During Homecoming week three years ago, Lynbrook High senior Tiffany Hsia, then a freshman, joined the rest of her class in waking up at 4 a.m. to practice all their dances, finish last-minute decorations and do others’ hair and makeup to help set up. Since students were not allowed onto campus until around 7 a.m., they met in the park across the street.

“It’s literally pitch black, but everyone was really excited,” Hsia said. “The minute it hits 7 a.m., everyone was rushing to set up around the school.”

This is a yearly occurrence for Lynbrook students, who always “go hard for Homecoming,” said junior Usman Khan, who attended Lynbrook freshman year. Hsia said that around 75 percent of each grade participates in Homecoming.

Whereas Saratoga High starts off Homecoming week with teachers performing on Monday and classes going from youngest to oldest performing on subsequent days, Lynbrook’s teachers perform on the Friday before Homecoming week and seniors perform on Thursday in the spirit week. Just as it is done here, the winning grade is announced at the Saturday Homecoming dance.

Lynbrook’s Homecoming includes class skits with different themes for each grade, said Lynbrook senior Jessica Peng, who has choreographed dances for her grade every year. However, Lynbrook’s themes are announced the last rally of the year before, except for the senior theme, which is a secret and not revealed until the senior quad day.

“Lynbrook is way more hyped with participation, decorations and skit level, partly because they have more time to plan it,” Khan said. “Also, Lynbrook students are more willing to put more time and effort into Homecoming.”

Khan thinks Lynbrook’s longer timeframe for preparation makes the overall experience more fun for participants, as students can use the entire summer to plan. During his freshman year, students at Lynbrook bonded over their common goal and spent a lot of time together in long decoration building meetings.

Additionally, although only seniors at Saratoga High can have a backdrop because of the lack of space in the quad, every Lynbrook class has a backdrop, and the teachers also have their own decorations.

Lynbrook skits feature only three dances: a girls’ dance, guys’ dance and co-ed dance. While this may entail less variety, students can also focus on perfecting smaller amounts of choreography.

Having seen both festivities first hand, Khan does see some advantages in Saratoga High’s Homecoming traditions.

Here, there are a number of dances, which often include cultural ones, a highlight for Khan.

“What I personally like about Saratoga is that there’s more diversity, and that’s shown in dances like Bollywood and K-pop,” Khan said.

Both schools’ Homecomings have their pros and cons, but overall, all those interviewed agreed that Lynbrook students are extremely spirited during Homecoming — and probably more than at Saratoga High.

“Lynbrook is more spirited because most of the class participates,” Hsia said. “Our spirit is really loud, and people around the neighborhood can hear us at 5 a.m.”