Anonymous
Post 10/03/2025 21:18     Subject: UMBC for graduation?????
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I was not a fan of the UMBC graduation. It felt very unspecial. Maybe especially so because we had the morning slot in the middle of the week -- we had to get up really really early and fight rush hour traiffc and didn't invite the younger sibs or aunts/uncles because it would have meant everyone missing a whole day of school/work (more if they had to travel). So it was just like basically driving out to the middle of nowhere to go to a building that felt like a warehouse and sit there and listen to some politicians speak. I guess it all flows from the fact that these high schools are just so enormous and impersonal. I remember my own public HS graduation and it was a Friday night at our own HS -- so felt like our sort of last hurrah at the school. I had nephews graduate from a small public HS in a small town and they did it basically at the town hall and it was a big local event. Our UMBC graduation basically felt like a very impersonal warehouse. Maybe a fitting end to the MCPS experience.

But in the general gist of all the things that are going wrong with the world, this ranks below the top million things I'm concerned about.



It is being used to promote the UMBC campus to MCPS graduates as a direction for college. Sending all MCPS graduates and parents up there is to promote the use of UMBC since MCPS grads can’t reliably get into UM College Park anymore. This was set up in closed door negotiations.


Not sure how you know this but it certainly makes a lot of sense. Similar to how MCPS aggressively pushed dual enrolment to boost Montgomery college which was suffering from decreasing enrolment

I think you and the PP tinfoil hats might be too tight
Anonymous
Post 10/03/2025 21:09     Subject: Re:UMBC for graduation?????
Anonymous wrote:Oh wow. Honestly, I'm not mad at MCPS for doing this. Figuring which school was hosting which graduation where was an absolute nightmare.

Also, the graduations in D.A.R. Constitution Hall have become untenable with all of the disruptions and increased military presence happening in the nation's capital.


Yep, Unfortunately, ICE would probably be working the door.
Anonymous
Post 10/03/2025 19:51     Subject: UMBC for graduation?????
WJ is at UMBC this year.

The HSs no longer fit at DAR, and it's a PITA to get there, parking is non existent without paying a fortune, and heaven forbid grandma or grandpa have mobility issues. College Park was too expensive. UMBC is better for parking, you can get more tickets for family members to attend, etc. Way better.
Anonymous
Post 10/03/2025 18:04     Subject: Re:UMBC for graduation?????
The email mentions the UMBC venue is better for accessibility. Did anyone have elderly guests with mobility challenges attend a graduation there, and how did it work for them?
Anonymous
Post 10/03/2025 17:49     Subject: UMBC for graduation?????
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Total agree with the post that says “not personal” because for some of us it will feel like a factory and rushed. BEFORE you jump on me - not all MCPS schools are huge. Damascus does graduation at their football field because that is what the parents want. Poolesville did theirs at Mount St Mary’s which is perfect for the Poolesville school location. Yeah we are small towns and want a smaller feel but it was taken away from us because it’s always about the bigger schools.

Totally agree about not using DAR and I agree UMBC is a good location but not for all.


But if MCPS got a better deal by holding ALL the graduations there this year, then it frees up desperately-needed money for the rest of their long to-do list.

You seem to have forgotten that your high school is just a small part of a very large, unwieldy and impersonal school system. Everything cannot revolve around your school's needs, and believe me, coming from a very large overcrowded down-county school, everything does not revolve around my children's needs either!

This is how it is when your taxes pay for your kids' education, without an extra 60K tuition per kid out of your own pocket every year. I have friends and neighbors who pay that much to attend private school.





Isn’t it sad that schools are built so large these days they aren’t personable? Sort of the bigger issue isn’t it? Probably the reason people go private. Wouldn’t it be nice to not just be a number on a conveyor belt and actual feel appreciated after your 13 years of hard work. Kids are literally celebrating their biggest accomplishment in their young lives.

