2020 Graduation

It’s that time of year when celebrations are happening all the round the city to celebrate the hard work that Seniors throughout Philadelphia have put forth. We get many questions of how PSTV may support educators during this time. So wanted to provide some insight.

Educators: 

  1. Looking for easy way to create a virtual graduation – Graduation Lesson Plan
  2. Host your own Virtual Graduation through approved streaming platforms – Google Meet Streaming, Facebook Live, GoToMeeting, WebEx, Instagram Live, and Zoom are all acceptable platforms to stream your live or pre-recorded activities to engage your students and families.
  3. use of student-level Information – Unless a parent opted out of release of FERPA directory information, per Policy 815.1 the Media Release forms signed by parents/families at the beginning of the school year are sufficient for consent to share the following student information: name; photograph; participation in activities and sports; degrees, honors and awards received; and major field of study. To release or disclose any other student-level information, you must obtain written consent from their parents/guardians.
  4. YES, PSTV will happily air your Graduations/Ceremonies that are submitted.  Click here to submit
  5. Dates and Times are on a first received basis, that to be said we will air them all throughout the summer so that folks have a chance to watch.  They can be seen on Comcast/Xfinity 52, Verizon Fios 20 and watched at www.philasd.org/watch
  6. What format should I submit?  A .mov file or .mp4 files work best.
  7. Here are some other ideas for creating a virtual celebration that you can create, record and share with us:  *an inspirational message from the principal
    *a personal message from one of your exceptional/influential students to the senior class
    *a student performance (if possible)
    *a video collage of memorable senior class photos/images from throughout the school year
    *close with the names and photos of your graduates (only those for whom you have consent) 
  8. Pomp and Circumstance – While we cannot change the situation, we hope to make it a little brighter. As a gift to the graduating Class of 2020, The Philadelphia Orchestra is offering a recent performance of Edward Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance. Please feel free to use this recording for any virtual graduation the School District of Philadelphia is organizing, or for any student to use during a ‘home graduation.’ The audio can be found here: philorch.org/graduation
  9. Jostens is an option for helping with your virtual graduations.  If you already have an account with them, they will work with you to help produce your virtual graduation using a zoom platform for free.  If you do not currently have a service contract with them, but would be interested and sign up for a 2-3 year contract now they will also provide the service for free at this time as well.  For more information visit –  Josten’s, To find out who your account rep is  go to Josten’s website and search for your schools name.  Otherwise feel free to reach out to Mark Judy at mark.judy@jostens.com
  10.  Interested in pointers or best practices, or to walk you through ideas feel free to reach out to pstv@philasd.org
  11. Smartphone use and best practices – Click Here
  12. Best practices and formats for social media – Click Here 
  13. Graduate Together/ XQ offers this toolkit for schools – Click Here 

 

ONLY APPROVED PLATFORMS FOR VIRTUAL LIVE GRADUATIONS – Google Meet Streaming, Facebook Live, GoToMeeting, WebEx, Instagram Live, and Zoom are all acceptable platforms to stream your live or pre-recorded activities to engage your students and families.