Dear OLA Seniors and Families,
On behalf of Monte Vista On-Line Academy and Byron Syring DELTA Center, I would like to thank you for allowing us to be part of your academic journey.
The pandemic state we are in due to COVID-19 has brought unprecedented changes to all of us. For our Seniors and their families, this leaves many unanswered questions about the 2020 Graduation. I wanted to reach out to you as soon as I had a definite answer as far as graduation is concerned. Unfortunately, at this time, I still don’t have a definite answer, but will update you on the most recent information.
Katy Anthes, Commissioner of Education for Colorado Department of Education, District Superintendents, and Governor Polis participated in a call on April 21 to discuss many topics regarding education. Much of the time was spent talking about commencement ceremonies. They acknowledged the heartbreak among students and families about having to change or postpone this incredibly important milestone in their lives. Governor Polis relayed that any type of commencement ceremony will be difficult to pull off safely this spring (May/June), and recommended postponing ceremonies to a later date. Schools wishing to preserve traditional graduation ceremonies would not likely be able to have those until fall (August/September) at the earliest. He did give the okay to work with local public health departments to develop a substantially revised ceremony, with social distancing in place, to mark the occasion this spring (May/June).
Unfortunately, MVOLA/DELTA/Adult Ed graduation ceremony scheduled for May 16 will have to be canceled. Monte Vista School District made the decision to have our programs (HS, MVOLA, DELTA, and Adult Ed) work together with the public health department to come up with some possible scenarios.
A final decision will be made by the District Administration. I will relay the decision to our graduating seniors and families.u as soon as possible.
Here are a couple scenarios that are being considered…
Option 1 - Graduation ceremony on May 30. This ceremony would probably be available as virtual only. Graduates, Director, and School Board could participate while practicing social distancing. We have talked about possibly having this at a location where families could attend but stay in their vehicles such as parking around the MV Middle School football field.
Option 2 - would be to have an outdoor graduation August 1. At this time, we may have the option of a limited audience graduation ceremony.
Thank you for your patience as we work to find a way to celebrate the success and hard work of our graduating seniors.
Rebekah Johnson