Highlands High School will host a commencement ceremony for the class of 2020 in its gymnasium Wednesday night.
The ceremony, scheduled to begin at 6 p.m., was planned with coronavirus safety guidelines in mind.
Social distancing measures will be in effect, according to Highlands High School Principal Charlie Mort.
“We will have all the students distanced apart,” Mort said. “All the students will be receiving masks with the Rams logo on them.”
Students will be permitted to remove their masks if they’re speaking during the ceremony and when they receive their diploma, Mort said.
Each graduate will be allotted two tickets. Parents will be directed to nearby satellite locations, where they can watch the ceremony via livestream. When their student receives their diploma, parents will be able to enter the gymnasium in groups of about 30 people at a time.
“They get to see the ceremony virtually, but they get to see their kids get their diplomas live,” Mort said, adding that students who are speaking during the ceremony can have their parents in the gym to hear their speeches, too.
The entire ceremony will be broadcast live online through the school’s website.
Mort said the decision to host the event indoors “allowed us to prepare for the social distancing a little more easily than it did outside. We planned it just as we went to (the) green (phase of the state’s reopening plan), and we weren’t sure what the weather would hold.”
Mort said it would have been hard to revamp social distancing plans on short notice if an outdoor ceremony had to be moved indoors.
“Our building right now reads like a road map. We have those social distancing stickers all over the floor,” Mort said.
Like much of the graduates’ senior year, their graduation ceremony isn’t quite what they expected. But Mort said he still wants it to be a good experience.
“I hope the kids will be able to enjoy it,” he said.
