A small group of cars sat in the parking lot of the Divine Mercy Catholic School. A table sat in front of the school holding bags of graduation memorabilia and diplomas. Although not the most conventional way, the Divine Mercy Catholic School celebrated the graduation of its 70th class of 8th graders last Friday night. Students and families sat in their cars listening to a virtual mass that was broadcasted in from Annunciation Church in Crestwood. The mass was led by Father Chris Argano, Director of Vocations for the Archdiocese of New York. The school’s music teacher, Caleb Lococo, performed music during the mass.

Although COVID-19 restrictions were put in place, there was a heavy sense of merriment in place. Smiles were exchanged from car to car, as students excitedly waited to finally close this chapter of their lives.

“This night, this mass, this ceremony, closes a chapter of a part of your life,” said Argano.

“But as this chapter closes, a new chapter opens and the pages are blank; the question becomes what story, what chapter will you now write, as you begin high school.”

Erin Contrady, Principal of the Divine Mercy Catholic School, explained that the school has been planning graduation since well before March.

“When we left school in March, that kind of gave a different flavor to things,” said Contrady. “We weren’t really sure until probably about 6 weeks ago what we were going to be able to do. So, you know, just changing the process, and thinking about safety and distancing and all of that.”

Last Thursday night, the school held a Zoom live streamed awards ceremony for the class of 2020.

Contrady felt “shock” over the school’s closure.

“Because you know, what does a school do without kids in it,” asked Contrady. “In some ways we’ve done this before. So the shock was only for a moment.”

The school had moved to its current location in New Windsor, four years ago from its old building in the City of Newburgh. The school had initially been two weeks without a building, and in those two weeks, they did distance learning.

“We kind of had the basis already and from an instructional point of view we were able to jump right in,” said Contrady.

“It’s heartbreaking. I just want to see those kids,” said Contrady about the COVID-19 restrictions and graduation. “I just want to give them a hug, or handshake. It’s so hard.”

After the mass, Contrady gave a brief commencement speech. After the speech, students went up one at a time to the front of the school to receive their diplomas.