PROVIDENCE –– It has always been considered a very big event on the high school social calendar, a time when young men and women can break from their usual routines and celebrate with an evening of glitter and dance.

The prom season has arrived, and that’s no less true for those older special-needs students from grade 9 and up who attend the Meeting Street School.

The excitement was very much in the air Thursday night, when 22 young men and women from Meeting Street, bedecked in suits, tuxedos and carefully chosen gowns, arrived at the Casino at Roger Williams Park for an evening of fun patterned after Dancing with the Stars.

Perhaps because of the ailing economy, stretch limousines were not so much in evidence as in past years, but the celebrants, a majority in wheelchairs, were no less determined to have fun in what has been a school tradition since 1991.

It was the second prom for Alicia Tattrie, 18, who spent much of her afternoon getting her hair done and picking out new shoes at Jamiel’s shoes in her hometown of Warren. Wearing a pearl necklace as she was wheeled into the casino by her “date”, her grandmother Rosemary Alden, she came equipped with a copy of the book Goodnight Moon and nodded when asked if she was having fun.

“I really enjoy this,” declared Joey Davis, a 14-year-old who had invited his sister Erika, 10, as his date for the prom. Joey noted that he and classmates had come to the Casino earlier in the day to decorate. “I put up some balloons.”

Rose and Joe Garcia, parents of 18-year-old Ashley of East Providence, said this was going to be their daughter’s third prom. Looking back on that first one, Mrs. Garcia said that until then, she and her husband never imagined that their disabled daughter would ever go to a prom. And it’s worked out well, she said. “She loves parties and music.”

Elizabeth Graves, now a retired Meeting Street teacher, said she remembers when staff and students decided in 1991 that since all the other high schools were having proms that they should have one too. The prom moved around to different locations until 2002 when they settled on the Roger Williams Park Casino as the ideal spot.

“It’s so perfect,” explained Michelle Gaete, a teacher. “It’s close and accessible to everybody.”

The three Cardi brothers, Nick, Ro and P of the Cardi Brothers, happened to be in the area and decided to stop by, mingling with the prom goers. Nicholas Cardi Jr., who danced with some of the young women, said he and his brothers have been big supporters of the school and wanted to stop by.

Christopher Roderick, 19, of North Providence, had two dates for the night – his sister Dalynnn and her friend Cheyenne, both 16 – and indicated he was especially glad to come since he missed last year’s prom because he was in the hospital.

As parents were ushered out of the Casino — because who, after all, wants to have one’s one parents at a prom — the evening got into gear with the sound of Elvis Presley’s “Jailhouse Rock” filling the air.

rdujardi@projo.com