<p>My kids’ school is the same as kathiep’s – they get the real diploma at graduation. But it’s a private school with about 120 kids in a graduating class, so maybe that makes it more practical?</p>
<p>So withholding diplomas takes care of the kids who might cause disturbances during the ceremonies–but what do you do about the parents who are so obnoxious and disrespectful to other students (screaming, yelling, stomping feet, etc. in spite of being asked to PLEASE refrain from doing so)–maybe everyone’s car keys schould be collected at the beginning of the ceremony, and guilty parents will have theirs “withheld”</p>
<p>I graduated hs in 83 and that is exactly what happened. I think it is also done to guarantee that ea kid gets their diploma and not someone elses. When I graduated from college we had the same deal. I am not sure what the big deal is about since it is not like they are not receiving their diploma.</p>
<p>I do recall one kid not getting his that night since he decided to drive through the grass. In our school the seniors still are students until the very next morning so they can still discipline the child. He did receive it the next day when his parents came in and paid the fine for destroying the lawn</p>
<p>When my son graduated in a class of @400 they got empty folders and you went to school the next week to pick up the diploma. I think it was partly to speed up a still slow process - each student handed a slip of paper with their name on as they approached the podium so the principal could announce their name - no keeping track of actual diplomas. Also partly what others have said - behaviour, paying for books etc.</p>
<p>At my daughters graduation in a class of 60 they also got empty folders but were given their actual diplomas shortly thereafter in exchange for handing in their gowns.</p>
<p>My college class was small (350?). Most of us got actual diplomas at graduation but they announced that some people in the graduation ceremony who had one more class to take during summer school would get their diplomas after summer school. I think this was a kind way to do it.</p>
<p>There were 700 kids in my son’s graduating class and a few of them probably had Regent’s Exams to pass after the graduation. He got a blank book - in fact come to think of it, I’m not sure he ever did pick up or get sent the diploma!</p>
<p>My graduating class only had 80 students and it was held after final exams - they also exempted most seniors in good standing from taking exams. We got the diplomas.</p>
<p>In college and grad school there was the formal ceremony with the speaker and hoopla, then we went back to our houses or grad schools and had a second more intimate ceremony where we actually got diplomas.</p>
<p>Our school gives out the actual diplomas at graduation. The graduation ceremony is four days after the last possible make-up exam day. </p>
<p>S2 (whose class has well over 500 seniors) will actually finish his exams next week on June 4 but will not graduate until June14. This gives the school plenty of time to figure out who is eligible to grad. and who’s not. Exams count 25% of the final grade for each class so some kids don’t know if they will grad. or not until after the exams are done.</p>
<p>The folders with diploma inside are given out in large white envelopes with the students full name printed on the front to avoid mixups. Our graduation is not held on our school’s campus but rather in a big sports arena in a nearby city. If the kids had to go back to school to get their diplomas many would prob. not do it.</p>
<p>Rain, rain go away
Grabbed my diploma on a sunny day</p>
<p>(and didn’t have to worry about carrying it all over, losing it in wet grass…)</p>
<p>I think you and the grandma were just surprised and disappointed, but it was surely a real graduation. Sounds like this is normal fare.</p>
<p>At my high school we just got the holder, and received the actual diploma (along with a large envelope full of other “official” stuff and congratulatory coupons, etc, from local merchants) when we turned in the gown after the ceremony. That way there wasn’t a panic if somehow the diplomas were given out in the wrong order, and they were sure everyone would turn in their gown. I didn’t feel my graduation was a sham.</p>
<p>At my college grad (550 students) they gave us the actual diploma but warned us not to open the holder to check it till we got back to our seats, and if somehow they were “off” by a name or two to just quietly pass it down the row to the right person. Didn’t feel any more or less official than my high school grad.</p>
<p>S’s hs gave out the actual diploma. His hs charges everyone $25 for a cheap gown that he got to keep. That worked out fine too.</p>
<p>Now I am jealous I had to pay @100 for DS, of course our school forces you to buy it! Maybe I’ll wear it in the future for a Halloween party!</p>
<p>My high school did the same thing, but we got our real diploma so long as we just turned in our robes. A lot of people shouted or posed during the ceremony and didn’t get punished.</p>
<p>I remember people using color tape and making messages on their cap, so their folks could find them. My HS class had 846 students, so it was a sea of green.</p>
