5th Grade Promotion

Newcastle Elementary typically has a 5th Grade Promotion ceremony in June before the 5th graders "graduate." Since my oldest is a 5th grader this year, I have never attended the ceremony and don't know what we're missing. But I hear that it is a really special day for the 5th graders and families.

This year, however, there is no 5th Grade Promotion. At least not at the school. The teachers and principal did a zoom call with the class at 10:00 this morning. We all sat down as a family to watch it. It was very sweet, but it was over in 28 minutes and Taylor felt shortchanged. The school did the best they could in a crappy situation, but the end of elementary school for Taylor has certainly been a bust.

After the zoom promotion, Taylor and I met her friends at the school to take pictures on the "Newcastle Elementary" sign. Typically, a 5th grade class picture is taken there, but it did not happen this year before the quarantine. I am so very grateful that 5th grade camp happened in February before our world changed. I complained about going camping in February but now I am so very thankful that Taylor had that experience.

Auntie Khanh, the girls' Girl Scout troop leader, made these cute shirts. The zeros in "2020" are toilet paper rolls.
The shirt says "5th Grade 2020, the year we were quarantined."

Girls on one side, boys on the other.

We spent a part of the afternoon at Lake Boren Park. It was so nice to see and socialize with other families. We even had a lunch buffet on the picnic tables and it felt scandalous to be sharing food. Everybody had a great time. It was nice to feel normal for an afternoon.

Below are Taylor's graduation pictures. Again, typically, the 5th graders get a graduation picture taken at school wearing a cap and a gown. Then, the PTSA prints the pictures and hangs them on the bulletin board at the school in the spring. This year, some moms convinced the principal to allow them to retrieve the caps from the school, and we set up a picture station at a friend's house. The kids could not wear the gown because there are only two, and passing the gown around for pictures was not allowed. I helped with the graduation pictures and it was a fun afternoon to see all the kiddos.