If Damascus holds them in their football stadium, I would imagine their cost is quite low. As for Poolesville, I bet this small town would get parents or businesses to help with the cost of graduation. Those who can’t afford the high price of the majority of housing in Poolesville still manage to have their kid in the magnet program. Many of whom are from down county. Why do they pick Poolesville? Being in Poolesville is just like being in a private school. Yes I know what I’m talking about because I sent a kid through a $60k private school. Also, upcounty residents are just used to consistently getting the shaft because of the center and down county. Only way to fix it is to split the county in half.
Anonymous
Post 10/03/2025 16:47     Subject: UMBC for graduation?????
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I was not a fan of the UMBC graduation. It felt very unspecial. Maybe especially so because we had the morning slot in the middle of the week -- we had to get up really really early and fight rush hour traiffc and didn't invite the younger sibs or aunts/uncles because it would have meant everyone missing a whole day of school/work (more if they had to travel). So it was just like basically driving out to the middle of nowhere to go to a building that felt like a warehouse and sit there and listen to some politicians speak. I guess it all flows from the fact that these high schools are just so enormous and impersonal. I remember my own public HS graduation and it was a Friday night at our own HS -- so felt like our sort of last hurrah at the school. I had nephews graduate from a small public HS in a small town and they did it basically at the town hall and it was a big local event. Our UMBC graduation basically felt like a very impersonal warehouse. Maybe a fitting end to the MCPS experience.

But in the general gist of all the things that are going wrong with the world, this ranks below the top million things I'm concerned about.



It is being used to promote the UMBC campus to MCPS graduates as a direction for college. Sending all MCPS graduates and parents up there is to promote the use of UMBC since MCPS grads can’t reliably get into UM College Park anymore. This was set up in closed door negotiations.


Not sure how you know this but it certainly makes a lot of sense. Similar to how MCPS aggressively pushed dual enrolment to boost Montgomery college which was suffering from decreasing enrolment
Anonymous
Post 10/03/2025 16:35     Subject: Re:UMBC for graduation?????
Anonymous wrote:Omg, I am so relieved, I might cry. I have twins graduating from different MCPS high schools this year. Some years the ceremonies for these schools were held in different locations on the same day and attending both would have been impossible. I’ve been worried about this for years. If all ceremonies are held in the same venue, there can’t be conflicts. All these years of their BTSN, homecoming, etc., being scheduled on the same nights are forgiven. This is a HUGE relief.


+1
Anonymous
Post 10/03/2025 16:33     Subject: UMBC for graduation?????
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I was not a fan of the UMBC graduation. It felt very unspecial. Maybe especially so because we had the morning slot in the middle of the week -- we had to get up really really early and fight rush hour traiffc and didn't invite the younger sibs or aunts/uncles because it would have meant everyone missing a whole day of school/work (more if they had to travel). So it was just like basically driving out to the middle of nowhere to go to a building that felt like a warehouse and sit there and listen to some politicians speak. I guess it all flows from the fact that these high schools are just so enormous and impersonal. I remember my own public HS graduation and it was a Friday night at our own HS -- so felt like our sort of last hurrah at the school. I had nephews graduate from a small public HS in a small town and they did it basically at the town hall and it was a big local event. Our UMBC graduation basically felt like a very impersonal warehouse. Maybe a fitting end to the MCPS experience.

But in the general gist of all the things that are going wrong with the world, this ranks below the top million things I'm concerned about.


You should move back to your small town and have a "special graduation." This is MCPS. Our highschools are enormous and impersonal. I'm not sure why that is UMBC's fault. DAR is a massive PIA.


I'm not from a small town. I went to a regular sized public HS in a regular sized city, and we had graduation on Friday night in our HS auditorium. As I said, it was my nephews who graduated from a small town. And I never said it was UMBC's fault. Just felt like a crappy cookie cutter end to 13 years of an educational system that started out feeling very nice and community-based but with each year felt more and more bureaucratic and impersonal. But whatever. That's life in the 21st century -- bureaucratic and impersonal. As I said, it might have felt slightly better if it wasn't at 9 a.m. on a Wednesday with everyone rushed to get out so they could get in the next group on the conveyer belt.
Anonymous
Post 10/03/2025 16:19     Subject: Re:UMBC for graduation?????
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Omg, I am so relieved, I might cry. I have twins graduating from different MCPS high schools this year. Some years the ceremonies for these schools were held in different locations on the same day and attending both would have been impossible. I’ve been worried about this for years. If all ceremonies are held in the same venue, there can’t be conflicts. All these years of their BTSN, homecoming, etc., being scheduled on the same nights are forgiven. This is a HUGE relief.


The BOE paid for two graduations to be at Xfinity Center. Blair and WJ.


For 2025, yes. But for 2026 also?
Anonymous
Post 10/03/2025 16:11     Subject: Re:UMBC for graduation?????
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Omg, I am so relieved, I might cry. I have twins graduating from different MCPS high schools this year. Some years the ceremonies for these schools were held in different locations on the same day and attending both would have been impossible. I’ve been worried about this for years. If all ceremonies are held in the same venue, there can’t be conflicts. All these years of their BTSN, homecoming, etc., being scheduled on the same nights are forgiven. This is a HUGE relief.


