Fayette County’s high school graduation ceremonies will include virtual commencements on May 22 and traditional ceremonies on Aug. 1.
“Due to the COVID-19 state of emergency that has placed restrictions on social gatherings in Georgia, graduation ceremonies for all Fayette County Public School System high schools have been postponed to Aug. 1, with a virtual commencement taking place on the scheduled graduation day of May 22,” said school system spokesperson Melinda Berry-Dreisbach.
Berry-Dreisbach said seniors are invited to participate in both graduation ceremonies, adding that the decision was reached based on input from graduating seniors and their parents across all five high schools.
The weekend of Friday, July 31 through Saturday, Aug. 1 will be slated as Senior Weekend. Senior activities specific to each school will take place on Friday followed by live commencement exercises at each school’s stadium at 9 a.m. on Saturday.
“It is important to note that the Senior Weekend will take place as planned provided that state of emergency declarations have been lifted by both the state of Georgia and Fayette County municipalities, and that the Georgia Department of Public Health and Fayette County Health Department have deemed it safe for mass gatherings,” said Berry-Dreisbach.
On Friday, May 22, each school will broadcast a virtual graduation ceremony at 7 p.m. The virtual ceremony will feature videotaped student speeches, senior awards and the reading of each graduate’s name while photographs are scrolled. More information will be shared later about the logistics of the virtual graduation ceremonies.
Additionally, each high school will host a virtual seniors honors night that will be shared with the school’s seniors and their parents prior to May 20, said Berry-Dreisbach.
“Graduation is a monumental milestone for high school seniors and their families. Fayette County Public Schools realizes the importance of celebrating this great achievement,”Berry-Dreisbach noted. “We will work hard to ensure that our graduating seniors are properly honored by doing everything within our scope of power to provide them with a meaningful celebration to commemorate their accomplishment. We want to take this opportunity to congratulate the class of 2020, and to wish them much success as they embark on their futures.”
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