5th Grade End of Year Festivities

Our school has a carnival-type party sponsored by the PTO for the 5th graders near the end of the school year. They used to do a field trip to a go-kart place, but cost got out of hand. They have snow cones, popcorn, inflatables, silly games, face painting, hair-beading, etc.

On the last day of school, they have a slide show in the gym. Parents are welcome to come and watch, but it's not a widely advertised event, so only a few attend.

When leaving their classrooms for the last time, the 5th graders walk single-file through the halls of the school. Rest of students are lined up to send them off with cheers and high-fives.

Are the 5th graders moving on to a junior Hugh/ middle school? When I left fifth grade we had a graduation ceremony.... It seems strange not to celebrate the transition. My kids' school does ceremonies for kindergarten and for grade 8 as we don't transition to a new school until high school.

Could you host a class party at your home or community centre?

Nothing. But then again our schools are divided k-4, 5&6, then jr high is 7&8 then highschool 9-12.

No ceremonies happen for the 4th or 6th grade beyond the normal school wide end of year assemblies. The 4th graders have a picnic at the local park. And they have an end of year goodbye picnic at the school with thier 1st grade reading buddies. There's a carnivale for 5&6th grades run by the kids. And 6th grade goes to a county park for as day as well. There is a ceremony for 8 th grade they have an evening 'moving up' ceremony for parents and after that a 'dance'.

Personally I'm fine with it. I don't think we need to over hype each milestone with endless 'graduation' assemblies.

Ours does a promotion-type ceremony with awards and that's also where we premiere the music video that is our end of year project in music class. That's in the morning, and then in the afternoon there's a party with a DJ and food and all kinds of stuff.

My kids are older but they had a fifth grade graduation. The elementary still does it, and just like previous years it is over the top and involves Mom drama. Every- single-year! Really. Every- single-year.

A friend is in it now. I had to laugh, parents get along for six years, but go crazy over one unnecessary ( to me) ceremony, song production, and party. It's as if they've save every resentment, or jealousy, for this season. And it is a production. One class came in black tie and expected families to as well ( NOT). Yes, black tie fifth graders.

A simple wall display and skating party sounds reasonable to me.

My kids' school is K-6 then they go to a 7-12 school, so understandably we did nothing for grade 5 end of year.

Grade 6's don't do a walk or have a grad, just an end of year class party where they will do a slideshow of the kids from K-6 (if you didn't attend the school from K, you can supply photos to the teacher). The kids get a DVD of the slideshow to take home.

Here our 5th graders are already in middle school, so 4th grade was a big one for us.  About a week before the end of the year there is a town-wide field day (4th graders from all the elementary schools) at an adventure camp in another part of the state, followed by a BBQ.  It's an all day thing and they get home about 8 at night...they look forward to it all year long.  On the last day of 4th grade they have a track and field event, a basketball game with the teachers and a class picnic.  

Together, the two events are a really nice send-off for the kids.

When my son completed fifth grade they got to have a day at the lake. We as the parents payed for it as part of the science camp graduation package through fundraisers and monthly payments. They hired a DJ and a shaved ice company. They asked for snack and dessert donations from the parents, but provided the drinks and pizza. Each class decorated t-shirts and they played games. The kids had a blast. The week leading to graduation they had a field day. They played dodge ball. Parents and teachers against the students. Super fun! Graduation day all the fifth grade classes lined up like a parade and the whole school came outside and the fifth graders walked past them while they cheered and clapped. It was very moving.

Our elementary school is K-4, so our kids leaving elementary are 4th graders. We have an intermediate school (5th and 6th) and then our middle school is 7th and 8th).

Anyways, for elementary, basically the afternoon is the last day of school party, pack up your stuff, usually lunch is pizza.

Right after lunch, the 4th graders have already taken all of their stuff (bookbags, etc) and put them in the gym. They go back to their classrooms which are at the end of one of the halls.  The last hour of the last school day, all the students (K to 3) in the school line the halls, and the 4th grade parents (if they can be there) can also be in the halls.  Over the PA system, the principal announces each 4th grader's name like an old school sports announcer. "Annnnddd next is the Terrific Tom Thompsonnnnnnnnn". "Coming down the hall is the Totally Awesome Annie Smith."

