As the evening began on June 3, students began arriving for the Newtown High School Best Buddies's Prom in the school's cafeteria.

Boys wore suits and ties and girls wore formal dresses as they made their way to the dance floor. Junior Johnny Nowaki was one of the first students to show off his dance moves with his friends. Freshman Jessica Andreotta was also one of the first to start dancing. She twirled at the center of a group of her friends as they cheered. Johnny and Jessica were later crowned prom king and queen.

The NHS Best Buddies chapter fosters friendships between students with and without intellectual and developmental disabilities. NHS special education teacher Jill Gonski and Mimi Riccio, who works in the resource department at NHS, are the club's advisors. According to Ms Gonski, roughly 80 students bought tickets to attend the Best Buddies Prom.

The night's theme was "Rock N' Roll," and food and beverages were available for the students as they danced throughout the evening.

Ms Gonski said the NHS Best Buddies Prom was a "friendship friendly prom for students" and it was "a huge success."