Update, 1:30 p.m. May 7th:
(KNSI) – St. Cloud Area School District 742 has adjusted its high school graduation plans in light of the state of Minnesota’s new timeline for easing its COVID-19 restrictions.
Instead of multiple ceremonies for both Apollo and Tech high schools, Tech High School seniors will graduate on May 28th during a 5 p.m. ceremony. Apollo High School grads will have their ceremony on the same day at 8:30 p.m. Each graduate will get eight tickets for guests, who must wear face masks but will not need to be socially distanced in the River’s Edge Convention Center.
Plans remain the same for the graduates’ vehicle parades on May 25th and 26th.
Original story, 2:27 p.m. May 6th:
(KNSI) – High school seniors in the St. Cloud Area School District 742 will be able to have in-person graduation ceremonies this year with some modifications.
Seniors from Tech High School will graduate on May 27th, and Apollo High seniors graduate on the 28th. There will be three ceremonies per school at the River’s Edge Convention Center.
- Ceremony 1 at 5 p.m. for students A-G
- Ceremony 2 at 7 p.m. for students H-M
- Ceremony 3 at 9 p.m. for students N-Z
The venue will be sanitized between ceremonies. Grads get four tickets for family members and guests to keep the attendance limit for each ceremony at 775 people. The district says guests will be in pods spaced apart from other groups. Prerecorded musical performances and live speeches from senior speakers and faculty will be part of the hour-long ceremonies.
The ceremonies will also be livestreamed.
The schools will also carry over a pandemic tradition with grad parades on May 25th for Tech and May 26th for Apollo. Each parade starts at 5 p.m. on those days.
“Seniors and their families, in a single vehicle, are invited to drive through a parade route on the school site celebrating upcoming graduates. Seniors are encouraged to wear their cap and gowns and decorate their vehicles with school pride,” a statement from the district reads. “Faculty and staff will line the parade route to celebrate and say goodbye to the Class of 2021.”