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Dear Parents and Families,

In a little more than a week, our remarkable Class of 2021 will gather in person at Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC) in Saratoga Springs for a safe, socially distanced Commencement ceremony. We are so eager to commemorate our students’ outstanding achievements and to give them the triumphant celebration they deserve.  

We have made every effort to make this a very special celebration for the Class of 2021 and to enable the entire senior class to gather together, in person, for a single ceremony, which was their greatest hope in these unprecedented times. As we have all year, we continue to do everything we can to protect our entire community’s health and safety.

As we have communicated in the past, guests will unfortunately not be permitted to attend the ceremony at SPAC. We understand how desperately so many of you — family and friends of the graduates — wish to attend in person. We want you to know that we have explored every possible option to try to find safe ways to allow guests to attend the SPAC event.

As New York state’s laws and COVID guidance continue to shift, however, we must continue to plan based on current guidance. We simply cannot plan an event of this complexity based on uncertain predictions of future guidance.

After exploring many options, we’ve determined that there is no responsible way we could invite thousands of potential guests and be able to guarantee the safety and well-being of those guests and our students. We could not guarantee attendees would be vaccinated, or the accuracy of COVID testing reports, or that attendees would follow COVID guidelines and social distancing requirements. All of this would encourage greater risk at the end of a year in which we’ve all done so incredibly well at reducing all potential risks to our community.  

And while New York state has announced that it plans to allow venues to accommodate more guests as a general recommendation beginning on May 19, we simply cannot rely on this potential future guidance as we work through our ceremony’s logistics now and in the final days leading up to Commencement. Furthermore, it remains unclear exactly how the new guidelines would apply specifically to SPAC and its particular seating and space configurations. We have been working closely with SPAC administrators as our partners in this event, and we have come to the decision that the complexities and uncertainties involved are too significant to allow us to invite external guests to the ceremony.

As an equitable way to provide a free viewing experience for parents and family members who wish to gather safely in the vicinity of campus — especially for those of you who are coming to town to pick up your students — we have arranged for a safe viewing event to be held at Saratoga Springs City Center in downtown Saratoga Springs on the morning of Commencement. A maximum of two guests per student will be permitted to attend, and this registration form must be completed in advance. Attendees will receive a confirmation message that must be printed or saved and brought to the event.

Additionally, the entire ceremony will be livestreamed on ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø’s website, and the program will include a number of special virtual elements that will make the event particularly meaningful for family and friends.

Thank you for your understanding as we continue to prioritize the health and safety of our students and the entire ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø community. We continue to do our very best in the midst of the uncertainty and risk of the pandemic. We will continue to share important information as it becomes available through the 2021 Commencement webpage.

Sincerely,

Marc C. Conner
President