It just hit me this morning after the news my daughters HS will be closed even after spring break(I am in CA)…most likely she will have no graduation ceremony…she was to be the genie in the schools Aladdin Musical…no prom or other type activities…I know there are millions probably of other parents losing out on these lifetime memories also…what a bummer is all i am here to say…at least we have our health as they say…for now. Anybody else having that realization, or are things just moving too fast…
I think it’s pretty likely that all of that end-of-the-year stuff will be affected, even if they DO return to school. I was talking with my S20 about this today and encouraging him to come to terms with the chance that he may not even return. It’s so sad and depressing. I hope schools make the best of it and try to schedule things if/when life gets back to some normalcy. On one hand, my son is SO done with school and burned out (he cares more about potentially missing prom with his girlfriend than he does about graduation being canceled), but on the other hand, there are so many things I don’t think he realizes could be affected (awards night, senior breakfast, fun stuff, AP exams, etc). And he is not currently playing a sport or involved in other school activities because he works his PT job quite a bit. I’m incredibly sad for THOSE kids. I’m so sad for everyone.?
D20’s teachers have them reviewing for the AP exams until they can get everything online next week. In the meantime she’s been speaking with other incoming freshmen at her chosen school and establishing new friendships. I know she’s sad about missing out on senior activities, but she’s meeting new people. Unfortunately, this is their new normal; as parents, most of us know the high school friendships don’t usually last, so hoping social media chat groups with her future peers can offer some hope and help ease what is going to be a difficult transition. Her honors college has been doing weekly FB live sessions to keep the kids optimistic and focused on the future. We’re allowing her to grieve and also helping her look forward.
@eaglerockdude as a theater mom, I get it. Luckily D20 got to do the fall performance, so she has lots of pics and great memories. She also looked up the clubs and shows at her future college. She’s having fun watching shows online, teaching herself how to play the ukelele, learning to knit…she’s trying to find new outlets for her creativity.
My niece is also a HS senior. She’s devastated. Has been dealing with other issues, too – it’s just so disappointing.
@CindyLeuWho Here’s the thread you were asking about this AM.
Good luck all.
@privatebanker thank you so much!
I would just like to say that I feel extremely entitled to a normal senior experience (even though my parents say it’s a first world problem) due to the fact that my school has been so irresponsible and negligent all four years. I’m royally pissed at the situation (however I understand it due to health concerns). I know many other seniors feel the same.
Yes, it has been tough for sure. My D is also involved in theatre both at school and in the community. She was super excited about both shows but especially the community one as it was a great part with a small cast and the first time she was able to work with this group. Also, she is very extroverted so being stuck with just her parents and brother is already getting to her. I just need to be mindful of her mental health at this point.
So far we know, for sure, prom is a no go. I’m thinking all the other senior activites, honors night, senior breakfast, GRADUATION, will also be cancelled…or at least postponed to late summer.
I am most concerned about all the IB testing and how it will effect IB diploma.
It has been a good mental break from the stress of school but yeah no prom would totally stink and online graduation would be unfortunate to say the very least.
Also RIP AP tests
HS Senior here! Let me tell you, it’s been an absolute nightmare. When school got cancelled for three weeks, it was looking rough. My drama teacher reassured us that we would still do our musical, just a little bit later than we thought. We also just assumed that prom and graduation would still happen, just later on. Unfortunately, it isn’t looking too good. I live in California and our governor said that he doesn’t think it’s likely that school will return by summer break. I may have had my last day of high school and not even known it. I went to every graduation since my freshman year, and I always imagined that one day I would be walking across that stage too. I guess I hoped for too much. We won’t get to sing a senior song at graduation for choir. We won’t get to perform a show that was so important to so many of us. We won’t get to create those last high school memories that we’ve imagined for so long. It’s devastating.
Our senior and her classmates have been really concerned about their AP courses, especially when they found out that both the ACT and the SAT had been cancelled.
So many senior high school traditions that they will not experience, and that we, as parents, cannot fix. So heartbreaking.
@864346 @TwoHighSchoolers there is still hope for AP classes/exams online. This would obviously be “easier” for yearlong classes:
https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/about-ap/news-changes/coronavirus-update?SFMC_cid=EM285330-&rid=15167318
this is devastating…worked so hard for this moment that we have been robbed of.
