This year’s prom will be held in the Fonseca Center gym rather than its traditional location, Estherwood Mansion. 

According to Christina Moore, one of the seniors on the prom planning committee, the change was necessary because the Estherwood floorboards would be damaged by the few hundred students dancing. 

Ed Gormley, the Upper School student activities and transportation director, said, “We suspected that we might be outgrowing Estherwood, so we hired a structural engineer to see if it was safe, and he said, ‘It’s probably not such a good idea.’ We just can’t have 200-plus students jumping and dancing.” Other dances, such as the Winter Semi-Formal, will also be moved to the gym for the same reason.

Bianca Beriguete, another senior on the committee, said she had heard some students were concerned about how prom would look in the gym, but she and Moore said they would make sure the gym would be fully decked out. Although some students are apprehensive, the change in location has some benefits as well.

Prom won’t just be limited to the gym; food, including sushi, pizza tarts and ice cream, will be set up in the Davis Cafe, and casino games, the same as last year, are planned to be set up in the Sharon Room. The magician from last year will return, as well as the caricature portraits and the 360-degree photo booth. The tables in the Cafe and outside the gym can be used as well, and if the weather permits, the courtyard will also be open to students, Gormley said.

In order to choose the theme, inspiration collages were sent out for a senior vote, and the winning design was handed off to a company. The possible themes included “under the city lights,” inspired by New York City, and “masquerade ball,” which Beriguete described as a “black and gold type beat.” Ultimately, the winner was “night under the stars” — Moore’s personal favorite. 

Moore said of the company decorating the gym, “It’s the same people that did the [Board of Trustees] gala earlier this year. They also already did a similar theme at Masters before, so they had pictures of the Fonseca Center looking similar to our theme. It’s kind of lucky, because they already have ideas.”

Because of the change in location, the budget for prom witnessed a hefty increase. According to Gormley, the total price has increased from roughly $16000 to $21000, primarily because of the decorations. He explained, “Normally I didn’t spend a lot of money on decorations because you didn’t really need it in Estherwood. But this year, we wanted the FC to not look so much like a gym. I don’t know what the final total is going to be, it will probably be around $5000 [on decorations], where I used to spend about $500.” 

About half the money will come from student tickets priced at $50, Gormley said, and the rest is from the junior and senior class budgets.  Students with 80% financial aid will also receive their tickets with no charge. This year, some money will also come from Head of School Laura Danforth’s discretionary budget.

Gormley said, “I’m thinking about prom all the time. I start thinking about next year’s prom as soon as the last one ends, like what we can do differently.” He isn’t sure where next year’s prom will take us, whether or not it will be in the gym or off-campus, or if ticket prices will increase. He said, “This year, we will just see how it goes.”