This year’s scheduled graduation time of 10 AM has sparked discontent among Cypress students. According to a survey conducted on the Cypress Journalism Instagram page, there is high dissatisfaction with the time because of complications and the weather that come with it.
One of the main comments about the time is that it is not very forgiving or flexible for loved ones to attend. Attendees would have to move things around and call off of work to be able to make it to the graduation ceremony. Cypress senior, Devan Forester said, “I think a 10 AM graduation is really inconvenient, because none of our friends can come watch, whether they’re at Cypress or not. It is also in the morning when a lot of parents or older family members are working…” Senior Kyle Choe said, “People have work and underclassmen have school, it ruins the chance for seniors to enjoy the last moments of high school with the people they cherish.” There are even comments about feeling rushed in the morning, such as Senior Amelie Hiebert’s concerns about it. She said, “In my opinion, it’s way too early, and I want to enjoy my graduation and not feel rushed in the morning. I also have family that won’t make it in time.”
Not only are the Seniors upset about the graduation time, so are the underclassmen. 50% of the people in the survey were seniors, 27.3% were juniors, 13.6% were sophomores, and 9.1% were freshmen. One hundred percent of them expressed disapproval to some extent. Junior Maria Najera shared her opinion from the perspective of an underclassman. She said that she doesn’t “like the idea of graduation being at 10[AM] this year, since as a junior it would be almost impossible for me to attend to support my friends. Besides, I think the seniors wouldn’t have much time to get ready or celebrate.” Sophomore Zamantha Garcia has similar sentiments, as she said, “In my opinion, I would not like a 10 AM graduation this year because I, as well as the rest of the non-graduating classes, won’t be able to attend due to school hours. A lot of parents’ and relatives’ jobs might also conflict with this schedule, so having the graduation at a later time can allow them to attend without having to take away from their work schedule. I think I can speak for a lot of people when I say that I have many senior friends and family members whom I’d like to see graduate. This experience is only once in a lifetime, so being there to support my friends/family is extremely important to me as well as others.”
Knowing that this is the sentiment of the students, Assistant Principal Jana Kovar explained that “the district decides the graduation times. The past couple of years, we have had the graduation time scheduled at night because of our greater school size. The district realized that we finished the ceremonies within the time slot, so they decided to put us into a rotation with all the other schools.”
After many years of having the graduation ceremony scheduled later in the day, suddenly having it conducted in the morning can be jarring. Should the schedule still be changed? Is it fair to the other schools? The original system was in place for the possibility of going over the anticipated length of time. There are more people at the ceremony and thus, Cypress High should have a later time to avoid conflicting with other schools.