Last season of sports, graduation, prom, award ceremonies, wearing college tee shirt day, senior days, and so many special plans are gone.
add to that the new uncertainty on how I will pay for college. My EFC has been dramatically changed. I’m so worried for my parents.
2020 was supposed to be the best. Now its a nightmare.
and yes, I am also worried about the entire world. I have a lot of friends and family suffering in Italy.
Tonight the Pope calls on all faiths to pray together…4pm EST, 9pm Italy time
I’ve thought a lot about this.
My daughter’s classes will continue on Zoom after spring break. (Their scheduled spring break was Saturday, March 14-Tuesday, March 24.) The somewhat unexpected part was school was abruptly cancelled via text on the morning of Thursday, March 12 out an abundance of caution…so that Wednesday was their last in-person day and no one even knew it at the time. Students were allowed back in to grab their stuff. So the academic piece will probably still happen, if not quite in the format we hoped.
It’s the extracurricular and social pieces that will go away. Don’t get me wrong: it is 100% worth it if it can mitigate the scope of the global pandemic. Nonetheless, it’s a bummer.
Things that are going away for my daughter (some of them already cancelled, some not yet announced, but…)
*Admitted Students Days at colleges.
*Dance competitions (3 of them. My daughter has 11 different costumes all neatly packed up and ready to…hand on to someone on next year’s team?)
*The Shakespeare play (Henry IV, Part 1)
*Senior projects (6 weeks at my daughter’s school–she was going to work at a Montessori)
*Dance team banquet, with a slide show/video featuring each senior.
*Prom
*Graduation
*Recital? (The studio is acting like this is going to happen, but I suspect this is wildly optimistic. Time will tell.)
I imagine many high schools will have some kind of symbolic graduation online for now, and have an in-person ceremony at a later date, but it will be difficult to figure out WHEN that can happen. We don’t know when we will be given permission to return to our lives. If it’s not until the fall (or later!), would you want to do a graduation over Christmas break?
Honestly? My biggest concern at this point is whether colleges are going to start on time and in person. I feel like if the Class of 2020 is going to miss out on all of the fun senior high school rituals, it would be really nice if they could have a normal freshman orientation with all the rituals that go with that!
My DD21 already had JROTC military ball in Feb and got back from the band trip on March 8, so there’s a decent subset of things in the book for them. But the current seniors are mostly getting robbed. But if you ask the class of 02 how normal their year was after 9-11 you’d find that people just skipped over things for a year or pieced together new traditions as needed. Tapestry of life, backwhenIwasakid, etc.
@BookLvr - my daughter is a dancer as well, although only a freshman. By some stroke of luck, they had their HS varsity dance team banquet the first week in March, which happened to be the earliest they ever have. The seniors on their team were lucky to experience that last one. I feel horrible for seniors on other teams who didn’t get that experience this year. But my D23’s switch to doing dance company competitions is what will be impacted like your daughter - probably missing the 4 dance comps now through May. I’m so thankful they got to finish their HS dance team season, but it’s so sad for those in spring sports/musicals/activities.
I feel horrible for those in activities that will be impact…especially for all the “lasts” of the senior classes. My S20 isn’t in a spring sport, but qualified for State for his HS math team, which was already canceled. He also qualified for State for his science and engineering team and although I don’t think that cancellation has officially been announced, but I’m sure it will be. His last chance to possibly place in the State. 
All of these are just so heartbreaking. Hang in there everyone.
Does anyone have ideas of what schools will do or should instead?
My school will be missing A LOT of traditions if we are closed till summer.
As I read this thread, I am reflecting on my son’s senior spring semester last year and maybe it can bring some perspective. He was diagnosed with a chronic illness the summer before, had many issues during fall semester…was hospitalized twice spring semester including some time in PICU…and isolated in room-had blood transfusions, spinal tap, sigmoidoscopy, blood draws, 2 ivs connected to him…he nearly died of sepsis. Although this senior year is not ideal for some, I’m guessing most would prefer it to my son’s experience…and I know he is not the only young person who has struggled with health issues-whether physical or mental during senior year. I don’t want anyone to be upset by my posting this, but maybe some of the seniors will gain some perspective from this post and be thankful for their health if they have it. Interestingly, I don’t think my son even complained about it being his senior year or what he missed. I really admired his strength of character and ability to endure the pain.