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Garfield High School PTSA

Grad Night

Hello, Class of 2025 families and prospective volunteers!

All seniors are invited to join Grad Night, an annual tradition at Garfield. Grad Night is a safe, sober, fun, all-night party immediately following their graduation ceremonies. 

When and Where

Cap and diploma graphicFollowing the commencement ceremony the night of June 16, 2025, seniors and chaperones will board charter buses near Memorial Stadium to one or more mystery venues for an all-night party of entertainment, food, and fun. The buses will return seniors to the Garfield parking lot between 5 and 6 am.

The location of the party is the only secret. Seniors will not find out where they are going until the buses reach the venue.

Safety of the kids is the top priority.

⇒ We will have over 20 adult chaperones (Garfield teachers, plus parent and guardian volunteers.)  See how to volunteer below.

⇒ Kids will leave their cell phones in bus storage upon boarding, so they can fully enjoy each other without their electronics! We will have emergency phone numbers should you have to reach your kids during the night.

Food

Students will receive a late night dinner and light breakfast as part of their ticket. Garfield PTSA provides snacks for the kids upon boarding the buses. Email gradnight@garfieldptsa.org if your student has special dietary needs.

Cost 

The ticket price covers part of the cost of the party venue and food. Garfield PTSA subsidizes transportation and other costs to help ensure all seniors can attend.

Ticket prices vary based on a family’s ability to pay.

  • Full price: $220 – This option makes Grad Night possible for all. Please use it if your family is able.
  • Discounted price: $110 – Use this if full price is a burden to your family.
  • Free/Reduced Lunch students: $35 – Students who qualify for Free/Reduced Lunch may opt for this ticket price.

If cost is a concern for your family, please reach out to Mr. Rees, Ms. Tiffany, or Ms. Sloan about scholarship options. 

Families can donate toward scholarship tickets for others when registering.

How to Register!

Registration will open on Feb. 24, 2025. The last day to register is June 1.   Please register early to facilitate event planning.

Step 1. Purchase your ticket

Go to Zeffy, our ticket provider.

Step 2. Complete and submit forms

  • Senior Release Form – ALL students must complete the Senior Release Form 2025.
    • Download, complete, and save the form.
    • Sign it, and have your parent/guardian sign it. Electronic signatures in Adobe are ok. Otherwise, print, sign and scan or take a photo of completed form.
    • Upload the completed, signed form to: https://ghsgradnight2025.softr.app/
  • Emergency Care Plan – This form is required for any student that has a life-threatening allergy, food restriction, or asthma.

Step 3. Sign up for the bus

Once you submit your forms online, you will immediately receive an email with instructions on selecting a bus. This gives students the chance to coordinate with friends who they want to ride with. 

Please help the Garfield parent volunteers by submitting your signed forms right after your ticket is purchased. Your ticket is not issued until we receive the Student Release Form.

Parent/Guardian Volunteers

It takes a village to pull off Grad Night! Please consider volunteering in one of the following roles for the night of the event.

  1. Chaperones – We need about 20 chaperones to ride the buses, attend the party, and stay up all night to create a safe, fun night for our Garfield graduates! Food is provided during the event. Traditionally, Grad Night chaperoning is a pay-it-forward volunteering activity for the parents of non-seniors (unless your kid is totally fine with you being at the party.) 
  2. Bus-loading volunteers – This involves helping the organizers get kids loaded on the buses, snacks distributed, and phones collected. This can be a great option for senior parents and guardians, as the commitment ends as soon as the buses are loaded. 
  3. Join the Grad Night planning committee and help plan for and support Grad Night now and into the future. Help with event promotion, fundraising for student scholarships, acquiring items for Grad Night, organizing night-of volunteers, and registration. 

To volunteer, contact us at gradnight@garfieldptsa.org.

Questions?

Email Grad Night co-chairs Kathleen and Karin at gradnight@garfieldptsa.org.

Q&A about the Grad Night tradition

For many years, Garfield seniors have celebrated together at the “sober and safe” Bulldog Grad Night party, with support and coordination by the PTSA and volunteer chaperones. 

What is Grad Night? Following the commencement ceremony, students and chaperones board charter buses to one or more “mystery” party venues for many hours of entertainment, food, and fun. Among recent venues are the Family Fun Center, a downtown Seattle night club, and Dave and Buster’s. The buses return everyone to Garfield early the morning after graduation.

Who pays for it? Tickets are priced on a sliding scale to cover some of the event costs, while providing reduced price tickets for those unable to pay the full price. The Garfield PTSA also subsidizes the event with significant funding. Those who can pay full ticket price are encouraged to do so to help minimize the PTSA subsidy. Donations can be made to support discounted student tickets.

What does the ticket price include? The ticket covers bus transportation, food, entertainment, and a senior gift.

Who can attend? ALL seniors are encouraged to attend this event. Guests are not permitted. Students must travel with the group via bus, and are not allowed to join the event partway through.

What are the volunteer opportunities? Co-chairs and committee members (e.g. promotion, volunteer coordination, gift bag coordination) help plan the event each year. We also need a large number of volunteers the night of the event to chaperone and load students on the buses. A professional event-planning company does much of the work. Email gradnight@garfieldptsa.org to volunteer.