What’s a Senior Sunrise? Plus Fun Ideas & Planning Tips

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Your guide to this special senior year tradition

Co-authored by Alicia Oglesby and Amy Bobinger, BA

Last Updated: August 28, 2025 Fact Checked

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What is a Senior Sunrise?

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Organizing Senior Sunrise

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Fun Ideas

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Should I go?

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Other Senior Traditions

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Video

Senior Sunrise is a tradition where students meet to watch the sun come up at the start of their last year of high school. It’s a fun way for the whole class to bond and make memories before the start of senior year. We’re taking a deep dive into Senior Sunrise, including everything you need to know if you’re in charge, from organizing tips to fun activity and decoration ideas.

What is the Senior Sunrise tradition?

Senior Sunrise is an annual high school tradition where seniors meet up to watch the sun rise. It’s usually held at the beginning of the school year, either on the first day or during the first week. Students often have breakfast, play games, and take pictures, and they usually bring blankets or chairs.

Section 1 of 5:

What is a Senior Sunrise?

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Senior Sunrise is a tradition where high school seniors watch the sunrise together. It’s usually done to mark the beginning of senior year. Students gather just before the sun rises, often with breakfast or coffee. It’s an opportunity to spend time together, make new memories, and bond at the start of the final year of high school.
- Senior Sunrise is typically organized by students, but parents and faculty may also volunteer to help.
- Some colleges and universities may also hold an annual Senior Sunrise event.^{[1]
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- Many schools also hold a Senior Sunset to commemorate the end of the year.

Section 2 of 5:

How to Plan a Senior Sunrise

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Decide on a location. Find a spot that will accommodate your entire senior class—don’t forget parking! And be sure to pick a location where you’ll have a good view of the sunrise. A flat, open space is best. Good options include:
- An athletic field, track, or stadium at the school
- A parking lot (be sure to section off the area to keep cars out)
- A nearby park
- The beach
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Choose the date and time. Senior Sunrises are usually set for the beginning of the school year, but you have plenty of flexibility when you’re choosing a date. For instance, you might hold it on the first day of school or the first Friday of the school year. But if you want to take some of the pressure off the busy start of school, you might schedule it for the last Friday of the first month of school, instead. Some schools even hold Senior Sunrises on the last day of school.
- It’s a good idea to have a back-up date planned in case of bad weather.
- Visit the location 1–2 weeks before your planned Senior Sunrise to double-check exactly what time the sun rises. Plan for students to get there around 15–20 minutes before sunrise.
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Double-check that you have approval from the school administration. If you’re holding the event on school grounds, verify the date, time, and location with the principal and/or senior sponsor. And if you’ll be using any of the athletic fields, it’s a good idea to reach out to the athletic director, as well.
- Your school may require you to have administrative approval for any large gatherings of students, even if they’re held off-campus. It’s always better to check just in case.
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Get the word out. Design cute sunrise-themed invitations and send them to the students. If you don’t want to mail them out, ask the principal or senior sponsor if they can send the invitations through the school’s online communication portal. You might also print out flyers to hang around the school. On the invitations, be sure to specify:
- Who is invited (all seniors!)
- Where the event is being held
- When it is (and when the back-up date is, if necessary)
- What to bring (like blankets and chairs)
- What to wear (if there’s a theme)
- If you’re handing out breakfast tickets, distribute those ahead of time as well.
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Organize any volunteers and supplies. Recruit parent, staff, and student volunteers to ensure the day goes smoothly. For instance, you might have someone coordinating parking if you anticipate a lot of cars, or you might have students handing out food when their peers arrive.
- Reach out ahead of time to parents or local businesses if you need donations of money, supplies, or food and drinks.
- Consider offering advertising space (like in school publications or at athletic events) to any businesses that donate to the event.
- It’s a good idea to get as many students involved as possible—it may help boost attendance if the senior class feels more ownership over the event.
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Get there an hour early to set up on the day of the event. Since it will still be dark, it’s best to keep your set-up as simple as possible. Still, give yourself plenty of time before students start arriving—that way, if there are any last-minute setbacks, you’ll have plenty of time to deal with them.
- Have any other volunteers arrive early as well so you can decide where everyone needs to be.

