SLUSD Announces Virtual Commencement Events
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 5, 2020
CONTACT: Keziah Moss, Director of Community & Employee Engagement, (510) 667-6202, kmoss@slusd.us
With the end of the school year approaching quickly for San Leandro Unified schools, virtual commencement events are announced.
Current school facility closures and public health mandates restricting large group events have added significant challenges to the traditional end of school milestone celebrations in San Leandro Unified. Every year, each of the district’s 12 schools, in addition to the San Leandro Adult School, spends months preparing special events that memorialize the end of the academic year and bid fond farewells to their transitioning grade levels. San Leandro High School’s graduation alone brings in an audience of over 9,000 to the school’s Burrell Field for a communal celebration that is among one of the largest annual events in the city.
“Commencement events are momentous milestones that honor the achievements of our children and the adults who love and support them,” said District Superintendent Mike McLaughlin, “But given our current reality, coming together in person simply isn’t possible. As much as we would love to plan for a rescheduled date in the future, we have been given no clear indication of when that date could be.”
This year, these once-in-a-lifetime events are having to be reshaped into formats that can appropriately honor the many years of hard work and sacrifice while ensuring the health and safety of district students, families, and staff. San Leandro Unified has partnered with Herff Jones, a nationwide company that organizes high-quality virtual graduations and school promotions, to create virtual graduation and promotion ceremonies for all secondary schools. These events will happen on the originally scheduled dates and times listed on each school’s website, which will soon include information about how the community can participate.
“We do not see these virtual ceremonies as true replacements for traditional graduations or promotions,” said McLaughlin, “But we do hope these events will provide a celebratory moment of closure to the school year. We will keep looking for ways to celebrate as a community when we are able to safely do so.”
The district is also providing lawn and window signs to graduates’ families while researching additional ways to safely congratulate their students on this significant moment in their academic careers. Virtual 5th-grade elementary promotions are also being planned by each of the eight schools in the district, with more information coming from each of those school’s administrators in the next few weeks.
About the San Leandro Unified School District
The San Leandro Unified School District operates a comprehensive TK-12 program and an adult school at campuses throughout San Leandro. The district educates its students by utilizing state-of-the-art technologies and innovative teaching strategies to help students achieve academic excellence and become collaborative and competitive in a global society. For more information, visit www.slusd.us
