Dear Seniors and Families,
We are less than two days away from celebrating our 2021 Commencement Ceremony at the Times Union Center in Albany, NY on Saturday, June 26, 2021 at 4:00 PM. This is the 3rd and final letter regarding our event. The first letter can be found here, and the second letter can be found here.
If you have any questions, we urge you to contact the main office at (518) 756-5200 ext. 2000 to allow us to assist you, you can also email Ms.Buckley at dbuckley@rcscsd.org or Ms.Salisbury at msalisbury@rcscsd.org.
The doors will open to families at 2:30 PM, and the ceremony will begin promptly at 4:00 PM. Students are asked to arrive dressed in their gown and be in their seats no later than 3:15 PM. Upon arrival, students will be directed to their seats by a chaperone and will be guided by the chaperones each time that they need to move during the ceremony. We will be sending some more information about the logistics of the ceremony for students to their school email addresses.
Parking - The school has secured free parking at the Times Union Parking Garage (1 on map). There is additional parking with the Albany Parking Authority at Green Hudson Garage (3 on the map) and another parking garage is located on South Pearl St (2 on the map). Since our ceremony is on Saturday, all on-street parking will be free, but is first-come, first-served. A map of possible parking locations can be found here.
Where to Enter the TU Center - Our students will enter the TU Center through their own entrance located on Beaver Street. Families will enter from the front entrance and Box Office entrance of the TU Center, which both face South Pearl Street. An elevator is located in the main entrance, to the right of the waterfall. Here is a map of entry locations.
How to Enter the Ceremony - Participants and attendees at our RCS graduation this Saturday will NOT need to present proof of COVID vaccination, recovery, or negative test. This late decision will allow us to cancel our COVID testing clinic for this Saturday and for any ticketed family members to attend the graduation with no obstacles. Here is a link that gives instructions on the different ways you can access your tickets for the ceremony.
During the Ceremony - The TU Center has informed us that, as per the Department of Health, vaccinated individuals will not be required to wear masks at the ceremony. Unvaccinated individuals are still required to wear masks. The current guidance for graduation ceremonies in New York State requires that ceremonies be streamlined to limit the time in which large-groups are gathered. Our shortened speeches and abbreviated musical numbers will all be geared toward celebrating our students. Students will be processing and recessing, and the ceremony will be projected on the LCD screens within the TU Center. The ceremony will also be streamed live on our RCS Youtube channel.
After the Ceremony - At the conclusion of our ceremony, families and students will exit through the main entrance, where the families entered, and will meet their child outside on South Pearl Street or Beaver Street.
Thank you,
Dr. Lisa Patierne