Since prom was incorporated into student life, the process of asking one’s date to the event, known as a promposal, has become an exciting tradition at Poly. Whether the live invitation is a grand gesture during an upper school assembly or a scavenger hunt, seniors come up with thrilling ways to invite each other.
However, this process comes with its setbacks. This year, Head of Student Life Jared Winston and Head of Upper School Sarah Bates have introduced a new policy requiring students to seek prior approval for any on-campus promposals.
Under the updated guidelines, students who wish to stage a promposal on school grounds must first run their idea by Winston or Bates. This change comes as an effort to ensure that these moments remain fun and meaningful without causing unnecessary disruptions to the daily routine of the school.
One reason why this policy was put in place is because proposals have the potential to cause unnecessary messes and distractions. “We love the creativity, but just want to make sure that students, if they want to engage in something that would include any disruption to the school day or the working environment, are guided to an appropriate time, place, and venue,” Bates stated.
An example of this disruption occurred a couple of years ago. In 2023, a student brought the jazz band to play on the oval while inviting someone to prom, according to Bates. However, Interim Head of School John Rankin was in a crucial meeting at that time. Unfortunately, his meeting was negatively affected by the sound. This policy aims to prevent situations like this, ensuring fun promposals that don’t distract other members of the Poly Community.
Also, some promposals can create messes. Past promposals that involved confetti or whipped cream are funny and thrilling; however, they are very hard to clean up and are usually left behind for staff to clean up. So, given this policy, Winston and Bates want to confirm that students will be responsible for cleaning up after themselves and will keep our campus clean.
“In the past, most students that had on-campus promposals would approach us and ask if something was okay or not,” stated Winston. “But others didn’t, and so a clear message around the policy just helps to make sure that everybody’s on the same page.”
The new policy’s goal is not to diminish the enthusiasm around promposals or limit them from happening on campus. Instead, it aims to create a structured approach that prioritizes both student expression and the well-being of the school community.
“This new policy for the promposals this year isn’t necessarily changing much from what had previously occurred,” said Winston. “It provides a heightened awareness.”
This policy was announced in assembly to seniors before spring break. “We communicate with students and families about prom after spring break, which an email will be going out this week, so we wanted to make sure students knew ahead of time,” Winston explained.
Additionally, given the new policy, students are now more encouraged to ask for insight from Winston and Bates about their ideas. “We want to set our students up for success on campus in everything that we do if and when students don’t loop us in, there’s more space for confusion or failure because they don’t necessarily have the perspective of somebody who more fully understands how the school works and functions,” Winston said. “When students invite us into the conversation, we’re able to validate them or identify where their idea might not be able to happen and what it needs to make it a successful idea.”
Poly Senior Diego Garcia Phillips stated how he used the new policy to his advantage. “Given the new policy, I asked Mr. Winston for guidance on my idea because it’s very extravagant, and he made it more realistic and doable. I feel he set my idea up more for success.”
Student Government President (and Polygon news editor) Reese Roaman stated how she favors the new policy. “I definitely think it’s a good implementation as it negatively affects absolutely no one. With this change, students can enjoy proposals without hesitation of consequences, and the administration doesn’t need to stress about the events getting out of hand.”
“In conclusion, we want to make sure that everybody on campus is done around the operation of the school day, that’s safe, sort of easy to clean up, and doesn’t cost more work for other people,” stated Bates.
