On August 29th, it was announced on the junior class and senior class google classrooms that prom will be on Friday, April 24th, 2020 at Raspberry Plain Manor. This is a big change from previous years.

Regarding the use of the venue for Dominion’s prom, students will have access to the Grand Ballroom, the Small Ballroom, and the North Lawn Backyard. Mrs. Burns, the sponsor for prom this year, said, “The Grand Ballroom is where the dancing is going to happen. The smaller ballroom is going to be set up for the photo booth as well as just kind of picture opportunities. The outdoor [area] is where the games are going to be set up like the aux gym is during homecoming.”

On September 13th, there was a survey sent out to the senior google classroom and the junior google classroom regarding whether or not students would want to have dinner at the venue, have finger foods set up in the grand ballroom, or have platters from establishments such as: chick-fil-a, firehouse subs, chipotle, and other. 

The option for dinner at the manor comes with an additional $25 charge to the prom ticket. This makes the initial ticket cost $85 instead of the $60 it would normally be, and as the price for tickets increases the final ticket price will be $80 with the extra $25 which would amount to $105.

Ticket sales will be starting after Homecoming. The venue has a max capacity of 300 people. This will affect ticket sales as Mrs. Burns said, “We have 300 tickets that’s it. We cannot sell anymore.” For students, this means tickets are sold on a first come first serve basis.

Another change made this year is the issue of when students will be able to leave during the day. Dr. Brewer said, “All students going to prom should be in school for some time during the day.” Dr. Brewer clarified in saying, “If a girl has a hair appointment at 11:30 she may leave at 11:00. If another girl has a hair appointment at 2:30 she may leave at 2:00.” 

These sudden changes to prom come from past expenses that have cost the school to lose money. Last year ticket sales brought in $12,032 which didn’t help the school break-even to the amount of $17,864.88 that was spent on prom last year. Last year the school lost $5,832.88 due to a lack of ticket sales. The most expensive cost was the venue for last year’s prom which was $12,750 for the Washington Dulles Airport Marriott. This expense was for the one room and food provided by the hotel. 

The next expensive cost was the DJ and photo booth for prom which was $3,800 from Sacco Entertainment. Next came the cost for prom security which was $650 for the County of Loudoun Sheriff’s Office. The last cost was for prom supplies which cost $295.96.

This year the cost for the venue, Raspberry Plain Manor, is $18,090, but this cost covers the three rooms that will be used for prom. In order to balance out the $18,090 cost of the venue Mrs. Burns said, “We are trying to go with a different DJ trying to see what we can get price-wise.”

There will also be fundraising from the senior and junior class to help cover the overall cost for prom this year. Mrs. Burns this year has been looking into getting the junior class into selling t-shirts this year for their class. Mrs. Burns is looking for creative ways to help fundraise for the junior class t-shirts she said, “I’m going to open up a submission for designs and the juniors will be able to submit designs and then we’ll be able to vote on what design they like best for the T-shirts, then that’s going to be our first fundraiser.”

The venue Raspberry Plain Manor is in Leesburg which is about 30 minutes away from Dominion High School. The history of the manor dates back to 1731 when the 322-acre plot of land was named Raspberry Plain Manor. It’s been passed around to several different people before it was purchased in 2016 by Antonio and Bobbi Jo Cecchi. The floor plan of Raspberry Plain Manor consists of the Grand Ballroom, the Small Ballroom, Fountain Hall, Victorian Parlor, Drawing Room, Entry Hall, Coat Room, and Dining Room. There are also two gardens the North Lawn Backyard and the Secret Garden.