Dear Pine Bush staff and parents,

I write to you tonight with an update on our plans for graduation to honor the Pine Bush Class of 2020. Last week we conducted a poll of seniors and their parents, because we had heard so many requests for varied approaches to graduation. The results of that poll, not surprisingly, indicated that the clear majority preference was to have an in-person “West Point style” ceremony where graduates are socially distanced on our football field, but without an audience other than the graduates. Since that simply is not permitted at this time, the Senior Council earlier this evening unanimously endorsed a plan that will give our seniors a range of options.  And most seniors could potentially take advantage of all of these opportunities.

Our commencement ceremony has been postponed from June 26 to Friday, July 31, still at 7 p.m.  If the rules change and we are allowed at that time to host an in-person ceremony, then we will do so, following the guidelines provided by our public health experts in state and county government.  If the rules do not allow an in-person event, then the virtual ceremony, recorded in advance will be played at that time, live streamed on our website.

For students who don’t want to wait the extra month to get their diplomas, we will offer a personal ceremony by appointment. Seniors who select a time for these events can bring up to seven other family members. The graduate will walk across a small stage and be able to have a picture in their cap and gown with their family and one administrator or possibly a school board member. We hope to be able to begin offering scheduled time slots as early as June 24, but that will depend on when the diplomas actually arrive. You can have a personal ceremony and still participate in the July event.

If a senior doesn’t want to participate in any of these options, we will mail the diploma and any certificates or awards to their home.

We still plan to hold a parade of graduates, where students can load other family members into a car and participate in a caravan up 302 from Circleville to Pine Bush HS for one last pass through the school soon to become their alma mater. That is tentatively still slated to take place Saturday morning, June 27. We just need to secure final approval from the state Department of Transportation to guarantee we can hold the parade. Numerous area police departments are supporting this event.

Seniors and their families will be receiving far more detailed instructions from Principal Hopmayer and from their class advisors, Ms. Cook and Ms. Wright, over the coming days.  It is my hope that all seniors will still record their clip for the virtual graduation, since that may still be what we have to air on July 31.  And even if we don’t, the recording will still be a unique memento of this highly unusual year! Our plans provide us all with multiple ways to celebrate this outstanding class.

Tomorrow, I will be back with some reminders about our school elections.

Have a good evening.

Tim O. Mains, Pine Bush Superintendent