District 219 Schedules Virtual Graduation For June 7

Press release from Niles Township High Schools District 219:

April 30, 2020

Dear D219 Students and Families,

The highlight of every school year is graduation. It presents us with the chance to recognize the achievements of our seniors and to highlight future plans as you embark on your early adventures as young adults. We recognize how important it is to each of you to mark the passage of this important milestone. It is also an important opportunity to come together as a community and celebrate with parents, friends, and extended family. After careful consideration, which took into account the social distancing and mass gatherings parameters set by Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker and current guidance against in-person graduations recommended by the Illinois State Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Carmen Ayala, here are D219’s plans for graduation. We appreciate your patience during this process.

Virtual Graduation

D219 will be conducting a virtual graduation for the Class of 2020 on Sunday, June 7. Although not all the details are set, a virtual graduation would look like this:

• Graduates would submit a photo of themselves wearing their cap, gown and any cords.
• The pictures would then be compiled into a presentation in which each photo would be displayed.
• All student and staff speeches that are part of a traditional graduation would be submitted digitally to be integrated into the graduation.
• The graduation presentation link would be made available to our students and their families. (We will provide more details in a future communication.)

Physical Graduation (tentative, based on developing conditions)

In the event that the guidelines for social distancing and mass gatherings change, we have tentatively scheduled a physical graduation (with possible restrictions) on Sunday, July 19 at the Rosemont Theatre. Times will be communicated as we receive more details.

We acknowledge the profound disappointment that our seniors have faced during this historic health challenge in our country and around the world. That being said, we are confident that we can honor their contributions to D219 in one, and hopefully two, dignified graduations.

Prom

Prom is a very important event, particularly for seniors, to mark the end of their high school careers with a celebratory and exciting night of dancing and fun. Unfortunately, we are going to cancel prom for this year because our original dates are still under the umbrella of the “stay at home” order. However, if the guidelines change, we are looking at the possibility of an end of year senior sendoff in late July. Like you, we are very disheartened that this type of decision had to be made, but do look forward to the senior sendoff if circumstances change.

Cap and Gown Pickup

Details on cap, gown, cords, and yearbook pickup as well as locker cleanout and item return information will be communicated early next week.

Sincerely,

Dr. James Edwards, Niles North High School Principal

Dr. Karen Ritter, Niles West High School Principal

Dr. Steven Isoye, Superintendent of Schools

This press release was produced by Niles Township High Schools District 219. The views expressed here are the author’s own.