Greetings Matador Family.
As many of you know, SGHS and the AUSD have been looking into an alternate venue to hold graduation ceremonies for a variety of reasons. We have confirmed with the district that we will be holding our graduation ceremony at East Los Angeles College on Saturday, May 28 @ 5:00 pm. The other two high schools (Alhambra High School and Mark Keppel High School) in the district have already committed to holding ceremonies at ELAC as well. Our final decision was made in part by the data that was collected from a recent survey we sent out regarding student and parent concerns and needs based on the questions from the survey. Two of the most convincing arguments were the number of guests that are expected to be in attendance as well as the overwhelming majority of families that intend on driving themselves to the ceremonies.
The data showed us that over 60% of our seniors plan to invite 5 or more guests to their graduation, and 32% of those students intending to invite over 10 guests. These numbers reflect that we can expect anywhere between 3,200 - 4,350 guests in attendance, however both of these numbers exceeds that capacity of our stadium. In actuality, we really only can seat enough people in our own stadium stands to accommodate 4 tickets per graduate, and we feel that with such a momentous event in our students' lives that it is a shame that they cannot include all of their friends and family in the celebration. The other main concern was whether or not transportation was going to be an issue for our families to be able to attend the ceremony. However, it turns out that 90% of our families stated that they have their own means of transportation, and only a small percentage would either take public transportation or walk. For those families, we will continue to look into another option so that we may provide a way for them to attend.
We truly believe that although the graduation ceremony will not be taking place in our own stadium, it will still be just as special and memorable for our students and families as it would have been if it were being held at the school they have attended for that last 4 years. ELAC has a beautiful facility and can accommodate all of our needs to provide for a spectacular event. If you have any questions, feel free to contact Principal Stone, or Mr. Dultz, the Assistant Principal of Business and Activities. Thank You.