Thursday, March 4, 2021
Hey Raccoons!
I am excited to share that we will be able to host Prom this year! And YES, you will be allowed to dance! Please join me in thanking our Student Council and their supportive advisors Angela Fisher, Danielle Bukal, and Angela Scavone to plan a special and memorable event and their hard work and creative approach. Please take the time to read all the details below and watch your email in the next week or two for details on ticket sales.
Prom Event and Details
We will
host Prom for Juniors on Friday, May 21, and for Seniors on Saturday, May 22,
from 6:00 p.m.-11:00 p.m. Both Proms will occur at OHS, which
will be transformed overnight from a typical, old high school to A Night in
Las Vegas! Also, we will allow our students who graduated early in January
2021 to attend Prom this year. While you can't come to both, there is an opportunity for a junior to attend the senior Prom with a date or a Senior to attend the junior Prom. A more detailed letter will be sent to families
and students in the next couple of weeks.
Honestly, to make this work, we will need all hands on deck. Parents and family members, if you are willing to volunteer or help in anyway please email Christine McCartney at McCartnC@oasd.org. We will keep a master list of volunteers and be in touch with details in early May. Please, if you can help, we will need it. Especially with two events, we would ensure that perhaps Junior parents could help during the senior Prom and vice-versa for the junior Prom.
Mitigation Measures and Safety Strategies At Prom
While we want to ensure we provide a memorable event, we need to
follow several safety precautions to avoid unnecessary quarantines. Our goal is
to balance a traditional prom experience with the safety regulations and the realities
of the pandemic. Therefore, several safety precautions will be in place.
These precautions include:
OHS Set-up and Design
- Grand March
will occur spread out through Raccoon Runway. Parents and families will be
invited to this special event!
- Dinner: Spread
Out in Field House and Cafeteria, or upper gym space, to ensure no more
than 250 students gather in an indoor area at one time and social
distancing is maximized whenever possible. Windows and doors will be
opened to the extent possible and proper ventilation maintained. Food
vendors will follow safety protocols based on the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC), Wisconsin Department of Health Services
(DHS), and the Waukesha County Public Health Department guidelines.
- Dancing:
will occur in an open-air tent outside.
- Alternative
activities will be planned during Prom to limit student congregation or
large groups in single areas and ensure social distancing to every extent
possible.
- Students will
have access to several different bathrooms.
- In
all activity spaces, multiple entrances and exits will be
used.
- Lines to enter or exit activities, concessions, and restrooms will be reduced to every extent possible. Students will be encouraged to stay at least 6 feet apart by providing signs or other visual cues such as tape or chalk marks.
- Allow for as
much distancing as possible, and the event will not exceed 450 people. The
event will occur throughout the OHS campus and not in one isolated
location.
- Students must
wear masks at all times, except while eating/drinking.
- Students
should dance with their social groups, avoid unnecessary physical contact
and maintain social distancing of six feet or greater to every extent
possible. If the crowd is too tight or there is uncontrolled physical
contact (mosh pit, crowd surfing, etc.), the music will be turned
off. This is the same practice for all our dances.
- The DJ will
also play group dance songs to ensure social distancing to the extent
possible.
- Alternative
social activities will be provided to limit congregation in one area.
Social distancing will be maximized whenever possible.
- Students who are sick, quarantined, or isolated on the dance day can not attend. We will refund both the student and their date should the date not attend as well. Students will not be allowed to self-isolate in the weeks leading up to Prom.
- No outside
guests from area schools, recent alumni, or underclassmen will be allowed.
- Administrators
trained in screening individuals for COVID symptoms will be present and
monitoring students.
- No changing or
use of locker rooms allowed.
- Hand sanitizer
and extra masks will be available.
- Additional mitigation strategies, such as cleaning/sanitization during the events and between the two evenings, will be used to the extent possible consistent with CDC, DHS, and the Waukesha County Public Health Department guidelines.
Update
on the Class of 2021 Commencement Ceremony
At this time, we are still planning to have one Commencement
Ceremony for the Class of 2021 on Saturday, June 12 at 10:00 a.m. in Rux
Stadium. Based on the current Waukesha County Health Department guidelines for
group gatherings, Graduation will likely be a ticketed event. We are working on
logistics and will share the final details in mid-April. However, for your
planning purposes, plan on our ceremony occurring on June 12, 2021, at 10:00
a.m. Also, to be safe, hold Sunday, June 13 as a possible rain-date in the
event of inclement weather. It won’t rain; our seniors have had enough to deal
with this year!
It’s an exciting time of year! Please feel free to email me at CurtisJ@oasd.org if you have any questions!
Jason
