Tips and Tricks for Open Houses
There’s no substitute for visiting the schools your child may attend. Leveraging your visit to get the most information you can is crucial—and different types of visits call for different approaches.
A school tour is a glimpse at the school day in action. Tours take place during the school day, which makes them a great way to see what a typical day is like. You can read more about how to make the most of a school tour here.
An open house is more curated. Schools offer open houses so families can preview many areas of school life in a few hours through a mix of scripted presentations and “browsing.” Some open houses happen during the school day, and some are offered on weekends.
Below are a few ways to make the most of an open house, whether or not you’ll also be touring the school!
Read the fine print.
Some schools stick with traditional open houses that give families a brief overview of the entire school experience. Some also offer smaller open houses showcasing more specific parts of school life, like one for elementary-aged students and families only, or one that highlights arts opportunities with a show or concert.
Either type of open house can be worthwhile, but you don’t want to end up at an event that's not relevant to your child. Make sure you pay attention to special offerings when you register.
Split up.
Most open houses include a common session and time for families to explore on their own. It’s almost impossible to see everything, especially if you linger to ask questions about the things that are most important to your family. If more than one person from your family is attending an open house, consider splitting up to cover more ground. That way, you won’t have to rush through your questions, and you can compare notes at the end. Make sure to discuss your game plan ahead of time.
Evaluate what is and isn’t featured—and what sessions are most well attended.
If you notice that the athletics session doesn’t have very many attendees but the arts one does, that’s a clue about the school culture. It’s totally okay for your student to attend a school where some of their interests aren’t popular! In fact, it’s good! But make it a point to ask about how the school creates opportunities for students to explore more unique passions.
Talk to parent and student volunteers.
Because school tours take place during the school day, it’s rare to get time to speak with a parent. At most open houses, however, parents are on hand in a variety of volunteer roles. So, take the opportunity to chat peer-to-peer. Students volunteering at the event will likewise have more spare time than they do when you visit classes during a tour, so ask a student or two about life as a student: are the classes challenging? How long did it take to make friends? Have they gone on a lot of field trips?
Open houses are a valuable way to take in a lot of information in a single visit and see what a school prioritizes based on what is highlighted. Because different types of school events have different advantages, we recommend visiting your child’s top schools more than once!