Planning Page for Homeschool Groups

Leadership is essential. The larger the group, the more difficult it is to make plans that will please everyone.  Those who undertake to lead a graduation should clearly state from the beginning what the focus of the group will be and set minimum and maximum limits on the number of participants. Our experience has been that very diverse groups that attempt to make plans by democracy find themselves mired in unpleasant debates, trying to please everyone and ultimately pleasing no one.  The most successful (and least stressful) events seem to be led by an individual or a small group of leaders with a clear focus who do some of the legwork ahead of time and say "This is what we are planning. If this is what you want, join us, and help make it happen." 

Group Size is important. It determines to a large extent how personal the ceremony can be for each graduate and how much seating capacity will be needed.  It is a good idea to think through the implications of group size and decide what your expectations are before posting a notice for the first meeting. 

August or September: Hold your first meeting to get an idea of the number of families interested, and to set a tentative date,  time, and place for the ceremony. Choose an alternate date as well, and be sure that each family marks BOTH dates on their calendar.  You will also want to choose dates for future "graduation" meetings so they can be marked on calendar well in advance. Some groups plan regular opportunities for the seniors to get together throughout the year. TIP: A ceremony held on a Saturday afternoon allows travel time for out-of-town guests, and also provides the opportunity for families to have a private gathering afterward if they desire to do so. TIP: collect e-mail addresses at this meeting to make future communication easier.

September: Look over the packages we offer and let us know your group size and your needs. We can make suggestions for a group order, whether it is a package or an on-line ordering page of separate items.  At the meeting this month there should be a discussion of what the graduation and reception will include so that costs can be determined. You may want to have a committee do the leg-work on the costs and meet again before October. Many groups come up with a flat fee for each student that includes ceremony costs (such as rent, pianist/musician fees, speaker fees) and reception costs like food and paper goods.We offer a package of cap, gown, tassel, diploma and diploma cover. If your group is ordering announcements, you may choose a package that also includes the basic 30 announcements and 50 name cards. Each family pays us directly for any additional items (extra announcements or special options on their diploma) at the time they are ordered from the group's web page. Many groups purchase a basic package and then leave the announcements up to each family to do as they want to.

Not sure of the best way to order? If you would like to give us a call and let us know the number of participants in your group, the deadline that will work for you, and what items you need, we can help you determine the best ordering method for your group. Packages are the most popular and most cost effective, (and they include a private ordering page for additional items or upgrades) but for some groups, just a private ordering page works better.  

October: The cost should be determined by this point, and a tentative amount per family determined, based on an estimated number of participants. We have printable handout forms on our site for each group size that you may use to collect the money and the basic information for our packages from each family. These may be handed out at the October meeting. TIP: Setting a December 1st deadline for your families allows you to get a commitment from them in time to order a group package by mid-December for the best prices.

NOTE: It may seem early to finalize your group in the fall, but doing so allows those families that CAN commit early to get the best prices, allows them to have the cap and gown in time for Senior Portraits, and allows you to better plan the event. You may still decide to accept latecomers to your group and have them order their cap, gown, and diploma directly from us.  They will have to pay the regular prices and their own shipping costs, but it allows you to add latecomers without the hassle of having to get those items for them. We suggest a date of 8 weeks before the ceremony as a final deadline for any latecomers to be added. This gives them time to order their items directly from the "regular pages" of our web site, and lets you know with certainty the size of your group.

November: As each family commits to participation by turning in their package payment, let them know that you will be e-mailing them the URL for the group's web page once everyone has ordered. For packages ordered by mid-December, we normally set a deadline in late January for families to come to the group's web page, where they may upgrade or add options to their diploma and purchase accessories (and additional announcements, if purchasing package #2).  If your group is package #2, the November meeting is a good time to present the options for the announcements so that they can consider the style, color, etchings, and wording. We'd like to know which announcement you've chosen when you provide the payment and information for the packages so that we can picture the card on your ordering page.(The details for the inside of the card can wait another month since we will just be picturing the front of the card on the ordering page.) You will also need to know the height of each graduate for their cap and gown size. For the best fit, encourage an exact measurement rather than an estimate.  If you can get the teens together in one place (a real accomplishment!) you can tape a yardstick to the wall and record their heights at that time. The cap, gown, and tassel color or colors will also need to be determined.  TIP: Cap and gown color can be one of the hardest decisions.  Keep in mind that in most homeschool group graduations, each student represents a different school. Some groups have chosen to wear black caps and gowns with different color tassels to represent the different schools. Others allow each student to wear the cap and gown color of their choice. The resulting "rainbow" is indicative of the diversity of homeschoolers.

