Despite being one of Eastlake’s most loved and historical traditions, Grad Night is practically unheard of amongst current seniors. Grad Night serves as a last hurrah for seniors to celebrate their graduation and kick off the Summer.  

Christine Cherkis, PTSA Co-Chair of the Senior Sendoff, describes the event as an “alcohol-free, safe, contained way to have the seniors celebrate the night of graduation and take them out to some really fun destinations”.  

The destinations that seniors will visit remain a complete mystery until the night of the event. Cherkis goes on to describe how the night “usually involves games and DJs and music and food”. However, besides these simple descriptions, all other details of the event remain secret. 

Grad Night will take place on the night of graduation, June 13th. Seniors will meet at the school, load up on buses, and be taken into “2 venues… either in Seattle or Seattle area”.  After the night of fun, they will be dropped off back at Eastlake early in the morning.  

This event, which has existed since the early 2000s, was put on pause due to covid. The class of 2019 was the last class that was able to participate in this tradition. The PTSA has decided to bring back the event now due to high student demand. Cherkis details how “last year’s seniors were really asking for it because Redmond High School was doing it, Bellevue High School was doing it… a lot of area schools got back on the bandwagon last year, but we didn’t and so we really wanted to make it happen this year”.  

Eastlake PTSA wants students to know that Grad Night is “so much fun and it’s your one big last night with your peers that you’re graduating with… it’s a huge milestone in your school career”.  

Seniors should put Grad Night on their radar as registration is set to open in early December and close in early June. To register, students can scan the QR codes which will be placed around the school shortly. Registration will cost $185 in December and prices will increase as we approach the event date.