Strange, it’s 5:30 pm already, shouldn’t the campus be closed? Why is the field covered with students of all ages?
While some students are kicking footballs and running on the open field, others are swinging and jumping on the playground. Beneath the laughter and the occasional screams of excitement, parents scattered around the field chit-chatting in the background. Today is a special day - it’s the MS and HS Open House!
Ms. Wood, the Head of School, explained, “Open House is for our whole community to come together. The parents, and the students, and the staff, and everybody get to meet and get to know one another. We want the parents to meet the teachers, but also everybody just to have dinner and play; have fun together!”
During the first hour, the high school teachers waited in their classrooms, welcoming any visiting families. There aren’t many, as participation in such events tends to drop with higher grade levels: the number of groups most teachers attend to is no more than the number of fingers on a hand.
Although the HS teachers know this is the norm, they wish to meet more people. Ms. Goh, the high school biology teacher, stated, “I like meeting some of the parents who are here because they want to understand something about their kids … but I was always hoping for more parents to turn up.”
Compared to the HS Open House, the MS Open House is much more active. Middle schoolers with lots of energy talked nonstop as they walked their family to the classrooms. The teachers warmly greeted everyone and engaged in conversation, while the other students, waiting for their turn, showed their parents around.
Ms. Lee shared her experiences with Open House as a new MS social studies teacher: “I like meeting the parents of the students, and like understanding sort of a little bit more about the students, their family, getting the background story.”
The parents appreciated this opportunity as well. Mr. Jonathan Cipolla, father of James Cipolla (6) said, “It’s my first time meeting some of the teachers which is real nice. It’s nice to make a personal connection with the teachers.”
To provide a student’s perspective, Evelien Stoker (6) replied in an interview, “I like showing my mom my teachers because she always wants to know about what we’re learning in class so it helps.”
Throughout the event, MS and HS families took turns eating dinner provided by the school at The Galley. Over food, conversations were fostered and relationships formed as old and new families bonded.
The Junior class also took this opportunity to provide some fundraising services. A Junior ExCom member, Sarah Wood (11) said, “We’re selling trinkets, themed items, pencil cases, small toys, and key chains. We have a face painting station, a henna station, and balloon animals.” As a result, we see giggling children running around with their faces painted with patterns and animal designs.
The sun sets in the west, casting long shadows on the ground as everyone heads back after having a great time, carrying balloon animals, memories, and aspirations for this new school year.
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