Decorated with brightly colored lights and sparkly tassels, the dining hall was flooded with ninth and 10th graders as they danced along to Megan Thee Stallion and Beyoncé for their social Feb. 3.

Students entered the dining hall at 7:30 p.m. with formal dresses, suits, pants and skirts. Ninth and 10th grade representatives organized the dance and let each student bring a guest between 13 and 18 years old.

According to ninth grade rep Caroline Collis, the dance is a staple social for freshmen and sophomores. Collis said she and the other reps wanted to bring both grades together and incorporate some of the class’ favorite activities, including ping pong, board games and dancing.

“We love the cross-grade connection and the social dynamics between our two different grades,” Collis said. “We wanted it to be a sparkly disco theme. It’s a little open-ended and up to interpretation as we didn’t set a theme, but we just want everybody to feel like they’re at some fantastic, sparkling and glittery world.”

The reps ordered Mexican food, sodas and water for attendees, and students brought desserts such as brownies, cake, cookies and candy. A DJ in the dining hall played pop and rap.

Ninth grader and first-year Archer student Charlotte Stein said that the social was a great opportunity to get to know her classmates and the 10th grade class better.

“Overall, the reps did a wonderful job making the space look so magical and well-put-together,” Stein said. “The food is great and so is the music. I love getting to connect with my friends and just hang out with people I haven’t talked to much. This is such a fun social and nothing like I got to do at my old school. I was so happy to get a night out after not doing many school-related things since COVID.”

Collis said the main idea of the social was to have a mature and fun start to 2023, especially since both the Class of 2025 and the Class of 2026 missed out on some of their middle school dances due to COVID-19.

“This year, we wanted to do something new for our grade, and since we’ve never really had a dance before, we thought that would bring some fun to the grade, and, especially due to COVID, our socials have been lacking in excitement,” Collis said. “We wanted to do something that is more mature, like a dance, where you can like bring someone and start off our high school year.”

For 10th graders who weren’t at Archer in seventh grade, this was their first Archer dance. Sophomore Natsnet Habtu said she thought it was impressive that Archer hosted such an engaging event.

“Since it was my first dance, I was really impressed and surprised by the setup,” Habtu said. “It was very engaging with the music and lights. I loved the DJ and getting to talk with so many new people. Everything was so put together, and I loved the whole vibe of the dance.”

Many attendees brought guests from other schools. Remy Eknoyan (’26) attends Notre Dame High School, and she was a plus one to Sofia Capanna (’26). Eknoyan said she was surprised by the community at Archer.

“Everyone was so welcoming and warm,” Eknoyan said. “I did not expect to see so many people embrace me immediately even though I don’t go to the school. I got to meet so many new people, and I had an overall great time. I felt super safe, and I was so happy to finally go to a dance after COVID.”

Tenth grader Lily Grouf said that she expected a larger turnout from her grade. Nevertheless, she said that it was still a great moment to see her peers outside of class.

“It was a really fun dance, but I thought more 10th graders would show up,” Grouf said. “I’m surprised so many ninth graders showed up, but barely any 10th graders. It was still very exciting to connect with so many classmates and people I hadn’t talked to much. I got to know more ninth graders as well.”