NDS Seniors

Attention seniors: Pictures of you and your friends during your high school career are needed for the video to be played at the Graduation Brunch. Please refer to the Senior Facebook page for directions on how to upload the pictures to the group Flickr account. If you have any questions contact Mary Tutera or Anna Rebottaro. Pictures are due by MAY 1st.

Class of 2012 Graduation Information:

Please read the following information. If you have download or printing issues for any of the forms, the Seniors are welcome to download and print them at school.

Section 1: End of Year School Business:

AP Exams: AP exams begin Monday, May 7th. Students are not required to attend any regular classes on the day they are taking an AP exam. Locations and exam times will be posted on the High School homepage.

Final Exams: Senior exams begin Wednesday May 9th. Exemptions and attendance will be posted on the senior bulletin board. Please check the high school homepage for exam locations and times.

Senior Service Projects: Senior Service Projects are due April 16th, and must be completed in order to graduate. If you have any questions, please email Ms. McDermott, the Senior Service Project Coordinator: mmcdermott@ndsion.edu.

Service Hour Graduation Requirement: Seniors need to have completed 100 hours of service by April 16th in order to graduate. If you have any questions, please email our Service Learning Coordinator, Jessica Hull, jhull@ndsion.edu.

Fee Payments: Seniors should take care of all fee payments immediately. Diplomas are held until ALL financial responsibilities are met. This includes tuition, athletic uniforms, library books, AP fees, car fines, hot lunch debts, KAIROS, etc. Payments may be sent to Jenny VanBebber at either campus: jvanbebber@ndsion.edu or call: 816-753-3810x2107.

Last Day: Tuesday May 8th is the required last day for Seniors. Hours will be counted towards attendance totals. We will have graduation practice in the gym that morning, have our last class meeting, and clean out lockers. Seniors will be dismissed when we are done.

Section 2: End of Year Community Celebrations!

Mother/Daughter Mass and Luncheon: Friday, May 4th from 10:45-1:15. Mothers may arrive in the Gym after 10:30 to save a seat for their daughters. Seniors will be dismissed from class and Mass will begin shortly after followed by a luncheon in the New Grande Salle.

Awards Assembly: Awards Assembly is on May 23rd and will begin at 8:15 AM. There will be a designated seating section for you and your parents, front and center. Students are to dress nicely. Seniors are required to attend and parents are most welcome.

Senior Overnight Retreat: Senior Overnight Retreat is May 17-18th. Buses will leave Sion at 3:00pm on Thursday May 17th and return by 12 noon on Friday may 18th. Our retreat will be at Heartland Presbyterian Center, Parkville, MO. All students must ride the bus to and from the retreat. A permission slip to attend the retreat and a list of "what to bring" will be posted on the Campus Ministry webpage, and must be returned tot he Campus Ministry office by Tuesday, May 1st.

Section 3: Graduation Information:
Graduation Announcements and Tickets: Seniors (or their parents) will pick up graduation tickets and announcements after school on Thursday April 26th. Each senior will be allotted 12 tickets for 2012 Graduation. Note: be sure to put your tickets in a safe place as they cannot be replaced, and each person attending graduation needs a ticket.

Announcement order forms are handled through the Advancement Office.
Graduation Announcements Order Form: Dowload here:

If you need additional tickets or you have extra tickets you are not using: Please sign up on the senior class bulletin board indicating that you need more, or that you have some to give. Your Senior Class President, Carley Hummel, is in charge of this list. Please contact your classmates to arrange exchanging the tickets.

Graduation Dress: If your dress needs alterations, please make arrangements as soon as possible. Remember to take your shoes when you are having your dress hemmed and make sure the dress is pressed after the alterations. If you have not received your dress yet, it should be here by the end of March.

Graduation Attire: Each graduate is to wear the graduation dress with an opaque slip for the Graduation Mass and Ceremony. White dress shoes should be simple and comfortable, so she can stand, process, and walk up and down bleachers (extremely high-heels are difficult for the day). Please nothing casual like flip-flops or tennis shoes. Graduates may wear simple jewelry if they choose. No other accessories will be allowed. Any visible tattoos must be covered with flesh-colored-concealer. Visible body piercings other than earrings must be removed. Approval is at the discretion of the graduation sponsors.

Graduation Partner and Crownbearer: During the graduation ceremony, crownbearers carry in the wreaths that crown the graduates. The graduates will walk in pairs, with one crownbearer for every pair of graduates. The crownbearers should be 4-12 years old and may be boys or girls. Dressy spring church clothes are considered appropriate attire for the crownbearers.

Crownbearers will be supervised backstage by Alumna volunteers. Crownbearers will stay backstage for the ceremony until they carry out the crown. Crownbearers are then dismissed to leave if they would like. They may stay backstage for the duration of the ceremony if needed, or may return to the ceremony if they have a ticket. If your crownbearer is not returning to the ceremony, they do not need a ticket. Your crownbearer should have a chaperone if he/she is too young to stay backstage by himself for the duration on the ceremony.

