Open house (school)

Last updated
Open House Day 2014 at European Southern Observatory Open House Day 2014.jpg
Open House Day 2014 at European Southern Observatory

An open house (also known as open day, at-home day, or parents night) is an event held at an institution where its doors are open to the family of students to allow people to look around the institution and learn about it. These are often held at schools and universities to attract prospective students, familiarize them (and their parents) with the facilities, allow new students to become familiar with facilities and meet others, or to open informal communication channels between school staff and the students and their parents. [2]

Contents

Open houses in American schools

School open houses are about two hours long, the length of a good movie or show ... a well-executed event sets the stage for a successful school year. The face-to-face meetings with families help build relationships, increase the visibility of the parent group, and develop a sense of community at school. [3]

Contrary to what its name might seem to imply, an open house at the average school is not intended for general members of the public, but rather, specifically, for the parents and family members of the students who either attend or are considering attending a school. In the overwhelming majority of schools in the United States, open house is held once a year, typically in the first month or first quarter of the school year. It is common for open houses to be held in the evenings or weekends, to allow for parents who work during the standard the work-week hours to attend, but holding open house in the daytime is not unusual, especially at elementary schools.

Elementary schools

In elementary schools, open houses often have no schedule; parents come and go during the scheduled hours as they please, and some teachers may be willing to discuss individual students' progress with their parents. Some schools may schedule displays of school activities, such as a performance by a student choir.

Secondary schools

In secondary schools—divided into middle schools (also called junior high schools) and high schools (also called senior high schools)—the single most important purpose of the open house is to allow parents and teachers meet each other face-to-face. In many middle schools and high schools, parents are given a schedule, often the same schedule their child follows during the school day. The parents go from one class to another, in the sequence that their child attends them, usually in the very same classrooms. Typically in such open houses the parents have only 5–15 minutes with their child's teacher, which provides time for the teacher to explain their class expectations, but not enough time to look around, actually know classmates, and have a good bond with them.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">School</span> Institution for the education of students by teachers

A school is both the educational institution and building designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools that can be built and operated by both government and private organization. The names for these schools vary by country but generally include primary school for young children and secondary school for teenagers who have completed primary education. An institution where higher education is taught is commonly called a university college or university.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boarding school</span> School where some or all people live on campus

A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now extend across many countries, their functioning, codes of conduct and ethos vary greatly. Children in boarding schools study and live during the school year with their fellow students and possibly teachers or administrators. Some boarding schools also have day students who attend the institution during the day and return home in the evenings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prom</span> Formal dance or gathering of students at the end of the high school academic year

A promenade dance or promenade, commonly called a prom in American English, is a dance party for high school students. It may be offered in semi-formal black tie or informal suit for boys, and evening gowns for girls. This event is typically held at or near the end of the school year. There may be individual junior and senior proms or they may be combined.

Truancy is any intentional, unjustified, unauthorized, or illegal absence from compulsory education. It is a deliberate absence by a student's own free will and usually does not refer to legitimate excused absences, such as ones related to medical conditions. Truancy is usually explicitly defined in the school's handbook of policies and procedures. Attending school but not going to class is called internal truancy. Some children whose parents claim to homeschool have also been found truant in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Secondary education in the United States</span> Last six years of statutory formal education before higher level education

Secondary education is the last six or seven years of statutory formal education in the United States. It culminates with twelfth grade. Whether it begins with sixth grade or seventh grade varies by state and sometimes by school district.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Child care</span> Care and supervision of children

Childcare, also known as day care, is the care and supervision of one or more children, typically ranging from two weeks to 18 years old. When describing a business class, 'daycare' is usually written as a single word. Although most parents spend a significant amount of time caring for their child(ren), childcare typically refers to the care provided by caregivers who are not the child's parents. Childcare is a broad topic that covers a wide spectrum of professionals, institutions, contexts, activities, and social and cultural conventions. Early childcare is an important and often overlooked component of child development.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parent–teacher association</span> Group that facilitates parental participation in a school

A parent–teacher association/organization (PTA/PTO), parent–teacher–friend association (PTFA), or parent–teacher–student association (PTSA) is a formal organization comprising parents, teachers and staff that is intended to facilitate parental participation in a school.

A cram school is a specialized school that trains its students to achieve particular goals, most commonly to pass the entrance examinations of high schools or universities. The English name is derived from the slang term cramming, meaning to study a large amount of material in a short period of time. The word "crammer" may be used to refer to the school or to an individual teacher who assists a student in cramming.

<i>Gebhart v. Belton</i> United States Supreme Court case

Gebhart v. Belton, 33 Del. Ch. 144, 87 A.2d 862, aff'd, 91 A.2d 137, was a case decided by the Delaware Court of Chancery in 1952 and affirmed by the Delaware Supreme Court in the same year. Gebhart was one of the five cases combined into Brown v. Board of Education, the 1954 decision of the United States Supreme Court which found unconstitutional racial segregation in United States public schools.

