Huge HS graduation time variation

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree, OP, it's odd.

But it's also odd to me that students don't come to school the week before graduation. Where I grew up, graduation was after your last final exam on the last day of school. Seniors went 180 days just like freshmen.

FCPS has decided it is critical to allow everyone to bring as many guests as they want to graduation rather than limit tickets, so there are limited facilities that work. They schedule 3 graduations a day (90 minute arrival, 2 hours graduation, 90 minute clean up/set up for next graduation)--so 5 hour slots = 3 per day.

If people were okay with limiting graduation tickets to 4 per graduate, they could do it in the gyms on the last day and families could sit in bleachers. But i suspect there'd be mutiny over that too.

I would bet money that your high school in the 1980s did not go a full month after AP exams and classwork ended, just to sit in the building through mid June with nothing to do but watch movies (June 17th in the case of next year's seniors, which is more than a month after the last AP exam.)

Good ole days. If you didn't take the AP exam then the 2 months before school end were awesome.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:South Lakes was Friday the 7th last year at 7PM. This year it’s the 10th! at 2. It’s so late! Add to it that I’m a teacher and need a sub on the second last day of school. C’est la vie but I definitely feel we drew the short straw this year.

Wait until next year when schools end on the 17th.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Could not attend my two APS grandchildren’s ceremony at Constitution Hall. Not suitable for elderly and parking atrocious. Eagle Bank the best! Have been to many there.

DAR does not follow the ADA. It should NOT be used by public schools for graduation.

DP. This is such BS. Did you really think lying would somehow make your case, or that no one would call you out? We have two grandparents in wheelchairs and have never had an issue. There is a side entrance for the disabled and wheelchairs are led to the floor seating.

IS DAR ADA COMPLIANT?
Yes. With the assistance of a security staff person, we are accessible by wheelchairs and other mobility devices. The ADA entrance is located on C street.

For events, the Venue Coordinator will work with your planner for the arrival of ADA guests to guide them to the correct entrance as well as lead them to the venues.

https://www.dar.org/events/plan-your-event-headquarters/hosting-events-faqs

https://www.dar.org/events/constitution-hall/visitor-services

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Could not attend my two APS grandchildren’s ceremony at Constitution Hall. Not suitable for elderly and parking atrocious. Eagle Bank the best! Have been to many there.

DAR does not follow the ADA. It should NOT be used by public schools for graduation.

DP. This is such BS. Did you really think lying would somehow make your case, or that no one would call you out? We have two grandparents in wheelchairs and have never had an issue. There is a side entrance for the disabled and wheelchairs are led to the floor seating.

IS DAR ADA COMPLIANT?
Yes. With the assistance of a security staff person, we are accessible by wheelchairs and other mobility devices. The ADA entrance is located on C street.

For events, the Venue Coordinator will work with your planner for the arrival of ADA guests to guide them to the correct entrance as well as lead them to the venues.

https://www.dar.org/events/plan-your-event-headquarters/hosting-events-faqs

https://www.dar.org/events/constitution-hall/visitor-services

DAR is not fully accessible.

Unless something has changed in the past three years, the “accessible” bathroom does not meet the ADA requirements. It was impossible for my family member with a high-level spinal cord injury. She had to wait and risk developing a UTI as a result. The staff were overworked and just shrugged when we asked if there was another option. The manager who was there explained that it’s an old building and they don’t have to provide an accessible bathroom due to being grandfathered.

My friend whose son is in a wheelchair said that he could not access the stage without exiting the room, navigating a lift and then getting back into line. He could not go across the stage, but instead had to get the diploma, turn around and then double-back down the same odd entrance.

DAR might be okay for some people in wheelchairs. However, it’s not compliant with ADA due to numerous parts of the building being grandfathered. It’s really not an appropriate option for a public school graduation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Could not attend my two APS grandchildren’s ceremony at Constitution Hall. Not suitable for elderly and parking atrocious. Eagle Bank the best! Have been to many there.

DAR does not follow the ADA. It should NOT be used by public schools for graduation.

DP. This is such BS. Did you really think lying would somehow make your case, or that no one would call you out? We have two grandparents in wheelchairs and have never had an issue. There is a side entrance for the disabled and wheelchairs are led to the floor seating.

