Sterling High School sets Class of 2026 graduation for May 23

Sterling High School has set the Class of 2026 graduation ceremony for Saturday, May 23, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. in Wally Post Gym, giving seniors, parents and relatives a fixed date as the school year heads into its final stretch. The school’s events calendar also lists SHS Graduation for May 23 from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m., confirming the one-hour time block for the ceremony.

The timing lands right after the RE-1 Valley School District’s 2025-2026 calendar shows the end of the fourth quarter on May 21, two days before graduation. For Sterling families, that leaves just a short window between final classes and the public ceremony, when travel plans, photography, seating and post-graduation gatherings start to matter. For seniors, it marks the shift from coursework and activities to the formal finish line of high school.

Wally Post Gym remains the central setting for the ceremony. The gym appears throughout Sterling High School athletics pages as the school’s main gym facility, and a district graduation-information page for the Class of 2025 said graduation practices were also held there at 10:00 a.m. That same page said family seating in the gym is first come, first served, reserved handicapped seating is available on the main floor for family members unable to use stairs, and students must meet academic requirements to participate in the ceremony.

Those logistics make the announcement more than a date on a calendar. Graduation at Sterling High School is one of the largest shared events of the year for the school and the community, and the details around Wally Post Gym will shape how families from across Logan County approach the day. The ceremony also carries a longstanding local tradition: a 2015 Journal-Advocate community listing placed Sterling High School graduation at 10 a.m. in Wally Post Gym, showing the venue has served as a familiar commencement site for years.

The gym itself honors Wallace H. “Wally” Post, a longtime Sterling resident and former Salida High School football player who died in 1997. With the Class of 2026 now on the calendar for May 23, Sterling families have a clear marker for the end of the school year and one of the community’s most visible spring gatherings.