Two Centre County High Schools Alter Graduation Plans Because of Rain

Forecasted rain with the possibility of lightning has forced two Centre County high schools to make changes to graduation ceremonies scheduled for Friday.

Penns Valley Area High School will move its ceremony indoors on Friday and State College Area High School has rescheduled graduation for Saturday.

For Penns Valley, the ceremony will be held at 6:30 p.m. Friday in the new gymnasium at the high school instead of the stadium. Doors will open at 5:30 p.m.

“This decision allows us to safely celebrate our graduates without weather-related concerns and ensures that families can keep any weekend commitments as planned,” the district wrote in an update.

No tickets are required, and seating is first-come, first-served.

“While there is no limit to the number of guests each graduate may invite, we kindly ask families to be mindful of seating and space by keeping their guest lists reasonable,” the district wrote.

A parking map is available online. The ceremony will also be livestreamed on YouTube.

State College’s ceremony for its 617 graduating students is now scheduled for 6 p.m. Saturday at Memorial Field instead of 7 p.m. Friday. Students should arrive by 5 p.m. to line up for the procession.

“We made this decision because [Friday] evening’s forecast still includes a high chance of rain and possibly lightning, even if we pushed the start back to 8 or 9 p.m.,” Principal Laura Tobias wrote in an email. “Thank you for your understanding as we worked through this situation.”

Saturday had been listed as a rain date on the district calendar.

The ceremony will be livestreamed on C-NET’s YouTube Channel.

Bellefonte Area High School’s is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Saturday at Rogers Stadium as originally planned. It will also be livestreamed on C-NET’s YouTube channel.

Among Centre County’s other school districts, Bald Eagle Area held its graduation ceremony on Wednesday. Philipsburg-Osceola’s was on May 30 and was moved indoors because of rain.