Shepard Graduation & Final Days '25

Wow! We are halfway through May, which means graduation is truly just on the horizon. We sent a note in March about graduation details, which you can find here. Now, we just want to share a reminder of the details along with details about the end of the school year! You can also find these details on the school website linked here. We are excited to celebrate with you.

Sincerely,

Rob Wegley, Principal

Cathy Van Treese, Associate Principal

Ginger Logemann, Director for Student Services

When: Monday, June 2nd

• Students should arrive by 5:00 pm. They should come to the Deerfield High School lobby, and they will be directed to a meeting room.
• Doors will open at 5:00 pm.
• The ceremony begins at 5:30 pm and will last approximately one hour.
• The PTSO will host a celebration in the Deerfield High School cafeteria beginning around 6:30 pm. Tickets are available on the PTSO website.
• There will be plenty of parking available as our graduation is the only event of the night on the 2nd!

Seating is limited in the auditorium at Deerfield High School. As such, each family will receive four tickets for graduation (this does not include your child or children graduating). Tickets are required to enter the auditorium and will be collected.

Tickets will be sent home with students after our graduation practice on Friday, May 30th along with their graduation gowns.

Students should dress appropriately for this special occasion:

• Dress pants and shirt/blouse and skirt/dress

• Dress shoes (students will be walking up stairs to risers so choose heel height that is comfortable for climbing)

• Gown provided by the school

When graduation gowns come home on Friday, May 30, it is important to keep them hung up over the weekend to keep them in tip-top shape! They could even benefit from a quick steam prior to our graduation ceremony.

These will be taken on Friday, May 30th. They will be available through Stuart-Rodgers Photography, which you will be able to order after the fact on the Stuart-Rodgers website.

Thursday, May 29th - 8th-grade students attend a full day of school. They have their encore classes but not their core classes. 8th-grade students will head to Par-King around 10:30am and have lunch after their return to Shepard around 12:30pm. Then, we have locker clean out! 🎉 That will be followed by a fun surprise from the PTSO, yearbook distribution, and our all-school variety show! Wow!

Friday, May 30th - 8th-grade Students attend a full day of school. They will turn in all of their devices as we engage in a rehearsal for graduation. Students will get their graduation photos taken with Stuart Rogers (Class and Individual). At the end of the day, they will receive their graduation gowns and graduation tickets to take home.

Monday, June 2nd (School Day) - 8th-grade students attend school from 8:00 - 10:00am.

• 8:00am: 8th-grade students meet in the gym. The Daughters of the American Revolution and American Legion awards are presented to students, and we have a final practice for graduation.
• 10:00am: 8th-grade students are dismissed. There is a bus available for transportation home if needed.

Monday, June 2nd (Graduation)

• 4:50 - 5:00pm: Students arrive at Deerfield High School. They will be guided to their team meeting room. Nothing can be left in the meeting rooms! Parents, please hold your student's cell phone.
• 5:00pm: Doors open. Every person must have a ticket to attend. Tickets will be collected.
• 5:30pm: The graduation ceremony begins!
• 6:30pm: Students return their gowns to the boxes in the lobby. Once students cross the stage and have their graduation certified, they are no longer DPS109 students! Whoa! They will officially be done with middle school, and we will miss them dearly.
• 6:30 - 8:00pm: Family graduation party from the PTSO! This is not a drop-off event. Tickets can be purchased on the PTSO website!