IS DAR ADA COMPLIANT?
Yes. With the assistance of a security staff person, we are accessible by wheelchairs and other mobility devices. The ADA entrance is located on C street.

For events, the Venue Coordinator will work with your planner for the arrival of ADA guests to guide them to the correct entrance as well as lead them to the venues.

https://www.dar.org/events/plan-your-event-headquarters/hosting-events-faqs

https://www.dar.org/events/constitution-hall/visitor-services

DAR is not fully accessible.

Unless something has changed in the past three years, the “accessible” bathroom does not meet the ADA requirements. It was impossible for my family member with a high-level spinal cord injury. She had to wait and risk developing a UTI as a result. The staff were overworked and just shrugged when we asked if there was another option. The manager who was there explained that it’s an old building and they don’t have to provide an accessible bathroom due to being grandfathered.

My friend whose son is in a wheelchair said that he could not access the stage without exiting the room, navigating a lift and then getting back into line. He could not go across the stage, but instead had to get the diploma, turn around and then double-back down the same odd entrance.

DAR might be okay for some people in wheelchairs. However, it’s not compliant with ADA due to numerous parts of the building being grandfathered. It’s really not an appropriate option for a public school graduation.

We had a similar experience with the bathrooms not being accessible. It's a terrible venue that only has "snob" appeal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Could not attend my two APS grandchildren’s ceremony at Constitution Hall. Not suitable for elderly and parking atrocious. Eagle Bank the best! Have been to many there.

DAR does not follow the ADA. It should NOT be used by public schools for graduation.

DP. This is such BS. Did you really think lying would somehow make your case, or that no one would call you out? We have two grandparents in wheelchairs and have never had an issue. There is a side entrance for the disabled and wheelchairs are led to the floor seating.

IS DAR ADA COMPLIANT?
Yes. With the assistance of a security staff person, we are accessible by wheelchairs and other mobility devices. The ADA entrance is located on C street.

For events, the Venue Coordinator will work with your planner for the arrival of ADA guests to guide them to the correct entrance as well as lead them to the venues.

https://www.dar.org/events/plan-your-event-headquarters/hosting-events-faqs

https://www.dar.org/events/constitution-hall/visitor-services

DAR is not fully accessible.

Unless something has changed in the past three years, the “accessible” bathroom does not meet the ADA requirements. It was impossible for my family member with a high-level spinal cord injury. She had to wait and risk developing a UTI as a result. The staff were overworked and just shrugged when we asked if there was another option. The manager who was there explained that it’s an old building and they don’t have to provide an accessible bathroom due to being grandfathered.

My friend whose son is in a wheelchair said that he could not access the stage without exiting the room, navigating a lift and then getting back into line. He could not go across the stage, but instead had to get the diploma, turn around and then double-back down the same odd entrance.

DAR might be okay for some people in wheelchairs. However, it’s not compliant with ADA due to numerous parts of the building being grandfathered. It’s really not an appropriate option for a public school graduation.

It's been used for public school graduations since the 1970s. It is ADA compliant, per the links above.

[Anonymous]

50 min drive to DAR, or 30 min drive +$28 toll.

Another $35 for parking.

Got in 45 min before ceremony started and only seats left were near the top of the facility.

Hot mess trying to match up 525 graduates with 1000+ family members on a narrow corner of sidewalk after ceremony.

People so stressed out by traffic that they are getting into road rage fights in the parking garage.

My car was blocked in by 4 other cars that I had to find a guy to move so I could get out.

But, DAR is a lovely facility....(Eye roll)

Seriously, if you have a student at any svhool that has used DAR, advocate right now to move it to GMU. They sign contracts for next year's graduation over the summer. I don't have any more kids to graduate, so it won't affect me. But save yourself the hassels.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree, OP, it's odd.

But it's also odd to me that students don't come to school the week before graduation. Where I grew up, graduation was after your last final exam on the last day of school. Seniors went 180 days just like freshmen.

FCPS has decided it is critical to allow everyone to bring as many guests as they want to graduation rather than limit tickets, so there are limited facilities that work. They schedule 3 graduations a day (90 minute arrival, 2 hours graduation, 90 minute clean up/set up for next graduation)--so 5 hour slots = 3 per day.

If people were okay with limiting graduation tickets to 4 per graduate, they could do it in the gyms on the last day and families could sit in bleachers. But i suspect there'd be mutiny over that too.

