Central Minnesota Schools Announce High School Graduation Ceremony Plans

(KNSI) – The Sartell St. Stephen High School class of 2021 will get a graduation ceremony this year.

An email from the Sartell St. Stephen School District says graduation will be held Saturday, June 5th at the Sartell High School gym at 7:30 p.m.

The class of 2021 is the first to have its graduation ceremony inside the new school building.

The email says, “the Senior class has dealt with 15 months of change caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the District wants to ensure the students have an excellent send-off with a graduation in the great tradition of the Sartell-St. Stephen School District.”

Tickets will be required. Seniors can have up to five guests. The event will also be live-streamed via the school’s YouTube page for those who can’t make it.

In another shift toward normal, the email says masks will not be required. “The State of Minnesota has clarified its masking requirements for schools after the recent repeal of a statewide mask mandate. In this clarification, the Minnesota Department of Education and the Minnesota Department of Health have stated that for school districts, mask requirements only apply during the instructional day and while riding on school transportation. The requirements do not apply during after school activities. With this clarification, the District is not requiring face masks at graduation.”

St. Cloud Tech and Apollo High Schools will have their graduation ceremony at the River’s Edge Convention Center Friday. For students at Sauk Rapids-Rice, masks are encouraged but not required for their graduation ceremony coming up on June 1st at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center.

___