This past Saturday, the MICDS campus was buzzing as we welcomed hundreds of families to our beautiful campus for our annual Open House. As if on cue, Open House fell on one of the very first fall days of the season, inviting families to take in life as a Ram among the crisp autumn air, vibrant colors of the leaves, and bright sunlight. This year’s event was segmented into a Lower School event and a Middle/Upper School event, both offered twice on Saturday, October 7. With the hundreds of visiting families and 100-acre campus to explore, the scene was set for glimpsing a bustling life of discovery and learning at MICDS.
Beasley Lower School Open House visitors enjoyed spending time with our faculty, current Beasley students and parents, and even a few RAMbassadors (student ambassadors of the school) who grew up in Beasley. They explored our classrooms at leisure and were able to attend an informational panel presentation led by Amy Scheer, Head of Lower School, which included Director of Student Support Sheila Powell-Walker talking about student support, a current Beasley parent, and an Upper School “Beasley Alumnae” who shared information and responded to questions about their MICDS experience. Among red and green balloons, guests wrapped up their visit by enjoying cookies and meeting mascot Charger the Ram while playing on our playground in the perfect fall weather!
For the Middle/Upper School event, families were greeted upon arrival by many smiling faces of MICDS parent and student Rambassadors while the MICDS band played upbeat music from the Danforth quad outside the Steward Family Aquatic Center. After registering in Founders’ Court they headed into Brauer Auditorium where they enjoyed the ambiance of the MICDS orchestra while waiting for the event to begin. The beginning Leadership Session kicked off with the spirited MICDS Homecoming Highlight video followed by an introduction and welcome from Eric Brunt, Director of Enrollment Management. Next, Head of School Jay Rainey presented before there were personal reflections from seniors and Student Council Co-Heads Devon Catsavis ’24 and Camden Miller ’24.
After the Leadership Session, families broke out into Divisional Sessions to learn more about life in the Upper School or life in the Middle School, led by their respective division heads and student panelists. In between the two sessions, Eric Lay, JK-8 Physical Education Department Chair, led a brief stretching activity to get the crowd up and moving. After the Divisional Sessions, families had an hour to explore the Curricular Fair which took place in McDonnell Gymnasium as well as the lower level of the McDonnell STEM Building. During this time, families could interact with faculty and students representing many different academic and extracurricular programs, including Maker Science, Robotics, and even the Country Day Archives!
“The Admission Open House is a great way to showcase our most important assets at our school—our people!” Brunt exclaimed. “We are so thankful to our faculty, parent and student ambassadors, and leadership for showing up in force for an incredibly large turnout of prospective families. The energy, enthusiasm, and Ram Pride were very evident on our campus, and interest in the school is incredibly strong!”