Winter Formal does not correspond well with the date that it takes place. Winter Formal is 147 days away from Homecoming, but only 49 days until Junior Banquet. This leaves too big of a gap between Homecoming and Winter Formal, and pushes it too close to the end of the year.

Currently, Winter Formal, Junior Banquet, and Prom all happen within three months. This makes it especially difficult for certain juniors to find different outfits for all three dances. Juniors could have to find outfits for Winter Formal, Junior Banquet, and Prom if they have a date. By moving Winter Formal to early January, much of these problems could be avoided by having the dances more evenly spaced out.

“They got rid of Winter Formal for a while because the school had so many dances that there were some complaints about having to buy lots of formal dresses, so they got rid of Winter Formal,” said Kalyn Davis, choir director and head of the dance department. “Well, we decided to bring it back.”

Bringing it back with a name like ‘Winter Formal’ causes students to dress formally for the dance, rendering the idea of a casual dance pointless.

If the choir department decides to keep the dance so late in the school year, they should at least emphasize the idea that it is a casual dance and that students should not get all dressed up for it in order to cut down on costs.

“I get that they want to balance it out, but with the weather it’s not really winter anymore,” said Maggie Katafiasz, sophomore. “I do think it’s too late in the year. Dresses are expensive, and I think if it were earlier in the year it would give [students] more time.”

The best solution is to move the dance to early January. There are still several days where the dance could be held in January without conflicting with much else, putting the dance right in the middle of winter and giving students a lot more time to prepare for other dances like Junior Banquet and Prom.