“Circus” was announced as the theme of San Marino High School’s Grad Night 2021, which is slated for Friday, May 28.
As COVID-19 restrictions begin to loosen, San Marino High School’s senior class celebrated a doozy of a milestone when the Grad Night theme was revealed Wednesday evening.
“Circus” is coming to town on Friday, May 28, and seniors hope it lives up to its billing as “the greatest show on earth.”
“We are super excited to celebrate our seniors, who have been cooped up all year,” said Grad Night chair Cynthia Ary, who is all too familiar with the challenges confronted by members of the Class of 2021 and counts her daughter, Mary Jane, among them.
Grad Night is still in the planning stages, but Ary said this year’s version might include an outdoor, masked event. San Marino High School Principal Jason Kurtenbach said he expected graduation ceremonies to take place in Titan Stadium with Grad Night to follow.
The 2021 Grad Night committee includes Ary, business chair Nicolette Fuerst and creative co-chairs Alice O’Brien-Ulrich and Kim Sutherland. The committee met with the senior advisory board and came up with nine themes for consideration. It was pared down to four, and following a vote of the senior class, “Circus was the heavy favorite,” according to Ary.
Ary has received a commitment from the iconic “Old Guard” labor force (volunteers who help construct the Grad Night set), and planners are already moving forward with the Kindergarten Wall.
“It has been a different year and it will be a different Grad Night,” Ary said.
The San Marino Unified School District announced the closure of its campuses on Friday, March 13 due to the spread of COVID-19. The SMUSD transitioned to distance learning until this past Monday, when students in transitional kindergarten through 6th grade were allowed to return to campus at Valentine and Carver Elementary Schools.
San Marino High School’s 2020 graduation was postponed until July 31 and took place in a drive-thru format, and seniors were unable to participate in their Grad Night, which was themed “Finding Nemo.” The 2020 Grad Night committee is still holding to its plans for a one-year class reunion that is scheduled for July 2.
