Anyone else disappointed about graduation?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would so much prefer constitution hall over ukbc …. Constitution hall is a famous landmark with history to it and DC feels more like part of our greater region than Baltimore does. It just feels so random to be going to this random campus is another city. I’d be fine going to someplace in MoCo or DC — it just seems so odd to be diving almost an hour to some random building in a totally different region.

Are people taking younger siblings out of school for this? The afternoon slot would be better as then they wouldn’t miss the whole day. Want them to be able to celebrate their older sibling hut not sure this is worth missing a day of school. And does anyone know of simple nice to go for lunch in the UMBC area? dC would be easier for me as I know that area well. I’ve literally never been up to the area near UMBC.

Well look at that - your kid gets to graduate AND you get to explore an new area and expand your horizons all in one morning! Lucky you!

You mean spend money in Baltimore which only benefits Baltimore. Which is the whole point of making MCPS parents drive up there. Revenue fir UMBC.

I am confused. I thought that Baltimore City, Baltimore County, and Montgomery County are all in Maryland. Is that not true?

[Anonymous]

My class of '23 kid had a graduation at UMBC, and it was a great facility. It's not like our home high school has an auditorium large enough for an event like this!

We were lucky that our class of '21 kid had a graduation ceremony at all. That one was at the school's football field, which was great in its own way because the location was convenient and familiar. Plus we lucked out on the weather. (The next year's graduation outside was very hot and sunny.) Where we didn't luck out was that graduation coincided with the Brood X cicadas, which were flying around and landing on the graduates as they sat on the field.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My class of '23 kid had a graduation at UMBC, and it was a great facility. It's not like our home high school has an auditorium large enough for an event like this!

We were lucky that our class of '21 kid had a graduation ceremony at all. That one was at the school's football field, which was great in its own way because the location was convenient and familiar. Plus we lucked out on the weather. (The next year's graduation outside was very hot and sunny.) Where we didn't luck out was that graduation coincided with the Brood X cicadas, which were flying around and landing on the graduates as they sat on the field.

We thought of that as entertainment while we were waiting for the speakers to finish and our kid's name to get called. They were loud, though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would so much prefer constitution hall over ukbc …. Constitution hall is a famous landmark with history to it and DC feels more like part of our greater region than Baltimore does. It just feels so random to be going to this random campus is another city. I’d be fine going to someplace in MoCo or DC — it just seems so odd to be diving almost an hour to some random building in a totally different region.

Are people taking younger siblings out of school for this? The afternoon slot would be better as then they wouldn’t miss the whole day. Want them to be able to celebrate their older sibling hut not sure this is worth missing a day of school. And does anyone know of simple nice to go for lunch in the UMBC area? dC would be easier for me as I know that area well. I’ve literally never been up to the area near UMBC.

Is the principal aware that you’ve never been near UMBC? Let them know. There might be enough time to change the location!

LMAO! Are you serious?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would so much prefer constitution hall over ukbc …. Constitution hall is a famous landmark with history to it and DC feels more like part of our greater region than Baltimore does. It just feels so random to be going to this random campus is another city. I’d be fine going to someplace in MoCo or DC — it just seems so odd to be diving almost an hour to some random building in a totally different region.

Are people taking younger siblings out of school for this? The afternoon slot would be better as then they wouldn’t miss the whole day. Want them to be able to celebrate their older sibling hut not sure this is worth missing a day of school. And does anyone know of simple nice to go for lunch in the UMBC area? dC would be easier for me as I know that area well. I’ve literally never been up to the area near UMBC.

Well look at that - your kid gets to graduate AND you get to explore an new area and expand your horizons all in one morning! Lucky you!

You mean spend money in Baltimore which only benefits Baltimore. Which is the whole point of making MCPS parents drive up there. Revenue fir UMBC.

Now apply that same logic to going to DAR constitution hall.
Y'all stupid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My senior's graduation is at 9 a.m. on a Wednesday basically in Baltimore. None of us are excited to get up early and drive up to Baltimore for this impersonal graduation, and I don't even want to ask family to do this. My kid is already asking if they can just skip and sleep in. Is there a way to make this celebratory? Go to lunch afterwards?

You are right. The BOE cut an under the table deal to force MCPS families to Baltimore to promote the Baltimore campus. The graduation isn’t about your child, it is about administrators scratching each other’s backs. Your child can sense that this is not an event for them and they are right.

