Senior Activities

Cotting School’s soon-to-be graduates get to celebrate their senior status all school-year long! Early in the year, they begin having regular meetings with their Senior Class Advisors, Ms. Garon and Mr. Teuber. In the fall, the seniors elect their class officers and plan their fundraising events. To raise money for the year’s activities, they often run a raffle at a basketball game, sell Valentine’s Day treats and/or sell snacks at an alumni movie night, but every class has its own new ideas to contribute. 

Seniors also plan yearbook pages, get fitted for caps and gowns and, if desired, class rings, design a senior class t-shirt and make plans for the senior trip at the end of the year. The senior class meetings are a great way for the class to come together as a unit, even if they are in different classrooms during the school day.

As spring approaches, seniors enjoy a series of special events, such as the senior class lunch with Ms. Irish, the prom and the senior class trip. Depending on their schedule, these events may occur in a different order from one year to the next. But it all leads up to graduation, after Memorial Day weekend. As they embark on their senior year, the graduating class will receive a lot of information from their class advisors.

Here are some of the highlights of senior year:

Senior Trip

• Every year in early May, Cotting School seniors get to go on a four-day trip to Cape Cod.
• At senior class meetings, they have the opportunity to give input on many of their trip activities. In addition, the Senior Class Advisors also plan several surprise activities.
• The trip always includes swimming, sunsets and waves, plus an elegant dinner at a local restaurant
• In addition to the Senior Class Advisors, the senior trip is chaperoned by Cotting staff and faculty, including Cotting nurses.
• While the students fundraise during the year, they do not raise enough money to cover the full cost of the senior trip. As a result, each family is asked to contribute to the cost, but no student will be denied access because of financial or medical reasons. 

Senior Lunch

• Towards the end of the school year, after the senior trip and before graduation, the senior class joins Ms. Irish for a special senior lunch with a few other invited guests.
• The senior lunch is a lot of fun, and students enjoy sharing stories and highlights from their senior year, especially after going on the senior trip. 

Graduation

• Cotting School’s graduation is held the first Saturday of June at 9:30 a.m. in the Cotting Campus Center. We have plenty of space to host as many guests as each senior would like to invite.
• Cotting’s entire staff and faculty attend this event each year to honor and celebrate our graduating Falcons.
• After the ceremony, which takes about an hour, graduates and their families and guests have a chance to linger in the Campus Center to take photos and enjoy a few more moments together.
• All members of the Cotting ommunity are invited to attend, including Trustees, donors and partners. 
• To ensure our students’ comfort, familiarity and that the graduation ceremony goes as smoothly as possible, we allow our seniors the opportunity to practice for graduation. The Senior Class Advisors and members of the Senior Administrative Team help them rehearse so they know what will happen, where they will sit, where to find their family members and when they need to go to the front of the “stage” to receive their diplomas.
• During the last graduation rehearsal, many of our non-senior students have the opportunity to attend with their homeroom class cheer the seniors on and give them an idea of what it will be like to do the ceremony in front of an audience. It is also a really fun opportunity for our younger students to get a sense of what graduation is all about!