesn't get to experience it in the same way. We didn't even get a chance to get him some formal wear before everything closed down. I am so proud of him I guess I just wanted a public event to celebrate that.

Thanks for reading through the minor pity party.

 

[JimMIA]

Well today was supposed to be the day... The grad of our oldest son should have been happening in a few hours. Instead it's another day schooling from home for the kid. No in person school for the remainder of the year and our city's school board has cancelled all grad celebrations and might have a half day informal celebration in the fall.

It has been a tough road for him at school as he is on the Autism spectrum and struggled with school initially. His Kindergarten teacher wasn't even going to let him move on with his class. As it turns out she was just a crappy teacher.

Now he has been on the honour roll for his entire time in high school and was even thinking of throwing his name in for valedictorian. He is off to university in the fall (well as it now looks like his university is going to alternate delivery methods so he gets to stay at home and do online learning at this point).

He still struggles a little socially and doesn't have much in he way of friends away from school. We were planning on one last family trip to Disney which was supposed to be March 20-27. We have rebooked for October but that is not a definite go yet due to a change in my job status. I keep thinking about when I graduated and what a big milestone it was for me. I feel so disappointed that with everything up in the air he doesn't get to experience it in the same way. We didn't even get a chance to get him some formal wear before everything closed down. I am so proud of him I guess I just wanted a public event to celebrate that.

Thanks for reading through the minor pity party.

That's not a pity party. That's a celebration by a very proud parent of a kid who has overcome significant challenges and made great progress.

Congratulations to him and your whole family!

 

[Grumpy_Dad]

Very happy to learn that my son will be starting his freshman year on campus. They will have classes until Thanksgiving and then have finals online.

That's great news. We also got word that they are planning to start the fall semester on campus. I'm hopeful that things will be more or less normal in the fall.

 

[FigmentSpark]

Our school is going to put together a video of school photos throughout the grade 12s' time at the school. We have to submit the photos. Other than that, which will be a nice keepsake, mind you, we can buy the cap and gown to take our own photos and they 'might' do something in the fall for any kids that don't go away to university. I don't like that too much. I'd rather they tried for something at the end of summer, but maybe they'll make it over our thanksgiving (in Oct), so at least most kids will be home.

 

[JimMIA]

We got the word yesterday that yearbooks would be delivered sometime in July. Schedule TBA. DD has to turn her one textbook (Statistics) on Monday.

One negative thing we've run into is the extra work! DD was scheduled to graduate on May 27, but the school year doesn't actually end until June 3. They not only have to check in online every day, but they have assignments due past their graduation date! That's kinda messed up.

In addition, DD's college orientation and registration are June 1-2 and she has to be available online with the university almost all day both days. Gotta email the principal about that one.

 

[JimMIA]

Our figure skating club did DD's grad drive-by today.

I don't know what I was expecting, but it sure wasn't so many cars filled with so many of the younger skaters DD has mentored over the years! They filled the entire block, made a ton of noise, and did a lot of waving, thank yous, and congratulations. Great fun and a really nice tribute!

It was touching to see a few of the younger girls (12-14) crying. They will miss her, but she'll be back during school breaks.

 

[Grumpy_Dad]

Some good news. We were advised that the school has scheduled a live graduation for July 31. If possible they are also hoping to have the seniors back to campus that week for a few hours for one last get together and visit with the faculty and staff.

 

[JimMIA]

If possible they are also hoping to have the seniors back to campus that week for a few hours for one last get together and visit with the faculty and staff.

That's something DD was talking about today. They get their yearbooks sometime in July, and what she's hoping for is an organized thing for the Class of 2020 during Winter Break in December or early January. Colleges have a lot longer break than high schools, so there is one week of overlap on either side.

She has loved her school, and in four years has not had one single bad teacher. She'd like to say goodbye to them.

 

[rlk]

That's something DD was talking about today. They get their yearbooks sometime in July, and what she's hoping for is an organized thing for the Class of 2020 during Winter Break in December or early January. Colleges have a lot longer break than high schools, so there is one week of overlap on either side.

She has loved her school, and in four years has not had one single bad teacher. She'd like to say goodbye to them.

I hope she gets to say goodbye.

 

[JimMIA]

I hope she gets to say goodbye.

Me too!