Please return the Graduation Partner and Crownbearer form to Ms. McDermott by April 24th. If you have any concerns about partners or crownbearers, please contact Ms. McDermott. We will be happy to match up graduates in partners, and find crownbearers if you do not have anyone in mind.

Graduation Partner and Crownbearer Form: Download here:

Practices:

We will have two Graduation Ceremony Practices and Graduation Mass Practice.

Tuesdy May 8th: We will have graduation practice that day in the gym as a part of the seniors last day of school (as noted earlier.).

Monday, May 21st, 11:00-12:00: Graduation Mass Practice and Prayer: All Seniors will gather for prayer and Mass rehearsal at Saint Thomas Moore Parish. Attendance is required and if everyone is on time, we should finish before 12:00. We will use a seating chart for graduates during the Mass so parents will know where their daughter is going to sit. It will be available on the Campus Ministry faculty webpage.

Thursday, May 24th: Graduation Day: We will practice at Johnson County Community College Yardley Hall immediately following brunch. Please see below for more information.

Section 4: Graduation Day Information: May 24th, 2012

History and Traditions: Notre Dame de Sion’s Graduation Ceremony traditions were inaugurated with the first graduating class in 1923. We continue to celebrate in the same way today. We begin graduation day with a Mass, followed by a brunch and a formal graduation ceremony. The young women wear formal white dresses and carry four red roses, one symbolizing each year of high school. They are crowned with laurel wreathes, symbolizing wisdom. Alumna representatives Celeste Greenlee, Class of 1978, and Angela Latorre, Class of 1998, Alumnae Association Board President, will crown all graduates. However, a mother of a graduate who is an alumna of the school is invited to crown her own daughter. Please contact Celeste Greenlee, cgreenlee@ndsion.edu, if you are an Alum mother of a graduate and interested in crowing.

We strive to preserve our fine traditions of a formal high school graduation ceremony bequeathed to us by the Sisters of Notre Dame de Sion. Out of respect for our traditional ceremony, we ask all attending to refrain from behaviors such as yelling, ringing bells, whistling, using air horns/balls, etc. We appreciate your family joining us in the preservation of this beautiful and traditional graduation ceremony.

Graduation Mass will be held at Saint Thomas Moore Parish at 9:30 am. Graduates wear their graduation gowns for the mass. The graduates will begin lining up for the processional into church at 9:00 AM in the church hall(basement of the church) for processional into the worship space. All guests are welcome to attend the Mass. Parents, please do not enter the sanctuary before 9:00 as there is an 8:15 Parish Mass and Rosary before us. Students should park in the west/lower parking lots and enter through the bottom doors, arriving before 9:00 if you intend to change in the basement space.

A group photograph of the class of 2012 will be taken immediately after Mass. Graduates should bring a change of clothes with them, and will be able to change into their clothes for brunch and practice after Mass.

Graduation Brunch will be at the Ritz Charles, 9000 West 137th Street. We will begin immediately after Mass. Please arrive by 11:00 AM; serving begins at 11:15 AM. Each family has three complimentary reservations. Additional guests are welcome at $23.00 per person. Brunch reservations are handled through the Advancement Office. Please contact Thea Gude, tgude@ndsion.edu with questions.

Graduation Brunch Reservation Form: Dowload Here:

Graduation Practice at Johnson County Community College Yardley Hall will begin immediately after brunch. It will last approximately 2 hours. Please come directly after brunch with your crownbearers. Please do not go home and change or pick up your crownbearer.

The Graduation Ceremony will begin at 7:00 pm, at Johnson County Community College Yardley Hall . Graduates must be backstage and lined up by 6:30 PM. Doors for admission will be open at 6:30 PM. Crownbearers and their chaperone, if needed, should also arrive by 6:30 PM. They will remain backstage, and therefore will not need an admission ticket.

Additional Graduation Day Information:

Diplomas: During the graduation ceremony you will be handed an empty diploma case. Immediately after the recessional, graduates will file backstage. At that time they will return their crown, and their diplomas will be handed out to them. Diplomas will be held for any inappropriate behavior on stage. Should it be necessary, a meeting with parents, student and Administration will be required before the diploma is released. Diplomas will also be held for financial obligations or any incomplete credits with school, including insufficient number of service hours.

Scrapbook Video: A photo video of your class will be shown at the brunch. Please submit photos to the student leaders who will be chosen by the Senior sponsor. If you are an interested student, please contact Maryvonne Marshall for information: mmarshall@ndsion.edu.

Copies of the video will be made available to students.

Photographs:

Photographs of Graduation events will be taken by DeCloud Studios.

Information on how to order these photos from DeCloud is below:

Video: A video production company will film the Graduation Mass at St. Thomas Moore and the Graduation Ceremony at Johnson County Community College. Please pre-order with the form below:

Video Order form:

Please let us know if you have any further questions!!
Thanks!