My kiddos go to a fairly new high school ( six years old) and we are still establishing traditions and senior privileges. I am on the strategic SIte Based Decision Team and we are seeking ideas for great things to offer our seniors. What are some of the things that your child's high school offers to seniors especially, but could also be juniors?
Senior Parking Lot.
Seniors can leave campus for lunch all year
Senior Prank, as long as it is not dangerous and does no harm to the school or anyone.
Senior skip day.
Senior Prom, they plan it
They can have a class period off
The high school that I went to really only had a couple of things:
1. Off campus lunch. Seniors were the ONLY ones with express permission for this (not that it stopped a few of the ballsier underclassmen) except after the seniors graduated. (Seniors got out of school ~ 2 weeks before the rest of the school, don't know if that's normal or not.)
2. Free dress days ~ once per month. I went to a Catholic school, so initially we had a "Sunday Dress" dress code, and by the time I was a senior we had uniforms, so that was a big deal for us.
ETA: Someone else's post reminded me, we also had the option of having one "off" period our senior year. (Again, only seniors allowed to do that.) So, instead of having all 7 periods full, you could have one of them off for whatever you wanted. In theory it was supposed to be for working on college applications/research, but let's face it... no one ACTUALLY used it for that! :)
Oh! and closer parking! Juniors and below had to park past the gym, seniors could park closer than that, but not in teacher parking. We actually had special parking stickers for seniors to verify that this was being upheld.
I teach high school, and our seniors also have off-campus lunch (so do juniors). Here are a few other things that I can think of off the top of my head.
-Prom - this is for seniors only, unless a senior brings an underclassman as a date.
-Senior Breakfast - this is near the end of the year, and seniors who have been accepted to universities and/or who have been awarded scholarships are honored.
-Senior Awards - this is also near the end of the year, and this is an evening where seniors are given awards they've won throughout the year. The funny awards are also given this evening (the "most likely" type awards).
I'm sure there are other things that I've forgotten, too.
They can paint their parking spot.
My kids, well, now just my daughter is a senior in a fairly small private school that has been around 125 years. There are very sacred traditions for the seniors.
One, there is a 'senior lounge' that they (the students) repaint every year. It's not that big. Really not much bigger than a large walk-in closet, but it's theirs. IF an underclassman is in the lounge and not a guest of a senior, they have to clean it. *Sounds harsh, but really it is all good natured. ;)
Second quarter seniors with good grades can leave campus for lunch. But the entire year they have a 'senior only' line in the cafeteria.
Senior parking in the parking lot. *Parking is a royal pain in the behind, so this is BIG for the student drivers.
A senior skip day and a senior prank day. *The prank day actually is pre-arranged and approved by someone at school. One year they turned the HS Principal's office into a 'beach' complete with sand and a kiddie pool. The kids were anxiously waiting for him to come in and see his face but he some how found out about it and showed up in his swim suit and with a beach towel!
The senior video. The kids submit pictures they've taken themselves over the years, as well as parents may submit some. The kids who are in the video production classes are usually the ones who put it together. Since our school is a pre-school through 12th grade, it's cool to see some of the 'lifer' kids throughout the years. They also get little snippets from the faculty.
One of the favorite, long-standing traditions is the junior-senior ring ceremony. The juniors don't get their class rings until the spring, right before graduation. They (the rings) are presented by the seniors as a right of passage and turning over the 'senior reigns' of the school so to speak. I can't explain how special it is, but it is very cool!
Oh, and their class pictures. I don't know how big of a school you're talking about, but ours is pretty small. The largest class is 75 kids. So they have a formal class picture where everyone is expected to dress up and they are lined up on risers. Then an informal one, where they can wear sports shorts, or jeans. The kids have fun coming up with how or where the informal picture will be taken. It has to be on campus, but it may be on the little kids playground. Just something fun.
Of course, with everything, there will be the kids who take advantage of a good thing. My daughter's class, now seniors, had to 'prove' their worthiness because last year's senior class was so out of control. There is even rumors that they won't have a prank day which has been around 100 years! There are several parents willing to go to bat for these current seniors who truly are good kids. So be prepared with appropriate consequences.
My daughter is a current senior.
They have an option for senior hours meaning coming in late or leaving early. Her first class is at 9am but she routinely leaves home by 7:15 to ensure a good parking spot, study and help the cheer coach ( she's Varsity cheer captain). The nice part is that she does not HAVE to leave at 7:15 everyday!!
As for leaving early, it's rare due to cheer. The cheer hours are 2:30-4:30 and depending on games, etc. she can sometimes be home by 3 if she's lucky but most of the time she's home by 4:45. Her typical day is leaving home at 7:15 and getting home around 5 with games about 2 times a week.
Our Sr high school is only grades 11-12. They do have off campus lunch privileges with parental approval.
They have " stay day" a few times a year when all students usually stay on campus because local restaurants that are popular come in and sell food. Example: Chick Filet, Raising Canes, McAlisters Deli, etc
Some schools in the area have special parking for seniors and seniors can paint their parking spots.
If I think of more, I'll forward to you. Our school is huge with volunteers working with the staff and the students are very involved.
Senior parking lot, senior lawn (a grassy area only for seniors.)
The kids usually vote on a theme for their graduating year and then play that up. Sometimes it's really inappropriate, but hey, they've already got one foot out the door!
We had Senoir Ditch Day - Kind of like a field trip to a water park or amusement park, BUT seniors got themselves there on their own, no busses or anything, and paid to get in (maybe discounted) checked in with a teacher there (attendance) and they could miss school that day. BUT any seniors that didn't check in with the teacher weren't not excused to miss school.
We had a lot of what others have already mentioned, but my favorite thing my senior year was our senior banquet. It was about a month before prom. It was for seniors only, no underclassmen. We had a slide show, did senior superlatives (best dressed, best butt, etc). There was dinner and dancing. It was a lot of fun. A lot of seniors, not just my class, always said it was a lot more fun than prom. We did a lot of fundraisers starting as freshmen to pay for it all so no one had to pay out of pocket for the event. This was nice for those that could not afford prom. It was a dressy event, but no tuxedos or gowns.
I would love to see more schools do a "Senior Day of Service." Participation is mandatory for graduation, but there can be a variety of service projects to choose from:
Ex: Soup Kitchen; Putting on a fun day at a school for special needs kids; neighborhood clean-up; helping the elderly; visiting hospitals/nursing homes, etc.
