In the weeks leading up to these house systems being announced, rumors spread about the topic of the upcoming Friday assembly. That Friday, January 28, the students anxiously and eagerly arrived at Roberts Theater, waiting to hear the news. Senior speaker David Shi began the assembly with a slideshow on the history of our school and eventually transitioned into the four houses that KO would be split up into: Windsor, Nottingham, York and Lancaster.
When the assembly ended, students went with their form to several different locations within the school where they picked slips out of a paper bag. For the rest of the day, the students’ conversations and text messages revolved around what houses everyone had been placed in. Through the house systems, the students were provided with a new opportunity to build relationships within the school. After hearing from several students and faculty members, this has been a great new addition as it has brought our school together by creating stronger relationships within our community. So far this year, we have taken part in many activities including Minute to Win It oreo challenges, a Kahoot competition, and an exciting field day to end the year off.
On March 31 at 10:02 a.m., the student body received an email from Upper School Administrative Coordinator Lindsay Perkins announcing that all students should head to Roberts Theatre instead of their advisee for a Kahoot challenge. This was just one of many house events. Students set foot into Roberts Theater anxiously awaiting this challenge. They split up into their houses, logging into the Kahoot. Some questions were about KO, and others were about the most random topics including a fruit that tastes like chocolate. The leaderboard was ever changing and students could barely hear their own conversations over the cheering coming from the different houses. Windsor came out on top with all three top players coming from the house.
Freshman class president Yzzy Albert agrees that although these house systems have a lot to work on for next year, they are already making a positive impact for the students. “The purpose of the house systems was to bring the community together,” she said, “specifically people in different forms so that you could interact with people who you either don’t play a sport with or you don’t have an extracurricular with.” Yzzy, along with other students, believes that the house system has helped her branch out to meet new people.
Every house has a staff leader along with a handful of other teachers in their house. History teacher and York house leader Stephanie Sperber thinks that starting these house systems at the beginning of the 2022-2023 school year will be very beneficial for incoming students. “I think that a variety of activities starting at the very beginning of the year to help new students feel like they have a home outside of their classrooms will be very helpful,” Ms. Sperber said.
As most students have agreed, the best part of the house system is creating bonds between students in different forms. Dean of Students Krista Sahrbeck agreed. “I love the idea that the houses are multi-graded, just because you might know your class the best, but there are three other grades in the high school,” she said, “so just those opportunities to meet and connect with new people is bringing the community together.”
One thing that Ms. Sahrbeck would like to see next year is designated areas around campus for the houses. For example, one side of the library could be the Windsor side. This way, during the day if you want to hang out somewhere, you can go to your house’s area and you will most likely find someone you can be with.
Sophomore class president Ava Cashman believes that these house systems are also helping to create bonds outside of them. “When we were sorted into our houses, being able to meet new people just by saying ‘Hey, what house are you in?’ really showed the positive benefits of the house system on our community, ” she said.
Director of the Upper School Dan Gleason said he enjoys how student-led these houses are. “I want to see what the students are coming up with because I think there’s a lot of nice energy when students can self-advocate,” he said. He hopes to see the students become more engaged and interested in these house systems as more events are planned next year.
One interesting idea that Ms. Sperber had was adding an academic aspect to these houses. For example, we could hold a friendly competition like a spelling bee. This could take place during an assembly, and whichever house’s representative wins gains points for their house that would go towards field day.
This year was all about trial and error for these house systems, but hopefully moving forward they will be something that the students are excited to become involved in. “The goal is to hopefully create a new tradition,” Ms. Sahrbeck said, “something for students to look forward to.” As the year is coming to an end, we hope to see many more new and exciting activities within these house systems carry through to next year.