<p>At my graduation you had to be completely “signed out” by your teachers, coaches, depts, etc. before getting your diploma. We got out on the Tuesday before graduation and had from that Monday until Friday to get things taken care of. Everyone received their real diploma during the graduation ceremony, and if you didn’t have things taken care of they would go ahead and charge your for any missing materials–books, uniforms, etc. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. Sure was a good way to get things taken care of because only 2 or 3 kids a year end up paying anything.</p>
<p>Anyway, the only problem was that, in my class, six kids “checked in” but ducked out of line between the room where we lined up and the gym that the ceremony was held in. So after the ceremony everyone after like the 15th kid had to search around and find who had their diploma and find the kid whose diploma they were holding.</p>
<p>If you don’t like being handed a sham diploma, why don’t you send a sham student to walk and pick it up?</p>
<p>Empty diploma holders are kind of par for the course in college. Degree conferral is the big deal. The diploma is just something you hang on your wall.</p>
<p>I was handed my high school diploma at my small private school’s graduation. I was handed my (ridiculously large) diploma at my graduation from Rice. At my graduation with my masters from UIUC, I was handed a diploma holder that contained an exhortation to donate money to the university now that I was an esteemed alumnus!! Talk about cheek!</p>
<p>D graduated from h.s. last year & got her diploma in the holder. There were only 180 kids in her class, though. My h.s. class had closer to 550, and we got an empty holder. When we turned in our gowns, we got the diploma.</p>
<p>In college, we got our diploma in the holder … but a guy near me got an empty holder. We had to complete a thesis for our bachelors degree, and he had flunked his. He got a note in his holder telling him that! I guess that’s what you get for turning in your thesis after the due date & so close to the ceremony … but at least they let him walk. </p>
<p>BTW, our college changed names while I was there. Our class was the first to graduate from the newly named school. The administration knew we wanted diplomas from the “old” school … so our class’s diplomas are two-sided, one side with the old name & one with the new!</p>
<p>Kelsmom, my college changed names a few years ago and it drives me insane, for one thing it had the same name for over a century, second reason because when I applied for a job, I had to explain why my resume stated I graduated from XXX, but my transcript stated a different name.</p>
<p>I am sure the people who graduated from Glassboro University had the same problem when they changed the name to Rowan, b/c they were bought off by a guy who wanted his name on a University.</p>
<p>Our kids’ graduating classes from HS ranged from 297 (eldest) to 390 (youngest). They exit the HS in a processional, lined up alphabetically, and sit in the same order on the football field. After being pronounced graduates by the superintendent they are called up, by name, in alphabetical order to receive their “diplomas.” In reality they receive empty, hard cover diploma holders and get their individual diplomas in the gym after the ceremony. I never, during all 3 ceremonies, considered it a sham. I was far too busy smiling and crying to worry about whether the diploma was actually in the holder.
On the other hand, I was VERY impressed when my eldest graduated from college last year. Each of the almost 4,000 graduates was called to the podium by name, crossed slowly enough to be recognized individually, and received their ACTUAL diploma from the president of the College. However, I did notice all the checking and double checking of their names and order as they entered the quad, entered their rows to be seated, and when they waited at their stairs for their name to be called. Despite all that, I’m sure some mix-ups occur, but even my S was very impressed that he was called by name, walked the stage alone and received his diploma.</p>
<p>
And how long did that ceremony take?? I think I’d have died of boredom by the time the last graduate passed. It was hard enough at d’s high school where there were fewer than 300 graduates!</p>
<p>You know, start of processional to end of recessional it was under 3 hours. And though it was warm, actually very warm, I was not bored. I was so proud of my S, happy to watch his siblings and grandparents beam with pride, and excited to watch and wait for his friends to be called as well that the time passed rather quickly. After 4 years of hard work on his part, and 4 years of supporting him on our part it was nice to see him, and his fellow grads recognized in a meaningful way. When I graduated from college the entire university was “graduated” en masses, “please rise and be recognized.” We did have individual school graduations where we were called by name, but I must say, that wasn’t much shorter than his entire graduation was. Next year S2 graduates from a different university and I will have a basis of comparison. Be back to you then!</p>