Here come the grads! High school commencements will affect traffic and parking.
Thousands of Triangle high school seniors will turn their tassels next week during six days of graduation ceremonies that will crowd streets, event centers and parking lots.
From Monday through Saturday, 39 high school graduation ceremonies will be held by the Wake County, Durham, Orange and Chapel Hill-Carrboro school systems. The majority of graduations will take place at the Raleigh Convention Center downtown, Dean E. Smith Center in Chapel Hill and Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham.
The combination of thousands of graduates and their guests means patience will be needed getting to the ceremonies, finding parking and then leaving before the next ceremony starts. Wake County seniors need to be in place at least an hour before graduation starts so the district is advising people to “allow significant time for traffic and parking.”
There will be a passenger drop-off zone outside the Raleigh Convention Center along McDowell Street under the “Shimmer Wall.” Golf carts will be available at the drop-off area and nearby parking garages to transport anyone with difficulty walking.
The Wake County school system has created a website with information about graduations, including a link to downtown parking lots and garages and links to livestreams of each ceremony. It can be found here: www.wcpss.net/graduation.
In Wake County, a record 11,469 seniors will graduate with a record $180 million in scholarships.
Durham Public Schools also has a website for graduation ceremony information at www.dpsnc.net/domain/124.
Here’s the graduation schedule:
Wake County Public School System
Monday, June 10
▪ Sanderson High, Raleigh Convention Center, 4 p.m.
▪ Garner High, Raleigh Convention Center, 8 p.m.
Tuesday, June 11
▪ Broughton High, Holliday Gym, 2 p.m.
▪ Middle Creek High, Raleigh Convention Center, 4 p.m.
▪ Phillips High, Enloe High School, 6 p.m.
▪ Holly Springs High, Raleigh Convention Center, 8 p.m.
Wednesday, June 12
▪ Apex High, Raleigh Convention Center, 8 a.m.
▪ Cary High, Raleigh Convention Center, 12 p.m.
▪ SCORE Academy, Enloe High School, 2 p.m.
▪ Panther Creek High, Raleigh Convention Center, 4 p.m.
▪ Crossroads FLEX, Peace University’s Kenan Auditorium, 6 p.m.
▪ Athens Drive High, Raleigh Convention Center, 8 p.m.
Thursday, June 13
▪ Knightdale High, Raleigh Convention Center, 8 a.m.
▪ Heritage High, Raleigh Convention Center, 12 p.m.
▪ Leesville Road High, Raleigh Convention Center, 4 p.m.
▪ Longview School, Enloe High School auditorium, 6 p.m.
▪ Millbrook High, Raleigh Convention Center, 8 p.m.
Friday, June 14
▪ Rolesville High, Raleigh Convention Center, 8 a.m.
▪ Wake Forest High, Raleigh Convention Center, 12 p.m.
▪ Green Hope High, Raleigh Convention Center, 4 p.m.
▪ Enloe High, Raleigh Convention Center, 8 p.m.
Saturday, June 15
▪ Wakefield High, Raleigh Convention Center, 8 a,m..
▪ Apex Friendship High, Raleigh Convention Center, 12 p.m.
▪ Fuquay-Varina High, Raleigh Convention Center, 4 p.m.
▪ East Wake High, Raleigh Convention Center, 8 p.m.
Durham Public Schools
Tuesday, June 11
▪ Lakeview School, at school, 3 p.m.
▪ School For Creative Studies, Riverside High School, 5 p.m.
▪ Performance Learning Center, Riverside High School, 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, June 12
▪ Southern High School, Cameron Indoor Stadium, 9 a.m.
▪ Riverside High School, Cameron Indoor Stadium, 1 p.m.
▪ Jordan High School, Cameron Indoor Stadium, 5 p.m.
Thursday, June 13
▪ Hillside High School, Cameron Indoor Stadium, 9 a.m.
▪ Northern High School, Cameron Indoor Stadium, 1 p.m.
▪ Durham School of the Arts, Cameron Indoor Stadium, 5 p.m.
Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools
Saturday, June 15
▪ East Chapel Hill High School, Dean Smith Center, 9 a.m.
▪ Chapel Hill High School, Dean Smith Center, 1 p.m.
▪ Carrboro High School, Dean Smith Center, 5 p.m.
Orange County
Thursday, June 13
▪ Cedar Ridge High School, Dean E. Smith Center, 11 a.m.
Friday, June 14
▪ Orange High School, Dean E. Smith Center, 7:30 p.m.
This story was originally published June 6, 2019 at 4:20 PM.
