Joyful Diploma Day for the Class of 2020 - News & Photos - McDonogh School

News & Photos

Joyful Diploma Day for the Class of 2020

The conferring of diplomas on the Class of 2020 on June 5 was like none other in McDonogh School history. Friday, June 5, temporarily renamed Diploma Day, was missing the crowds of families and friends because of the COVID-19 social distancing mandate, but it was still a day of joy complete with proud smiles, happy tears, and loud cheers.

From 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., decorated cars filled with seniors and their family members entered campus on Farm Road where they were greeted by signs celebrating each graduate. After parking, they posed with life-sized cut-outs of administrators and the Eagle mascot, picked up a striped McDonogh tie or a bouquet of orange roses, and proceeded to Childs Memorial Terrace to receive their diplomas. With their proud families watching, Head of Upper School Merritt Livermore announced each senior’s name. The graduates walked across the terrace, picked up their diplomas, and paused for photographs. As they continued across the terrace, they were met by the grinning faces of their classmates in the senior seating section, compliments of the McDonogh Parents Association. Many posed with their cardboard classmates before heading up the hill for a family photo. The School hopes to come together to celebrate the graduates later in the summer or in the fall when it is deemed safe to do so, but for now, congratulations to the 165 members of McDonogh’s Class of 2020!