The days of a $5 prom in the high school gym and a class picnic in Rock Creek Park have given way to fancier expectations for the class of 2010 — and depleted bank accounts for their parents.

Washington-area families often pitch in thousands of dollars to cover prom, limos, school parking fees, senior dues, graduation costs, senior portraits, extracurricular activities, college visits, college applications, Advanced Placement tests, International Baccalaureate tests, the SAT, the ACT and more. And as the dollars add up, so does the oft-heard phrase, “But Mom, it’s my senior year!”