SUSSEX COUNTY, Del. - Sussex County's largest high schools are getting ready for prom nights and graduation ceremonies in person.
It's an exciting time for this year's seniors, after the pandemic forced schools to cancel some end-of-the-year activities last spring.
Proms are usually held at glamorous venues, but Sussex Academy brought the glamour and fun to the back of school property for prom 2021.
There were temperature checks, masks, and of course your prom king and queen.
Sussex Academy's Head of School says prom night went extremely well.
"We did a lot of planning to make sure that we had a lot of mitigation strategies in place, so that students could social distance but at the same time have a semblance of normalcy and allow them to dance, have a DJ, and get dressed up,” said Eric Anderson.
Sussex Academy will also have an outdoor in person graduation, in their stadium, on June 4th. Families will be placed in pods and students must wear masks.
Cape Henlopen High School will have two graduation sessions, split up by alphabetical last names, on June 8th inside their football stadium. Session one (first half of the alphabet) will begin at 4 p.m. and the second session will begin at 6:30 p.m.
"We came to the decision about an in person graduation very early, we knew last year that was missed, and we did not want to lose the opportunity this year,” said Cape High School Principal Nikki Miller.
Students will receive five guest tickets, and will have families set up in pods, by groups of five, twos, or one. The number of speakers will be limited, and the number of people at the podium will be limited as well.
"If we have students who don’t want to participate in graduation because they are nervous about larger numbers, I would be more than happy to deliver diplomas to their house,” said Miller.
Cape’s prom will be held at the Clubhouse at Baywood on May 23rd.
"Miss Kammerer … had called me in the fall and offered if I wanted to do it [prom] on a Sunday, and put it on the books just in case, because we didn't know what was going to happen,” said Miller.
Prom will be inside the ballroom and outside in a large tent, and students can even bring dates from other schools.
Social distancing and masks are required, and no food will be served to prevent any possible spread of COVID.
Indian River School district will also be holding in person prom at Indian River High School on May 1st, and outdoor graduation on June 2nd.
Sussex Central’s prom will be held on May 15th, and outdoor graduation on June 1st, split up into two sessions, alphabetically. Howard T. Ennis School’s graduation will be held at 1 p.m. in the gymnasium.
According to the Indian River School District, the two proms will be “professionally tented events… side walls will be lifted when possible to accommodate increased airflow.”
Masks are required and there will be temperature checks. A Grand March will be held before both proms.
All of the school’s graduations will be live streamed.
