Dear SHS Seniors and Parents...
Graduation Information
This spring, you have the odd experience of mourning losses and celebrating achievements simultaneously. We have students and staff at SHS who have lost family members to COVID-19. Many have lost their jobs and stability. For some, the loss of long-awaited senior-year traditions may be a minor disappointment; for others, it is devastating. No matter how you have been impacted by the pandemic and school closure, our hearts are with you.
In the past few weeks, as distance learning has been underway, my administration and our district office have closely considered guidelines released by the Oregon Department of Education and the Oregon Health Authority, and we have connected extensively with our counterparts in surrounding districts. We have heard from seniors and their parents alike. After weighing various options, along with the values of the North Santiam School District, we know this: we will put on a thoughtful commencement ceremony worthy of our graduates and their supporters.
Here is what we also know:
We know that our priority is the safety of our students, staff, and community.
We know that our county--and our community in particular--is one of the most impacted by COVID-19 in Oregon.
We know that social distancing guidelines continue, and while some are being gradually eased, there is no set date for them to be lifted entirely.
We know that postponing graduation until late July or August will not necessarily afford us the opportunity to conduct it in a traditional way. That is a gamble.
We know that if we postpone graduation too long, not only do we delay closure and the healthy movement toward seniors’ next chapter in their lives, but we ensure that seniors who have shorter summers ahead--who are leaving early to school or to the military--will miss out on it entirely.
For these reasons and others, unfortunately, we are not planning on holding in-person senior activities other than a graduation ceremony. Though commencement is a community event, it is about and for the honorees. Therefore, we recently surveyed our seniors for their preferences to determine important elements of the ceremony: the date, the presentation format, and the speakers. More information will be forthcoming in the weeks ahead, but these decisions have been made:
When: Saturday, June 13 at 6:00 PM.
Where: Sublimity Harvest Festival (11880 Sublimity Rd. SE, Sublimity, OR 97385)
What: A drive-up experience for families and guests. Seniors will walk across a stage.
We appreciate Sublimity Harvest Festival for generously donating use of their grounds and giving Stayton High School priority over other area schools. I recently walked the space and am confident we can create a memorable, meaningful, and fun event there. Our leadership team will be meeting soon and frequently with a group of senior parents, as well as district officials, to work out logistics. Thank you for being patient as we determine many details, which we will share as soon as they are available. That said, for your planning purposes, I anticipate that we will be able to allow two vehicles per graduate at the ceremony.
At my first meeting with SHS staff last August, I addressed graduation--not the concept or the percentage on our state report card, but the actual ceremony. I told staff I expect them all to be present that day, wearing robes and sitting behind our seniors. While the format this June will be different, I am still asking staff to attend. Now, more than ever, our kids need to know we are with them. You don’t have someone in your home--much less in your heart--for four years and not bid them a proper farewell on their way out. This is the single most important event we have, when we can say, as a village, “We did it.”
While the pandemic has wiped out so much of life and of our routines and traditions, it will not rob us of this joyous event.
Take Care,
Susanne Stefani
Principal
Empowering Every Student for Life.
Email: susanne.stefani@nsantiam.k12.or.us
Website: nsantiam.k12.or.us/shs
Location: 757 West Locust Street, Stayton, OR, USA
Phone: (503) 769-2171