The 2021 Junior/Senior Prom, which had been scheduled to take place outdoors on Saturday, May 1, has been postponed. More information about a potential rescheduled date will be made available on May 3.

Principal Matthew Hills and the Junior Class SCA tentatively scheduled the prom for May 1. He anticipated Governor Ralph Northam to upgrade the definition of a social gathering and that prom and other school-sanctioned social gatherings would receive exemptions to some COVID-19 restrictions, like graduation ceremonies have. When the guidance did not change, it forced everyone else involved in planning to rethink the plans.

Under the governor’s most recent order, prom is a social gathering, rather than an educational gathering. Because of this, it is subjected to more restrictions than originally anticipated. 

“We have decided to wait until the updated order comes out on May 1 to see if we are able to hold a prom on May 22,” Principal Hills said.

While Principal Hills remains hopeful that prom will happen, he acknowledged that it would look different from a normal year and even from the original prom plans. 

“Now this prom is kind of going to be a little different than it was before. We’re not going to be using [Ampa, a company that specializes in outdoor parties and socially distant events that would have been hired for a May 1 prom],” Principal Hills said. “But we believe with all the volunteers that we have, student input, teachers, and admin, that two-and-a-half or three weeks of planning and a ‘do it yourself’ prom will still be an incredible experience for the students.”