You guys are nuts. We had an adorable preschool graduation too. Are you going to argue that having a preschool ceremony means our children are not going to college? My 5th grader has a promotion ceremony this week that I expect to be a tear-jerker as he says goodbye to a school he loved for 6 years. For goodness sake, even the Girl Scouts have bridging ceremonies when they move up from Brownies. It's ludicrous to say we shouldn't have these nice ceremonies because they detract from "real" graduations or are just a "holdover" from a time when people didn't graduate high school (really, we think an MCPS ceremony is a 100 year old holdover?).

For that matter, why have high school graduations if everyone is expected to go on to graduate from college?

Anonymous wrote:We are a different MS in MCPS.

I love the fact that Pyle does not do am 8th grade promotion ceremony. I wish our school would do away with this stupid and worthless event too. As it is the instructional year is shrinking in MCPS, and to spend time and expense for something so undeserved and wasteful boggles my mind!!

Exactly. It's not much of an accomplishment to finish eighth grade in the 21st century in the U.S. It's a holdover from pre-WWII days when relatively few students went on to high school. It made sense when 8th grade was the end of your education, but not now.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is this an MCPS policy to have 8th grade promotion ceremony in middle school? This is ridiculous!

I just don't understand why kids would get a special ceremony / pat on the back for going from MS to HS. Shouldn't this be expected and no big deal in the sense that it isn't an accomplishment but just a natural next step?

HS orientation is a whole different thing.

What I just don't understand is how people can have such strong feelings opposing a little ceremony marking the end of middle school.

And if finishing middle school isn't an accomplishment, then finishing high school isn't an accomplishment either, so why have a high school graduation ceremony? Plus, shouldn't it be expected and no big deal for people to graduate from high school?

And getting married isn't an accomplishment either, so what do people have weddings for? Let alone engagement parties and bridal showers.

If you don't want to go to your kid's promotion ceremony, then you don't have to go. If schools are having promotion ceremonies that don't involve your kid, why do you care? Good grief.

Anonymous wrote:Is this an MCPS policy to have 8th grade promotion ceremony in middle school? This is ridiculous!

I just don't understand why kids would get a special ceremony / pat on the back for going from MS to HS. Shouldn't this be expected and no big deal in the sense that it isn't an accomplishment but just a natural next step?

HS orientation is a whole different thing.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is this an MCPS policy to have 8th grade promotion ceremony in middle school? This is ridiculous!

Why? 8th grade is the last year of middle school in MCPS. After that you go to high school.

Ridiculous would be having an 8th grade promotion ceremony in elementary high school, or in high school.

+1 DCUM is the only place I know of that complains about something so trivial...

Anonymous wrote:Is this an MCPS policy to have 8th grade promotion ceremony in middle school? This is ridiculous!

Why? 8th grade is the last year of middle school in MCPS. After that you go to high school.

Ridiculous would be having an 8th grade promotion ceremony in elementary high school, or in high school.

Is this an MCPS policy to have 8th grade promotion ceremony in middle school? This is ridiculous!

Ice -- kids

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It looks like they have something planned, but it isn't clear what. I haven't heard anything either but saw this on the website:
http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/pylems/event.aspx?id=535940

That is the 9th grade orientation that you are citing.

On the last day of school? That is either inaccurate or stupid.

I'm afraid that you are the one that is stupid. The last day of the high school year is a day when you might find four high school students in the building. They are there to see teachers about grades or make up exams that they somehow missed. That is why they schedule the orientation day for that particular day.

In the past that was true as it was a make up day for finals only. Now there are no finals so it is a regular school day...not that I expect any actual learning to be happening but there will be plenty of ice.

We are a different MS in MCPS.

I love the fact that Pyle does not do am 8th grade promotion ceremony. I wish our school would do away with this stupid and worthless event too. As it is the instructional year is shrinking in MCPS, and to spend time and expense for something so undeserved and wasteful boggles my mind!!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It looks like they have something planned, but it isn't clear what. I haven't heard anything either but saw this on the website:
http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/pylems/event.aspx?id=535940

That is the 9th grade orientation that you are citing.

On the last day of school? That is either inaccurate or stupid.

I'm afraid that you are the one that is stupid. The last day of the high school year is a day when you might find four high school students in the building. They are there to see teachers about grades or make up exams that they somehow missed. That is why they schedule the orientation day for that particular day.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It looks like they have something planned, but it isn't clear what. I haven't heard anything either but saw this on the website:
http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/pylems/event.aspx?id=535940

That is the 9th grade orientation that you are citing.

On the last day of school? That is either inaccurate or stupid.

I think it happens that day every year at Whitman. The high schoolers are done (it used to be a make up exam day, not sure what it is now) so it's just the 8th graders at the school. It's the transition for them - touring the campus/building, etc. You can't have 500 extra kids showing up on a regular school day.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It looks like they have something planned, but it isn't clear what. I haven't heard anything either but saw this on the website:
http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/pylems/event.aspx?id=535940

That is the 9th grade orientation that you are citing.

On the last day of school? That is either inaccurate or stupid.

^^^ should say 10 year olds and 14 year olds

Here's a novel idea: let's not water down the specialness of an actual graduation (the kind where you get a diploma) by putting 19 year olds and 14 year olds in cap and gown. Let's just make it a special day when you've actually (wait for it) EARNED IT.

I'm shocked in a culture that gives kids a trophy for showing up to practice that they refrain from doing this. Shocked and pleased.