For the first time in Crescenta Valley High School’s 53-year history, the graduating class will receive its diplomas on its own campus.
Stengel Field was the traditional site of CV High graduations until last year, when the field was considered unsafe for the sizable crowd a graduation would draw.
Jess Duran, director of Community Services and Parks, said that water intrusion has kept the city from allowing too large a capacity at Stengel Field.
“It’s a very old structure,” said Duran. “Until we’ve tested and analyzed everything, we don’t want more than 500 to 1,000 people sitting in the bleachers.”
The graduating class of 2012 held its ceremony at Glendale Community College, but the venue had to be changed yet again as 2013’s graduation is too close to GCC’s finals week.
CV Principal Michele Doll said she was excited at the prospect of a CV graduation on the actual school grounds. A lack of adequate seating has prevented graduations from taking place at CV in the past. Doll said bleachers will be brought in to accommodate the additional audience.
Though it will be the first ever graduation at Crescenta Valley High, Doll said she hopes it will not be the last.
“Our hope is that we can continue doing this to the point where it becomes tradition,” she said.
Graduation is set for June 4.