Hopewell Valley Central High School’s administration is developing a plan for an in-person ceremony as seniors experience a virtual graduation in June.
Even though the coronavirus pandemic has turned high school graduations for the Class of 2020 virtual, HVCHS is proceeding ahead with a July 18 in-person ceremony.
“Based on recent updates from the governor, we are moving forward with some sort of in-person ceremony for our seniors on July 18. We’ve asked families to hold that date since late April, as we were hoping social distancing guidelines would be lessened by the summer,” HVCHS Principal Tana Smith said.
She added that the school is not sure what the ceremony would look like in July.
“We will be surveying our seniors to get their input on if they want the traditional ceremony, or something more social and informal. Also, we want to see how many students will attend in July, as we know many have other obligations during the summer months,” Smith said. “We also need to see what the maximum amount for an outdoor group will be in mid-July, in order to allow families to attend.”
Gov. Phil Murphy recently announced that in-person graduations can take place beginning July 6. In-person commencement ceremonies are to take place outside and adhere to the latest capacity on in-person gathers, which will incrementally increase to 500 people who can attend gatherings by July 3, according to Murphy.
Currently, the Murphy administration permits only virtual and drive through and drive in graduation ceremonies prior to July 6.
The airing of a virtual graduation video on June 18 spotlights seniors as they walked across the school’s stage in late May. Seniors were able to receive their diploma from an administrator, their family, or take it from a table on stage during the stage walk.
The formal photos and videos along with a musical accompaniment from HVCHS’s choir and band were put together to create the virtual ceremony video, according to Smith.