Amid teary parents and friends hugging goodbye, the Palo Alto High School Class of 2009 looked back on the Paly quad for the last time this afternoon.

The commencement ceremony began with a prelude performance from the Paly Symphonic band under the batons of teachers David Brigham and Jeff Willner. The band, which performed in the absence of its senior members, played an arrangement of the Grand March from Aida by Giuseppe Verde prior to the ceremony. The band then launched into its performance of Edward Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance as the graduating seniors filed down the aisle to take their seats near the stage.