Section 3 of 5:

Fun Ideas for Senior Sunrise

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1
Serve breakfast and juice or coffee. Donuts are a popular breakfast for Senior Sunrise—they’re easy to grab and go. You can also offer individual bottles of juice or set up a coffee bar. If you want to add a little more variety, consider options like:^{[2]
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- Muffins
- Danishes
- Mini boxes of cereal
- Granola bars
- Bagels
- Breakfast biscuits
- Pancakes, sausage, and bacon cooked on griddles by parent volunteers
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Have students wear or decorate themed clothing. Because the students will be meeting so early, PJs are a popular option for Senior Sunrise. But you can also ask students to wear school colors or their senior shirts.^{[3]
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- Have students paint their jeans (while wearing them).^{[4]
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- Tie-dye shirts or have a T-shirt painting station.
- Have students decorate paper crowns, then wear them to school.
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Organize games and activities. Students often spend Senior Sunrise gathered in groups, chatting or taking pictures. But if you like, you can have a few events set up to help create extra-special memories. Fun ideas include:
- Relay races
- Cornhole
- Card games
- Photo scavenger hunt
- Bubbles or glow sticks
- Inflatable obstacle course
- Color powder run
- Decorating cars
- Frisbee
- Raffle off senior gear
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Decorate the space with lights and signs. Because the students will be gathering while it’s still dark, consider using lights as part of your decorations. Tea light bags, battery-operated string lights, and candles all make great decorations and can be re-used the following year.
- Also, include signs and banners with suns, the graduation year, or “Senior Sunrise” to welcome students to the location.
- To create a cheerful atmosphere, have music playing over Bluetooth speakers.
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Include props and signs that students can use for photos. Senior Sunrise is a great place for photo memories. Decorate posters with sayings like “Senior Sunrise,” “Grad To Be,” “Senior Year,” and “Rise and Shine!” Other prop options include:^{[5]
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- Cut-out posters that look like picture frames or Polaroids
- Oversized numbers with the graduation year (like 2-0-2-6)
- Large suns
- Backdrops that students can stand in front of
- Banners for large groups of students to hold up
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Come up with special ways to preserve Senior Sunrise memories. Senior Sunrise is an opportunity to reflect on how far students have come and celebrate the big milestones that are coming up in their lives. Here are a few ways to honor that:
- Have students write letters to themselves. Student leaders or school administrators can gather the letters, then pass them out again close to graduation.
- Have someone take a video where seniors share their favorite memories from high school so far.
- Take a class photo with everyone who attends the Senior Sunrise event.
- Make a giant banner, then have everyone leave a paint handprint or sign their names.
- Put out memory jars, slips of paper, and pens, and encourage students to write a special memory. Include some of the memories in a slideshow at graduation, post them on the school’s social media, or include them on a page in the yearbook.
- Give all of the graduating seniors a memento or gift.^{[6]
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Section 4 of 5:

Should I go to my Senior Sunrise?

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Attending Senior Sunrise is a great way to form lasting memories. If you don’t feel super close to anyone in your senior class, you might feel a little unsure of whether to go, but it can be a special memory. If you’re not sure who you’ll hang out with, bring your own blanket or chair, plus a book or a sketchbook and a pencil so you’ll have something to occupy yourself with if you end up with some downtime.
- Of course, if you really don’t want to go, you don’t have to! You and your friends can always make your own senior memories doing other activities together.

Section 5 of 5:

Other Special Senior Year Traditions

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Make senior year memorable by having celebrations year-round. Senior Sunrise is a great way to kick off seniors’ final year, but there are plenty more opportunities to create fun memories that students will treasure for a lifetime! Here are some new and old traditions for commemorating senior year:^{[7]
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- Chalk the Lot—Chalking or painting seniors’ parking spots at the start of the school year
- Locker decoration—Cover seniors’ lockers with decorations for graduation, Spirit Week, or the start of the school year
- Senior tournament—Hold a bracketed competition for small teams, like Nerf Wars, Water Gun Wars, or Senior Tag.
- Senior Car Parade—Decorate cars and parade from a set starting point to the school on the first or last day of senior year
- Senior Crowns—Decorate and wear paper crowns during the first week of school
- Senior Picnic—Typically held just before graduation
- Senior Skip Day—An unofficial day where seniors skip school, sometimes to attend the Senior Picnic or another off-campus event
- Senior Pranks—Just don’t let them get too out of hand!
- Senior Sunset—Like Senior Sunrise, but at night and at the end of the year
- Senior Trip—An organized trip just before graduation