On Sunday, Oct. 30 prospective Central Catholic High School families arrived at the annual Open House, run by student Rambassadors and the admissions office, allowing them to get a feel for the new environment and what to expect should they choose to attend.

     Once a year, the school hosts an open house which is put on to try and attract incoming 9th graders and their families to the high school. The main goal of this event is to allow the visitors to look around at the campus and even get a hint of what our school can offer, including extracurricular activities, clubs, some of the common-place classes and even perhaps meet a few current teachers and students. 

     The whole idea behind Open House is to allow prospective students and their families to explore the school to their content and dictate what they would like to see, like a self-guided tour. 

     That includes allowing them to explore the school without a museum-like tour, having help stationed wherever it may be needed, and even including short tours, should the visiting families have an interest in having more structure. These short tours include stations set up in multiple areas of the school to allow families to get information if wanted and even some presentations by leading school figures like Principal Danyelle Ramsey. 

   As with most admissions events, this was set up by the Director of Admissions Paul O’Malley. He is in charge of much of the planning and organizing behind the scenes when it comes to accepting students to our school. This includes putting on events to try and attract prospective students to this school, going to grade schools in the surrounding area to talk about the possibilities at this school, and even setting up times for prospective students to come and visit for a day.

     He explained what people get out of these planned events.

     “What I want them to get is a sense of who we are, as much as what we are….We help them to grow into the best version of themselves.”

     Showing off isn’t the whole idea of an open house though. He hopes that people come with at least a little bit of an idea of what they’d like.

     “[I hope]…they’ll find it while they’re here and….they find what it is they’re looking for. And for some, I’m even hoping they’ll see something they never even thought about,” O’Malley said.

     As for future changes, O’Malley doesn’t see many things that need to be fixed.

     “I was very happy, really happy, with the way things turned out. Not only the number of people that showed up but also how the whole format of the day went,” he said.

     O’Malley heard from guests that they enjoyed the experience and the freedom to view the campus as they pleased at their own pace. He even heard from some that those who visited that they learned something new during their time at the school.

     Rambassadors, or student ambassadors, were given a multitude of different jobs to fulfill. Sophomore Jett Marlow was among these ambassadors, given the job of giving a presentation on the responsibilities and relational aspects of Central Catholic students’ lives for the optional tour. Though he enjoyed his job, Marlow also had thoughts on future events.

     “I wish I was moving more but, besides that, it’s been fine” Marlow said

     He also gave some insight on the families attending the Open House and the event’s set up.

     “[The prospective families] have been pretty nice to me, which is good, and they’ve been interested to hear what I have to say, but there haven’t been as many of them as expected.” Marlow said. 

     This was even though there was a total of around 1100 attendees to the Open House.

     The Rogers family, who found the open house on Central Catholic’s website, have a 7th and 4th grader at Vernon Elementary and attended this school event.

     “We’re just starting to look at high schools for her and high school preparation,” said the mother of the Rogers family about her 7th grader.

     They also explained some of the aspects of the school that have stood out so far.

     “That you don’t have to wear uniforms….there’s like a lot of good classes and good teachers this whole time,” said the Rogers family.

     O’Malley summed up the event with what he hoped the prospective students had gotten out of the event.

     “So, what I hope people learn is that this is really a place where I can see myself. This is really a place where I could blossom and flourish and really grow into who and what I want to be,” he said.