From the Upper School Principal
In each issue, Centre Connection will answer any questions of general interest raised by parents. Parent questions, for the last several months, have sought clarification on how graduation will work and who will be able to attend. Principal Hugh Silbaugh’s message for this issue, therefore, explains the details.

Graduation at Milton is a ceremony that carries years of traditions and favorite rituals – formal and informal. For instance, the Friday morning parade from house to house, picking up seniors at each stop and then marching from east campus back to Straus, is so important that last year’s graduates marched in the pouring rain. The longstanding practice of electing the student speakers has assured seniors that they will, at their last Milton gathering, hear a voice of their choosing. That alone differentiates a Milton graduation from most others.

This year, Former President Bill Clinton will address the graduation. Our plans are focused on keeping the day centered on seniors, their families, undergraduates and faculty, as well as on accommodating as many others who wish to hear Mr. Clinton as possible. If the sun shines (and we deserve that!) our restrictions are few. If it rains, we will need to limit attendees to numbers the Fitzgibbons Convocation Center will hold.
The logistics are important.


Sun plan
Graduation seating moves out into the quad in front of Robert Saltonstall Gymnasium, with the stage or dais located on the grass closest to the chapel steps. Seniors sit up front facing the crowd. Invited guests, trustees and faculty form the first section of audience seats, and underclass students sit in sections on the sides – facing the main seating area. Graduates’ families and friends use the seats immediately behind faculty. Extra seats, beyond those used by families, are available to other members of the Milton community: parents of younger students, alumni, friends. In addition, the slope of the quad reaching up towards Centre Street is available for listening or viewing (from the grass).

Rain plan
Graduation seating that replicates the outdoor format fills the Fitzgibbons Convocation Center (FCC), but the number of seats is finite. We can accommodate seniors, trustees, faculty and staff, Class II-VI students and six guests per senior.

During May, Class I students will each pick up six graduation invitations from the Upper School office. With their families, they then decide which six individuals should hold the invitations, which will serve as tickets in the case of rain. Seniors’ guests (family or friends) will need to give these invitations to staff at the doors of the FCC to gain entrance.

We will ask each Class I student to return to the Upper School office any tickets his or her family will not use. Those extra tickets will form a pool and the Upper School office will allocate them on the day before graduation to people on a waiting list. Class I students whose families need more than six tickets can put their names on that waiting list.

Guests who wish to come in spite of not being able to see the graduation from a seat in the FCC, can watch over video monitors that will be set up in Robert Saltonstall Gymnasium.
We hope that understanding these plans well in advance will help everyone make decisions about graduation, when we celebrate the particular contributions of the Class of 2003, and years of active learning at Milton.

Here’s to sunshine!