Graduation 2026

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe if College Park and DAR didn't charge the county like 3x what UMBC is charging then we wouldn't have to make the switch. With all the budget talks going on, do we really want to be spending over a quarter of a million just to host graduations?

Mc has space and Mcps gives them a small fortune. Or, the field. You are right, we should spend umbc either.

MC is a good option in my opinion. They have a huge space with an air conditioned tent in a reasonably accessible part of the county. Lots to like about it.

I’m not sure why it doesn’t seem to work out.

Politics.

Bad planning? In other words, typical MCPS. I can’t think of any other school district that spends so much money to do graduations at such an inconvenient location out of the county.

This thread is amusing to me because two years ago I started a thread saying I was bummed out about driving so far to go to a really impersonal location in a county/place we had no connection to and at a time that felt really uncelebratory, and everyone mocked me as a fragile snowflake. Obviously we all survived but I wouldn’t say it was a particularly cherished memory for my graduate or us and I didn’t invite any family members to take a whole day off work and leave their homes at the crack of dawn to get to Baltimore county for the graduation. It was just a very “whatever” experience for all involved.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe if College Park and DAR didn't charge the county like 3x what UMBC is charging then we wouldn't have to make the switch. With all the budget talks going on, do we really want to be spending over a quarter of a million just to host graduations?

Mc has space and Mcps gives them a small fortune. Or, the field. You are right, we should spend umbc either.

MC is a good option in my opinion. They have a huge space with an air conditioned tent in a reasonably accessible part of the county. Lots to like about it.

I’m not sure why it doesn’t seem to work out.

Politics.

Bad planning? In other words, typical MCPS. I can’t think of any other school district that spends so much money to do graduations at such an inconvenient location out of the county.

This thread is amusing to me because two years ago I started a thread saying I was bummed out about driving so far to go to a really impersonal location in a county/place we had no connection to and at a time that felt really uncelebratory, and everyone mocked me as a fragile snowflake. Obviously we all survived but I wouldn’t say it was a particularly cherished memory for my graduate or us and I didn’t invite any family members to take a whole day off work and leave their homes at the crack of dawn to get to Baltimore county for the graduation. It was just a very “whatever” experience for all involved.

Welcome to DCUM where everyone is mocked for everything. But I can assure you that many many parents are very unhappy to go to UMBC for graduation when MoCo alternatives exist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe if College Park and DAR didn't charge the county like 3x what UMBC is charging then we wouldn't have to make the switch. With all the budget talks going on, do we really want to be spending over a quarter of a million just to host graduations?

Mc has space and Mcps gives them a small fortune. Or, the field. You are right, we should spend umbc either.

MC is a good option in my opinion. They have a huge space with an air conditioned tent in a reasonably accessible part of the county. Lots to like about it.

I’m not sure why it doesn’t seem to work out.

Politics.

Bad planning? In other words, typical MCPS. I can’t think of any other school district that spends so much money to do graduations at such an inconvenient location out of the county.

This thread is amusing to me because two years ago I started a thread saying I was bummed out about driving so far to go to a really impersonal location in a county/place we had no connection to and at a time that felt really uncelebratory, and everyone mocked me as a fragile snowflake. Obviously we all survived but I wouldn’t say it was a particularly cherished memory for my graduate or us and I didn’t invite any family members to take a whole day off work and leave their homes at the crack of dawn to get to Baltimore county for the graduation. It was just a very “whatever” experience for all involved.

Welcome to DCUM where everyone is mocked for everything. But I can assure you that many many parents are very unhappy to go to UMBC for graduation when MoCo alternatives exist.

DP. And I can sure you that many many other parents are happy to go to UMBC, with adjacent free parking and more tickets for guests. There's no pleasing everyone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Each student walks across the stage.

There is handicapped seating in the stands (not on the floor) and they have dedicated people to help the elderly/handicapped. It's actually very easy/convenient.

Parking is fine, but the ring road gets congested. Unless your ceremony is in the AM, plan to be there early to sit in that traffic.

All sightlines are good. Acoustics are good.

Overall, UMBC is a nice place to have graduation!

It’s unkind to those with health and other issues, including lack of transportation. It should be with our county or they provide transportation.

Our school offers a round trip luxury bus for $1 per person.

Is it one bus first come first serve, or will they get additional buses as people sign up? Meaning 700 kids and 4 guests/kid, is that about 2800 people who are riding to and from UMBC?

