There will be no blue and white balloons, there will be no shining disco ball, and there will be no DJ setup in the middle of the lunchroom. This year there will be no winter formal. The dance has been canceled but student council, or StuCo,  hopes to create a new tradition in place of it. 

While prom and homecoming are the most well-known high school dances, winter formal is another event, though it’s generally less recognized. While a relatively new tradition it has been a part of Greenhills since 2021. It tends to take place during the month of February to celebrate the end of spirit week with a party on Saturday. 

“My understanding was that winter formal was added during COVID-19 for the freshman and sophmores because they did not get to attend prom,” said upper school dean of students Janelle Sterling. 

Sterling said that the dance was canceled this year due to a scheduling conflict with an Ethics Bowl conference hosted at Greenhills. This event appears to typically take place before every winter formal; however due to the amount of students attending and previous issues with the bowl impacting  StuCo’s ability to set up for the dance, administrators have decided to entirely remove the dance from the calendar. 

“Our schedule is just very jam packed during that time so there is no way to move winter formal to another weekend,” said Sterling. “It also wouldn’t completely make sense because the dance was placed specifically to commemorate the ending of spirit week.” 

Besides the logistical issue, Sterling has found that according to the data of attendees in comparison to homecoming, winter formal was the least attended of the dances. 

“I was disappointed to learn in August that there would be no dance,” said StuCo representative Jonah Kaplan ‘26. “However StuCo had no control over this so I hope students won’t place blame on us for canceling the dance. We hope to find something just as good or better to end off that week.” 

StuCo, in charge of all student interest events, has been meeting every Monday during C&C to brainstorm and discuss what could go in place of winter formal.  Sterling has challenged them to think of an event that could end off that Friday. There has been various talk of  what could go in place of the dance. 

“It’s still in the talking stages and we are trying to build suspense,” said StuCo representative Roger Mariani ‘27. “But that day we are ending with two basketball games so we are hoping to add something that incorporates elements of the dance but will also bring students out to support the teams.” 

While winter formal is canceled for this year, Sterling and the StuCo representatives  are unsure if the dance will make a return in following years. 

“I think it  might be gone for good,” said Sterling. “I believe that it is too early to say but the only reason I think that is because anytime you take something away it’s hard to bring it back. It will be interesting to see what the student body has to say about it because there has always been a mix of opinions surrounding the dance. I feel like students truly just want a place to gather  with something to do and I am more than happy to provide that. ” 

Some students love the thought of dressing up and dancing, however others aren’t so thrilled by the idea. Students’ emotions regarding the cancellation seem to range from indifferent to devastated. 

 “I am upset that it was canceled,” said Lauren Ye ‘26. “ I wish the winter formal was still happening because the timing of it was good. I enjoyed how it was right in between homecoming and prom, it gave me something to look forward to.”