Promote the Baltimore campus? To kids who already have college plans set?? We were told it was just much cheaper than UMDCP.

Who told you that?

Our high school principal told us the same thing: That College Park is cost prohibitive for high school graduation. Which I found surprising since I recall PG County Public Schools holding their graduations there. But maybe they raised their prices or PGCPS got a discount since UMD is also in PG county? Not sure. But UMDCP would definitely be much more convenient for MCPS graduations compared to UMBC. At least for those schools in Bethesda, Rockville, the DCC and the NEC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My senior's graduation is at 9 a.m. on a Wednesday basically in Baltimore. None of us are excited to get up early and drive up to Baltimore for this impersonal graduation, and I don't even want to ask family to do this. My kid is already asking if they can just skip and sleep in. Is there a way to make this celebratory? Go to lunch afterwards?

You are right. The BOE cut an under the table deal to force MCPS families to Baltimore to promote the Baltimore campus. The graduation isn’t about your child, it is about administrators scratching each other’s backs. Your child can sense that this is not an event for them and they are right.

Promote the Baltimore campus? To kids who already have college plans set?? We were told it was just much cheaper than UMDCP.

Who told you that?

Blair Principal. DD was class of 20 which was the first year they were supposed to use UMBC...of course it never happened.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UMBC is easier than Constitution Hall. I live in Bethesda and it’s only 45-50 minutes to UMBC. Most places in MoCo are probably closer. For DAR we had to allow tons of time for parking and walking.

For DAR I would have avoided the whole parking thing by taking Metro.

DAR was small for the larger high schools. That is why they stopped using it. For my sons 2018 RM graduation, it would have been 3 tickets per family at Constitution Hall. They moved it to UMD and we got ?? I do not remember. We had 4 grandparents, 2 parents and 2 siblings which was really nice.

[Anonymous]

DAR is way too small, not enough parking, no tickets for large families.

UMBC has enormous space and is apparently cheaper than UMCP.

I really don't think OP's whiny reasons are deal breakers for attending high school graduation for the parents of the kid in question. Do you never have to get up early for anything?!? If you don't want to add guests, then don't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would so much prefer constitution hall over ukbc …. Constitution hall is a famous landmark with history to it and DC feels more like part of our greater region than Baltimore does. It just feels so random to be going to this random campus is another city. I’d be fine going to someplace in MoCo or DC — it just seems so odd to be diving almost an hour to some random building in a totally different region.

Are people taking younger siblings out of school for this? The afternoon slot would be better as then they wouldn’t miss the whole day. Want them to be able to celebrate their older sibling hut not sure this is worth missing a day of school. And does anyone know of simple nice to go for lunch in the UMBC area? dC would be easier for me as I know that area well. I’ve literally never been up to the area near UMBC.

Well look at that - your kid gets to graduate AND you get to explore an new area and expand your horizons all in one morning! Lucky you!

You mean spend money in Baltimore which only benefits Baltimore. Which is the whole point of making MCPS parents drive up there. Revenue fir UMBC.

I am confused. I thought that Baltimore City, Baltimore County, and Montgomery County are all in Maryland. Is that not true?

Ignore the troll.

[Anonymous]

I preferred DAR. You can Uber or metro if you don’t want to deal with the hassle of parking.
You can take nice pictures by the monuments.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No way would I support my kid skipping graduation. This is a milestone event that I have looked forward to myself! And I know our parents (grandparents) would be interested to attend too despite logistics.

And yes, definitely plan a lunch afterwards. In my home, we’d also do surprise decorations the night before and have whatever grad wanted for breakfast either at home or on the go. .

Dammit, it's my party even if my kids is the star!

[Anonymous]

Did MCPS explore other venues in MoCo? Strathmore or nearby hotel ballrooms, Fogart center (?) Silver Spring civic center, Montgomery College, or if outside a place like Brookside Gardens if enough space at Brookside? Maybe other venues in MoCo too.

[Anonymous]

Can't most schools hold it at their own HS?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did MCPS explore other venues in MoCo? Strathmore or nearby hotel ballrooms, Fogart center (?) Silver Spring civic center, Montgomery College, or if outside a place like Brookside Gardens if enough space at Brookside? Maybe other venues in MoCo too.

They aren't large enough.