Summer classes will help Seniors graduate

ROCKINGHAM — The graduation ceremony for Richmond Senior High School will be held at Raider Stadium on June 4, and a second graduation ceremony will be held July 15 for students who fulfill their credits during the summer school session.

Seniors at-risk of not graduating are given priority for the summer school opportunity, where credits can be recovered. The summer classes are available to all students.

There will not be a virtual option for the summer courses. Students can choose between two 15-day summer sessions. The amount of hours that they will be required to attend depend on the credits that they need to make up.

K-8 students will be offered 150 hours of in-person instruction from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Thursday in two separate sessions from June 14 through July 1 and July 12 to July 29. It will be hosted at the student’s school.

The Ninth Grade Academy and RSHS summer session dates will be June 8 through July 1 for the first session and July 12 through Aug 4 for the second. Ashley Chapel Education Center and Richmond Early College High School have not announced their schedules yet.

“It’s every bit the diploma that is bestowed on June 4,” RSHS Principal Jim Butler said. “We want them to embrace the opportunity that if they missed out on the opportunity of graduating on June 4, that doesn’t mean that door is closed.”

The school will provide more details about the summer classes soon.

School counselors and teachers are busy contacting students who may not be able to fulfill graduation requirements.

Butler said that there will be more students attending summer classes than in the past, and that he hopes that it will act like a reset for underclassmen as they prepare for the return to in-person learning in the fall, barring any unforeseen circumstances.

“It doesn’t replace the semester , but what we’re trying to accomplish is to keep you on track and let it be a reset,” Butler said. “We want to bring back that face-to-face learning and whet their appetite for what they might get in the fall.”

The RSHS ceremony will begin at 8 p.m. on Friday, June 4. Currently, seniors will be getting four tickets that they can share with those who wish to attend. Butler said they have hopes of increasing that amount, but it depends if restrictions are eased by Governor Roy Cooper.

Students can expect to be more spaced out than usual and that there may be slightly less people than usual in attendance, but it will otherwise function fairly normally.

“We’re excited about graduation because it’s back to a typical ceremony, as close as we can make it,” said Butler.