High school graduation comes with its own set of rituals and etiquette. This includes the graduation announcements that each graduate sends to immediate family, other family members and friends of the family. In order to avoid violating points of etiquette, graduates and their parents need to know how to handle sending out announcements, whom to send them to, how to avoid the obligatory gift issue and how to address each announcement.

The graduation of your high school senior is a major stepping stone in her life. She has just completed 13 years of school, from kindergarten up through the 12th grade, and she may have been accepted to at least one university or college.

You want to help her celebrate this event in her life by letting your close friends and immediate family members know that she is graduating from high school. If you choose to let a wider circle of friends know, add a line to the announcements that says, “No gifts, please.” This way, the announcement doesn’t precipitate the thought, “She just wants a gift.”

Graduation announcements differ from graduation invitations only because the invitations directly request the attendance of invitees at the graduation ceremony, and the announcements give word that your son is receiving his high school diploma.

High schools have begun to limit the number of attendees at graduation ceremonies because of space limitations. Because of this, they issue a set number of admission tickets to each graduate to send to those they’ve invited to the ceremony. For this reason, it’s best to find out ahead of time how many tickets the high school issues to each graduate and plan accordingly.

Graduation announcements serve to announce the happy news for the graduate and her family. Order only enough to send to those in your circle of family and friends who already know your daughter is preparing to graduate.

You can invite those who received announcements to the party after the ceremony. Even though you didn’t invite them to the graduation ceremony, invite them to your daughter’s party.

When your son gets his commencement package, he needs to follow certain guidelines in addressing and sending out his announcements. He should receive a package of name cards with his name either printed or embossed on the front. He should include his name card with each announcement. He needs to include an admission ticket in those announcements to family members and friends who are being invited to the ceremony. The interior envelope, which holds the announcement, can be addressed to “Aunt Sue” or Grandpa.”

He can include a senior photo and party invitation as well. He should take care to use formal address on the outer envelope--Mr. and Mrs. John Jones. He should spell out words like Drive and Street rather than using abbreviations. He needs to slide the inner--smaller--envelope into the mailing envelope with both flaps facing the same way.

Everyone benefits from receiving your daughter’s graduation announcement. Your friends and family get to share in your family’s exciting news, your graduate is able to spread the news, and you get the pleasure of marking a happy family event. Family and friends feel included when your daughter sends her announcements out.