UPDATED NFA Class of 2021 Graduation Information

Please read this entire page for important information related to the 2021 NFA Commencement Ceremony. 

A letter from NECSD Superintendent Dr. Roberto Padilla:

Dear Goldback Nation,

Governor Cuomo has announced additional changes to the New York State Department of Health's COVID-19 Guidelines for large scale events, such as graduations. We have included some text from the guidance below. We appreciate your continued patience and flexibility with the district as well as with the NYSDOH. Information continues to change daily. We will continue to do our best to serve our school district and our community. 

Accordingly, there are some important adjustments to the requirements for the end of the year Newburgh Free Academy Class of 2021 commencement ceremony.

Please review the following changes:

• Masks are strongly encouraged, but not required, for vaccinated individuals
• Unvaccinated individuals (adults and children) must wear a mask while on school grounds
• Masks will be required for anyone who enters inside the school building. This includes graduates when they arrive
• Vaccination and negative COVID-19 tests are highly encouraged, however proof of vaccination/negative test results are no longer required upon entry to the event
• Physical distancing is no longer required
• A health screening is no longer required 
• There will be one ceremony on Thursday, June 24th at 4pm
• Each graduate will receive four (4) guest tickets. Each guest must be on the updated guest list to enter
• A guest list will be utilized for all guests (information about updating your guest list can be found here)

Please note that official updates/reminders/communications from the district will continue to be provided via robo call and email to graduates and contacts on the guest list. Communication will also continue to be posted on the district website and social media sites.

If you have any questions, please reach out to your child's grade level administrator. 

It’s an honor to ShoulderUp with You,

Roberto Padilla, Ed.D

Superintendent

GUEST LIST INFORMATION

If you have completed the NFA Graduation Guest Form and need to update your guest list, please click this link and follow these instructions to update your guest list.

If you have NOT completed the guest form yet, please do so here: 2021 Graduates and Guests - NFA Graduation Guest Form

Tuesday, June 22nd from 12:00pm - 2:30pm - All Graduates

Senior Drop Off (Chromebooks, textbooks, uniforms, library books, etc.) at each individual campus. 

Wednesday, June 23rd Update:

• Picnic 11:00 AM -2:00 PM - behind visitor’s bleachers
• Picnic includes: DJ, Food items from culinary department, ice cream truck and possible one additional food truck
• Cap and Gown pick up at NFA Main Girls Gym as follows:
• A-F -  11:00 AM-12:00 PM
• G-M - 12:00 PM-1:00 PM
• N-Z -   1:00 PM-2:00 PM
• Students may attend picnic at any time

Thursday, June 24th Graduation day update:

Rehearsal:

• 8:30AM - students arrive for rehearsal. Please arrive on time. The rehearsal will begin promptly.
• 9:00-10:30 AM - Rehearsal (Any student who has not picked up cap and gown may do so after rehearsal)

Graduation:

• 3:00PM - Students arrive for the Graduation Ceremony. Please arrive on time. The ceremony will begin promptly.
• 4:00PM - Graduation ceremony

Additional Important Information regarding Graduation Day:

Cap Decoration - Graduates will be allowed to decorate their caps for the Class of 2021 NFA Graduation Ceremony. Please find guidelines by clicking this link. If guidelines are not followed, your cap may be removed prior to the ceremony and you may graduate without a cap.

Live streaming - All graduation ceremonies will be live-streamed to the NECSD Communications YouTube Channel and the NECSD Facebook page.  

Weather - We hope to have beautiful weather for each ceremony! If there is a delay or postponement due to weather, a robo call and email will go out to all contacts listed on the NFA Graduation guest form as well as posted on the district website and Facebook page. 

ATTENTION: Are your scholars or colleagues doing something great? Please contact the district Communications Team at communications@necsd.net. We’d love to visit your class or event and/or post your pictures and recap to highlight the amazing accomplishments throughout our district!