The Class of 2020 in May of last year Photos by Kyle Thornton

Graduation Friday night

By Michael Butler

There were many obstacles in having a graduation ceremony open to the public in 2020. Although many COVID restrictions have carried over to the 2021 school year, most of those stipulations have been lifted for those who wish to attend commencement exercises on Friday, June 4 at 8 p.m. at J. E. "Hot" O'Brien Stadium.

"June 4, the mask is coming off. We're going to put it in the rearview mirror," Tallassee City Schools Superintendent Brock Nolin said. "Much like last year, we'll have the kids spaced out on the field. We won't have parents on the field prior to graduation or after the ceremonies. It makes for a lot cleaner graduation. We enjoyed that part of it last year. It was a lot more controlled. Anybody can come. I'm not going to chase anybody down about a mask."

The school year started late (after Labor Day), so it is ending later than normal.

"We were waiting on devices and cleaning supplies, so we pushed back three times I think," Nolin added. "To get the number of days in we needed, we had to pick up the last few days after Memorial Day."

The school calendar for 2021-22 is slated to start in August. Teachers return on Aug. 5. Students start on Aug. 18.

"It's about the best calendar we've had in a while," said Nolin. "We get fall break, Christmas break, spring break. There are four virtual learning days."

The Class of 2021 will be graduating 122 seniors on Friday. It will be the last group of seniors to have classes in the current high school. Selective demolition on the 1929 structure will begin in mid-June.