<p>Obviously the school seems resolutely against changing the prom date. So instead of trying to do that, why don’t you suggest a school-sponsored after prom party? My school does this every year to prevent drunk driving and more people actually go to the after-prom then to the actual prom. It’s a really great event that’s held in school with teachers supervising and it lasts until 4 AM. Everyone can come for some portion of time.</p>
<p>…or the track meet? (Unless one is going to college on an atheletic scholarship and then you’re stuck). In some communities Prom can’t be on Friday evening (Shabbat) or begin until sundown on Saturday…forget getting ready. I imagine that some strongly Christian areas can’t schedule a prom on Sunday for the same reason. Weeknights entail going or not going to school the next day, three day weekends (Memorial Day) conflict with families’ lifelong vacations. If prom is that importent (and I have yet to hear one of my kids or their friends say that they loved or even liked prom) you have to make a choice. (Here After Prom is the big deal.)</p>
<p>I’m sorry, but any night other than Friday or Saturday involves giving the prom-goers a day off from school, which I oppose. (e.g. Prom Thursday night, none of the kids will go to school on Friday. Our district has zero tolerance for “ditch” days and so far the kids haven’t bothered to try to have one. I think this would open the door for that). </p>
<p>As for the additional cost of having Prom on Saturday over Friday, one of my D’s big concerns when she and her fellow class officers planned the prom involved keeping the cost reasonable. Her class has 11 sets of twins, and they are acutely aware that not everyone has unlimited funds. Between 3 years of fundraising, and picking a reasonably priced (but still nice) venue on a Friday night, they will be able to sell Prom tickets for less than $30 each - and that includes a full sit-down dinner.</p>
<p>I still say if the Prom is scheduled a year or more (in our case 18 months) in advance, then everyone else can work around it. As for Regional or Statewide meets… you’re never going to find a date that some school or some team doesn’t have an event. If it’s a problem for a lot of kids, maybe they shouldn’t be scheduling track meets on Friday nights in May! Aren’t track meets usually on Saturdays, anyway? Or maybe they could do a Sunday?</p>
<p>I don’t think it’s fair to move a prom date to accommodate a few at the expense of the many. I also don’t think it’s feasible to reschedule an athletic event to accommodate a single team who is having a prom scheduling conflict. Part of growing up is making choices and accepting the fallout. Our town had this very situation last year when the girls softball team made it into the state quarter finals and some of the senior girls elected to attend the prom instead. They gave the coach fair warning. Weeks in advance they informed the coach of their intentions that they would be going to the prom even if the team made it that far into the states. The team lost but I saw no reason to criticize their decision.</p>
<p>For three years in a row our high school baseball team made the state finals. The semi final game was scheduled on graduation day. The seniors had to choose commencement or the game. There is no way the school could have scheduled graduation on a date where there would not have been conflicts. Sports schedules are made district, regional and state wide. </p>
<p>Given that, I think prom should be schedules on a Saturday night where there is less chance of a conflict, but there is no way to avoid all conflicts.</p>
<p>Seems to me that it is a reasonable request to move the prom over a night in future years - e.g. ones where the venue has not yet been booked. If the Prom is conflicting with a state or regional track meet, odds are that it is very late in the season for all spring sports and most will be over. Why not avoid a known conflict?</p>
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<p>Many sports schedules are finished further in advance than “a few months.” Some of them may find slight adjustments made, but the majority of the schedule is pretty well set. Sometimes even a few YEARS in advance.</p>
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<p>Sunday. Schools typically don’t host events on Sundays and having graduation on that day makes too much sense. It is doable and a lot of schools in our area do it on Sunday.</p>
<p>My high school has placed graduation the same Friday night as either the Sectional Track Meet or the State Track Meet every year for the last 3 or 4 years. Also, a couple years ago, we had a double header in baseball to DETERMINE CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP the day AFTER graduation.</p>
<p>^^^ Sports seasons continue here after graduation all the time. Not a big deal. Our state allows seniors to graduate up to 10 (school)days before school ends, so most graduations are early June while school doesn’t end until mid-June. The seniors can still be on the team and compete just the same.</p>
