Graduation Ceremony for the Class of 2013 - International School of ...

Graduation Ceremony for the Class of 2013Dear Grade 12 Parents and Students,Our community comes together every year to acknowledge our graduating class, to recognise theirmany different achievements and to wish them all well as they leave ISP to begin a new stage intheir lives. We will be celebrating your child’s life at the graduating ceremony, so this is an importantmoment for your son or daughter and for the whole family. It is not simply a recognition of academicaccomplishment and a time for parents, teachers and other family members to offer theircongratulations in a public forum. It is also a significant rite of passage, a moment when your childbecomes an adult, when our students become graduates and when your son or daughter takescharge of their destiny, often far from home. During the ceremony, academic and communityservice awards will be given, individual diplomas will be awarded, and we will welcome your familyto the ISP alumni association. However, what is most important is that our community has awonderful evening, a night to celebrate the Class of 2013.The school is responsible for the graduation ceremony and organises and prepares all the essentialfeatures of the day. This process involves our PTA Grade representatives, the Grade 12 StudentRepresentatives, and the school management. Below are a few details about this year’s graduationceremony, which hopefully answer some of the questions that you might have.The Graduation Ceremony for the Class of 2013 will take place on Friday, May 31 at the HotelInterContinental Le Grand (2 Rue Scribe, 75009, Paris). We are delighted to welcome Ms AnneBagamery, who is an ex-Board chair for ISP and works at the International Herald Tribune here inParis, as our guest speaker.The ceremony is scheduled to begin at 19:00 and should be finished at approximately 20:30. Therewill be a cocktail reception immediately following the ceremony, and the evening will conclude at23:00. If families have evening commitments they are free to leave following the conclusion of theformal ceremony. The most important piece of information is that we always begin the ceremonyon time. Therefore, it is essential that families plan to arrive in good time.InvitationsInvitations will be sent out shortly. To support your planning, each graduate is able to invite fiveguests (graduates are not included in this number). Occasionally, there are families who requireextra invitations and, space permitting, we will try to accommodate these requests. When you replyto the invitation, please let the school know if you would like to invite additional guests. Please notethat we can only manage these requests after invitations have been sent and all RSVPs have beenreturned.

Graduation Ceremony for the Class of 2013For our GraduatesThe students of the graduating class need to have completed all formalities at school and be wellpreparedfor the ceremony. There are three mandatory meeting times that students need torespect, as follows:1) Final Day in School, Wednesday, May 29 at 13:15 in Drama RoomThis meeting falls after IB examinations but before graduation. It is to return all books, completeformalities for the delivery of IB Diplomas, and to ensure that any outstanding IB or schoolpaperwork is complete. This is the last opportunity to meet with Mr Anderson prior to theannouncement of IB results or the sending of IB results to universities. It is the formal conclusion ofour graduates’ ISP education.2) Graduation rehearsal, Friday, May 31 at 10:30, Hotel InterContinental Le GrandAll graduates must attend a rehearsal for the ceremony. Failure to attend this rehearsal will meanthat a graduate cannot participate in the ceremony. Arriving promptly is vital; the rehearsal takes aslong as is required for all graduates to learn the procedures, and we cannot begin until everyone ispresent. Therefore, a late start means a late finish. If all goes smoothly, we should be finished by12:30. However, if we start late and/or graduates require additional time to master the routines,then we could be finished as late as 14:30. Please do not book any post-rehearsal appointments orengagements until 15:00.Graduates are advised to wear the same shoes that they will be wearing during the actual ceremony.Apart from that, they can come to the rehearsal in their regular clothes.3) All graduates must be back at the hotel by 18:00 to prepare for the ceremony,which begins at 19:00.This is a formal occasion and we do expect our graduates to wear appropriate formal dress.Previously, some graduates have chosen to wear their national costumes, which is welcome and hasenriched the ceremony.I hope this information is useful. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions orconcerns.Best regards,Barry MansfieldSecondary School Principal