It’s time to turn the tassels and fight the traffic. Here’s your graduation schedule.
Thousands of Triangle high school students will flip their tassels over the next week, in graduation ceremonies that will fill downtown Raleigh, Duke and UNC arenas, and some campus stadiums.
The Wake County, Durham, Johnston, Chapel Hill-Carrboro, Orange and Chatham County school systems will hold graduation ceremonies through June 15 for members of the Class of 2023. Early colleges and other high schools with specialized calendars held graduations in May or earlier in June.
It’s been an unusual four years for seniors, whose freshmen year ended early when COVID-19 suspended in-person classes in March 2020. Some students spent most, if not all, of the 2020-21 school year in online classes before in-person classes became the norm again.
Only the past two school years have been a relatively close to normal high school experience.
Heavy traffic likely. Practice patience.
Graduation attendees are being asked to bring plenty of patience and to arrive early for the ceremonies. Graduates themselves are usually expected to arrive an hour early, so allow significant time for parking and traffic.
It’s particularly challenging for people traveling to downtown Raleigh for the Wake County school system’s graduation ceremonies. On Saturday and on Monday through Thursday of next week, the downtown Raleigh Convention Center will host four graduations a day — at 8 a.m., noon, 4 p.m. and 8 p.m.
How you can watch graduations online
If you can’t go in person, many schools stream the graduations online.
Some school districts have put together websites with their graduation schedules, links to watching the ceremonies online and tips for attending the ceremony.
Wake County school system: wcpss.net/graduation
Durham Public Schools: dpsnc.net/domain/124
Chapel Hill-Carrboro: graduation.chccs.org/
The Triangle graduation schedule
Thursday, June 8
▪ Choice Plus Academy, West Campus Conference Center, 3 p.m.
▪ JCPS Virtual Academy, Smithfield Middle, 5:30 p.m.
▪ Ignite! Online Academy, Hillside High, 6 p.m.
Friday, June 9
▪ Corinth Holders High, football stadium, 9 a.m.
▪ South Johnston High, football stadium, 9 a.m.
▪ Southern School of Energy and Sustainability, Cameron Indoor Stadium, 9 a.m.
▪ Broughton High, Holliday Gym, 10 a.m.
▪ Cleveland High, football stadium, 10 a.m.
▪ Northwood High, football stadium, 10 a.m.
▪ West Johnston High, football stadium, 10 a.m.
▪ Northern High, Cameron Indoor Stadium, 1 p.m.
▪ Longview School, Phillips High, 2 p.m.
▪ Cedar Ridge High, Dean Smith Center, 4 p.m.
▪ Durham School of the Arts, Cameron Indoor Stadium, 5 p.m.
▪ North Johnston High, gym, 5 p.m.
▪ Phoenix Academy and Virtual Learning Academy, East Chapel Hill High, 6 p.m.
▪ Smithfield-Selma High, football stadium, 6 p.m.
▪ Clayton High, football stadium, 6:30 p.m.
▪ Chatham Central High, football stadium, 7 p.m.
▪ Princeton High, gym, 7 p.m.
▪ Orange High, Dean Smith Center, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, June 10
▪ Rolesville High, Raleigh Convention Center, 8 a.m.
▪ Carrboro High, Dean Smith Center, 9 a.m.
▪ Jordan-Matthews High, football stadium, 10 a.m.
▪ Athens Drive High, Raleigh Convention Center, 12 p.m.
▪ East Chapel Hill High, Dean Smith Center, 12:30 p.m.
▪ Chapel Hill High, Dean Smith Center, 4 p.m.
▪ Green Hope High, Raleigh Convention Center, 4 p.m.
▪ Apex Friendship High, Raleigh Convention Center, 8 p.m.
Sunday, June 11
▪ Middle Creek High, Raleigh Convention Center, 2 p.m.
Monday, June 12
▪ Holly Springs High, Raleigh Convention Center, 8 a.m.
▪ Hillside High, Cameron Indoor Stadium, 9 a.m.
▪ Phillips High, Meymandi Hall, 10 a.m.
▪ Panther Creek High, Raleigh Convention Center, 12 p.m.
▪ Riverside High, Cameron Indoor Stadium, 1 p.m.
▪ Crossroads FLEX, Meymandi Hall, 2 p.m.
▪ Garner High, Raleigh Convention Center, 4 p.m.
▪ Jordan High, Cameron Indoor Stadium, 5 p.m.
▪ SCORE Academy, Meymandi Hall, 6 p.m.
▪ Millbrook High, Raleigh Convention Center, 8 p.m.
Tuesday, June 13
▪ Heritage High, Raleigh Convention Center, 8 a.m.
▪ Wake Forest High, Raleigh Convention Center, 12 p.m.
▪ Leesville Road High, Raleigh Convention Center, 4 p.m.
▪ Enloe High, Raleigh Convention Center, 8 p.m.
Wednesday, June 14
▪ Wakefield High, Raleigh Convention Center, 8 a.m.
▪ Fuquay-Varina High, Raleigh Convention Center, 12 p.m.
▪ East Wake High, Raleigh Convention Center, 4 p..m.
▪ Apex High, Raleigh Convention Center, 8 p.m.
Thursday, June 15
▪ South Garner High, Raleigh Convention Center, 8 a.m.
▪ Cary High, Raleigh Convention Center, 12 p.m.
▪ Green Level High, Raleigh Convention Center, 4 p.m.
▪ Sanderson High, Raleigh Convention Center, 8 p.m.
This story was originally published June 7, 2023 at 5:09 PM.