The BOE paid for two graduations to be at Xfinity Center. Blair and WJ.

In that case, I feel really bad for anyone who has a graduation scheduling overlap. It seems like schools with magnet programs shouldn’t have their ceremonies scheduled for the same day as any of their feeder schools, but I can’t expect MCPS to take families of multiples into account when scheduling ceremonies.
Anonymous
Post 10/03/2025 16:01     Subject: UMBC for graduation?????
Anonymous wrote:Are y’all going to freak out about this every year?


I know right? ☺️
Anonymous
Post 10/03/2025 15:59     Subject: UMBC for graduation?????
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I was not a fan of the UMBC graduation. It felt very unspecial. Maybe especially so because we had the morning slot in the middle of the week -- we had to get up really really early and fight rush hour traiffc and didn't invite the younger sibs or aunts/uncles because it would have meant everyone missing a whole day of school/work (more if they had to travel). So it was just like basically driving out to the middle of nowhere to go to a building that felt like a warehouse and sit there and listen to some politicians speak. I guess it all flows from the fact that these high schools are just so enormous and impersonal. I remember my own public HS graduation and it was a Friday night at our own HS -- so felt like our sort of last hurrah at the school. I had nephews graduate from a small public HS in a small town and they did it basically at the town hall and it was a big local event. Our UMBC graduation basically felt like a very impersonal warehouse. Maybe a fitting end to the MCPS experience.

But in the general gist of all the things that are going wrong with the world, this ranks below the top million things I'm concerned about.



It is being used to promote the UMBC campus to MCPS graduates as a direction for college. Sending all MCPS graduates and parents up there is to promote the use of UMBC since MCPS grads can’t reliably get into UM College Park anymore. This was set up in closed door negotiations.


I believe it and this makes sense. One Maryland, working together.

Makes sense to me, too. FWIW, my DC's graduation in 2023 was in UMBC. Ours started late because the people for the graduation before us wouldn't clear the venue in time. I hope UMBC does a better job of managing times.
Anonymous
Post 10/03/2025 15:55     Subject: Re:UMBC for graduation?????
Anonymous wrote:Omg, I am so relieved, I might cry. I have twins graduating from different MCPS high schools this year. Some years the ceremonies for these schools were held in different locations on the same day and attending both would have been impossible. I’ve been worried about this for years. If all ceremonies are held in the same venue, there can’t be conflicts. All these years of their BTSN, homecoming, etc., being scheduled on the same nights are forgiven. This is a HUGE relief.


The BOE paid for two graduations to be at Xfinity Center. Blair and WJ.
Anonymous
Post 10/03/2025 14:39     Subject: UMBC for graduation?????
Anonymous wrote:Total agree with the post that says “not personal” because for some of us it will feel like a factory and rushed. BEFORE you jump on me - not all MCPS schools are huge. Damascus does graduation at their football field because that is what the parents want. Poolesville did theirs at Mount St Mary’s which is perfect for the Poolesville school location. Yeah we are small towns and want a smaller feel but it was taken away from us because it’s always about the bigger schools.

Totally agree about not using DAR and I agree UMBC is a good location but not for all.


But if MCPS got a better deal by holding ALL the graduations there this year, then it frees up desperately-needed money for the rest of their long to-do list.

You seem to have forgotten that your high school is just a small part of a very large, unwieldy and impersonal school system. Everything cannot revolve around your school's needs, and believe me, coming from a very large overcrowded down-county school, everything does not revolve around my children's needs either!

This is how it is when your taxes pay for your kids' education, without an extra 60K tuition per kid out of your own pocket every year. I have friends and neighbors who pay that much to attend private school.



Anonymous
Post 10/03/2025 14:35     Subject: UMBC for graduation?????
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Many public schools are moving away from graduations at DAR this year. Not sure why.


Might have to do with the militarization of the federal government and concerns for undocumented Hispanic families with potentially being raided by ICE during their kids graduation.


OMG you're so dumb. DAR is way too small and hasn't been used for years for the largest MCPS high schools.

Just... think before you type. You're making the left look bad.


It was used by plenty of MCPS high schools last school year, genius: https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/info/graduation/



Maybe learn to read better.