Not everyone wants to choose that option. They have done this before so I think they have a sense of how many to order.

[Anonymous]

There is no winning for either the school system or the parents of the graduates. For some driving to DAR is an hour plus and for some driving to UMBC is an hour plus.

Graduating in the school field would be the ideal, but then you’re limited to the amount of people who can go to the graduation. I suppose nobody wants to or it’s too expensive to graduate at Montgomery College even though they’re both county funded (? Tell me if I’m wrong about what college.) UMBC might be further out, but with the financial crisis that the county is in, it’s the prudent choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is no winning for either the school system or the parents of the graduates. For some driving to DAR is an hour plus and for some driving to UMBC is an hour plus.

Graduating in the school field would be the ideal, but then you’re limited to the amount of people who can go to the graduation. I suppose nobody wants to or it’s too expensive to graduate at Montgomery College even though they’re both county funded (? Tell me if I’m wrong about what college.) UMBC might be further out, but with the financial crisis that the county is in, it’s the prudent choice.

MC rents out their space. They aren’t limited. They could set up tents at a few schools or central location and do it there. Driving an hour plus for some of us isn’t doable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe if College Park and DAR didn't charge the county like 3x what UMBC is charging then we wouldn't have to make the switch. With all the budget talks going on, do we really want to be spending over a quarter of a million just to host graduations?

Mc has space and Mcps gives them a small fortune. Or, the field. You are right, we should spend umbc either.

MC is a good option in my opinion. They have a huge space with an air conditioned tent in a reasonably accessible part of the county. Lots to like about it.

I’m not sure why it doesn’t seem to work out.

Politics.

Bad planning? In other words, typical MCPS. I can’t think of any other school district that spends so much money to do graduations at such an inconvenient location out of the county.

This thread is amusing to me because two years ago I started a thread saying I was bummed out about driving so far to go to a really impersonal location in a county/place we had no connection to and at a time that felt really uncelebratory, and everyone mocked me as a fragile snowflake. Obviously we all survived but I wouldn’t say it was a particularly cherished memory for my graduate or us and I didn’t invite any family members to take a whole day off work and leave their homes at the crack of dawn to get to Baltimore county for the graduation. It was just a very “whatever” experience for all involved.

Those of us having medical treatments every few hours will have an issue. Have a car and healthy it’s not as much of a big deal.

[Anonymous]

We need to either build capacity (at Strathmore or Montgomery College) or ink a long-term deal with UMD. If UMD can house our former superintendent after she crashed and burned, they can negotiate a sweetheart deal to host all of MCPS's high school graduations too. It's all state money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is no winning for either the school system or the parents of the graduates. For some driving to DAR is an hour plus and for some driving to UMBC is an hour plus.

Graduating in the school field would be the ideal, but then you’re limited to the amount of people who can go to the graduation. I suppose nobody wants to or it’s too expensive to graduate at Montgomery College even though they’re both county funded (? Tell me if I’m wrong about what college.) UMBC might be further out, but with the financial crisis that the county is in, it’s the prudent choice.

MC rents out their space. They aren’t limited. They could set up tents at a few schools or central location and do it there. Driving an hour plus for some of us isn’t doable.

+1 MCPS screws up by trying to have one standard solution for a graduation location in a district where it takes 2 hours to drive from end to end. It could have offered MC and DAR and UMBC as options. Instead it picks only UMBC and manages to annoy nearly everyone by choosing a location that isn't even in the county where our kids attend school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is no winning for either the school system or the parents of the graduates. For some driving to DAR is an hour plus and for some driving to UMBC is an hour plus.

Graduating in the school field would be the ideal, but then you’re limited to the amount of people who can go to the graduation. I suppose nobody wants to or it’s too expensive to graduate at Montgomery College even though they’re both county funded (? Tell me if I’m wrong about what college.) UMBC might be further out, but with the financial crisis that the county is in, it’s the prudent choice.

MC rents out their space. They aren’t limited. They could set up tents at a few schools or central location and do it there. Driving an hour plus for some of us isn’t doable.

+1 MCPS screws up by trying to have one standard solution for a graduation location in a district where it takes 2 hours to drive from end to end. It could have offered MC and DAR and UMBC as options. Instead it picks only UMBC and manages to annoy nearly everyone by choosing a location that isn't even in the county where our kids attend school.

Because there's nothing comparable within the county.