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For years, some schools have had informal celebrations for pupils’ transition into Grade 1 – but now Toronto’s Catholic board is making it official, and introducing rules

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Liam MacDonald, 6, gets some help leaving the stage at St. Henry Catholic School's kindergarten graduation on June 14.Photography by Galit Rodan/The Globe and Mail

It was convocation day, and one of the graduates, dressed in a bow tie and suspenders, was proud to be moving on, having learned to identify shapes, to add and subtract, and to read books with his parents.

Liam MacDonald was six years old, and he was completing his senior kindergarten year. With fellow graduates at St. Henry Catholic School, in Toronto, Liam stood on a stage in the gymnasium and accepted his very first congratulatory certificate on a Friday in June.

“He’s so proud of himself,” said his mother, Sonia MacDonald. “He’s feeling pretty good about Grade 1 and this graduation is helping.”

Graduation ceremonies typically signal the end of high school or even the elementary-grade years. However, some schools across the country have been hosting celebrations for their tiniest grads for years, and now, the Toronto Catholic District School Board has moved to formalize it.

In March, the board of trustees approved a policy that directs school staff who are organizing kindergarten graduation celebrations.

The policy, which is unusual among school boards, includes sending an invitation to parents at least 30 days before the celebration; inviting the superintendent, trustee and parish priest; and having principals respond to an annual survey to determine if year-end kindergarten celebrations were held at their schools. It sets out procedures for “an event that recognizes the accomplishments and celebrates the child’s transition into the primary division,” but does not require every school to hold a kindergarten ceremony.

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Pupils David Anyanwu, Jacob Castro, Isabella Gao, Alexa Guimmayen and Stephani Hanvey examine their certificates.

While the policy may not appear onerous, some question the fuss of having guidelines for a locally organized event for children so young. “As a parent, I think it’s silly,” said Maddie Di Muccio, president of the Toronto-based advocacy group Society for Quality Education. “But as a professional, I can also understand where it’s coming from … because as silly as this sounds, school boards are accountable to the public and they should write things down.”

Michael Del Grande is the trustee at the board who brought forward the policy. He said he wanted his board to go even further and require all schools to host kindergarten graduation ceremonies. “To me, it’s a natural. I don’t know why it’s not done across every school at our board," he said.

Mr. Del Grande said he brought the motion to the board because he noticed that even among schools in his ward there was a lack of uniformity in year-end celebrations. The board doesn’t have policies on Grade 8 or high-school graduation ceremonies, so its schools simply follow general protocols around hosting school events and deciding whom to invite.

“It doesn’t stop any creativity,” Mr. Del Grande said of the policy, “but it just kind of normalizes who gets invited, et cetera, et cetera.”

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Skylar Dizon leads the way around the gym to the stage at the St. Henry's graduation.

At St. Henry’s, balloons hung in the gymnasium. Messages from the graduating class lined the walls: Their first grade goals include spelling long words, counting by 25s and learning more about dinosaurs. Adding to the party spirit, juice boxes and a cake decorated with the words “Congratulations Kindergarten Class 2019” waited for the kids at the back of the room. The children, some in dresses and suits, sang songs and smiled as their families took pictures.

Principal Deborah Carlyle said the new board policy doesn’t affect what her school has been doing for several years now. “This is something we’ve always done,” she said, adding that the policy simply serves as a good reminder.

She dismissed any suggestion that schools were making a big to-do around children merely aging out of kindergarten.

“I think any opportunity to showcase our students and give them an opportunity to perform and have the parents welcomed in the school is great,” Ms. Carlyle said.

Parent Yasmine Soliman said receiving a kindergarten graduation certificate is special and not like any other participation trophy. These children have “grown and developed” since starting kindergarten two years ago, she said. Her six-year-old daughter had been talking about the ceremony and practising her songs days before the celebration.

“This is actually an accomplishment,” she said.

Liam’s parents took the day off work to be at their son’s year-end celebration. Ms. MacDonald attended the same school as a child, but in her day, kindergarten graduation ceremonies didn’t happen.

“I don’t see anything wrong with celebrating everything our kids do,” she said. “Why not celebrate it? Why not give them as much encouragement, as much joy as possible?"

Liam was happy: "I’m excited about Grade 1 – so I can play in the big yard.”

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