Whether it is highly anticipated by many, or dreaded by others, the first week of school is always a busy week, filled with many different events as students and faculty get back into the swing of school. As students were looking at the weekly notes for the Friday of that first week, they noticed that instead of our normal assembly or grade bonding activities, it instead said special surprise in Campion. Many students did not think much of this until they were in Campion on that Friday, but the Upper School community was met with an exciting surprise. Oak Knoll’s Assistant Athletic Director, Dr. White, introduced a brand new system to the school community that involved sorting the entire school community, both upper and lower schools, into different houses. Students looked under their seats to find a paper, separating them into the Sussex, Rosemont, Mayfield, and Towanda groups, each being led by different upper school teachers. Each house represents a different aspect of the Holy Child community, such as the different Holy Child schools and locations.
Each group met at their designated location, creating posters and cheers for their houses. The entire Upper School student body then walked down to Tisdall to participate in a fun afternoon filled with competitions, singing, games, and cheering. Representatives from each house participated in relays and knockout, while the rest of the groups cheered for their classmates. This was a great way for the students to become closer not only with those in their grade but to the student body as a whole.
At the end of the school day, the points were tallied up, and Sussex won the most House points for the afternoon. But, the competition did not end there, as students have had opportunities throughout the school year to win points for their houses, through activities such as Cornelia Connelly trivia and attending the Dramatica performance.
Although the Lower School was not a part of this afternoon of competitions, they had their own celebration of the new house system that week.
When asked about her creation of the new system, Dr. White said “I spoke to many schools, including other Holy Child schools, that also had house systems and spent a year and a half researching about what works and what doesn’t at other schools and make it fit for our community. I want the house system to bring joy to our students and strengthen our relationships with each other even further. Being separated into houses is not meant to be a competition for every activity, there are some activities that are just geared towards community building and meeting people you otherwise would normally not connect with. My hope is that the house system not only becomes a large part of our school community, but also helps our students connect with their peers in a way that they may not have had the chance to prior to the house system coming to fruition.”
Introducing the new House System has been a great success and a wonderful way to bring the entire Oak Knoll community together as one. The entire school community owes a big thank you to Dr. White and the administration for all of the hard work and dedication they have put into this new system.