With the spring season coming up,  upperclassmen get to look forward to prom and ball, events where students get dressed up with their friends or dates and go to a venue picked out by leadership for a night of dancing, taking photos, and eating food.

“This year [prom] is on February 25th. We do know that a lot of people were concerned about how early it was, but the venue wasn’t open and a lot  of our school events happened to clash with future weekends so we just decided to go with an earlier date and just get it out of the way before spring testing and all of the other spring activities,” said Junior Class President Kacie Hu(‘24)

This year’s Prom will take place at the Scottish Rite Center, right across the street from last year’s prom venue Lake Chalet, both located on Lakeside Drive in Oakland, California. The building has been around for almost a hundred years, being constructed in 1927 by the Scottish Rite Masonic Fraternity. The current junior officers’ tour of the place solidified their decision for where the venue should be.

“We had an event planner and he helped guide us through the tour but also the staff there were really welcoming. We had an hour-long tour, and they turned on the lights, turned on the sound system, and showed us all the features. It was a very inclusive experience which helped finalize our decision,” said Hu.

The main lobby of the Scottish Rite Center has two smaller chandeliers with staircases on either side. There is also a library, an auditorium, and a members’ lounge.

“Our venue is, we are using two different floors. The first floor is for the big dining room and that is something unique as well. We are providing a full dinner. All the dining services, it is a sit-down dinner. The fourth floor has all our activities, it has a very cool round dance floor. We thought that was really cool. Another exciting feature is there is a balcony, and it overlooks the lake so it kind of looks in that direction as well,” said Hu.

For this year’s senior ball, the venue is San Francisco City Hall, and the event will be held on May 6th. It is located in the Civic Center next to the Opera House.

 “Usually ball is done before AP testing so we just stuck with that tradition and for the pricing and deposits we are currently working on that and everything seems to be going fine,” said Senior Vice President Aryaveer Dua (‘23).

Leadership wanted to make this event unique from last year and tried to make the venue seem fancy. This venue has hosted weddings and sports a rotunda and a grand staircase. It also holds a North Light Court, South Light Court, and a mayor’s balcony, all large places people can congregate.

“It is going to be extremely fancy. Something you have never seen before. It is giving 1920 vibes,” said Senior Class President Joe Dai (‘23).

As for the amenities, there will be interactive games, video games, and buffet-style food and refreshments. Leadership thought this venue would be popular after asking people around campus their thoughts.

“That one really stood out to us. You went around campus asking some students and some teachers what they thought would be the best option and most of them leaned towards the city hall,” said Dua.