Students, parents: How much are senior dues this year?

High school graduates in red gowns line up outside on a green grassy field with blue sky in the background.
Philadelphia schools use senior dues to pay for graduation expenses, class gifts, luncheons, and more. We want to know how much your school is charging and what those dues cover. (Carly Sitrin / Chalkbeat)

It’s that time of year again: Schools across Philadelphia are collecting senior dues for this year’s graduating students to go toward prom, senior luncheons, class t-shirts, gifts, and graduation expenses.

According to a spokesperson for the Philadelphia School District, the average cost for these fees citywide is $200 per student, but we’ve heard those amounts vary widely from school to school and from year to year. Some are all-inclusive and cover prom tickets, class trips, and portraits, while others only pay for graduation-specific costs.

We want to know how much you’ve been asked to pay for senior dues, what they pay for, and how you feel about this practice.

Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.

The Latest

A collaboration backed by the Yale Child Study Center has expanded a longstanding model that relies on clinicians and lawyers to provide what amounts to a legal prescription for issues like stress and anxiety.

The board picked Gionni Thompson, a longtime administrator who’s worked in other Colorado schools.

The City Council will not vote to confirm Joyce Wilkerson’s appointment to the school board. But Mayor Cherelle Parker plans to put her on the board anyway.

Thirteen candidates from across Chicago joined a virtual forum hosted by the group CPS Parents for Buses, which organized earlier this year after the district canceled transportation for students at magnet and selective schools.

“We want to be a place that has a lab site that’s like, ‘We’ve figured this out. We have a cadre of schools that, in my most aspirational dream, have eliminated the achievement gap,’” one principal said.

East Kentwood High School students taking AP African American Studies are finding a greater purpose in taking the pilot course: showcasing its meaning through their own experiences.