Jerrold Newman's triplet sons went to three high schools in two New Jersey counties.
High school graduations are often a time for parents to sit back with pride as they watch their children cross the stage and receive their diploma, but for one father it was a race against the clock.
Jerrold Newman's triplet sons - Jason, Daniel and Scott - went to different high schools.
Jason graduated from Blair Academy in Warren last Friday, but Daniel and Scott's ceremonies, at Peddie and The Lawrenceville School, respectively, were this past Sunday.
And at the same exact time, 10:30 a.m.
"I was dreading for months finding out when graduation was because of something like this happening," Newman said this week.
When he first found out that the ceremonies were on the same day he joked with friends that he'd simply pick his favorite child. But he had a plan.
"When I found out that the graduations were on the same day I reached out to the heads of the schools and asked if one could graduate with A names and one with Z's," Newman said.
"The school's obliged," he said.
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At the start of Lawrenceville's commencement ceremony, in Lawrence, Scott moved from his alphabetical place in line to the front of the class.
"I took my pictures and then I bolted," Newman said.
Newman then drove the 13.8 miles to Peddie's ceremony in Hightstown.
As the headmaster called students names, he skipped over Daniel and pushed the diploma aside, giving Newman as much time as possible to make the 25 minute trek across Mercer County.
"You deal with what life gives to you," Newman said as he reflected on what he described as a less than ideal situation.
Although everything went according to plan Newman did have one of his son's teachers at Peddie to stall the reading of students' names slightly in case he ran into traffic.
"Our name is smack in the middle of the alphabet so there was only so much you can do, but it was a real clever thing they did to make it work," Newman said.
Newman became a single father to the triplets after his wife Nadine passed away from cancer in 2011. He allowed the boys to attend three separate high schools so they could have a sense of individuality, and would not have to worry about one overshadowing the others, he said.
As for the future, all three Newman brothers will be attending separate colleges in the fall too.
Jason will be attending Claremont McKenna College in California, Daniel will be attending Brown University in Rhode Island, and Scott will be attending Duke University in North Carolina.
Olivia Rizzo may be reached at orizzo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @LivRizz. Find NJ.com on Facebook.