Harwood’s Class of 2025 graduates on Saturday

Education

Jun 12

 June 11, 2025 | By Lisa Scagliotti

*The tent for Saturday’s graduation is ready on the lawn at Harwood. Photo by Anna Brundage*

The big tent on the lawn at Harwood Union High School is a sure sign that graduation is imminent. On Saturday morning, the 116 members of the class of 2025 will don their black and gold caps and gowns for commencement.

Saturday’s ceremony will be held outdoors under the tent, rain or shine from 10 to 11:30 a.m.

Ahead of that, an awards ceremony will take place Thursday at 6 p.m. in the school auditorium to present seniors with various awards and scholarships from both community organizations and school departments.

Thursday is the last day of classes for the seniors, and on Friday, they as a class will embark on what Assistant Principal Jess Dean described as “a new tradition” in a memo to students and families. After meeting at the graduation tent to receive their caps and gowns, the class will board buses to take a Senior Tour of all five elementary schools in the Harwood district. They will get to reconnect with teachers they had as youngsters and be greeted by the younger students. The tour will include a stop at the Waitsfield green for lunch, lawn games and frisbee before the buses return the seniors to school for graduation ceremony practice.

“Each school will have a slightly different structure,” Deane explained in her note to the senior class. “In some cases, we’ll be parading throughout the school, or gathering in a brief assembly, or playing on the playground. Students and staff alike are excited to see ‘the big kids,’ honor all that you have accomplished, and send you off on the next part of your journey.”

The tour returns to the school in time for seniors to practice their procession and graduation ceremony logistics at 1:30 p.m.

On Saturday, family and friends are invited to commencement with no limitation on attendance. Guests may arrive starting at 8 a.m. but are not allowed to save seats for others. Seating is limited under the tent, so attendees arriving close to the start time are encouraged to bring a chair should they need to sit outside of the seating area.

The ceremony will be livestreamed on the school’s YouTube channel. Watch that live or view it later online here.

Below is the program for Saturday’s ceremony and a gallery of senior portraits.

Congratulations to the class of 2025!