Senior-End-of-Year Information

 

The annual senior class trip will take place at Sonny’s Place in Somers, CT. Tickets go on sale March 13 and must be purchased by May 3 at midnight. There are no exceptions. Buy a combo ticket with the senior prom and save! Transportation is provided. Students may not travel to or from the trip on their own. Buses will depart NFA at 8:30 am. Students should arrive for 8 am. We expect to return to campus between 5 and 5:30 pm.

 

Permission Slip

To attend the Senior Class Trip to Sonny’s Place on Friday, May 22, a parent or guardian must complete both the NFA permission slip and the Sonny’s Place Waiver & Release of Liability & Safety Rules, found here. Please return both signed documents to the Bradlaw House Office no later than Friday, May 1, by the end of the day.

NOTE: Students will need to provide their own transportation home after they return from the event.

Senior Prom – Saturday, June 6

 

The senior prom will be held Saturday, June 6, at the Mashantucket Pequot Museum from 6 to 10 pm. Tickets go on sale March 13 and must be purchased by May 1. Buy a combo ticket with the senior trip and save!

 

Please be mindful of the following rules regarding prom:

 

 

Free to graduates, this event will take place at 11 am on Wednesday, June 10, in the cafeteria. No ticket is needed, however you must indicate whether or not you plan on attending. You can do that on the ticket order page.  If you ordered a yearbook, you will receive it during the brunch, too. Brunch is followed by a mandatory graduation rehearsal.

 

 

Senior end-of-year event tickets can only be purchased when student debts are cleared. Should you purchase tickets without rectifying the debt, you may not be allowed to attend either event. 

 

There are two ways to determine how much money you owe. On the PowerSchool website, click on the “Balance” icon in the left-hand menu, or in the MyPowerHub app, click on “Fees” in the lower right-hand menu. Books can be returned to the library and uniforms can be returned to the Athletics Office in Norton. Chromebook waivers must be completed on the NFA website and all other debt must be cleared in the Finance Office, which is located on the second floor of Allis House.

 

 

A mandatory graduation rehearsal will be held Wednesday, June 10, at 1 pm, following the Senior Brunch. Students should report to their assigned classrooms in the Shattuck Building after brunch. Graduates who do not attend rehearsal will not participate in the official graduation ceremony.

 

 

The Graduation Exercises of the Class of 2026 will take place at 4 pm on Thursday, June 11, on the NFA Turf Field. The rain date is Friday, June 12.  It will also be streamed live at youtube.com/norwichfreeacademy.

 

Students should report to their assigned classroom in Shattuck at 3 pm on the day of the ceremony. Students will be in the same room for graduation as they were for rehearsal. Students will be assigned rooms alphabetically and lined up in the same manner.

 

Tickets

Each student will be provided four tickets for access to bleacher seating. Others may attend, but they will not be provided seating. Standing room is allowed at the fence surrounding the Turf Field. A limited number of Accessibility tickets are available, too. More information about that is located below. 

 

 

It is mandatory to have a cap and gown to participate in graduation.  Caps and gowns will be distributed to seniors at the mandatory graduation rehearsal on Tuesday, June 10. 

 

 

Graduation is a special day, and we encourage you to dress for the event as you would for any other significant, formal occasion. We suggest dress pants, shirts, ties, dresses or skirts that are appropriate for the day. 

 

There are a few rules regarding dress that must be followed:

 

 

At graduation, the following honor cords and medals are presented to students to celebrate their achievements:

• Medals are worn by Summa Cum Laude students (3.6666 GPA and above). 
• Honor cords are worn by students inducted into academic honor societies: National Honor Society, Spanish National Honor Society, National Science Honor Society, National Art Honor Society and National Chinese Honor Society. 
• Student athletes wear a cord if they meet one of the following criteria: earned four or more athletic letters, earned three letters in one year or one sport, or have been selected All-State or higher. 
• Students who successfully complete our ConnCAP program are also provided a cord. 
• Students who graduate with one or more certifications earned through one of our pipeline programs are provided a cord.
• Students who enter the military may wear a sash representing their chosen branch. These sashes are not provided by NFA.

• Students who successfully earn the Seal of Biliteracy.

These are the only items that will be allowed on the outside of the gown during the ceremony.

 

 

A limited number of reserved parking spots are available for those with accessibility needs. These spots must be reserved in advance by contacting our Campus Safety Department at 860.425.5591. These spots will be reserved on a first-come, first-served basis. The deadline for requesting an accessible space is Friday, June 5.

As part of their four-ticket allotment, students can replace up to two regular tickets with two accessible seating tickets. There are a limited number of these tickets available. To request these tickets, please contact Campus Safety at 860.425.5591. 

 

 

Parking passes will not be distributed to the general public. On-campus parking is extremely limited. Car-pooling is encouraged. On-campus lots will officially open at 2 pm and be filled on a first-come, first-serve basis. 

 

 

The best graduation ceremony we can provide is on our Turf Field, and we have scheduled a rain date for such an occurrence. Should we be forced to change dates, a decision would be made no later than 12 pm on June 11. If that happens, graduation will then simply move forward 24 hours to Friday, June 12. Any decision made to move to the rain date will be communicated on NFA social media and the school website. A robocall will also be made to all seniors.