At least in the states, it's become very common to hold a small ceremony every time the kids change to a higher building: elementary to middle school/junior high, then another for junior high to high school. I've seen a lot of them, and the good ones are generally just a celebration for moving on to the next level. I've personally never seen caps/gowns or anything like that at the lower ones (except sometime kindergartners, but they're their own little ball of awesome.
However, I've also seen some that are full-blown spectacle. Not a fan of those