Over the years, prom at San Rafael High has been reserved for seniors and seniors only, unless an underclassman has been invited by a senior to be a date. It’s been a long-standing tradition for our school, but other schools in Marin County don’t follow this.
For years, SR seniors have gotten to enjoy the last dance of the year with their class at prom. It’s a night where you get to dress up, go out and enjoy one of the last times with your classmates all together before everyone graduates and goes off on their lives.
Last year and this year, though, there was much talk about opening it up to the junior class as well.
Part of this has to do with the current senior and junior classes and the amounts of money in each of their accounts. Each class’s goal, from the beginning of freshman year to the end of senior year, is to raise money for prom. This price often varies widely over the 4 years of fundraising, and between each class.
The senior class has put down a deposit for a venue, according to Azeem Abdul Munshi, the ASB president. The venue hasn’t been released yet, but he says that
“This year’s venue is going to be the most unique and spirited venue SR has had in recent years.”
In the background, the ASB class has been hard at work for our class, raising money through dine and donates, bake sales, candy fundraisers and more, all to get enough funds for our class to enjoy their prom.
Because of the unique venue, I think it’s the perfect time to open the dance up to the junior class. With all of the space that the venue has, and the new DJ that the class has found, it seems like why wouldn’t you open it up to both classes?
Lachlan Royston, senior at San Rafael, says that he is all in for a junior-senior prom. “I believe that having both grades will make the atmosphere feel more alive,” he says. He hopes that this year the change will happen.
The junior class president, Ethan Rubin, agrees, saying “I think that if the two classes were to join together, it would benefit everyone.”
For next year’s prom, Rubin says that it is going to be a joint dance, no matter what. “By having two classes, we will have more money, cheaper tickets and more people,” he says.
Over at Terra Linda High, Harley Havemen says that having a joint prom makes it “that much more fun,” and that he “likes all the juniors and messes with them heavy.” He says that part of prom is getting to be with your friends, even if they are a grade below you.
For SR, the main reason for keeping the prom just for seniors is that many students simply don’t want to have the underclassmen there. A poll taken by the ASB class during October showed that the majority of the senior class didn’t want to have a joint prom. Many students said that having juniors at the dance eliminated the whole point of prom. Some also said that they just think it would not be fun with them there, and that they would not attend the dance if it were opened up to juniors.
I personally think that opening the dance to both grades makes it much better for the school. People are usually against change, but once it happens, you get used to it. That’s the same thing with the dance. One class just needs to take the leap of faith and have juniors and seniors at prom as the new normal.
The biggest attraction for opening the dance up for me is a cheaper ticket. In the past, prom tickets have ranged from $120 to as low as $90. If I could buy a ticket for $90 to the last dance, I would be very happy.
Giselle Grul, president of the senior class and contributor to Off the Leash, says that if we want to see lower prices, we need to open up the dance to juniors. “Right now, we’re ballparking $100-$110 for tickets. If we can get the junior class to join us though, I think we could get much lower,” Grul says.
Ms Kury, the ASB instructor at SR, says that she thinks part of the reason this year’s prom isn’t a junior senior prom is because the class put it up to a vote. “Next year, I think it is going to be joint. The current sophomore and junior classes seem to get along really well, so I think it won’t be that much of a debate,” she says.
Grul says that her goal for this year’s prom is to have heavy attendance, something that the past classes have struggled with. ¨Lower prices encourage more buyers to act,” she says.
-Ryder Ishikawa
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Senior prom: a rite of passage that most seniors look forward to as they start their freshman year of high school. A goodbye party, a celebration for all the hard work they did, and the long nights they stayed up because they forgot about a project that was due the next morning. A celebration because it was all worth it, they’re finally done. Juniors have a whole other year of this. Why should juniors be at a party that isn’t for them?
By the end of the year, seniors are ready to go and want to be recognized. Juniors being at one of the seniors biggest celebrations takes away a lot of the attention.
San Rafael High School has never had a junior-senior prom. Juniors could always go to prom, but only if they were invited by a senior. But this year, ASB and admin want to make the Class of 2026 prom a junior-senior prom because last year’s seniors didn’t buy enough tickets and didn’t have enough money to have a “good” prom. If the seniors this year don’t buy enough tickets by a specific time, tickets will officially open up to juniors.
Jose De La Rosa, SR Alum, teacher, and coach, says, “When I attended high school here it was only senior prom. I do think that potentially having juniors at senior prom would make it a better experience and easier to fundraise for. Yes, prom is a memorable experience for seniors, but it’s only memorable if they fundraise enough money to make it a special experience.”
Yes, you’ll only have a good time depending on where the venue is, how it looks, and making it a night to remember, which would only happen if the class had enough funds to make that truth a reality. But if a class wants an unforgettable prom, they have many opportunities and four years to raise that money. Not putting in the effort to raise money can only go so far; they can’t be upset when it’s just a result of their own actions.
The more people, the larger the venue has to be, and the more things there are to purchase, making expenses a lot higher than they would be if it were only one class. This means a probable increase in ticket cost. Packing up the venue doesn’t mean you’ll make more money if you’re going to have more people to provide for.
It’s not selfish for a senior to not want juniors at prom. It’s about the whole class being together, not an individual getting attention.
“I think it would distract us from coming together and bonding as a class with the people we grew into adulthood with,” says Caitlyn White, a senior at SRHS.
¨Prom is all about enjoying yourself and appreciating your accomplishments,¨ says Fausto Herrera, also a senior at SRHS
It’s one of the last times the class of ‘26 will all be together in one room until they¨re preparing to walk across the stage. We should keep it that way.
-Melody Garay Sanchez
