Valley Class of 2020 Commencements
West Des Moines Community Schools | June 4, 2020
June has arrived, which means we are in full throttle preparation for the Valley High School Class of 2020 Commencement ceremonies and want to provide you some important updates.
The overwhelming feedback from a student and parent survey requested we hold an in-person graduation celebration. We researched dozens of options and collaborated with some pretty smart people to provide the best possible option for our seniors despite the numerous challenges surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.
To help protect our students, families, and staff, we decided to split our commencement at Valley Stadium into THREE separate events the weekend of June 27-28. Please view the following guidelines. More detailed instructions will be emailed to families in the coming weeks.
VALLEY STADIUM
4440 Mills Civic Parkway, West Des Moines
- Commencement #1: Last Names A-Gn | Saturday, June 27 at 10 a.m.
- Commencement #2: Last Names Go-N | Saturday, June 27 at 7 p.m.
- Commencement #3: Last Names O-Z | Sunday, June 28 at 7 p.m.
Rain Dates: 7 p.m. on Monday, June 29; Tuesday, June 30; or Wednesday, July 1.
Guests & Timing
- Each graduate can bring two guests to the event.
- The stadium will be opened 60 minutes before the event start time.
- Each commencement should last approximately one hour.
Parking & Seating
- Five separate entrances will be used for guests to enter the stadium. Guests will park in the lot closest to their entrance. More detailed information will be emailed at a later date.
- Graduates must enter the stadium with their two guests and will be directed to the assigned bleacher location based on last name.
- Spots will be marked on bleachers for where to sit.
- Handicap accessible seating is available. Please email Associate Principal Josh Griffith if you need to reserve a handicap spot.
Rules & Resources
- All graduates will be provided a Valley mask to wear. They will be handed out at each stadium entrance.
- All guests are required to bring and wear their own mask. Masks will NOT be provided for the guests, only graduates.
- There will be NO concessions open.
- There will be NO restrooms open.
- A first-aid station will be set up to provide emergency water, restroom access, or medical attention.
Virtual Commencement Project
Because we wanted a backup plan (to our already numerous backup plans), we decided to move forward with a virtual commencement project.
We collected student photos, video, and other information that helped us create student-personalized slides as part of the virtual video. The final video will be available for families after summer commencement. Portions of this video will also be shown during each event.
West Des Moines Community Schools
Email: scroffice@wdmcs.org
Website: wdmcs.org
Location: 3550 Mills Civic Parkway, West Des Moines, IA, USA
Phone: 515-633-5000
Facebook: facebook.com/WDMCS
Twitter: @WDMCS