Puppet Shows
For All Occasions
(703) 444-9426
• Large and colorful marionettes
and hand puppets
• Lively music
• Audience participation
• Puppet-making workshops
• Goody bags
Susan Wall's
www.carouselpuppets.com BY JOY SAHA
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Open Houses Go Virtual
Many local private schools are hosting their annual open houses online to maintain
social distancing protocols and observe the additional health measures associated
with the ongoing pandemic. Like IRL open house events, virtual open houses allow
families to meet school administrators, talk with faculty and safely tour classrooms—
all from the comfort of a family’s own homes.

Prior to the onset of the pandemic, a typical open house at Congressional School
in Falls Church featured in-person welcome remarks from school administrators
and guided tours led by current parents and students. Now, virtual open
houses at the school will take place on GoogleMeet with specific sessions and
unlimited participants, explains Alyce Penn, director of strategic marketing and
communications. “The event will begin with an overview by the head of school and the division
directors, then participants will break up into smaller groups based on grade level
or division,” says Penn. Within these small groups, parents will be able to speak with
teachers, current parents, students and administrators.

At Friends School of Baltimore in Baltimore and Oneness-Family School in
Bethesda, virtual open houses have already been taking place on Zoom.

Amy Mortimer, director of admissions at Friends School, says that the school’s
virtual open houses include most of the activities that took place during on-campus
open houses, like talks with the head of school, faculty Q&A sessions and current
student panels. The biggest difference is that parents and prospective students can
no longer participate in guided tours and mock classroom sessions with teachers.

“We actually did a virtual open house last spring, and now we [are running]
it very similarly,” Mortimer says. Fall open houses may also feature some slight
modifications, including the addition of short videos and recordings of classroom
sessions for families to view.

At Oneness-Family School, pictorial slideshows are shared during virtual open
house sessions to compensate for the school’s inability to host parents and students
on-campus. Slideshows feature detailed photos of school grounds, classrooms and
the campus community.

Following the virtual tour is an in-depth talk with parents and school faculty, where
information about school programs and school schedules are shared. Afterwards,
administrators and teachers have conversations with parents on school curricula and
application procedures.

“It’s a very inadequate replacement for in-person tours, but it’s the best that we
can do under these circumstances,” says Andrew Kutt, Oneness-Family’s head of
school. The other school administrators share Kutt’s sentiment and acknowledge that
virtual open houses come with its own set of challenges. Hosting them online fails to
effectively show families each schools’ vibrant atmosphere and campus community.

But the administrators hope that these challenges can be overcome with in-depth
parent Q&A sessions and open faculty conversations. n
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