Graduation Information

PRESS RELEASE- Regarding Ceremony Viewing, Parking, and Shuttles

Outdoor Plan

Date: May 23rd , 2025

Place: Dragon Stadium at 500 Dragon Drive | Jasper, GA 30143

Off-Campus Viewing of the Ceremony:

• Know Pickens Facebook Page will be streaming the ceremony live.
• ETC Cable Channels 4 & 404.

Access to Dragon Drive (Campus Opens): 5:15 p.m.

Graduates Report: 5:00 p.m. to New Gym/PAC entry

Event Time: 7:00 p.m. (Access to PHS Stadium begins at 5:15 p.m.)

Tickets: No limit on number of guests for the outside graduation ceremony. Tickets are required if the weather forces this event indoors. Graduates will receive their tickets on the 5/21 mandatory graduation practice.

Parking: Graduating at night creates a few logistical and safety issues that must be addressed. Among the most important of these issues is parking. We have worked closely with the Pickens County Sheriff’s Office to devise an effective and efficient plan to ensure that the safety of our guests is our top priority. Multiple shuttling options, traffic flow plans, and parking strategies have all been considered. To create the best and safest experience possible for our guests, please adhere to the following:

•      Parking alongside Dragon Drive will not be allowed for this event. Returning to vehicles in the dark on an unlighted road poses a significant danger to our guests.
•      We have enough space to park three cars per graduate on campus. Therefore, each graduate will receive three parking passes for them and their family to access Dragon Drive on May 23rd beginning at 5:15 p.m. We realize that this may take some forethought and planning on the part of the families. Graduates will receive their parking passes at the 5/21 graduation practice.
•      Parking passes should be displayed on the car dash (driver’s side) upon entering Dragon Drive. Cars attempting to enter without a pass will be directed to a shuttle location. This pass should be visible in each vehicle throughout the event.
•      Handicap parking is available on the PHS campus at the tennis court parking lot. Golf Carts and a MATS bus will assist in transporting you to the Football Stadium. There will be NO handicap parking at the stadium level as this is our Bus Shuttle drop-off/pick-up area. You will need to display BOTH a PHS graduation parking pass and your handicap parking pass to utilize this parking as a handicap pass does not take the place of a PHS Graduation Parking Pass.
•      Guests will also have the option of utilizing shuttles to access this event that will drop guests off near the old field house at the Football Stadium Ticket Booth Entry Level (top of the bleachers). Three rounds of shuttles will run from 5:15-6pm at each location to transport patrons to the event. Three rounds of shuttles will run from the end of the ceremony (we estimate sometime between 8:30-9pm) until 9:45pm. No shuttles will run after 9:45pm from PHS. The following locations will offer a parking area and air-conditioned school bus shuttle options for our guests:

1. Pickens Junior High School: The bus shuttles will load on the gym side of the school and will depart between 5:15 -6:00 p.m. for to the PHS Stadium. This location is handicap accessible.
2. Chattahoochee Technical College: The bus shuttles will load at the front entry of the school (parking lot at Burnt Mountain Rd. and Pioneer Rd.) and will depart between 5:15 and 6:00 p.m. for to the PHS Stadium. This location is handicap accessible.
3. Royston, LLC: The bus shuttles will load at the main parking lot. A tent will be set-up at the loading area. Shuttles will depart between 5:15-6:00 p.m. for to the PHS Stadium.

*If you are planning to ride a shuttle back to the location you parked at after the ceremony, please load within 30 minutes of the ceremony’s conclusion.

Indoor Plan (Only if weather forces us inside)

Date: May 23rd , 2025

Place: PHS Gymnasium at 500 Dragon Drive | Jasper, GA 30143

Access to Dragon Drive (Campus Opens): 5:15 p.m.

Graduates Report: 5:00 p.m. to New Gym/PAC entry

Event Time: 7:00 p.m. (Doors open at 6 p.m.)

Tickets: Each graduate will receive four guest tickets for the PHS Gym. All guests will be required to present a ticket upon entering the event. Graduates will be given the allotted number of tickets for their guests at the mandatory graduation practice on 5/21.

Parking: The same guidelines as mentioned for the “outdoor graduation plan” as identified above.

*It is our duty and responsibility to make this event as safe as possible. Our hope and plan are to have this traditional graduation ceremony outdoors at our stadium. If the weather does not look favorable to do so, we will move to the indoor plan and will update the public as soon as possible about this decision. Thank you for doing your part in pledging to assist us in making this a safe and memorable event for the Pickens High School Class of 2025!