RALEIGH — K-12 Schools as well as universities and colleges whose graduation ceremonies were canceled or were forced to be held virtually during the pandemic are back in-person this year.
The state’s largest K-12 district, Wake County, will be holding indoor in-person graduation ceremonies this year for all 34 of its high schools with 21 being held at the Raleigh Convention Center and nine at the Meymandi Concert Hall. Early graduation events for seven schools start on May 20 and run through May 27. The remaining high school ceremonies are slated to begin June 10 and end June 16.
Homeschooling, which saw explosive student population growth during the pandemic, also has graduation ceremonies lined up.
NCHE (North Carolinians for Home Education) is offering its annual commencement ceremonies for homeschooled students at 5:00 pm, Saturday, May 28, at the Benton Convention Center in Winston-Salem.
All of the UNC System schools are holding in-person commencement ceremonies this year. Nearly all of the schools intend to livestream their graduation events. Several schools used large venues like arenas and coliseums and some were held outdoors, but none of the institutions required masks or proof of vaccination.
Several universities have already held their ceremonies between May 6 and May 8, including, N.C. Central University on May 6, Appalachian State on May 6 and 7, East Carolina University on May 6, Elizabeth City State, UNC Asheville, Fayetteville State, N.C. State University, and Western Carolina University on May 7, while UNC Chapel Hill held commencement on May 8.
Additionally, the UNC School of the Arts held graduation on May 7 at the Benton Convention Center in downtown Winston-Salem.
Seven colleges held their commencement activities over the weekend of May 13 and 14.
UNC Charlotte and Winston-Salem State University held commencement ceremonies on May 13, Cato College of Education, and College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, UNC Greensboro, UNC Pembroke and North Carolina A&T held events on May 14. UNC Wilmington held its ceremonies on May 13 and May 14.
The N.C. School of Science and Math (NCSSM) has outdoor commencement ceremonies planned for Saturday, May 28, 2022, at 10 a.m. The event will take place on Watts Lawn and is not open to the public and is only for seniors and “their closed family members.”
There’s also an “online recognition ceremony” happening at NCSSM to be held Sunday May 29th at 10:00am on the NCSSM Watts Lawn. The event is also closed to the general public.
“The entire event will be livestreamed on the NCSSM YouTube Channel, in addition, the Online Recognition Ceremony will also be professionally recorded, and an edited video will be available during the summer,” according to the NCSSM website.
