RJUHSD sets graduation times at Placer Valley Event Center

Roseville High School plans for on-campus celebrations after ceremony

(CAM MEDRANO / EYE OF THE TIGER)

Students and guests attend Roseville High School’s 2019 graduation ceremony, held Friday night on Hanson field. The class of 2020 will graduate the last Friday of May at 11:00 a.m. in the Placer Valley Event Center.

DANIELLE BENNETT
October 14, 2019

Roseville High School seniors will graduate at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, May 29 in the Placer Valley Event Center.

RJUHSD released the times for each of its five comprehensive sites’ graduations earlier this month. Other dates and times include Thursday graduations for Granite Bay at 3:00 p.m. and Antelope at 7:00 p.m. The remaining schools graduate on Friday, with Oakmont walking the stage at 3:00 and Woodcreek wrapping things up at 7:00.

Teams from each site collaborated to determine the order for schools’ graduations. The Roseville High School team included site administration, and according to principal Nicholas Richter, went with a morning graduation so students can celebrate on campus after the ceremony, and a Friday graduation so students can attend the Sober Grad activities that were scheduled for 9:00 p.m. Friday night. 

In addition, Roseville, Woodcreek and Oakmont High School all receive students from the feeder middle schools in Roseville City School District. RCSD holds its middle school promotion on Thursday, so the teams set these schools’ graduations for Friday so families that have middle and high school students can attend both events.

(COURTESY / PLACER VALLEY TOURISM)
A projection of the new Placer Valley Event Center, where RJUHSD students will graduate this year. RHS principal Nicholas Richter hopes an early graduation time will allow Roseville students to hold an on-campus celebration after the ceremony at the event center.

With RHS’ graduation time, Richter said he hopes to get students involved in planning an on-campus celebration following the morning ceremony.

“We recognized that our students really might want to do something on campus,” Richter said. “So we went with the early one, so we have the option of coming back to campus afterwards while the workday is still in session to say hello to teachers and goodbye to teachers. We might be able to do some senior square pictures. There’s a possibility of handing out the diplomas on campus that day, so that would be a reason for you to come back and then have that moment as a class.” 

Two weeks ago, RHS seniors attended a presentation where they received a survey asking for their input on graduation plans and interest in organizing graduation festivities. According to Richter, the graduation planning team will reach out to students this week to form a group involved with organizing events before and after the ceremony.

While the district is paying to use the venue, each site can pay for decorations to dress up the event center, like balloon arches and drapes to adorn it in the school’s colors. Richter said the RHS graduation team hopes to take the money saved by moving to the event center and put it into planning on-campus celebrations and investing in decorations they can use for years to come. 

“I really want to engage the students in the conversation because for us, I think it’s going to be special because it’s going to be us,” Richter said. “It’s more about the who than the where and it’s more about the what than the where. So the focus is ‘how can we make this about you guys and not about the where?’”