Dear Royals Family,
I am very pleased to announce that the MCP Class of 2020, their families and friends, and the staff at MCP will be able to participate in a live graduation ceremony on the evening of June 5th!
This event will take place on the grounds of the Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo and I must thank the Madonna and Pearce families for their incredible efforts to make this event a possibility for our students and their families.
More specific details about this event will be coming in the weeks ahead but this is a plan that we have been developing and coordinating with both our Diocese and the County of San Luis Obispo for some time now. They have both endorsed it and we are now able to share it with our community.
There will be caps and gowns and there will be a stage. The name of each graduate will be announced out loud to our community and diplomas will be conferred directly to each graduate as they walk across the stage. Family and friends will be in attendance to celebrate and witness this commencement. It will be a graduation ceremony unlike any other in the history of our school and we will honor the incredible accomplishments and contributions of a class that is, ‘like no other,’ to a school that is, ‘like nowhere else.’
In accordance with our current stay-at-home orders, we must still abide by certain legal limits for this event: all guests, their families, and the graduates themselves will assemble in cars and then cars will be escorted to the large meadow at the Madonna Inn. All guests, their families, and the graduates will remain in those cars for the entirety of the ceremony with the exception of the graduates who will be allowed to exit the vehicle and then walk to the stage to be announced and to receive their diploma. Graduates will then walk directly back to their vehicle and remain in their vehicle for the remainder of the ceremony, all vehicles will then be directed towards the exits of the meadow.
Audio from the ceremony will be broadcast via FM radio and we are also making plans to video and livestream the event to our social media platforms. This means that both live audio and live video of the event will be available to anyone with a Wi-Fi connected device (both for those in attendance and for those who wish to experience the event remotely).
Again, further details about this event will be forthcoming, including the vehicle arrival and lineup procedures as well as the layout of the event (and where each family vehicle will be parked for the ceremony). Parking closest to the stage will be reserved for graduates and their families. Technology will bring the ceremony 'live' to each vehicle but we also want to preserve a reasonable view of the stage, so no buses, limousines, vans or RV's will be allowed to enter. Spaces closest to the stage will be assigned according to the same system we use for ceremonies in Mission Plaza but everyone will have a great view.
This event could not have been possible without the commitment and planning of the Bishop of the Diocese of Monterey, The Most Reverend Danny Garcia, the Superintendent of Catholic Schools for the Diocese, Mrs. Kimberly Cheng, the MCP Director of Advancement, Ryan Weisenberg, his PAL graduation team led by Karen Beaudin, the John and Susie Madonna Family, the Clint and Connie Pearce family and the Madonna Inn, the SLO County Health Department led by Dr. Penny Borenstein and county EOC Liaison, Anita Konopa.
We are unbelievably eager to see our seniors and their families experience this moment together and we are so grateful for this opportunity to come together as a community. I am certain that there are many additional questions out there so please do not hesitate to bring them to my attention and I will do my best to get them addressed.
Thank you for your partnership in this extraordinary era. I sincerely hope that this announcement is met with considerably joy, relief, and excitement for our seniors and their families, and I thank all of our families for entrusting MCP with forming your daughters and sons into young women and men of scholarship, inspiration, and leadership.
We still have a few weeks left in this academic year and plans for next year are well under way. MCP will be ready for anything and we will continue to deliver the finest Catholic, College Preparatory education available anywhere in our county. There will be an end to this crisis and WeWill arrive there as a community.
Yours in Christ,
Mike Susank
Principal