Sunny skies, cars decked out in streamers and balloons, and celebratory music made Greenwich Academy Class of 2020 diploma ceremony and car parade, on May 25, a joyous event.
Faculty lined the length of GA’s driveway (spaced six feet apart) carrying congratulatory signs and wearing their customary graduation robes and specially made Class of 2020 face masks. Each of GA’s seniors was driven to campus by family members and waved at the cheering faculty from car windows, through sunroofs, from the back of pick-up trucks, and from convertibles.
At the top of the driveway, Head of School Molly King announced the arrival of each family. One by one, the girls, dressed in perfect uniform, exited their cars to pick up their diplomas from a table covered in GA plaid and then had their photos taken before the pillars of GA’s iconic Ruth West Campbell Hall.
The next photo station had a decidedly less formal feel—students posed with a life size cutout of Mrs. King. Under normal circumstances, GA’s head of school hands each girl her diploma and gives her a hug. Since social distancing protocols precluded this practice, the cutout offered a humorous and unconventional alternative.
The girls then picked up a Class of 2020 gift bag which included their yearbook and other GA memorabilia before driving off campus and heading home as GA’s newest alumnae.
“I’m so proud of this group of young women,” said Mrs. King, “They are an extraordinary cohort of scholars, athletes, and artists, and in the last few months they have shown a level of grace, resilience, and care for the broader community that have revealed the true mettle of their character. Congratulations to the girls and families of the Greenwich Academy Class of 2020!”
