On October 19, 2020, the Academies@Englewood held its first virtual Open House through a live webinar on Zoom, garnering over several hundred students and parents. Two additional open houses followed on Oct. 21 and Oct. 27.

“We were very successful in hosting our first virtual open house. I am proud of all of the student ambassadors, program managers, and staff that collaborated to create an highly engaging and informative evening,” Supervisor Mariette Ng said.

The Open House started with a welcome message from Ms. Ng and Principal Benjamin Suro, and a school description by Superintendent Robert. J Kravitz, which highlighted the school’s unique opportunities. Ms. Ng took a moment to recognize several student accomplishments from the 2019-2020 school year, including the National Merit Scholarship recipients and several students who were accepted into prestigious universities. The program managers from each of the Academies gave five-minute overviews of their core courses, career immersion, partnership programs, and more. Student presenters from the Academies also spoke about what made their Academy unique. 

“The Open House this year was very thoughtfully prepared, and I believe each of the applicants who attended got the message that this is a unique school with unique opportunities,” sophomore ambassador Radha Shah said.

Other students spoke about extracurriculars and school traditions, including Model UN, Mock Trial, Robotics, Theatre, FBLA, HOSA, Diversity Day, March Madness and Senior Internships. The presentation finished with an overview of the application process, important application dates and a video. Throughout the open house, attendees were able to ask questions in the meeting chat to be addressed at the Q&A session that concluded the webinar. 

“As a parent, I was impressed by the trust of the students toward their staff. Unlike other school presentations, A@E involved many students in the presentation, and this means something,” one attendee wrote. 

At the last open house, on Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2020, Class of 2020 A@E alum Sean Park shared his unique high school experience and participation in HOSA, and described the new chapter of his life at Princeton University. 

“One of the most fulfilling parts of my high school experience was the extracurriculars I took part in, including HOSA and Vocal Synergy,” Sean said.

Although applicants could not get an in-person feel for A@E this year, the administration and student ambassadors effectively conveyed the message of the wonderful opportunities A@E has to offer to this year’s applicants.