For some children, the idea of going to an unfamiliar school and spending the day or a few hours with a person they have just met could be a scary proposition. At Norwood, we understand this so we want to share with you some details about our visits so you can help prepare your child for his/her visit and hopefully minimize any nerves. First off, for us, the play date or visit is about the child experiencing Norwood’s joyful learning environment that engages the whole child. Our older students visit in their current grade in order to give them the chance to meet and interact with their potential future peers. As they go through the day, we hope that they begin to imagine themselves walking our halls, painting in our art studios, forming relationships with our teachers, and even mixing chemicals in our labs. Each student is matched up with a student ambassador. They follow their ambassador’s schedule attending whatever classes are on the docket for the day. We encourage students to wear comfortable school clothes with sneakers because they most likely will have PE. Remember no jeans or t-shirts though because we have found that visitors feel more comfortable when they are following the dress code that the other students are following. Depending on what grade they are visiting students might join us for lunch. When we make the visiting appointment, we will indicate if a student needs to bring a lunch or whether they will eat a hot lunch or grab a sandwich and salad in our cafeteria.

For our younger visitors, we know that the most nervous in the bunch might be you as parents! Everyone in our office has been through the kindergarten play date personally. My daughter even had a panic attack her first go round and refused to go down to the room. We have worked very hard to make our play dates as warm and welcoming as possible. Our rising kindergarten and first grade play dates are limited to only one group of 10-12 students a session to ensure that the atmosphere is inclusive and welcoming. We gather in our library and separate from parents there. I am the expert at looking for the death grip a child might instill on their parent at this time and find that our more intimate environment and approach often puts nervous children at ease. After we head down to the classrooms, we start the visit with a humorous story. From there we move to a group activity. After that students have the opportunity to interact one-on -one with a teacher while other visitors enjoy some play time with the many fun and educational games and activities we have available. Our goal is to see them in their natural happy state. Our exceptional faculty is masterful at bringing out the best in every child. Kindergarten and first grade applicants should wear comfortable clothes to the play date. So don’t force them to wear that scratchy sweater even though it is quite sharp looking because itchy skin is no fun on a play date!

We hope that by offering this insight into Norwood’s student visiting days and play dates we will calm some nerves. For us, the play date is about seeing the children, live and in-person in their glorious, comfortable state.