A Homecoming: How To Guide

There is nothing like a high school homecoming! The smell of popcorn at the big game, the cheers at the pep rally, and the ache in your feet after the dance- it’s full of the sights and sounds that epitomizes the high school experience. I think all of us can think back with some bittersweet nostalgia at our own homecoming memories. That means that there is a lot of responsibility to plan an awesome homecoming week that our students will remember for their whole lives. It can definitely be a daunting prospect, so I put together my own guide about how I go about running Homecoming Week.

​Obviously, each homecoming depends on their own school culture and traditions, so this list is not meant to be a catch all. My school doesn’t do a parade, nor do we have class advisors, so my experience of running a homecoming might be different than other advisors. However, this list should be a guide should be a good start (like a wedding planning guide) for how to go about planning and carrying off a successful homecoming:  

5 Months Out (Before school gets out for the summer)

• Meet with your administrators to set a date for homecoming and reserve whatever spaces you’ll need.
• Book the DJ and any other services (photo booths, etc) that you’ll need for the event.
• Meet with student government to select a Homecoming theme. We typically brainstorm lots of ideas and then narrow it down to our top three. Then in small committees, students put together short presentations and slides about why their theme is the best. We present these and students vote on them.
• If you have class advisors or parent volunteers who are involved in the Homecoming process, make sure you contact them to get started. At our school, we don’t use class advisors or parents, but obviously this depends on your school and it’s culture.

2 Months Out (Immediately when school returns)

• Plan out ideas for decorations, create a map of where decorations will go during the dance, and create a supply list.
• Buy materials to create decorations. While you can buy decorations from books, they are often very expensive and involve a lot of assembly. Here are some of our school’s go-to decoration shopping
  • Foam Board: You can make large cutouts with foam board that really bring your theme to life. We’ve made a large Mr. Monopoly for our Game Night Homecoming, a pair of Nutcrackers for our Sugar Plum Dance, and a plethora of farm animals for our Western Harvest Homecoming.
  • Poster Rolls: Giant rolls of paper are our go-tos for making large posters and banners. Using tempera paint on them make them into posters that really pop!
  • Streamers, Christmas Lights, and other Ceiling Decorations: These give your Homecoming both a fun party feel and a home made look. Paper fans are awesome to spruce up a dance by hanging them from the ceiling. Christmas lights add a nice glow, while adding subtle lighting to the dance floor.
  • Table cloths, Mason jars, and fake flowers: Mason jars are an awesome investment for any student government as they make nice and easy centerpieces. You can fill them with flowers, fake plants, or marbles. 
• Set dates with administration for pep rallys, spirit days, and any other events you might want to do. This is a great time to brainstorm some new events you might want to try! This year my students decided to add a powder puff game for the girls and it’s been really successful.
• Start working on designs for t-shirts, communicating with t-shirt design company, and deciding on colors and sizes you want to order.

1 Month Out

• Order crowns and sashes for royalty. Amazon has WAY cheaper options than a lot of the dance planning catalogs do.
• Come up with a detailed plan and schedule for the pep rally. Determine what supplies you may need for games. Communicate with band, dance team, choir, cheerleaders, and other parties to make sure they know the date and what to perform.
• Plan out each spirit day in detail. Determine dress up days and fun extra ideas you have planned for each day!
• Buckle down on making decorations. You should be meeting at least once a week for a few hours to assemble hallway and dance decorations.
• Make sure your t-shirts are ordered and paid for!
• Notify chaperones about the date of the dance and your expectations.

2 Weeks Out

• Create ballots for royalty and do the first round of nominations.
• Pick up t-shirts.
• Design and print tickets for the dance.
• Make posters that will display the spirit week themes for each day.
• Give guest forms to the office.

Before the Week Starts

• Decorate the hallways! We usually reserve A LOT of time for this as it truly can take a whole day to do, depending on how elaborate your decorations.
• Create a way of logging who is buying tickets. I like to make one Google doc to put all the students who sell on, but do what you are comfortable with.
• Create schedule who will sell t-shirts and tickets on which days.

Week of Homecoming

• Buy punch and cups for the dance.
• Buy and arrange flowers for the Queen.
• Create a list of students who have purchased tickets, file guest forms.
• Test the breathalyzer if you will be using one.
• Send a reminder to the dance chaperones.
• Check in with the DJ, let them know your expectations for the dance and decide what time they will arrive at.
  
• Talk to the athletic director to set a time for set up that doesn't conflict with any athletic events that might be happening on the day of the dance.
  
• Don’t forget to pick up some treats to thank your hardworking students!