PROVINCETOWN — Fourteen eighth-graders graduated from the Provincetown International Baccalaureate Schools at its annual promotion ceremony on June 21.
Three of the newly minted middle-school graduates will attend Cape Cod Regional Technical High School in Harwich, and 11 will start in September at Nauset Regional High School in Eastham.
The small class was greeted with ceremony on a stage lined with flags that represented every student’s national origin. During the ceremony, each graduate was recognized individually by a member of the school’s faculty or staff.
The tributes, according to School Supt. Gerry Goyette, were an addition requested by the students, who wanted to make the event more personal. Principal Beth Francis, who began working in the local schools as a kindergarten teacher 29 years ago, said teachers chose students they have close relationships with to deliver short speeches about them and to “pass them on to their next chapter.”
Some teachers praised their students’ maturity. “You reflect with wisdom beyond your years,” one teacher said. “Your growth has been a gift to witness.”
Others remarked on students’ positive influence on others. “Power is a smile that can cut through every frown, and remind us that no matter the challenges, there is always a reason to be happy,” one teacher said. Another told her student, “Bring your sunshine wherever you go in life.”
The tributes also looked to the future. “With your dedication and caring nature, there will be no door shut along your way,” said one teacher. “I look forward to hearing about your high school adventures.”
The Next Chapter
The students received their promotion certificates with one major decision of their educational careers — where to attend high school — already behind them.
Graduate Silas Hamilton said he had decided to attend Nauset High after visiting the school and asking his friends about their time there.
“I’m so excited to go to high school,” Hamilton said.
Another Nauset-bound graduate, Shannoya Isaacs, said she is going because other family members went to Nauset and she knows the school has opportunities for her. “Graduating feels pretty good,” Isaacs added.
Under the school-choice program, families can enroll their children in schools outside their districts as long as the school accepts them. Provincetown residents have had to attend high schools in other towns ever since Provincetown High School closed in 2013 because of declining enrollment.
The Provincetown Schools’ building at 12 Winslow St. formerly housed the town’s high school.
According to the town website, approximately 100 students are enrolled in the Provincetown Public Schools from pre-kindergarten to eighth grade. Francis told the Independent that class size at the schools ranges from 14 to 20 students. “We’re growing each year,” she said.
In addition to a $5,000 school choice fee paid by the town to the high schools for every enrollee, Provincetown and Truro both negotiate tuition rates with the Nauset Regional School District. This year, that rate is more than $20,000 per student.
Enrollment at Nauset has been declining, even though some students from other districts transfer in: 937 students were enrolled at the high school in 2018. That number had fallen to 780 by 2023.
Eight More Years
At the ceremony on Friday, Goyette presented the students with letters informing them of their eligibility to apply for town-funded scholarships once they graduate from high school. The scholarship money is available only to students who have graduated both from the Provincetown Schools and from a high school on Cape Cod.
“Everybody needs a little help in college,” Goyette said. “Parents, don’t lose this letter.”
Goyette told the Independent that the funding isn’t meant as an incentive for students to stay on the Cape for high school, but that “it’s something nice” for those who do.
“Living on the Cape is hard — let’s all face that,” Goyette said in an interview following the ceremony. “If you’ve managed to finish your eighth-grade year here and then go four years at either Cape Cod Tech or Nauset, and you’re going to go to college, even Cape Cod Community College, the scholarship fund will help you do that.”
As for the graduates on stage, Goyette told them they should plan on eight more years in school. He watched as they nodded in agreement.
“You are all going to college,” he told them.
