On Saturday night November 2, 2024 Ramaz held its annual Open House. Ms. Joanna Parker, Director of Admissions, explained that close to 600 people attended the Open House. She further noted that this year was “definitely higher” than previous years’ attendance. Ramaz had to keep its Open House fresh and new while managing the ultra high levels of attendance.
The Ramaz Open House had many informative programs. Ms. Cherie Zucker, a parent of an 8th grade student, explained why she thought the Ramaz Open House was great. She loved the fact that the Ramaz Student Panel was solely focused on the students answering the questions, rather than faculty or staff. Ms. Zucker felt that this was really unique about Ramaz and other student panels were much more focused on the panel monitor answering the questions. She also enjoyed seeing Ramaz’s students happy and smiling. She explained, “I was excited to be met with students who seemed genuinely happy.” In addition to monitoring the panel, Ms. Parker highlighted what makes Ramaz special; “New York City is our campus… our academic excellence… our chesed [and] our activism.” These unique attributes are what make Ramaz different and are why people choose Ramaz.
The jump in attendance at the Open House required making effective changes. In previous years, the beginning and end programs took place in the auditorium, but since there was a higher number of attendees this year, that confined space would not work. Instead, for the first time in recent Ramaz history the admissions team utilized the gym for the all new club fair and the closing program. Ms. Samantha Milowitz, Associate Director of Admissions, said that the gym and all the other changes were helpful because the Open House is “all about the flow” and everything has to move smoothly. Other changes included, using the library for the panel, putting all student classrooms on one floor, dismissing students in groups instead of all at once, and having the choir serenade the attendees from the lobby steps as people entered the building.
Managing the increased number of attendees was a challenge, but the Admissions Department was up for it. The Admissions team recruited more Ramaz students than ever before to help with the Open House. Ms Milowitz explained that, “I was in charge of recruiting and assigning student volunteers. This year I wanted to make sure we had more students than last year because of the amount of people but also so that I could specifically have more help. Students are kind of the backbone of this event and the more committed students we have the better the event is. This year I had about 85 students total (including panel and the show) volunteering on a Saturday night.” Natalie Safdieh `28, one of the student volunteers, described how she “made a big difference in parents’ decisions on whether or not they want to send their kids to Ramaz” and how she was happy to do it. The 2024 Ramaz Open House was a success with record breaking attendance.
