Parents of the HS Class of 2020 (Part 1)

@chardonMN she is a ballet dancer (and will be a dance major), so her main plans are to dance and to work. She had a few jobs here (pre covid)- she worked at a daycare center, worked at a children’s class place teaching preschool ballet, and she was a beginners ballet teacher at one of her studios. Hopefully she’ll be able to find something, and more importantly hopefully she’ll be able to find a good fit for dance.

@momzilla2D: I really love the playfulness, and poignancy, of that poem. Thanks for its mention! Good luck to your child in the choosing.

@fretfulmother : Thanks for the link to the full piece. Congrats to DS20.

Another MN family here - they have not announced any alternate plans for prom or graduation. My work is unofficially telling us to plan to work from home at least until the end of the summer, so I don’t think that bodes well for a late summer prom or grad ceremony. One of the local private HS is doing a drive-through grad ceremony. I don’t love it, but at least they know what’s happening and have some closure.

I think that’s where our district it on this, too…something in July, if conditions permit. Same for prom.

My daughter committed to Vanderbilt yesterday. Very happy that the decision has been made!

Looking like July 25 for some type of “in person” graduation ceremony. There is also going to be a virtual ceremony on May 31st. Now what to do about grad parties.

We just got an email that graduation ceremony is going to take place May 22nd as was originally scheduled, but in a modified “safe” manner and would be televised. Not sure on the details, but he is only allowed one car full of his closest family members to attend. There are only 40 kids in his class, so it’s not like they would have to deal with massive crowds. I’m hoping they do something on the field and just keep a good spacing between them.

@fretfulmother, thanks for sharing that poem. Our family is making multiple decisions, and I think this wisdom will help all of us.

D finally accepted and excited to attend W and L. Even though she loved the school and has an amazing scholarship that makes it one of the few financially feasible options, she still struggled to actually hit the Accept button. I think accepting one offer meant closing the door on other dream and paths.

She also had a best friend lobbying daily for an in-state option…made all the more poignant b/c we are moving out of state, likely before things open back up and they can visit in person. D is understandably having a hard time with the idea of leaving everything and everyone behind without saying goodbye in person…and now I feel guilty for moving. But I’m not sure anyone will have the send-off and closure we expected.

I like the idea of a “drive-in” graduation of sorts - I think it can be done safely for smaller classes at least and would be more fun than virtual!

Our kids will certainly have a story to tell their kids one day…

Any ideas of what graduation could look like with a class of 300 graduates? I have thought about a drive through with the graduate stepping out of the car? Or a drive-in movie theater kind of set up (though i dont think the neighboring streets would welcome that). We are in NY and this will have to not contravene Cuomo sentiment.

We are in CA - our public school district announced weeks ago that all classes would be online through the end of this year.

For graduation, a class of about 200, there is talk of a drive through ceremony, with decorated cars circling around the football field and kids getting out of the cars one at a time to collect their diplomas. Because there will be no grad night, one idea is to give the kids (many are low income) gift cards from the money that has been raised but will now not be spent.

@typiCAmom Thanks for letting me know about the Stanford FBpage - I’ll have to get on it soon.

@janiemiranda Congratulations on your daughter choosing Vandy! It must feel great to have the decision made.

Regarding what college to gently steer your kid towards, is anyone taking into account whether one has to fly to the college versus drive? I am wondering if flights might be impacted if another outbreak happens when college starts. I would hate to not be able to fly out if I need to help my kid.

@Octagon - absolutely yes, the local schools (or at least driveable/train) got a big boost in our house due to the situation.

@Octagon absolutely! My oldest is a one hour flight or 7 hour drive away. The flight to and from school seemed so easy until it wasn’t.

Well, S didn’t have any colleges on his final list within a ten hour drive. ? He will be two flights away. We will just have to take the leap and deal with the consequences as they come. D18 is also two flights away—and in Canada—so that was tricky bringing her home at the right time. ”So many opportunities for life lessons” is what I tell myself.

@Octagon Yes definitely. My D only applied to one school that is easily drivable and she took that off the list almost right after her acceptance. Now her closest school is a 7 hour drive and her furthest is a 16 hour drive. We nixed her two schools that were on the west coast as there is no way we could get to her and luckily the financials did not work out. She never wanted to stay in New England so we’re still letting her go where she chooses but it is making me nervous.

Thanks @fretfulmother @lkg4answers @ShrimpBurrito @MAmom111 This is really tough as only time will tell what the right choice is - whether to focus on what college fits the best with interests, vibe, ability to better meet career goals or which will be less of a nightmare during this time.

My D20 has narrowed it down to two schools on the opposite coast. We are just going with it. ?

Both of D20’s top 2 require air travel. But then, D19’s school also requires air travel. Our thought all along was that we (parents) would be moving once both kids were in college, so they shouldn’t choose a school just because it’s close to our current location.

I suggested flipping a coin to my D20, but she said no, she’s not 50/50! She has a front runner, but just seems to have a fear of commitment. So I really do think she will wait until the last minute.

@Octagon Yes, although it’s not the main factor in deciding, it’s definitely one thing we are considering. Top choices currently are both a 3 hour flight from here; however, we have family who live less than a 2 hour drive from one of the schools, so that has gone on the “pro” list for that school.

So S and I went on the portals of the schools he’s withdrawn from today just to verify he’s all set as 5/1 approaches. Some of them still have the accept offer of admission button available and the financial aid is still available to be accepted, even though we know he withdrew and kept track of the dates we withdrew on…

He had a moment with one of them when he was like—so I could still go there if I wanted? Ummmm, ok, I’m glad we looked because you’re secretly having second thoughts? Discussions have been had. Confusion ensued. This is going to be a long week…