After multiple revised contracts and up to seven considered locations, the class of 2025 prom venue is expected to be confirmed by the end of this week. The front-running location is the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel & Conference Center in Rockville, Maryland.
The senior prom will be held on June 7, the Saturday after seniors’ last day of school per tradition, with a potential theme of “The Roaring ’20s.”
“It’s a really big space, the room is really nice, we had held it there before, the price was right… and the date of June 7 was available,” Assistant Principal Marc Minsker told The Beacon. For the past month, the contract has gone back and forth between the Marriott and DC government, which is the legal team for DCPS, Minsker said.
Several potential locations, including first choice venue Dock5 in Union Market, fell through due disagreements on the terms of the contract. “The DCPS legal team requested changes to the contract and Dock5 rejected the changes,” Minsker said.
After that, the class of 2025’s administration began the search for other choices. Prior prom locations like the Hamilton Hotel and the National Building Museum exceeded the budget of around $20,000, moving the search outside of DC. The delay involved contractual negotiations between vendors and the DC government regarding compensation for possible property damage.
“[The contract] is in the final stages of approval and hopefully it gets signed soon,” Minsker said. Since JR hosted a prom at the venue 10 years ago, finalizing a contract “shouldn’t be a problem,” he said.
Some believe the location is not the most optimal choice. “I am not a huge fan of the new location and I feel like it’s kind of far,” said senior Eden Grim.
While not being in DC is a concern, Minsker said that “right now we’re having so many problems with these other contracts and DC government that I’m just thankful that this one seems to be going through.”
In addition, a potential senior class overnight trip to Hershey Park during the last week of May was announced during the senior town hall on February 6, but interest levels may determine if the trip is executed. The trip is required to be student-run with some stipulations and is not sanctioned by the school.
“You are required to have one chaperone for every six students and they have to find their own buses,” Minsker said. The possibility of getting a sufficient number of chaperones for “give or take 100 students is crazy odds,” he added. Seniors who are interested in participating in the class trip can fill out a survey on the JR website.
“There has not been a senior trip since before COVID and we hope to be the class to make it a tradition once again,” senior Leslie Galo-Valle said. However, student body secretary and senior committee member Sydney Mabry said “it is quite literally impossible if we don’t reach a certain threshold of interest.”
Expenses have been a concern for seniors. General dues for every senior are $125, including senior spirit days, transcripts, two class T-shirts, the senior gift, a senior lunch, senior awards, and other small items; caps and gowns cost an additional $42 to be purchased directly through JR. Other expenses, like a prom ticket and a $65 yearbook, will total each student at around $350.
“Even when you get a couple hundred dollars from most students, there’s still a lot of money that the school needs, and I think it’s not realistic to ask people for a lot more,” senior Miranda Miller said about the added cost of a senior trip.
The SGA has taken actions to aid these costs via fundraising support. Senior fundraisers have been held at Chipotle, Call Your Mother Deli, and Seoul Spice. This initiative, however, was not well known among students. Both Mabry and Galo-Velle reminded the class that “fundraisers and student dues help raise more money to pay for graduation, prom, the senior trip,” and more.
