Valediction means to say farewell. These celebrations are important at Washington Latin: they bring together members of the community to close the school year with music, speeches, awards, and farewells to faculty who are leaving.
Students do not need to wear uniforms to Valedictions, but we encourage them to look smart and dress up a little, especially for the 8th grade ceremony.
Students and faculty attend the 5-7 ceremony. We do not have room for all families to attend this ceremony, but we hope you will ask your children about it!
Because the 8th grade Valediction includes the promotion ceremony, we invite 8th grade family members to join the ceremony and the PFA-hosted reception immediately following.
2024-25 Valediction at Cooper
Friday, June 13: No lunch, no MAGIS, no buses
- 5th – 7th Grade Valediction starts at 8:30 am. Students should be in uniform and will be dismissed at 10:00 am after the ceremony to start summer break!
- Seventh grade students who wish to (remotely) view the 8th grade Valediction ceremony in the MPR from 10:00 to 11:00 am must sign up. These students will be dismissed at 11:30 am, as the reception is reserved for 8th graders and their families.
- 8th Grade Valediction starts at 10:00 am with a reception following for students and families; summer break begins at 12:00!
- The ceremony will begin at 10, at Edgewood. Students will enter through the gym door
- The dress code is either smart casual (examples of which Ms. Osborne went over with the 8th graders yesterday, during their community meeting), or uniform if students prefer to not dress up.
- There are no color restrictions. That is something we would have shared early on if it was the case, but this was never a consideration. It seems this is coming from within the class (from students), but definitely not from the planners of the event.
- Each 8th grader is allowed a maximum of two guests at the ceremony. If there are younger siblings of 8th graders who attend Cooper, the siblings may stay at the school and watch the valediction streaming in the MPR – better than Netflix!
- We anticipate the ceremony lasting just about an hour, ending at roughly 11:00 am/11:15 am.
- There will be a reception for 8th grade students, their two family guests, and faculty right after the ceremony outside of the building’s entrance. We expect the reception will finish between 12:00 pm – 12:15 pm.
2024-25 Valediction at 2nd St
Thursday, June 12
Middle School
- All MS students will report to school at the normal time for their Valediction ceremonies.
- 5th and 6th grade Valediction will begin at 8:30 am.
- 7th and 8th grade Valediction will then begin at 10:30 am.
- As Valediction also marks a departure for our 8th graders, we invite up to 2 adults to attend the ceremony from each 8th Grade family.
- 8th grade family members are invited to stay for refreshments after the ceremony!
Upper School
- On Friday 6/13, the ceremony will start at 10:00am and is mandatory for all seniors. Attendance is encouraged for students in grades 9-11. Due to space constraints, families will attend only if invited by a member of the US administration.
- Afterwards, seniors have a luncheon (for seniors and faculty only) and mandatory graduation practice at UDC.
