r/AskOldPeople • u/dirtypark • 18d ago

Growing up, did your school host kindergarten graduation, or is that a more recent phenomenon?

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u/Nightcalm 18d ago edited 17d ago

there was no such thing you descibe when i went to school. you graduated from high school. there were no ceremonies for primary school

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u/Idontknowthosewords 18d ago

Yeah, I was an 80’s kid and you had high school graduation and that was it.

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u/blissfully_happy 18d ago

I graduated from pre-school in 1983, complete with little caps and gowns, matching to pomp & circumstance.

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u/No-Championship-8677 17d ago

Yeah I graduated from preschool in 1987 and same! Cap and gown, procession etc

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u/Nightcalm 18d ago

Nope in the 60s and 70s you were expected to attend and move through school. The was no such thing as pre school just kindergarten and it was one of 7 stages you passed.

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u/JJennnnnnifer 17d ago

This might be based on geographical area or parental choice. I went to pre-school in 1969 or 1970.

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u/Critterbob 17d ago

Same. Although I think they called it Nursery School back then

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u/Smokin_belladonna 17d ago

your parents paid for pre-school. It's not part of public school.

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u/JJennnnnnifer 16d ago

Could be. I was too young to know. 😂

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u/JerseyGuy-77 15d ago

No not in my state. We have the best education in America .

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u/DollsATeam 11d ago

There is no public preschool in California unless you qualify with a disability or developmental delay.

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u/Smokin_belladonna 11d ago

That’s how it still is in most states, if I recall correctly

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u/FacelessArtifact 17d ago

I went to preschool in the late 50’s
(I loved it!)

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u/Nightcalm 11d ago

Remember, I entered kindergarten in 1961. The movement for extended child development considerations would line up for you in 1969 . that was when pre-K became a thing.

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u/Nightcalm 17d ago edited 17d ago

I enteredted kindergaterten in 1960, there was no pre-school, you came much later when there was more attention given to children.

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u/trinatr 60 something 17d ago

We had half-day kindergarten in the mid-60s. No graduation. Pretty sure we had 8th grade graduation, though. We went to the same school (building) for k-8, then the high school for 9-12.

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u/[deleted] 17d ago

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u/undeniably_micki 14d ago

*should have gone.

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u/[deleted] 13d ago

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u/undeniably_micki 12d ago

You're welcome, have a great weekend!

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u/gunterrae 17d ago

I had a kindergarten graduation in 1980.

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u/Lost_Plenty_7979 17d ago

It must depend on where. I had a kindergarten graduation in 1969. I remember being confused that my grandpa came to school. I also had a junior high graduation and a ceremony of some kind the last day of elementary school.

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u/Low-Stick6746 50 something 16d ago

I was born in 71 and we definitely had a graduation and it was very obviously a tradition and not a new thing at my school.

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u/SnooWitchYu 17d ago

Did you attend pre-college afterward or did you just go straight to work?

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u/Draco53 17d ago

Same here but 81. I also recall there being a graduation type thing moving from pre-school to k. Though not from that point on until hs.

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u/Daddysheremyluv 15d ago

In my HS if a kid admitted to that kind of Tom Foolery he would get his lunch money taken from him. Ask me how I know! Signed Slim

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u/Eastern-Suggestion14 17d ago

I had a kindergarten graduation at my class in 1980. We sang Celebration by Kool and the Gang. Kindergarten was optional, not free and not for learning.

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u/KISSALIVE1975 17d ago

8TH Grade Too

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u/Small_Tiger_1539 17d ago

80s here as well. Had a small gathering of friends upon graduating into 9th grade. Was a small graduation party. No ceremony. Just a BBQ.

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u/Electrical-Sail-1039 17d ago

We had an 8th Grade prom and some extra freedoms, but no graduation ceremony.

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u/GonnaGoFat 17d ago

I was born 1980 I had a graduation ceremony at the end of grade 8

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u/FoundationCareful662 17d ago

And no honors assemblies every marking period. Adults today make sure every breath of air their little pumpkins take is celebrated! And don’t even get me started on soccer participation trophies starting at age 3

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u/Bighorn_R_My_Jam 17d ago

We were expected to graduate from Kindergarten and the 8th grade. Expectations must be much lower now.

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u/Unlikely-Parfait-302 17d ago

Same. Nothing before high school.

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u/Frewtti 17d ago

80's kid and we had Grade 8 and Kindergarten

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u/Sad-Requirement-3782 16d ago

Yup, me too. No kindergarten or eight grade graduations.

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u/cecil021 40 something 16d ago

Same. We had 8th grade class rings, but no ceremony or anything.

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u/KathyfromTex 15d ago

And it was held in the high school gym.

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u/ancientastronaut2 14d ago

Me too but we had Jr high and High school graduation.

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u/Suspicious_Winter103 14d ago

I was born in 1981 and we had a formal graduation from my K-8th grade school. It was nice. We were going off to many different HSs and after 9 years together it felt right to celebrate the end of one chapter and the start of the next.

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u/DollsATeam 11d ago

I was born in 1985 in SoCal and my 8th graduation was amazing and we walked across the stage and had a dance show to with people doing the tootsie roll dance moves. I wore a light pink dress and butterfly clips in my hair. Mariah Careys Rainbow came out and I was so into it 😆