No One Need Be Solo Prom Night Thanks to Matchmaking Service

Need a date for the senior prom? If you’re a student at North Olmsted High School, you can find one by taking advantage of a matchmaking service run by school administrators.

Administrators again this spring are trying to match up students who fill out a secret list of their top five choices for a prom date. School officials at the suburban Cleveland school compare the ballots and try to get interested students together.

About 60 students attended last year’s prom because of the dating service, said Principal Dianna Lindsay.

“Everything is done at the highest level of discretion because nobody wants anyone to be embarrassed,” she said. “That’s not the purpose of this. The purpose of it is to get as many seniors to the prom as we can get there because we really believe it’s a fun evening.”

Proms Regain Popularity

Proms fell out of favor with high school students in the 1970s, but their popularity has increased in recent years, Lindsay said. But finding a date for the evening is still nerve-wracking.

The school’s dating service takes the fear out of finding a date because school officials serve as intermediaries, she said.

“I think it’s a little less threatening because the girl knows she’s going to be asked,” said Athletic Director Tim Flannery.

The dating service grew out of a program held three years ago to acquaint students with prom attire and etiquette. Lindsay said she had noticed how uncomfortable students seemed at the prom because of the formal setting and the mistakes they made in their attire and behavior.

“While they aren’t major faux pas, kids would be more comfortable knowing the correct way,” she said.

And Lindsay thinks that if students know what to expect, they’ll be less likely to turn to alcohol or drugs to calm their prom jitters.

To give seniors a preview of the prom, the school holds a special assembly that includes a fashion show of prom dresses and tuxedos, tips on buying flowers and guidelines on table manners and other points of etiquette.

At the assembly, the students are given a list to fill out if they want to use the school’s dating service. Only classmates can be listed.

After comparing the lists, Lindsay or a faculty member meets with students and lets them know if a classmate is interested in being their date for the prom. After that, it’s up to the boy to ask the girl.

“I know it’s not very liberated of us,” Lindsay said. “Nonetheless, we do make the guy ask simply because we think it’s one of those graces that maybe he ought to get comfortable with at this point in his life.”

If there’s no match from the lists, faculty members will discreetly check out other possibilities and make suggestions. Last year, school administrators were able to pair up two students the day before the prom.

“We’re not trying to match them for life, just for that night,” Flannery said.

Guidance Counselor Bill DeLisio said: “Everything’s to get them there. You have too many people sitting back, bashful, embarrassed.”

The senior prom is a couples-only affair, but students don’t need a date to attend an all-night party at the school afterward.

Senior class President Cindy Costanzo, 17, thinks the dating service is a good idea because she thinks most students want to attend the prom.

“I don’t know about the guys, but I know the girls talk about it all year,” she said. “And it takes a lot of the pressure off, because you know someone else is pulling for you, too.”

Cindy is one of those using the dating service this year, and she’s not shy about admitting it. “I filled one out in a roomful of people. I had three names and I couldn’t come up with another two,” she said.