Hearing his or her name, the student runs down the hallway getting high fives from people. The student ends up in the gym. Once all the names are called and all the 4th graders are in the gym, the principal comes in and says a few sentences about how proud he is of them (the K to 3 graders are back in the classes gathering their stuff and heading towards the bus and pick-up lane). The 4th graders are still in the gym and they then gather in a big circle and jump up and down together (kind of like a soccer team chant before a game).

One of the teachers has a video camera going at the end of that hallway and also films the last gathering in the gym and the video is posted on the school website (on the password protected link).

It's pretty nice.

We live in a very Large district. So the 5th grade things varies from school to school just a bit.

Oldest DS was at a different school than my other 2. We will call it school B. at the time Elem school went to 6th grade. Now our elem schools only go to 5th grade.

At school B, We had a 6th grade celebration. It was in the evening. principal gave a little speech about the kids and the class. Kids wrote some poems about the teachers and 2 kids from each class were picked to read theirs. principal Thanked the teachers / parents for all of their time and commitment. Kids were called up 1 x 1 to get their "6th grade diploma" and have their pic taken with the principal. some awards were also given. End of the ceremony, we had refreshments ( cake & punch). They also put together a DVD of all of the kids ( 1 pic for each school year) this was playing at the beginning as families arrived.

School S. this is where my other 2 went to school. Up till 5th grade.
This 5th grade celebration was not principal lead at all. All teacher & parent lead. We had a 5th grade committee ( parent volunteers) This committee planned nearly the entire thing. We did fundraising all year because the 5th graders take a 5th grade trip ( usually to a weather show / baseball game) They also used the fundraised funds to use for decorating for the celebration night as well as paying for the DVD. School S had never done a DVD until I suggested it at a committee meeting ( then guess who got to take that on. lol) On the night of the celebration, each student ONLY attends with their parents. No siblings. This night is about the 5th graders. Not the 3yr olds running around screaming. The 5th grader and their parents come to the school, Attend a dinner in the dining room of the school. After dinner everyone goes into the gym to get ready. We play the DVD ( 3 pics of each kid. baby pic, 5yr old pic and 5th grade pic. ) Everyone watches it. Kids ooh and ahh. Principal stands up says thanks for the dvd parents, tells the teachers to come on up. Teachers give an award to each student, Based on some crazy stuff that they come up with. Each kiddo gets called in a group to get their crazy award and their little certificate that says they are done with 5th grade. At the end of all of the students, Teachers say thanks for coming and that is it, its over.

While school S's celebration lasted longer. I preferred the simplicity and liked what school B did better. The dinner is a nice touch, BUT when you have other kids at home, it is kind of a pain to leave everyone else home with a sitter etc. Surprisingly, BOTH are highly attended and even with the no sibling thing ( for both schools) I am unsure about School B ( because I dont remember back that far) But for School S, I think out of well over 100 students, We were only missing 2 for the celebration.


You might also look at see what your middle school / JR high does. My sister and I went to school in the same district my kids currently do. When we were in school, You "graduated" at 9th grade ( K-6 Elem, 7-9 jr high, 10-12 highschool) there was nothing in Elem school. NOW they do not do anything at the middle school level. I know some middle schools have a picnic or something for the 8th grade, But not like it used to be , Full cap and gown. now our school structure is.... K-5 Elem, 6-8 middle and 9-12 high. So this could be the reason your school / district does nothing at the 5th grade level, because they do something at the middle school level.

We do WAY too much. They have a talent show, a dance, a trip to NYC, a promotion ceremony, a beach party. Come on - it's FIFTH grade. You're supposed to finish 5th grade - it's not exactly the world's greatest achievement. I really do think we go overboard.

My son is in 5th grade now. Their "graduation" ceremony is held on June 4. I'm not sure what to expect. They do want the kids to wear nice clothes and are going to have a picnic afterward. Last friday they had their field trip and the were taken out to a nice lunch before they headed home for the day.

My kids' school did a small promotion ceremony. The principal, teachers (5th grade) and a few students would speak, then each student received their promotion certificate. After, there was a brunch that was organized and paid for by the 5th grade parents but served by 4th grade parents. It was nice and the kids always looked forward to it. They'd do the "talent" show after (used loosely, LOL). 

My kids went to different elementary schools. DS's school had a small ceremony recognizing each student (about 90 kids) and a clap out, where the teachers and younger kids lined the hall and clapped the 5th graders out to dismissal. DD's school had a clap out also, then the whole class walked over to the pool and officially opened the pool for the summer. The first few hours, only the 5th graders were allowed at the pool. DD LOVED the pool time.