Homecoming season is approaching, with increasingly more social media posts of the nationally beloved school dance. From dress inspirations to date transitions, the reminders of the fun tradition which schools across the country partake in, are endless. As other high schoolers celebrate “Hoco,” many at Tenafly High School wonder, what happened to Tenafly Homecoming?
Homecoming was last celebrated in the 2021-22 and 2022-23 school years as student officers sought to bring back the tradition post-COVID. While the event was met with a joyful atmosphere in those two years, it has unfortunately faded away from prominence in recent school years. In the past two years, upperclassmen student officers worked diligently to formulate a plan to mark Homecoming’s return to Tenafly. However, in both years, their endeavors were thwarted by a lack of student interest, forcing the event to be canceled. Liam Tenenbaum (’25), the senior class president, reflected that student interest for the event was never overwhelming and was usually not enough for the event to come to fruition.
“Homecoming hasn’t become less popular necessarily… it just hasn’t been very positively received over the last couple of attempts.”
Previous student officer alumni that attended the Homecomings from years past reflected on the event as being a huge success in the 2021-22 edition, the first year that Tenafly Homecoming was brought back. Jacqueline (Jackie) Kim (’23), president of the ’23 class, reflected on how different factors contributed to the success of 2021-22 Hoco.
“Lots of students seemed to have fun dressing up and taking pictures and overall partaking in a staple high school experience,” she said.
Furthermore, the event brought in a massive profit for the class treasury. From the huge turnout, Kim estimates that the event brought in about a $2,000 profit for the school. After a promising year of a successful return of Tenafly Homecoming, Kim observed a shift in enthusiasm.
“[There was] less interest in Homecoming the following year (my senior year), and selling tickets was a bit more difficult,” she said. The same spark from the previous year of Homecoming wasn’t present at the 2022-23 edition, and that showed. Kim described the second year of Homecoming as “a little scuffed,” and said, “we made do with what we could at the time.” Despite the less successful second year of Homecoming, Kim reflected fondly on her experiences at Tenafly Homecoming. “I personally really enjoyed the two Homecomings that I planned and attended in my junior and senior year,” she said.
Overall, the student body’s opinions on Homecoming were — and still are — incredibly mixed. Some are completely against it, thinking of it as an unworthy school event, while others stop student officers in the hallway to ask, “Why aren’t we having Homecoming?” The varying opinions of the student population were reflected among the senior class and Student Organization officers. Kim, herself, worried about the future of Hoco.
“As I graduated, I actually did worry about the longevity of Homecoming as a tradition at THS, and I hoped that the incoming grades would have more excitement for events like Homecoming.”
Hopeful chatter of a bigger and better Homecoming-comeback was on-sight at the end of the 2023-24 school year during the annual S.O. retreat. Upperclassmen officers put their heads together, discussing the possibility of a joint pep-rally-football-game-Homecoming-dance, a phenomenon that they had hoped would garner enough school spirit to revive the deceased dance. Yet, one obstacle arose: the amount of work that would be put behind this large undertaking.
The S.O. had planned and finalized the logistics for the Fall Pep Rally to be in late September. However, if the senior officers really wanted Homecoming and Homecoming-related events in the same week, they would have to hustle before the 2024-25 school year. The debacle was faced with questions like, “How will girls have time to buy their dresses?” or “How would we have time to push flyers out?,” which preoccupied a decent portion of the retreat discussion. Officers had even planned to do a tiered ticket-selling method, where upperclassmen would have the chance to purchase tickets before offering available spots to underclassmen in order to combat the issue of upperclassmen potentially not wanting to share the dance floor with their younger counterparts. Hopes remained high throughout summer, with officers sure that this was the year Homecoming would be revived.
So…what happened? In a senior class and Student Organization officer vote at the beginning of this school year, the decision to not have a 2024-25 Homecoming dance was reached. Factors such as cost and student participation played heavy roles in this conversation. The officers agreed that they should put their time, effort, and funds into something that received more enthusiasm and excitement. Kim suggested that some possible improvements to Homecoming include amping the funds invested into Homecoming for “a better venue, better decorations, a better DJ,” along with “building excitement in the weeks prior” through social media and Tenafly TV advertisements.
Will Tenafly High School ever see Homecoming again? Grace Kim, President of the S.O. (’25), offered an alternative that may change students’ enthusiasm.
“Having a venue or hosting Homecoming in a place other than the school cafeteria or school gym might attract more people,” she said. “Even in the school field, just bringing lights outside could bring the vibe that is less school-coded in a way.”
Perhaps it is better for student leaders to focus on traditions that students do enjoy, rather than continuously trying to push a new one that few are unenthusiastic about. Student officers believe that the Homecoming dance has not been able to occur simply because it is not a favored tradition that is celebrated at Tenafly. While there are many special traditions unique to Tenafly, such as the THS Olympics or the Tux Show, Homecoming has never been recognized as a requisite. Lucia Martinez-Pelaez (’25), the Senior Board of Education Representative for the S.O., reflected on this.
“We already have traditions that are strong. They just happen to be mostly for seniors. No one wants a new tradition because people like the ones in place.”
While Tenafly isn’t exactly known for being a “rah rah” school, students still come together during these traditions, proving that there is a sense of spirit and community. It’s just about cultivating and keeping that light—however much of it there is—aglow.
