It's the same for every large public high school in the area, not just FCPS. There isn't enough room for students and their parents in the school auditorium, let alone any extra guests like siblings or grandparents. |
+1 Graduation at the DAR is a madhouse and not as special as you think — Langley and the other schools are there likely because of the size of their senior classes. You have to wait outside until however many minutes before the ceremony, then it’s a mad rush to find seats together. While they will let the elderly and people with disabilities go in through a side door for special seating, other family members cannot sit with them (it’s reserved ONLY for those who need the seats) — we had to sit separately from my parents and it upset them because they cannot hear very well and would have preferred to have us with them to tell them when our so was walking. You cannot linger when the ceremony is over, and you cannot park close. They don’t tell you where the students will exit, so it’s insanity trying to find your students outside — all while trying to get your frail parents out, too. |
Nice trolling, but no. Those four schools got together and agreed to share a day at DAR. You need four schools per day there for the time slots. If four other schools did the same thing, they could also graduate at DAR. DP |
Nope, nice trolling again. See previous post about four schools/day at DAR. I do wish the gowns were made of silk though, per another poster! ![]() |
Exactly. This is what we see every year from a few disgruntled parents who can't cope with the idea of DAR. They'd rather have a football field graduation in the blazing hot sun. |
"Crazy"? Many schools graduate at various venues, other than their school. Maybe you need to get out more? |
DP. All of this is true - however, I wouldn't trade seeing my kids graduate at DAR for anything. It is an incredibly special venue and my elderly parents absolutely loved being there, regardless of the logistics. |
What’s so special about DAR?
Having a public HS graduation ceremony at nearby public college seems completely appropriate to me…. |
That’s great! But it’s also great to have graduation in a beautiful and historic venue. Both are fine. |
Ha! I graduated from high school in 1988 in Oklahoma and our ceremony was not at the school — it was at an arena, like every other graduation I have heard of (except maybe in a small town). |
DAR is the worst. We are at one of those schools and I’m hoping they change by the time by younger kids are seniors. It’s a hassle to get to DC, seats are limited, parking is horrible. |
A quick check would have told you these four schools are not all graduating on the same day. |
The rich kid schools getting together to book DAR, families at kids attending other schools should just accept that rich schools are more equal |
Don’t park. Take a Lift there and then you can lift home(yes, it does take about 30-40 minutes to get one, but you enjoy your surroundings while you wait.). Or you can take metro. Or Lift down and get a neighbor with a junior to pick you up and then do the same for them next year. NBD. |
We never had trouble finding an extra ticket. |