Palos 118 8th Grade Families,
We wanted to share more specific information that has become finalized regarding our upcoming graduation event.
As previously mentioned, May 28th will be our graduation day to celebrate our 8th Grade students as originally planned. We will be performing a virtual graduation ceremony for the graduating class of 2020. This ceremony will be broadcast on the Palos 118 website for all families and relatives near and far away to view. The link to the ceremony is www.palos118.org/south/graduation. The ceremony will be live online at 7:00pm on Thursday, May 28th. If you cannot watch the ceremony live, the link will stay active after the live streaming of the ceremony.
In addition to our virtual ceremony, Palos 118 in partnership with our PFA will host a graduation parade at Palos South Middle School on May 28, 2020. We encourage all of our South graduates and their families to participate in this special event. Cars are welcome to be decorated, but we do ask that each family only brings one car. This request will help with the progression of cars through the processional. During this parade, we will be allowing each graduating student the chance to leave their car at a pre-determined location on school grounds to walk across a stage set up on the front steps of the school and have their name called. Only the graduating student may leave the car during the parade. While on the stage, the graduate will turn toward a photographer for a picture in their cap, gown, tassel, cord, and diploma cover. All of these items will be picked up on the Supply Pick-Up Days and should be worn and brought to the graduation parade.
During the parade, the PFA has organized to have two photographers present to take two pictures of each student. One picture will be of the graduate crossing our stage and the other picture will be of the car going through one of the balloon archways. The PFA will be paying for one of these pictures for each family. Families will receive a link to view their pictures the week after graduation in the event they would like to purchase any additional photos from this celebration. Additionally, the parade will be streamed live on Facebook on May 28th. If you are not yet following us on Facebook, please do so at www.facebook.com/Palos118FullPotential so that you can view the graduation parade or watch your family friends graduate remotely on May 28th.
Ms. Doornbos and I will be there to announce the names of our graduates as they cross our stage set up in front of the building. We do ask that when families pick up their supplies from school, that they save the large name tag that was placed in the bag filled with the items for the day of graduation. This name would be placed in the front windshield of the car during the graduation parade.
The operation of the parade will begin at 3pm and conclude at 6pm. To prevent excessively long lines during the parade, we have outlined times divided by last name to help spread out the parade for a steady flow through the lot. We ask that you adhere to the schedule based on your last name.
Families with last name A-C..................3:00 to 3:30 pm Families with last name D-H..................3:30 to 4:00 pm Families with last name J-Maz...............4:00 to 4:30 pm Families with last name McC-R..............4:30 to 5:00 pm Families with last name S-Z...................5:00 to 5:30 pm Families that could not make their arranged time above.....5:30 to 6:00 pm
Once again, only the graduate may exit the car in front of the building as this parade will be a continuous flow through the lot. We want to be cognizant of our neighbors surrounding the building on this day, while practicing the social distancing directives from the state.
Specific information detailing the flow of traffic and locations where pictures will be taken will be sent out soon.
We want to thank the PFA for helping us coordinate the events for this day. We hope to make this day a memorable one for our graduates.
Today was the first day for Supply Pick-Up at Palos South. We do appreciate the patience from each of our families as we are working as quickly as possible to retrieve the items and place them in cars. As a reminder, please show on a sheet of paper the name of your child, the grade level, and the Connections teacher. This must be seen from outside of the car as you pull up so we can radio the information inside to locate the items. We thank you for working with us during this process.
Additionally, the 8th grade students will be returning their devices the week after graduation. When the devices are returned, we will hand each student their graduation diploma. We will send out communication on this as the date comes closer, but we will ask for families to once again display the name of their child and the Connections teacher on a sheet of paper that can be seen from outside of the car. The staff will then gather the diploma envelope and collect the device while delivering the diploma to the car.
OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS:
We want to thank each of our families for their hard work with remote learning and their support of the teachers at Palos South. Without your help, this experience would have been much different for us. Today was our first day of supply pick up. It was great to see so many families come to pick up materials. The signs that families brought helped make the process very quick for our staff. We also loved seeing our faces of students and family members, even for just a brief moment. Supply pick up will continue on Thursday, May 21st and Friday, May 22nd from 12:00-6:00 PM.
This Friday at 10:00 am, Palos South will be streaming our End of the Year Recognition Assembly. Please visit the Palos South website at 10 am to view this event. If you cannot make the 10 am viewing, the assembly will be posted on the website following the live viewing. We hope you enjoy.
Please view the video message below, which was posted on Schoology earlier today for the students to view. Principals Weekly Video Message: Palos South May 20th Announcements
Stay healthy and safe.
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