<p>Many graduations here used to be on Saturday, and the All-State track meet was always on Saturday, so a few years ago most schools switched graduation to Friday night. Last spring (a couple months before graduation), the All-State track meet was suddenly scheduled for Friday night. A bunch of principals threw a fit, but the Track people wouldn’t budge, I guess the venue track wanted to use wasn’t available on Saturday. A couple kids from our hs missed their graduation to attend the meet. At that point it was too late to move graduation. To me, that was very unfair of the Track people - a change like that should have been made more than a year in advance, they knew it would conflict with many graduations.</p>
<p>Also, the Football championship games are scheduled on Saturday mornings in late November, and often conflict with SAT’s. Many coaches have tried to get the games moved later in the day, without success. The football authorities opinion is that the kids can take the SAT another day… but they have to sign up for the SAT before they know if they’re going to qualify for the championship, plus moving to a later fall SAT makes them too late for ED/EA deadlines. (On the other hand, if your Prom is the night before the May SAT, you can take the June SAT with no fear of missing a deadline, plus you know the prom date months before you have to sign up for the SAT).</p>
<p>Honestly, I think many sports need to get their heads out of their you-know-wheres. High school kids have lots of things going on in their lives. They are not professional athletes. You need to accomodate them if at all possible, or stop giving lip-service to the phrase “student-athlete.” Notice the STUDENT part comes before the athlete part?</p>
<p>Sunday afternoon would be feasible for graduation, except our hs’s graduation is followed by an All Night Party that 95+% of the seniors (no exaggeration) attend. It’s held in the school, takes all year to plan, and is a wonderful event. We couldn’t have the Party if we graduated on Sunday, and frankly if most of the kids had to pick between a graduation ceremony and the Party, they’d pick the Party!</p>
<p>The truth is, no matter when you schedule things, they conflict with other things. Kids these days are in a lot of activities. </p>
<p>Back to the OP: Shouldn’t every High School Senior be given the opportunity to attend Prom?? Yes. Your seniors WERE given the opportunity to attend prom. They made a choice to go to their track meet instead. It’s sad that they had to make that choice, but that’s life. The opportunity to attend prom was there for them just as it was for all the other kids in the school.</p>
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<p>Sorry… point was missed… Graduation starts at 8PM Friday night; doesn’t end until 10:30-11ish and then many go out with family afterwards. On a bus Saturday morning at 6:30AM for double header. Yep… makes sense to me too…</p>
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<p>You know how far in advance those schedules for the football playoffs are put out?!?! Much further ahead than the SAT dates. We worry too much about the future sometimes and forget about the NOW. Why not take the SAT in June before your senior year if you’re so worried about the EA/ED deadlines? It is a complaint EVERY year in Illinois when playoff football games are scheduled on a particular October Saturday. Well tough, unless you want to move playoff games on Sundays which the IHSA will only do in an emergency. Standardized testing does not qualify as an emergency.</p>
<p>If athletics “accomodates them if at all possible,” where does it stop? Do we get to the point that athletics only happen IF there isn’t something better to do? When constitutes “better?”</p>
<p>In our school’s case, the prom is supposed to be a set date. Other school activities including sports are not supposed to schedule stuff on that Saturday. Sounds great, right? Well it would work great IF prom wouldn’t decide to change its date whenever it feels like.</p>
<p>I haven’t read all the posts so maybe this is repetitive - if so, sorry.</p>
<p>The prom at my D’s school is earlier in the spring than most - usually early April. I’ve often thought that was a shame - the weather can be iffy and very chilly. I don’t know the history but maybe it was moved to avoid conflicts like the OP’s. Also, I think venue rental prices are lower then.</p>
<p>Our prom, open only to seniors, is always held the Saturday night after the second week of AP tests. At least it is predictable. Mid May - possibly prone to tournament conflicts.</p>
<p>My D’s HS boyfriend’s school’s prom is always held the Friday of Memorial Day Weekend. Again, at least it is predictable. Actually, as annoying for the “getting ready fo hours” girls as it was having prom on a Friday school day rather than Saturday, I heard of no conflicts with sporting events - and most of the seniors were on “senior project” by Memorial Day and had fairly flexible schedules.</p>