Wildwood School is an independent progressive K–12 school located in Los Angeles. Wildwood was founded as an elementary school in 1971, by a group of parents led by a young lawyer named Belle Mason. The secondary campus opened in 2000. The elementary campus is located in Los Angeles and the middle and upper school campus is located in West Los Angeles. There are approximately 300 students in grades K-5, the elementary campus, and 400 in grades 6–12 at the middle and upper school campus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Classroom</span> Room desired for learning, usually in a bigger building

A classroom, schoolroom or lecture room is a learning space in which both children and adults learn. Classrooms are found in educational institutions of all kinds, ranging from preschools to universities, and may also be found in other places where education or training is provided, such as corporations and religious and humanitarian organizations. The classroom provides a space where learning can take place uninterrupted by outside distractions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Poudre School District</span> Public school district in Larimer County, Colorado

The Poudre School District (R-1) is a K–12 public school district in Larimer County in northern Colorado. The district operates and manages the public schools in the city of Fort Collins, as well as in the towns of Wellington, Timnath, Loveland and Windsor, and unincorporated communities of Larimer County including Laporte and Livermore. The district is one of the fastest growing in Northern Colorado, adding 400-500 students — about the size of an elementary school — each year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Upper Dublin School District</span> School district in Pennsylvania

Upper Dublin School District is located in Upper Dublin Township, Montgomery County, in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

A homeroom, tutor group, form class, or form is a brief administrative period that occurs in a classroom assigned to a student in primary school and in secondary school. Within a homeroom period or classroom, administrative documents are distributed, attendance is marked, announcements are made, and students are given the opportunity to plan for the day. Such periods also act as a form of pastoral care, where teachers and administrators provide personal, social, or health advice. Homerooms differ in their nature, depending on the country and the specific school.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Oliver Secondary School</span> Secondary school in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

John Oliver Secondary School is a public secondary school located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, at East 41st Avenue and Fraser Street. It is named after John Oliver, the Premier of British Columbia from 1918 to 1927. The school is composed of four main segments: the main building containing the bulk of the learning areas, including the Auditorium and Learning Commons; a wooden building affectionately nicknamed "The Barn", due to its appearance, which is closed but was previously used by the mini school and Digital Immersion students; a Drama Studio which allows for several theatre and acting courses; and a concrete building — the engineering building — bisected by a breezeway, with automotive, metal, and wood shops.

A parent–teacher conference, parent–teacher interview, parent–teacher night, parents' evening or parent teacher meeting is a short meeting or conference between the parents and teachers of students to discuss a child's progress at school and find solutions to academic or behavioral problems. Parent–teacher conferences supplement the information conveyed by report cards by focusing on students' specific strengths and weaknesses in individual subjects and generalizing the level of inter-curricular skills and competences.

Working class education is the education of working-class people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Korea International School, Jeju Campus</span> College-prep, international school in South Korea

Korea International School, Jeju Campus (KISJ) is South Korea's first international boarding school. The school is a sister campus to Korea International School and an affiliate of YBM, a publishing and English-language education services company. Founded in 2010 and first opened in 2011 as part of the Jeju Global Education City, the school's first senior class of 52 students matriculated in May 2016. KISJ is a proprietary, nonsectarian school offering an internationalized American college preparatory curriculum from Junior Kindergarten through Grade 12, with a boarding program starting in Grade 6. The high school began its AP Capstone™ in 2017–18, one of seven schools to offer it in South Korea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Education in Kosovo</span>

Education in Kosovo is carried out in public and private institutions. Starting from 1999, education in Kosovo was subject to reforms at all levels: from preschool education up to university level. These reforms aimed at adjusting the education in Kosovo according to European and global contemporary standards. As a first step of this new system is considered the establishment of the Department of Education and Science (DES), which is followed with the creation of legal and professional infrastructure, which should facilitate the fundamental reformation of the education, and the establishment of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MEST) in March 2002. During this period the private education system began to develop.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">High school in the United States</span> Institution which provides all or part of secondary education

High school or senior high school is the education students receive in the final stage of secondary education in the United States. In the United States most high schoolers are ages 14–18 but some ages could be delayed due to birthdays. Most comparable to secondary schools, high schools generally deliver phase three of the ISCED model of education. High schools have subject-based classes. The name high school is applied in other countries, but no universal generalization can be made as to the age range, financial status, or ability level of the pupils accepted. In North America, most high schools include grades 9 through 12. Students attend them following graduation from middle school.

References

  1. "Programme for The Long Night of Science 2015 Available" . Retrieved 24 June 2015.
  2. "Open day". Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition. HarperCollins. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
  3. "Make Your open house a Hit". PTO Today. Retrieved 2016-03-27.

For examples of open houses as informative events, see the following: