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NASHUA, NH – Prom and traditional graduation ceremonies for Nashua high school seniors will be moving to a virtual platform.
“As Superintendent of the Nashua Public Schools, I promise that you the Class of 2020 will have an opportunity to walk across that stage,” Superintendent Jahmal Mosley said in a video published Friday on the school district’s web page. “Having said that, I think it’s important that when that time comes that we do it safely and we do it responsibly.”
Read Dr. Mosley’s full statement here.
With the uncertainty over when the coronavirus pandemic will sufficiently ease up, school officials decided that postponing senior activities to later in the summer was not a viable option. They came to the conclusion that it isn’t feasible to simply push the dates ahead for senior proms and graduation ceremonies.
This decision comes after Gov. Chris Sununu’s announcement last week that remote learning will continue for the remainder of the school year.
On Monday, Nashua High School South principal Keith Richard and North principal Nathan Burns sent out a letter to members of the Class of 2020 alerting them of the news.
“Working with both North and South and senior school district administrators, the decision has been made to hold virtual graduation ceremonies in June for the Class of 2020. We will send out information to you soon about how this process will work,” the letter says, in part.
The high schools are working with Herff Jones, which is an academic recognition company from Indiana, to instead create a virtual graduation to honor the class of 2020.
“This virtual graduation will essentially take place online and it will honor our students’ accomplishments,” Mosley said in that video. “The details of this graduation are still being worked out but I wanted to let you know that this is in the works and in the process.”
In the letter the two principals issued Monday, it states that they are still keeping open the possibility of somehow including Class of 2020 students in future graduation exercises, possibly next year.
Once Mosley receives confirmation from public health and state officials that it is okay for large gatherings to occur, the graduation for the Class of 2020 will be planned. However, in the principals’ letter, it states that the district was unable to find an alternative for senior proms, but that they are brainstorming different ideas as options.
Adam Urquhart may be contacted at 594-1206, or at aurquhart@nashuatelegraph.com.
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