And hey, how 'bout this? Columbus HS (a large Catholic boys school here in Miami) has announced their graduation plans -- Homestead Motor Speedway. The boys will drive one lap and get their diplomas at the Finish Line!

https://miami.cbslocal.com/video/45...-hold-graduation-at-homestead-miami-speedway/

 

[JimMIA]

We picked up caps, gowns, stoles, and the graduation programs that would have been used for the actual graduation if we'd had one. They also gave each graduate a nice blanket with the school logo, etc on it. Lots of PTSA people and a couple of teachers were also there waving and holding up signs.

Everything was done from cars -- nobody allowed to get out for health safety reasons -- but it was very nice.

On the graduation program, we noticed that DD graduated Cum Laude.

We're not surprised because she's an outstanding student, but you'd think they would have told us that earlier so we could have included it in her graduation announcement!

 

[JimMIA]

Heads up, @wallawallakids and @Monykalyn !

Read the FAQs!

https://www.ucf.edu/coronavirus/returning-to-ucf/

 

[Monykalyn]

On the graduation program, we noticed that DD graduated Cum Laude.

Congratulations to your daughter!!
On a bright note-looks like Florida is OK with colleges opening up this fall. Just need a plan like everyone else.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7219423/Interesting study, but hard to find in National news media. Also then points to opening things up like schools with population who is lowest risk?

 

[Monykalyn]

Ha @JimMIA posted at same time.

 

[Southernmiss]

Our daughter graduated !!!

347 students seated 6 feet apart in our local Coliseum which seats over 11,000. Allowed 4 tickets for guests seated every other row and on the ends of the rows with plenty of seats in between.

It was so nice to have a normal graduation!! It was livestreamed and was only about 1 hour 15 minutes long. Really, I could see some of the changes easily becoming a new normal.

My siblings enjoyed watching for the condensed time from home and being able to turn it off.

Guests were dismissed by section to go immediately outside to meet their graduates who were dismissed last.

Our family, including daughter, wore a mask. Disappointed that more did not.

Students and families met outside. Had about 30 minutes of time to take pictures. That was a little too close for comfort as students were wanting pictures with each other and giving side hugs.

I am hopeful that the breeze coming off the gulf in front of the facility blew any germs away.

There are about 50 active cases in our county of 203,000 , so it's not rampant.

 

[mom2rtk]

Our daughter graduated !!!

347 students seated 6 feet apart in our local Coliseum which seats over 11,000. Allowed 4 tickets for guests seated every other row and on the ends of the rows with plenty of seats in between.

It was so nice to have a normal graduation!! It was livestreamed and was only about 1 hour 15 minutes long. Really, I could see some of the changes easily becoming a new normal.

My siblings enjoyed watching for the condensed time from home and being able to turn it off.

Guests were dismissed by section to go immediately outside to meet their graduates who were dismissed last.

Our family, including daughter, wore a mask. Disappointed that more did not.

Students and families met outside. Had about 30 minutes of time to take pictures. That was a little too close for comfort as students were wanting pictures with each other and giving side hugs.

I am hopeful that the breeze coming off the gulf in front of the facility blew any germs away.

There are about 50 active cases in our county of 203,000 , so it's not rampant.

Congrats to the grad!

 

[TLSnell1981]

Well today was supposed to be the day... The grad of our oldest son should have been happening in a few hours. Instead it's another day schooling from home for the kid. No in person school for the remainder of the year and our city's school board has cancelled all grad celebrations and might have a half day informal celebration in the fall.

It has been a tough road for him at school as he is on the Autism spectrum and struggled with school initially. His Kindergarten teacher wasn't even going to let him move on with his class. As it turns out she was just a crappy teacher.

Now he has been on the honour roll for his entire time in high school and was even thinking of throwing his name in for valedictorian. He is off to university in the fall (well as it now looks like his university is going to alternate delivery methods so he gets to stay at home and do online learning at this point).

He still struggles a little socially and doesn't have much in he way of friends away from school. We were planning on one last family trip to Disney which was supposed to be March 20-27. We have rebooked for October but that is not a definite go yet due to a change in my job status. I keep thinking about when I graduated and what a big milestone it was for me. I feel so disappointed that with everything up in the air he doesn't get to experience it in the same way. We didn't even get a chance to get him some formal wear before everything closed down. I am so proud of him I guess I just wanted a public event to celebrate that.

Thanks for reading through the minor pity party.