Dear Senior Gopher Community;

I hope that you and your families are all well and managing to keep safe. As we now approach the end of the school year I would like to send some clear communications regarding:

• Graduation

• End of the Year Checkout

• Updated Calendar information

However, I wanted to start by thanking you all as parents and supportive guardians as we have managed our students' stress levels TOGETHER! I am particularly appreciative of everything that you have been doing to support learning from home. With two school aged children myself, I know how difficult it is to juggle working from home with supporting your own children with their schooling, and this is of course in addition to dealing with all of the normal challenges of family life. The school has also received a number of messages of thanks and support from so many of you, and these are all received very gratefully indeed. Thank you.

I would like to once again thank all of the teaching staff who have continued to work exceptionally hard to ensure that the students are able to continue with their studies. I hope that your son/daughter has continued to find accessing the work via the Google Classroom or Hybrid to be straight-forward and helpful. As said previously, although nothing can replace the impact of students being in school to receive direct instruction and immediate feedback from their teachers, the use of the Google Classroom has enabled us to provide the students with the next best thing.

Last but not least I want to thank all the students in the Class of 2021. I don't know how you “did it”. Experiencing most of your Senior year online, without friends/classmates is something I can’t even begin to fathom. The grit, composure and overall determination I continue to see from each of you is inspiring. The pandemic has caused all of us to find a new way of living. My hope is that your new found resilience leads you into the next journey of life confidently. You have accomplished more by “figuring it out” than any class that has come before you. As I said in one of my recent messages to the students, I have been really impressed by everyone’s productiveness and ingenuity and hope that all continue searching for new ways of learning, expressing themselves and being confident in the “failure” by having enough durability to supersede.

I am very mindful that these continue to be unsettling and difficult times for students, staff and parents. However, we are beginning to see the “light at the end of the tunnel”. Through working together so positively over these recent months we have demonstrated just how much can be achieved within such a cohesive, assured, caring and supportive community such as ours, and from this we should continue to draw much strength.

Please do remember to contact us if you need any support.

Principal Drake Shelton

All seniors must meet Gresham Barlow School District graduation requirements in order to participate in commencement. In order to see where your student is in regards to their graduation status you can go to your ParentVue account. By going to the Course History tab it will show your students status. If you have any indication that your student’s academic performance and grades may be placing him/her in jeopardy of not graduating, contact his/her counselor and teachers immediately. You may call (503-674-5500) and/or email. Email addresses are available on the GHS website.

If your student attends the Center for Advanced Learning, I encourage you to contact teachers at those schools and CAL Director, Carol Egan, at 503-667-4978.

For some students, meeting graduation requirements is one of the first times in their lives that they have had to comply with an absolute requirement. A few seniors continue to believe that somehow an exception will be made for them at the last minute. I assure you, there are no exceptions made for students that do not meet state and District graduation requirements.One of the most difficult tasks that GHS counselors and administrators face is telling parents that their son/daughter will not participate in graduation. Please stay apprised of your student’s progress toward graduation (see article entitled Parents Should Monitor Grades in this newsletter)—we don’t want there to be any surprises during the last week of school for seniors. Remember--- ONLY students who have completed ALL requirements for graduation are allowed to receive a diploma and participate in commencement exercises. No exceptions will be made.

Gresham High School Graduation Ceremony

With the class of 2021, we are happy to welcome back a more traditional graduation ceremony. While our drive through last year was a fantastic celebration for our graduates, there is something special and comforting about a stage and an audience. With this:

Oregon Health Authority and Oregon Department of Education guidelines and rules dictate the following requirements involving graduation. Graduates and their immediate families will celebrate in three separate ceremonies or shifts on Stapleton Field (Football Stadium) at Gresham High School.

Students with last names ending in the following groups will report and attend their session at the following times on June 17th:

• A - G 3:30 (seniors report) ceremony 4:00 - 5:00

• Parking in the Division Parking lot

• H - 0 5:30 (seniors report) ceremony 6:00 - 7:00

• Parking in the Burnside lot and Main Street

• P - Z 7:30 (seniors report) ceremony 8:00 - 9:00

• Parking in the Division Parking lot

Seniors participating in graduation need to report approximately 30 minutes prior to their session beginning and will report through the main entrance of GHS to the auxiliary gym for directions, line-up and name cards. Graduates should be dressed in their gowns and caps and comfortable shoes. There is no need for anything else. No phones or purses or noise makers.

Once in the auxiliary gym, students will receive directions on the event and get their name cards for reading.

Graduates will receive 5 tickets* per graduate to be distributed how the graduate sees fit once they have checked out on June 9th. GHS is required to follow social distancing as well as health protocols before, during and after the event.

*Please note that the amount of tickets could change if the county metrics shift. We hope not to make any last minute adjustments.

Parking is limited on the campus of GHS and will be in the Division and Burnside Parking lots (see your assigned lot based upon your groupings) as well as Main street. Seating will be first come first serve in our football stadium on the home side. We will not be using the visitors stands during graduation. Graduates will be seated on the turf field in front of the stage.

