The auditorium was filled to its maximum capacity and charged with excitement. Parents and students from all over the tri-state area were fully engaged as they listened to the sounds of the musical Havdalah performed by the Chamber Choir and Rabbi Albo. This is the Ramaz Upper School Open House, a one-of-a-kind night that provides prospective students and their parents with the opportunity to learn about the school by witnessing its strengths and core values. This year, it attracted approximately 210 families from over 25 different schools located in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. According to Ramaz students, faculty, and the admissions team, it also represented Ramaz’s most successful Open House in recent years.

The event began with opening remarks from Head of School Jonathan Cannon, followed with speeches given by students Elizabeth Newman-Corré ’20 and Nathan Haron ’19; Rabbi Stochel, Head of the Upper School; and Shara Lipson, the Director of Upper School Admissions. Parents found this opening program to be illuminating, with some describing it as “the most impactful and informative part of the Open House.” According to Ms. Lipson, the opening assembly is “crucial to introducing parents to the school in an inviting fashion.” Her only critique concerning this part of the program was to shorten it a little for next year, but overall, according to Lipson, the program’s messages were “honest and clear about what we believe here at Ramaz, and that definitely showed.”

Ms. Lipson and Ms. Lieber, the Assistant Director of Admissions, worked tirelessly with the administration, (particularly Rabbi Stochel, Ms. Krupka, and Rabbi Slomnicki,) to plan the 2018 Open House. “One thing that we talked about a lot was the messaging,” said Ms. Krupka, the Dean of Faculty. “We wanted to investigate the aspects of Ramaz other than the amazing education. Through each of components of the Open House, we stressed features of Ramaz that make it special, like student-teacher relationships and both the small classes and the warmth in the building that results from a smaller grade.” The entire team ensured that the messages shared at the Open House would not be about comparing Ramaz to different schools, but rather about highlighting its unique characteristics. Additionally, the ideas displayed at the Open House were designed to allow prospective families to make informed decisions regarding the choice of high school. Parents may come that night either with preconceived notions about Ramaz, or lacking information altogether, and according to Lipson, “the Open House has the ability to change people’s possible questionable perceptions about Ramaz.” To that effect, “We are more than a feeder school to colleges,” said Ms. Krupka. “We really wanted to stress what makes Ramaz special and the reality of what it means to be a Ramaz student.”

Following the opening program, parents and students parted ways for the rest of the evening. Parents either chose to remain in the auditorium for one of two Q&A sessions or to go to special sessions on Guidance, College Guidance, Learning Center, Financing a Ramaz Education, Foreign Language, Music, Art, and TEC. Ms. Lieber noted that this year, “Parents were sent these options in advance so they would plan their night beforehand by deciding which electives and classes they were most interested in seeing.” Students were directed to various classrooms upstairs, where they sat in on one Judaic Studies class and one General Studies class.

The Q&A session gave the parents the opportunity to ask a select group of students on a panel any questions that they had about Ramaz. Rabbi Stochel moderated the student panel, ensuring that students had the ability to answer said queries effectively. Parents probed the student panel — consisting of Eric Kalimi ’22, Nicole Hirschkorn ’22, Talia Halaas ’21, Zach Buller ’20, Danya Jacobs ’19, and Jonah Scherl ’19 — about various aspects of Ramaz, ranging from commutes, daily life, and class sizes to the transition from middle school, workload, and college guidance. While moderating, Rabbi Stochel occasionally chimed in and commented on the students’ responses, creating a lighthearted tone. Many parents were extremely responsive to the Q&A session. Prospective parents Jeff and Debora Puterman stated that “the student Q&A was outstanding. The students presented themselves very well and gave us a sense of what life is like as a Ramaz student.” Ms. Lipson noted that additional parents provided feedback on the Q&A session and said that it was “authentic.” She explained that the parents “loved watching Rabbi Stochel interact with the students, and none of it sounded practiced.” Parents appreciated the students’ honesty, articulate responses, and genuine passion about Ramaz.

In response to recent events causing safety concerns at Jewish institutions, the security was increased this year. Additional security officers were stationed outside and inside the building with the efforts made to make the Open House completely safe for all. Ms. Lieber explained the event’s security protocol: “While we always have a tight security plan in place for all events, this year’s guests were required to show ID along with a special confirmation code they received prior to arriving. Our security team is amazing and they were able to conduct their security check while still maintaining a warm and welcoming atmosphere in the cold temperatures.”

