Commencement!

Parents,

In case you missed it, we have just over a week left until commencement!  For all the details about the graduation ceremony, keynote speaker, reception afterwards, rain plans, dress code, or anything else you could possibly want to know, please look at this website.  In short, the ceremony starts at 10am and is held on Watts Lawn unless it rains.  

I have a couple suggestions that are not necessarily included on that site.  

1. Please remember that the students will begin getting ready and lining up around 9am (earlier for some groups).  If you want to meet your student and get pictures before the ceremony, grab breakfast together, or move some of their things out of their room, please make sure you do so early enough that they can still get ready and show up on time.  No one wants to be late for graduation.  And speaking of breakfast...

2. Let's take a minute to talk about meals.  For a while in the school's history, students thought it was a great idea to leave campus REALLY early in the morning (think 4am), and walk somewhere for breakfast.  To be clear, that is very much against the rules (students cannot leave their dorms until 6am) and, for juniors, can result in a level and sanctions possibly including not being asked to return for senior year, or, for seniors, will likely result in the student not being able to walk in the graduation ceremony.  Please, please, please discourage your daughter from doing this.  To help with this problem, the hall provides breakfast that morning (usually catered from somewhere like Brugger's Bagels or Panera Bread).  The food is good, free, and just waiting for them to pick it up and eat it. 

If you do want to pick up your daughter (and perhaps 29 of her closest hallmates) and take her to breakfast, you are welcome to do so, but please do keep in mind that breakfast places here will be CRAZY busy.  Plan extra time, expect long waits. 

3. While we are still talking about food, always my favorite topic, let's talk lunch!  I know that many of you have family in for graduation and are just dying to leave right after the ceremony and go have a nice sit down lunch.  However, you also have to move your daughter out of her dorm room.  To be clear, YOU MUST CHECK OUT OF THE RESIDENCE HALL BEFORE YOU LEAVE CAMPUS AND GO TO LUNCH!  Not joking.  Check outs go quickly, especially if you already have most everything out of the room, so please check out with me on 3rd Bryan before you leave campus to go get lunch.  For full information about check out, please see my next post or the email from me with all the move out details.