The Pleasantville School District has announced plans for graduation. According to the district, they will hold a “drive-through” graduation ceremony on Sunday, May 17th at 2:00 pm. The plan is for students to get dressed up in their graduation cap and gowns and get lined up in a car or truck (no motorcycles or mopeds) and have a legal, trusted family member or friend drive them slowly through the parade route designated by the district.

For the drive-through graduation, seniors will line up in their vehicles in alphabetical order for the parade along the road at Webb Shadle Park and then follow the route slowly and safely.  Guests and members of the community can line up anywhere along the parade route and are encouraged to stay safely distanced from others. The district would ask to keep the area in front of the high school along Jones Street as reserved for the immediate families of the graduates.  

There are currently two options for the proposed graduation parade routes and concepts, which are dependent on the social distancing and gathering expectations that will be in place from the state of Iowa on May 17th. 

In addition, a Google Hangout meeting invitation will be sent to the email address of all members of the class of 2020.  This is a meeting for seniors to hear more details of the plans for this and other senior events and ask questions.  This virtual meeting will be held on Friday, May 8th at 1:00 pm. The senior awards ceremony will move to a virtual ceremony and will be completed by May 13th.  

In addition to the “drive-through” graduation celebration, the district says they will try hard to also hold a traditional graduation ceremony for seniors.  The contingency date for this is now set for Sunday, June 28th at 2:00 pm in the PHS gym.

 

 OPTION 1: Our preference, if weather and safety guidelines will allow, is to go with drive through graduation “option 1.” In option 1, seniors will get lined up and follow the route outlined on the next page, with the culmination of the parade allowing seniors to have their vehicle driven slowly into the PHS stadium and take a lap around the track with their immediate family seated safely in the stadium bleachers.  Seniors would be driven around the track and have their driver stop at the 50-yard line on the visitor’s side of the stadium.  At that point, the driver would stop the vehicle and the senior would exit and then start to walk across the football field toward the home bleachers.  When the senior got to the home side of the football field they would step up onto a small stage where they would pick up their diploma while their name was read aloud on the stadium PA system.  The driver for that senior would continue their route around the track and exit the stadium.  After the graduate picked up their diploma they would line up along the inside of the track on the home side of the stadium 6’ apart until all 66 seniors in this class had their name read.  After the last senior walked across the field and received their diploma there would be a collective round of applause and an opportunity for the professional photographer to take a group photo as the seniors toss their graduation caps in the air.  Once this was done, all guests and graduates would need to leave the premises, and the drive-through graduation would be considered finished.  We need to stress that this will only be an option if it is deemed permissible in accordance with state health expectations. 

 

Proposed Drive Through Graduation Parade Route Map (option 1)

A larger view of this map for option #1 can be found HERE.

OPTION 2: Our backup plan (if the state’s safety guidelines won’t allow students and families to “gather” inside the stadium) is go with “option 2.” Drive through graduation option 2 would follow the same parade route as outlined above but instead of entering the stadium in their vehicles, students would stay in their vehicles and pick up their diploma off a pedestal or table right from the road out in front of PHS during the parade route.  It is important to remind everyone that in this option, guests and friends could line up anywhere they’d like along the parade route to clap and cheer for their graduate, with the area on Jones Street near PHS being reserved for graduates and their immediate families.  After the graduate picked up their diploma from their vehicle they would be free to leave the premises and the drive-through graduation would be considered finished.

A larger view of the map for option #2 can be found HERE.

Additional important senior info:

Senior caps and gowns can be picked up outside the PHS office on Thursday and Friday of this week in accordance with the message posted on the school Facebook page (below) regarding locker cleanout.