This year, Ramaz eighth grade parents and students attended their own Open House a few weeks prior, which was a change from the approach taken in previous years. In the past, Ramaz families attended both the Ramaz Eighth Grade Parent Open House as well as the main Open House, which was open for students and parents coming from any middle school. However, after repeated complaints that the building’s carrying capacity was not suitable for the many hundreds of people trying to learn more about Ramaz, the admissions team and the administration decided that designating the Open House for students and parents who did not attend Ramaz Middle School would make the building much less crowded and would create a nicer environment for all.

The Ramaz Upper School students were definitely the highlight of the Open House this year. From speaking, to performing, to helping with registration, the students presented themselves in a positive way to all of the prospective families. Students were involved in the programming more this year than in prior years, which, according to both Lipson and the administration, contributed significantly to the welcoming atmosphere. Rebecca Massel ’21 worked diligently on registration at the Open House, welcoming and greeting prospective families while signing them and in ensuring that they felt comfortable. She felt “that the welcoming faces of Ramaz students at the registration tables helped prospective parents and students feel comfortable at Ramaz.” Prospective student Ilan Puterman agreed, noting that the Open House gave him the ability to get “a very good sense of the school and student life.” Clearly, the admission team’s efforts to increase the student involvement at the Open House this year were successful, as it allowed more students to be involved and represent their school and gave parents the opportunity to learn about Ramaz in a more genuine way- from the students themselves.

Another area where students were involved was their participation in model classes for prospective parents and students. This year, teachers selected students to assist in their lessons, which, according to Ms. Krupka, was a new development for this year’s programming added as result of “feedback that we received from parents at previous Open Houses. Parents wanted to see more studenteacher interactions.” The model classes were interactive and some were focused on providing the opportunity to blend multiple subjects. Prospective student Noa Ganz, who attended a Talmud class, noted how in this model lesson, “we went over how secular topics weave into the Torah, and I find it very interesting to find ties between Judaic sources and the secular world.” Gabi Potter ’20 worked with Ms. Newman to teach an introductory history lesson about the domestication of dogs in ancient times. He said that he “was able to give insight from my own experience with the material,” something that the classes would have lacked without student involvement. Ms. Lipson pointed out that she received extremely positive feedback from parents about the students teaching alongside teachers in these model classes. “The parents noticed this feature and liked having kids in the classroom interacting with their teachers.” Lipson was very proud of this development and hopes to include this in future Open Houses.

Perhaps the most memorable part of the night for prospective students, however, was the Ramaz Show. The show was run by MC Rabbi Slomnicki and “DJ Dov,” who showcased the student-body’s wide range of talents. The program consisted of performances by Ramaz’s Chamber Choir, Rock Band, Guitar Ensemble and the cast of the upcoming Ramaz production of “Legally Blonde.” Rabbi Slomnicki also  “interviewed” different students on the GO, sports teams, and those involved in other extracurriculars to share as much information as possible about student life at Ramaz. Elizabeth Newman-Corré ’20 noted that she wished that this addition to the Open House program had been available at her eighth-grade Open House three years ago.

The response from eighth-grade students to this program was almost universally positive. Ilan Puterman said that at the Ramaz Show he enjoyed “listening to the student government and the music” and that he had a lot of fun. While one anonymous Ramaz eighth-grade student noted, however, “The show wasn’t that interactive and wasn’t something that everyone [the prospective students] could be involved in,” prospective student Noa Ganz spoke about her passion for music and how the Ramaz show highlighted areas of Ramaz which are attractive to her. She also noted that practically, “[The Ramaz Show allowed me to] learn about the activities that students participate in and what I would be interested in getting involved with.”  Ms. Lipson acknowledged that the show is very music-based, but she emphasized its importance in terms of showing off what really makes Ramaz special: the students. “The energy at the show was amazing,” said Ms. Lipson. “We were really clear about showing off who we are and how we are different.”

The Open House also gave prospective families a chance to converse with Ramaz students, faculty, and administration during the dessert. “The most impactful part [of the Open House] for me was my conversations with the teachers and faculty,” said prospective parent Frances Zelazny-Ganz. “I was able to learn a lot from these interactions: what they enjoy most about teaching in the school, what they think makes the school unique, and how they view their relationships with their students.”

Overall, the 2018 Ramaz Upper School Open House was an extraordinary success. From the Q&A panel to the model classes and the Ramaz Show, prospective families, the administration, and the admissions team all confirmed that this year set the bar higher for future Ramaz Open Houses. Danya Jacobs ’19 exclaimed, “The Open House was an extreme success! I’ve been at four Ramaz Open Houses and I think this one was definitely the best. The videos and speeches made me want to go to Ramaz for high school. I think what made it so great was that each student and teacher brought so much energy and spirit which made the night incredible. The audience was kept entertained and remained involved until the very end.”