On Saturday, Oct. 26, Northwood held its annual fall admissions Open House and welcomed 14 prospective students and their families to tour the campus and the downtown Hub. Guests heard from the head of school, Michael Maher, and engaged with faculty and students to learn about Northwood’s programs.

Ms. Elenor Mandigo, Assistant to the Admission Office, said that the fall open house is a very important day for the school.  “We typically have between 11-16 families in attendance every year,” Mandigo said. “ Although we only enrolled 2 of our visitors from last year’s Open House, in the years past we have enrolled as many as 6,” she added.

Northwood’s admission staff includes six full-time members, including Mr. Gino Riffle, Ms. Mandigo, Mr. Jeff Miller, and Ms. Carrie Wardlaw, but they also get help from the athletic coaching staff and all members of the Northwood Community, including the teachers and students.

“Many students who inquire about and apply to Northwood have been referred to us by alums, current students, coaches, and local community members,” Mandigo said. “The rest find us online or by consultants. The admission team also travels to many junior boarding schools to meet prospective students as well as attend consultant fairs,” she added.

Ms. Mandigo and the admission office were grateful to have a lot of help to make the day a success. “It’s a team effort by all of us and such a great day to showcase the school,” Mandigo said. “Sitting on the panel at the Hub to answer questions from the visiting families were Add Truscott ‘25, Alex Randall ‘25, Sasha Luhur ‘27, and Cara Dempsey ‘25.  We also had 8 students (Teegan Wardlaw ‘25, Jacob Slagel ‘26, Ella Malloy ‘25, Jacob Brunton ‘25, Kenna Gillis ‘27, Luke Salibello ‘25, Rylie Griffiths ‘25, and Sydney Kuder ‘25) as tour guides to show the families around,” Mandigo continued.

“Helping us on our panel and along the tour route were Steve Reed, Ingrid Van Slyke, David McCauley, Tara Wright, and Jill Walker,” Mandigo said. “During the campus tour, these faculty members spoke a little about who they are and what they do at Northwood School.  On the panel at the Hub were Stacy Prime and Trevor Gilligan,” she added.

“I enjoyed answering questions from prospective students and giving my honest opinion about the school and its programs,” Alex Randall ’25 said. “It was interesting to think that at one point I was one of those students in eighth grade, nervous about coming to Northwood and how I would perform at a higher-level school. I hope I did my best to give them an honest portrayal of the school,” Randall added.

“I spoke about my Advanced STEM Research project: the process of building a robot, lessons I have learned, and what my future will bring me,” said Addison Truscott ’25, who participated on the panel. “I also got to tour the families around the robotics lab, teaching them about the robotics team and class. It was a pleasure to answer questions from families and meet potential Northwood students,” Truscott continued.

We hope to see many of the 14 visiting students enrolled for the 2025-2026 school year.