Planning underway for IHS 2020 Graduation

Ipswich School Superintendent Trent Osborne said the last day of school will be Thursday, May 14, 2020.

To honor the 2020 seniors a "Graduation Parade" is planned on May 16 at 2 p.m. During the parade seniors will be able to drive around and enjoy the view and well wishes from community members at a safe distance. The Seniors are encouraged to decorate a car, pickup or trailer and be recognized by the community. The parade route will be sent out at a later date to the newspaper, school website and facebook page.

"We plan to live-stream this event as well to encourage high risk people and out-of-town family members to watch from home," said High School Principal Dan Knust.

Osborne said they are also planning an evening to honor the Seniors on May 12. They will turn on the football stadium lights at 8:20 p.m. (20:20 in military time) for 20 minutes. "Why this exact time? 20:20 for 20 minutes for the class of 2020," he said.

The school is having a senior Social Media Takeover. At approxmatley 8:20 p.m. one senior will have a school-created video posted on the school's Facebook page. The videos are posted in the order they are received, beginning April 19.

Knust said the school is planning a July 18 Graduation Ceremony at 10 a.m. at the Ipswich High School gymnasium. The event will be similar to a typical commencement featuring graduation speeches, slide show, handing out flowers to family members as well as the presentation of diplomas. The Graduation Ceremony, in the school gymnasium, will only take place if the current COVID-19 restrictions have been lifted at that time.

A back-up plan is a ceremony held at the football field, on July 18. Further details will come as this date gets closer.

If COVID-19 restrictions are in place at the time of the July 18 Graduation Ceremony, they will not postpone the ceremony to another date/time.