*Please see important Covid-19 Ceremony updates at the bottom of this page*
Timeless Homeschool Events
Invites you to participate in our
2020 Graduation Commencement Ceremony
Tuesday, May 26, 2020
Historic Princess Theatre
112 Second Avenue NE, Decatur, Alabama 35601
3:00 PM Rehearsal
6:00 PM Ceremony
Please read the following important information before ordering your tickets.
In keeping with our mission statement to provide quality milestone events for homeschoolers, Timeless Homeschool Events is honored to be able to offer a traditional graduation ceremony open to all homeschoolers. T.H.E. is not a cover school, and therefore, will not provide your graduate with a diploma. Please make sure to provide all requested information when filling out your graduate’s registration. Incorrect or invalid information may result in a refund of your ticket.
What type of ceremony will this be? This will be a traditional graduation ceremony, much like those at public high schools.
Where will it be held? Our ceremony will be held in the beautiful and historic Princess Theatre in downtown Decatur, AL. We will use their full theatre, with the stage being where our students will accept their diplomas.
Who will present diplomas? Parents will present diplomas to their graduate, one at a time, in a formal ceremony. This will allow each family to have a special moment of recognition on the stage. If you have another arrangement you prefer, please discuss it with us and we will try to accomodate.
Are Seniors able to set up Senior Tables? Unfortunately, we've had to remove this option due to Covid-19.
Will there be a Senior Slideshow? Yes. Seniors will be given information on this after registration.
Will there be a valedictorian? Because we are not a cover school, and do not choose valedictorians, we are unable to have a valedictorian speaker at our graduation ceremony. Instead, we will have a student speaker. Graduates who would like to be considered for this honor are asked to write their speech in essay form and submit it for consideration. These speeches will be anonymously judged by a third party. One to two speakers will be chosen to address the audience on behalf of the 2020 graduates. The deadline for submissions is March 31, 2020, and they should be sent to [email protected]. Please put “Homeschool Graduation Student Speaker" in the subject line.
When is rehearsal? In the interest of easier scheduling for our graduates and their families, we will have a rehearsal the day of the ceremony at 3:00 PM. Please arrive on time so that we may begin rehearsal promptly.
What color are the caps and gowns? Students are responsible for purchasing their own caps and gowns. We have found the quality of the gowns from graduationsource.com to be excellent, but there are many options on amazon.com as well. Prices range from $20 to $30. Graduates are free to choose their preferred color. Please note that business casual dress (no athletic shoes, shorts, flip-flops, or jeans) is required to be worn underneath the caps and gowns. Please make sure you purchase a tassle as well.
Can the students decorate their hats? Students are welcome to decorate the tops of their mortarboards. Please keep all decorations on the top of the mortarboard G-rated and in a flat style (nothing elevated above the hat). Pinterest is a great inspiration for decorating ideas. Students, we will be throwing hats at the end of the ceremony!
What is the dress code? All participants are required to wear business casual dress. NO athletic shoes, shorts, flip-flops, or jeans are allowed.
Will there be a photographer? A photographer will be on hand the day of graduation, photos from the event will be made available at no additional charge to the families. You are also welcome to take your own photos.
What is the cost? Registration is $100 through May 15 and late registration is $125 from May 16 through June 10, 2020. Additional tickets are needed for family and friends who would like to attend the ceremony, but tickets for guests are free. They may be added to your cart when the graduate ticket is purchased or at a later date as long as there are tickets available.
SCHOLARSHIPS ARE AVAILABLE, please contact [email protected]
Do you have to be a local student to graduate in this ceremony? No. There are no requirements as to geographical location, cover school, etc. Any homeschool senior who would like to take part is welcome. Please note that graduates are only able to participate in this ceremony once.
What if I won’t complete the requirements for my diploma until later in the year? Anyone who is eligible to graduate during the year of 2020 is welcome to join us.
What about diplomas? Parents are responsible for applying for and obtaining diplomas from the state of Alabama (or their home state). At the ceremony, each graduate will be given a leatherette diploma cover as a symbolic part of the ceremony, but it will not have that graduate’s diploma inside.
Is there a reception following the ceremony? While T.H.E. will not be hosting a formal reception, the lobby concessions and coffee shop at the Princess Theatre will be open for anyone who would like to stay and enjoy each other’s company after the ceremony. There are also numerous restaurants within walking distance of the theatre.
Refund Policy: Tickets are non-refundable.
IMPORTANT COVID UPDATES
Dear friends,
We have carefully watched the events of this pandemic unfold over the past few months. Our hope is to move forward with our graduation ceremony while mitigating risk as much as possible. Working in accordance with our current understanding of CDC and local municipality guidelines, we have had to make some required modifications to our program, as listed below.
•To keep crowd size down and enable required social distancing, each graduate will need to be limited to no more than 6 guests.
•Everyone in attendance will be required to wear a face mask.
•To avoid groups congregating in the lobby, we won’t be able to have senior tables.
There is no need to do anything with guest tickets already purchased. Each guest will check in at the door and we will keep a count by each graduates name in order to maintain our newly limited capacity of 6 per graduate. We will livestream the ceremony for those who cannot be in attendance and our hope is that families can gather offsite afterwards to celebrate together.
It is unfortunate that we have to modify our program and we understand this will cause some disappointment, as it has on our end as well. However, our greatest desire is to allow our graduates to have their moment to shine and to give them this special milestone to look back on. With that in mind, we are working hard behind the scenes to ensure we can provide this ceremony within the guidelines of these times.
Many of our graduates have not turned in senior bios or photos for the slideshow yet. In order to make this easier on your end, I am extending the deadline for both of those to June 5. I’m afraid this is a firm deadline in order to be included in the program and slideshow. Each of these can be submitted in our Facebook group, here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/timelessgraduation/
If you have any questions, please feel free to email me. Note that I will be unavailable from Wed-Friday but will answer as soon as I get back home.
Thank you for your understanding during a time in which each of us have faced difficult decisions.
Sincerely,
Timeless Homeschool Events Board of Directors
*CDC guidelines may be found here https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/large-events/mass-gatherings-ready-for-covid-19.html
*Alabama Department of Health guidelines may be found here https://www.alabamapublichealth.gov/covid19/assets/cov-sah-entertainment-tourist.pdf