This year’s open house was like none ever before. The Open House is an exciting event for prospective students to learn more about Ramaz.  The Open House allows students, both who come from Ramaz Middle School and students from other schools, to meet each other and experience all of the aspects that make Ramaz so special. Current freshman, Jordana Stonehill ’24, said, “I had a really fun time! I got to meet some of the new kids, and experience what the High School is like and how it works.” The night is filled with brilliant performances and captivating student speakers, and blended typical Open House traditions with new ones to accommodate the current climate. 

This year the Open House took place virtually, on a Zoom webinar, unlike previous years where it was held in the Upper School.  Ms. Aviva Lieber, Assistant Director of Admissions said,  “There’s too much room for error with an interactive Zoom with so many people.” Like years prior, the Open House included several student speakers to create as much student interaction as possible. Shara Lipson, Director of Upper School Admissions explained, “In our [admissions officers’] minds nothing sells our school more than our students and our faculty. It is the classes and the kids interacting. All of the other stuff we do is amazing, but those are the things that are special for Ramaz.” In order to accommodate the new reality of the Open House, Aviva Lieber and Shara Lipson created a new program to suit this event. In the week following the Open House, there will be week-long “panorama sessions”, sessions consisting of various classes that incoming students can opt to attend. Everybody has the opportunity to sign up for whatever they are interested in.  

Although it seems like a virtual Open House only poses negative changes, there are advantages to having this event on Zoom. Zoom has effectively no space constraints, so capacity was unlimited, allowing the Open House to include both current Ramaz Middle School students, in addition to prospective students from other middle schools. Another change made this year is that students are now able to participate in the Q&A session, an event which had only been available to parents in the past. Current freshman, Evie Rosenfeld ’24 stated, “Some advice I would give to incoming freshmen next year would be not to stress about things like the social aspect. You’ll obviously make friends; the people and your peers are going to be so accepting and warm to you.” Although it may be more difficult for prospective students to experience all Ramaz has to offer, there is hope that the webinar was successful in giving them a sense of what being a Ramaz High School student is like.