GHS will have a photography company on site to capture the moment your graduate receives their diploma as well as a staged backdrop when they leave the stage. Information for ordering pictures can be found further down in this newsletter.

It will be very important for graduates and families to exit the venue once their session is complete. We have to sanitize and reset for the next session and being on time for this is very important - THANK YOU for your attention to this.

Gresham Barlow School District policy requires that administrators take steps to help ensure that appropriate decorum and safety are maintained during the commencement ceremony. Appropriate guidelines regarding “appropriate decorum and safety” at graduation are:

• Students are expected to wear appropriate attire.

• Students are allowed to wear school-sanctioned honor cords, sashes or medals that they have earned. Other decorative adornments to the graduation cap or gown (taped messages, ribbons, medals) are not allowed.

• Students and members of the audience are asked to be respectful of those who are speaking and performing during the ceremony. Applause is appropriate; loud outbursts and yelling and screaming are not. Items that will distract from the ceremony such as air horns, beach balls, etc. are not allowed and will not be tolerated.

School administrators are responsible to carry out all School Board policies. Students and guests are expected to comply with these policies. Action may be taken should these policies be violated during the graduation ceremony.

Seniors will need to turn in the following items:

ID Badges if you have one

Supply Packs if there are non-consumable items that we would use again

Chromebooks/hotspots

Outstanding Textbooks

Outstanding Library Books.

Pay for any accumulated fees and charges from your student account.

Students who have outstanding items to pay or library books to turn in received an email notice from the GHS Bookkeeper Jennifer Wilson and the Media Center on Friday, May 28th.

SENIOR CHECK OUT (whether you are graduating or not) will occur June 9th - 16th. The bookkeeper will accept cash, credit card or you can pay online at our website. NO CHECKS WILL BE ACCEPTED.

SENIOR CHECK OUT TIMES:

Wednesday, June 9th 8:30 am- 4:00 pm

Thursday, June 10th 8:30 am - 12:00 noon

Friday, June 11th 8:30 - 12:00 noon

Monday, June 14th 8:30 - 12:00 noon

Tuesday, June 15th 8:30 - 12:00 noon

Wednesday, June 16th 8:30 - 4:00 pm

Monday, June 7th

• Regular Class Schedule- CDL- AM & Hybrid AA Cohort-PM

Tuesday, June 8th

• Regular Class Schedule- CDL- AM & Hybrid AA Cohort-PM

Wednesday, June 9th

• Morning Advisory Schedule- CDL

• Last Day to turn in work- Assignments need to be turned in by 4:30 PM

• Senior Check-out

Thursday, June 10th

• No School for Seniors

• Senior Check-out

Friday, June 11th

• No School for Seniors

• Senior Check-out

Gresham Barlow School District will honor the Senior Class of 2021 by turning the lights on in Stapleton Field (Gresham Football field) for 21 minutes on Friday nights.

Time: 8:21 PM- 8:42 (21 minutes)

Days: Each Friday in June until graduation

Last chance to buy Senior All Night LUAU Party Tickets June 9th and Black Rock Coffee ALL Senior Celebration June 8th.

Black Rock Coffee and the Senior All Night Party Committee would like to celebrate ALL seniors with a FREE FUEL DRINK

Mark your calendars for Tuesday June 8th at the Gresham Location (Corner of Burnside and Division) 5am - 9pm

Must show school ID(from last year) or Flyer (will send out Monday June 7th)

LAST CHANCE to join in the FUN!

GHS Senior All Night LUAU Party Tickets are still on sale unitl June 4th!

Cost: $40 each!

You can purchase online through Venmo or contact Mrs. Green for more information (green2@gresham.k12.or.us)

Date: June 9th 11pm-5am (Senior Last School Day)

Specific party details will be send to school email address of ticket holders on June 7th.

When/Where

What to bring/What not to bring.

We are approaching the time of year when seniors are actively planning for graduation events. One of the most common proposals is the alleged “annual graduation trip” to Mexico or other locations that “everyone else” gets to go on. Please be very thorough in researching any package graduation trips before agreeing to let your son/daughter go. In no way does Gresham High School, nor the Gresham Barlow School District, endorse or sponsor ANY kind of graduation trip. We do not allow announcements or posters to be posted, nor do we allow recruitment meetings to take place on our campus. Typically a company will promise a “free” trip to a senior as long as they can sign up ten of their friends (who pay) to go along. It is advised that you check out these companies very carefully before allowing your son/daughter to go. Experience tells us that there is too often a lack of the promised supervision on these kinds of trips. Inadequate supervision can lead to easy access to alcohol and drugs, inappropriate sexual activity and the potential for serious problems to develop miles away from parental support. If you decide to allow your student to attend a senior trip, whether it be local, national or international, we encourage you to know everything you can about where your student is going, who they are going with and what is going to happen once they arrive at their destination.