Frequently Asked Questions

High School Graduation is a rite of passage that comes with big celebrations. For young adults, this traditionally has meant big parties. Unfortunately, these parties too often include underage alcohol and drug use, with tragic results for the Graduates, their families, and the whole community. In 1989, a group of Lawrence High School parents created Project Graduation to prevent such tragedy from happening to our LHS Graduates. Project Graduation hosts an all-night, adult-supervised, substance-free gathering on graduation night. For more than 30 years, this event has had zero drug- or alcohol-related incidents, allowing LHS Seniors to celebrate their achievement safely.

No, Project Graduation is an independent organization comprising of community-minded parents and friends from Lawrence Township, volunteering their time to work together and raise funds to host a free, fun, safe, locked-in, adult-supervised, substance-free graduation party every year for our seniors. It is registered as a nonprofit corporation with the State of New Jersey and a tax-exempt organization by the IRS under Section 501(c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code. We are not funded by the school district and rely on grants and fundraisers supported by our generous Lawrence community. It is sanctioned by the Lawrence Township Board of Education to provide a safe celebration environment that preserves the lives of our graduates on their very special day.

No, as mentioned earlier, Project Graduation is an independent organization comprising of community-minded parents and friends from Lawrence Township, separate from the PTO. Our community-based members including LTPS district school parents volunteer their time to work together and raise funds to host a free, fun, safe, locked-in, adult-supervised, substance-free graduation party every year for our seniors. It is registered as a separate nonprofit corporation with the State of New Jersey and a tax-exempt organization by the IRS under Section 501(c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code. We are not funded by the school district nor the school PTO and rely on grants and fundraisers supported by our generous Lawrence community. is sanctioned by the Lawrence Township Board of Education to provide a safe celebration environment that preserves the lives of our graduates on their very special day.

Lawrence Township provides support to Project Graduation through their program, Lawrence Alcohol and Drugs Alliance (LADA) which is a non-profit municipal committee. The goal of LADA is to empower the community. Its membership is comprised of local leaders, municipal employees, and residents of Lawrence Township, and other organizations like Project Graduation who want to be involved in preventing alcohol and drug-related problems in the community. LADA offers a partial grant to Project Graduation every year towards the celebration of our seniors.

At a cost of approximately $25,000 for a locked-in night of celebration, we are proud to say we have achieved our goal since 1989!! The donations of cash, food and prizes, along with fundraising, are the major efforts to make this night successful. Lawrence Township Public school district generously offers the venue for the event, Lawrence High School, free of cost which is a huge saving on cost for us. We convert the entire school into a BIG party zone with games, food, DJ/karaoke, raffle prizes, senior gifts and more.

We are proud to report that over 80% of the Lawrence High School seniors have participated in this event each year and since its inception, the celebration has been 100% accident and incident free. This year we anticipate close to 300 students!

Project Graduation does not coordinate senior PROM at Lawrence High school. The senior class adviser and the High School administration work together to offer PROM to our LHS seniors. Every LHS class along with their respective class advisers raise funds every year from their freshman year to their senior year.

Project Graduation works the LHS administration and the local police department to host a Senior breakfast on Prom day. This breakfast is followed by a Distracted driver/crash/ first responder simulation presented by the Lawrence Township Police department. The goal of this presentation is to educate our seniors about the tragedy of traffic crashes—to reinforce the importance of using seat belts, and visually show the possible consequences of driving after consuming alcohol and/or distracted driving.

Lawrence community should be commended for supporting this event in creating a ‘peace of mind’ night for the communities in which we live. Without school, parents and businesses, this night could not happen. The donations of cash, food and prizes, along with fundraising, are the major efforts to make this night successful. Project Graduation does rely on grants and fundraisers supported by our generous Lawrence community. We are grateful to receive grants from Lawrence Alcohol and Drugs Alliance (LADA) and Lawrence Township Community Foundations (LTCF). For rest of the funds, we receive donations and support for our fundraising drives supported by our generous Lawrence community, parents and businesses

We are always looking for volunteers. If you or anyone you meet would like to learn more about Project Graduation, you can use our contact information below and visit our website (LHSProjectGraduation.org). You can also CLICK HERE for volunteer sign-up and CLICK HERE to join our email list. For more questions or concerns or fundraising suggestions, please contact us at ltpsprojectgraduation@gmail.com.