December:   TIP: December is a good month to skip having a meeting!

If your group is ordering the "early package" for the best prices, you should have finalized the sizes and quantities needed for your cap and gown order by the mid-December deadline listed. (The actual date varies slightly from one year to the next.). The group leader should fax or mail us the families' order forms and the payment for the order, along with the "leader's cover sheet" providing contact information. We can also take the payment by phoned-in credit card. At the time we receive your payment, we'll provide the URL for the group's private ordering page.

January: By the end of the month, all families who want to visit the group's ordering page should have done so. If they have not, we will use the default diploma information they provided on the paper order forms.

IF YOU ARE NOT GETTING ANNOUNCEMENTS IN A PACKAGE- -

If your package does not include announcements, or if you are not ordering a package, your group can still use its buying power to purchase the announcements / invitations. There are two ways this can be done.

1. The least expensive path is to order one design for all the families that want them, with a text that gives the information about the ceremony but not the student name. A name card is used to personalize it. This is the most economical way to go, because the printing price goes down as the individual press run goes up. It is much less expensive to print 500 of the same announcement than to print 25 each of 20 different announcements! However, in order to realize the savings of a common print run, everyone will need to agree on the design and wording. We can send samples of the announcements that are available for this type of order. They are also found in the Distinctive Announcement section of our site.

2. Another option is to have us add announcements to the group's private ordering page so that each family may purchase them if they want to. We normally add the "Semipersonalized" announcements and name cards, and the "Foil Panel Card" announcements. These are two styles that we produce at our facility and can ship right along with the group's package order. These are also designs that are affordable in smaller quantities, so each family can order what they need and have it shipped along with their package.

3. A third option is for each family to order their announcements individually from our main web site. This allows each family to get exactly what they want, personalized with their own text, choosing from our 50+ announcement designs. Shipping may be shared if the orders can be shipped from the same printer. Check with us for details.

Have someone from the group call us with an estimate of how many announcements your families need, and we can help you with pricing, make suggestions, and give you the production time on any particular announcement that you are considering. We can also send samples, though we ask that you return them to us. TIP:  Announcements should be in the mail 3 weeks before the event, as it takes some time to address the inner and outer envelopes by hand. Ideally, you'd like the graduates to have their announcements about 5 weeks before graduation. Most of the designs ion the regular pages of our site are printed and shipped within 2 or 3 days of your order, but those in the "Distinctive" section take about two weeks including the proof. To be on the safe side, we suggest placing your group announcement order 7 or 8 weeks before the graduation date so there will be ample time to receive and distribute them to the families.

Late February or early March: Have a meeting to distribute the cap and gown sets and diplomas. Be sure that graduates try the apparel on for size right away. Don't wait until the day before the ceremony to find out that you should have ordered the full fit! Parents should also proofread and sign the diplomas.  Call us immediately if there are any errors so we can get a replacement sent to you right away.

Details about the ceremony should be falling into place: music, speakers, a program or bulletin for the service, refreshments, group photo plans, perhaps a date and time for a rehearsal, maybe some plans for someone to take a video of the event.  There are so many things you can do ahead of time to make the event memorable!  If your group is small enough to have a display table for each graduate at the reception, families can begin collecting items and photos for display. TIP: Many groups put together a Power Point presentation that includes "growing up photos" and senior photos of each graduate set to music.  This can be shown before the ceremony and during the reception, and then once the graduation recording is added to it, copies can be provided for each family as a keepsake.  If someone in your group has the time, ability, and equipment to put together something like this, be sure to start early and add the costs in up front.

Six weeks before the ceremony: distribute the announcements, if your group has ordered together. 

Three weeks previous: Each family should be mailing their graduation announcements

Two weeks previous: If you take a group photo ahead of the event, it could be included with a press release to the local newspaper. TIP: Be sure to line up some help for the reception so that graduates' mothers don't end up in the kitchen! 

The day before the ceremony: it is a good idea to hold a rehearsal the day before. If your group is small enough to have a display table for each graduate at the reception, this is also the time to get it set up.

Graduation day: Arrive early. Bring your camera. Relax and enjoy the ceremony and celebration!