Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is something to be said for uniformity accross the district. Keep everyone in Fairfax, make the decision at district level rather than principal level.

DAR is, in fact, a beautiful venue, but GMU makes more practical sense.

I’m not sure the latest contract means the schools that have been graduating at DAR won’t continue to do so. It may just ensure Eagle Bank is available for the other schools over a multi-year period.

In any case, if uniformity is so important, let’s also make sure FCPS is ensuring that the schools that kids attend before they graduate have comparable facilities. That might be more important than insisting every two-hour graduation ceremony take place at the same site.

Seriously? Stop it, McLean Mom.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is something to be said for uniformity accross the district. Keep everyone in Fairfax, make the decision at district level rather than principal level.

DAR is, in fact, a beautiful venue, but GMU makes more practical sense.

I’m not sure the latest contract means the schools that have been graduating at DAR won’t continue to do so. It may just ensure Eagle Bank is available for the other schools over a multi-year period.

In any case, if uniformity is so important, let’s also make sure FCPS is ensuring that the schools that kids attend before they graduate have comparable facilities. That might be more important than insisting every two-hour graduation ceremony take place at the same site.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Only the top high schools get DAR as their graduation venue. McLean, Langley, Madison, Marshall.

Eagle Bank is for the riffraff.

I graduated from Annandale high school back in the 90’s and our graduation was at National Cathedral.

Guess FCPS really has gone downhill!

DP. That is awesome!! What a beautiful venue. We live outside the nation’s capital - I am wholeheartedly in favor of taking advantage of some of these special places for a once-in-a-lifetime occasion, like high school graduation. DAR is great, but National Cathedral would be too.

I graduated from a Montgomery County HS at the Kennedy Center in the early 90s. I wonder if they are still having graduations there or are the class sizes too large now?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Only the top high schools get DAR as their graduation venue. McLean, Langley, Madison, Marshall.

Eagle Bank is for the riffraff.

I graduated from Annandale high school back in the 90’s and our graduation was at National Cathedral.

Guess FCPS really has gone downhill!

DP. That is awesome!! What a beautiful venue. We live outside the nation’s capital - I am wholeheartedly in favor of taking advantage of some of these special places for a once-in-a-lifetime occasion, like high school graduation. DAR is great, but National Cathedral would be too.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who tf brings their entire family to a high school graduation?

DAR is small, so most schools only offer four tickets per family. Between Mom, Dad, step-parents and siblings, those go quickly.

Anonymous wrote:Who tf brings their entire family to a high school graduation?

Anonymous wrote:Who tf brings their entire family to a high school graduation?

Anonymous wrote:Who tf brings their entire family to a high school graduation?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This just in - unsure if this means JMHS will still have graduation at DAR next year

The Fairfax County School Board on May 11 unanimously approved a $500,000-per-year, sole-source contract with Monumental Sports & Entertainment to rent EagleBank Arena at George Mason University’s Fairfax campus for graduation ceremonies. The contract will run for five years and have a total value of $2.5 million

🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼 My kid will graduate from JMHS next year and I’m praying for GMU! So much more convenient for my whole family!

Don't count on it.

I totally agree that GMU is more convenient and makes more sense. But, you should accept that it will likely be at DAR... and it's not as hard to get there as I expected. It was a lovely venue for the ceremony. It was frustrating and difficult getting out of the garage. But, really, going to DAR (as out of the way as it is), worked out. Don't make it more dramatic than it has to be. This whole thread is silly. For those going to GMU -- yay!-- enjoy. For those going to DAR --- yay! --- enjoy.

Either option will work out.

+1
And the easiest option for DAR is simply parking at your school or at Tysons and taking an Uber there and back. This really is a stupid thread.

Marshall offers ride for friends/family on shuttle buses. School buses, so not fancy, but it takes you from the school to the venue and back again.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This just in - unsure if this means JMHS will still have graduation at DAR next year

The Fairfax County School Board on May 11 unanimously approved a $500,000-per-year, sole-source contract with Monumental Sports & Entertainment to rent EagleBank Arena at George Mason University’s Fairfax campus for graduation ceremonies. The contract will run for five years and have a total value of $2.5 million

🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼 My kid will graduate from JMHS next year and I’m praying for GMU! So much more convenient for my whole family!

Don't count on it.

I totally agree that GMU is more convenient and makes more sense. But, you should accept that it will likely be at DAR... and it's not as hard to get there as I expected. It was a lovely venue for the ceremony. It was frustrating and difficult getting out of the garage. But, really, going to DAR (as out of the way as it is), worked out. Don't make it more dramatic than it has to be. This whole thread is silly. For those going to GMU -- yay!-- enjoy. For those going to DAR --- yay! --- enjoy.

Either option will work out.

+1
And the easiest option for DAR is simply parking at your school or at Tysons and taking an Uber there and back. This really is a stupid thread.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This just in - unsure if this means JMHS will still have graduation at DAR next year

The Fairfax County School Board on May 11 unanimously approved a $500,000-per-year, sole-source contract with Monumental Sports & Entertainment to rent EagleBank Arena at George Mason University’s Fairfax campus for graduation ceremonies. The contract will run for five years and have a total value of $2.5 million

🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼 My kid will graduate from JMHS next year and I’m praying for GMU! So much more convenient for my whole family!

Don't count on it.

I totally agree that GMU is more convenient and makes more sense. But, you should accept that it will likely be at DAR... and it's not as hard to get there as I expected. It was a lovely venue for the ceremony. It was frustrating and difficult getting out of the garage. But, really, going to DAR (as out of the way as it is), worked out. Don't make it more dramatic than it has to be. This whole thread is silly. For those going to GMU -- yay!-- enjoy. For those going to DAR --- yay! --- enjoy.

Either option will work out.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This just in - unsure if this means JMHS will still have graduation at DAR next year

The Fairfax County School Board on May 11 unanimously approved a $500,000-per-year, sole-source contract with Monumental Sports & Entertainment to rent EagleBank Arena at George Mason University’s Fairfax campus for graduation ceremonies. The contract will run for five years and have a total value of $2.5 million

🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼 My kid will graduate from JMHS next year and I’m praying for GMU! So much more convenient for my whole family!

Anonymous wrote:This just in - unsure if this means JMHS will still have graduation at DAR next year

The Fairfax County School Board on May 11 unanimously approved a $500,000-per-year, sole-source contract with Monumental Sports & Entertainment to rent EagleBank Arena at George Mason University’s Fairfax campus for graduation ceremonies. The contract will run for five years and have a total value of $2.5 million

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Actually, almost no FCPS schools graduate at DAR - only four. The majority graduate at Eagle Bank.

Given the stories I've heard about traffic, timing, accessibility, etc. I'd actually prefer my kid wasn't going to be graduating at DAR (my older one graduated at Jiffy Lube Live due to COVID and, name aside, I thought it was a great choice). The grass is always greener, I suppose.

+1

Jiffy Lube was the only good idea FCPS has ever (EVER) had.

Except for "Jiffy Lube Live" on the graduation programs. Shudder.

My kid graduated two years ago at Jiffy Lube Live and I can promise you that I haven’t looked at the program since. I barely looked at it that day other than brief glances to see where we were in the schedule; I had better things to think about. It’s not like it says Jiffy Lube Live on DCs diploma, which is the paper that matters.