What gym in the county holds enough for all the graduates, 4 guests and the teachers?

Mount Vernon’s gym does - but the classes are small (under 500.) They moved graduation in 2023 to GMU but held it in the stadium this year. I’ve heard there was a scheduling conflict at GMU which caused the move.

[Anonymous]

We’ve only been to DAR once, show was great but traffic and parking was no fun. Glad my son will not graduate from there. The rolling model seems to be fair and predictable, hopefully GMU will return to that approach..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:50 min drive to DAR, or 30 min drive +$28 toll.

Another $35 for parking.

Got in 45 min before ceremony started and only seats left were near the top of the facility.

Hot mess trying to match up 525 graduates with 1000+ family members on a narrow corner of sidewalk after ceremony.

People so stressed out by traffic that they are getting into road rage fights in the parking garage.

My car was blocked in by 4 other cars that I had to find a guy to move so I could get out.

But, DAR is a lovely facility....(Eye roll)

Seriously, if you have a student at any svhool that has used DAR, advocate right now to move it to GMU. They sign contracts for next year's graduation over the summer. I don't have any more kids to graduate, so it won't affect me. But save yourself the hassels.

No thanks. We’re definitely in favor of DAR graduations. Have had two already and a third next year. They are memorable experiences that we feel lucky to have.

Weird that you didn’t simply take an Uber or share a van with another family - it would have cost the same and made for a much more pleasant door-to-door experience.

[Anonymous]

I know some Fairfax parents have a bug up their ass that DAR is somehow only the graduation venue for some wealthier schools, but of the seven MCPS schools that graduate from DAR, most are on the poorer side (Einstein, Magruder, Kennedy, Northwood, and Watkins Mill). At one point Annandale used to graduate at DAR. It's mostly about just taking advantage of the available venues.

Every graduation venue has its pros and cons and it really doesn't matter that much to the kids where they graduate. If you aren't prepared to look at the positives of your kid's graduation venue, whether it's historical appeal (DAR) or size/convenience (Eagle Bank), you need to reconsider your priorities.

[Anonymous]

TJ used to be 7PM on a Saturday they changed it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We’ve only been to DAR once, show was great but traffic and parking was no fun. Glad my son will not graduate from there. The rolling model seems to be fair and predictable, hopefully GMU will return to that approach..

Gmu doesn't schedule the actual schools, just the days/time spots.

FCPS does the actual schedule of which school is when.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree, OP, it's odd.

But it's also odd to me that students don't come to school the week before graduation. Where I grew up, graduation was after your last final exam on the last day of school. Seniors went 180 days just like freshmen.

FCPS has decided it is critical to allow everyone to bring as many guests as they want to graduation rather than limit tickets, so there are limited facilities that work. They schedule 3 graduations a day (90 minute arrival, 2 hours graduation, 90 minute clean up/set up for next graduation)--so 5 hour slots = 3 per day.

If people were okay with limiting graduation tickets to 4 per graduate, they could do it in the gyms on the last day and families could sit in bleachers. But i suspect there'd be mutiny over that too.

What gym in the county holds enough for all the graduates, 4 guests and the teachers?

Mount Vernon’s gym does - but the classes are small (under 500.) They moved graduation in 2023 to GMU but held it in the stadium this year. I’ve heard there was a scheduling conflict at GMU which caused the move.

FHS did 6 or 7 tickets per grad. I don't think it's a bad idea, less family might be able to come, but you can do one more video in your school on your TikTok. MVHS to Mason is around a 30 minutes trip kinda far.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know some Fairfax parents have a bug up their ass that DAR is somehow only the graduation venue for some wealthier schools, but of the seven MCPS schools that graduate from DAR, most are on the poorer side (Einstein, Magruder, Kennedy, Northwood, and Watkins Mill). At one point Annandale used to graduate at DAR. It's mostly about just taking advantage of the available venues.

Every graduation venue has its pros and cons and it really doesn't matter that much to the kids where they graduate. If you aren't prepared to look at the positives of your kid's graduation venue, whether it's historical appeal (DAR) or size/convenience (Eagle Bank), you need to reconsider your priorities.

+1
But I did want to mention, the FCPS schools that graduate there do it because they're much closer to DC than other FCPS schools.