Senior Week, graduation, and prom have been significantly modified to fit health guidelines, as COVID-19 continues to spike in the Bay State.

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, schools across the country are closing their doors for the remainder of the academic year, leaving the Class of 2020 with many questions about how their long-awaited senior year will end.

Thursday, Head of School Judith Guild, Upper School Head Joshua Neudel, and Director of Development Elizabeth Smith sent seniors an email about how the end-of-year events will proceed.

Senior Week is still scheduled to run, but the activities will be moved online, including exit interviews and end-of-year workshops.

“We are still planning to host a young alumni panel, as well as bring in other people to speak to the students,” the email said, also noting that activities are scheduled for the week of May 25. 

Commencement, the most pivotal events for graduating classes, will be held online on May 29 at 5 p.m., in lieu of an in-person ceremony. 

“I’m super bummed out about [graduation] being canceled,” William Apostolica ’20 said. “I was really looking forward to finishing my Brimmer experience with it, but I guess we will have to wait until August.”

“While we will be finalizing the details for Commencement over the coming weeks, we are planning to share the individual student speeches during this time,” Guild, Neudel, and Smith wrote in the announcement. “We also will ceremonially graduate the students at the ceremony to mark the end of high school for them”

An in-person celebration on campus is tentatively scheduled for Saturday, August 8, but due to the uncertainty of COVID-19, details are subject to change. Social distancing will be respected by maintaining a limited attendance for this event, according to administrators, who want to award diplomas to students in-person, while also providing a final opportunity to reconnect. 

Rather than traditional graduation attire, the School will provide graduation gowns, allowing students to “wear prom attire under the gowns for the post ceremony party.”

“It’s hard missing one of the biggest moments of your high school experience but I know the school is trying their best to make the most out of the situation,” Paxton Wong ’20 said. “It does hurt that we aren’t going to be celebrated in front of the whole school like past graduating classes, but I feel like the past years I’ve spent at Brimmer are more important than just one day.”

Further information will be sent to families regarding these events in the coming weeks.

Click here to read the full letter sent by the administration.