On Saturday, Oct. 21, families entered ETHS and made their way to the Welcome Center, located in the East Wing of the school. Some attendees were parents with children at one of the District 65 middle schools, others were new to Evanston. Either way, all participants came for a campus tour, in the hopes of getting a better feel for what ETHS has to offer.

At the start of the tour, Takumi Iseda, Director of Communications, introduced herself to the crowded room. After a brief presentation about the school, Iseda led the group into the halls, starting in the Main Lobby. The tour included explanations about the history of the school, safety guidelines and health resources. Participants were shown many different areas on campus, including the Beardsley Gym, the Research Center, the Hub, the Planetarium and the Advanced Manufacturing Lab.

Many parents were impressed with the school’s resources.

“All of the facilities at ETHS are pretty amazing,” said Sylvia Wooller, parent of two seventh graders in Evanston. “[The tour was] really helpful to get my children started on thinking about what they should be doing in middle school in order to prepare for high school.”

Besides aiming to provide families with middle schoolers an opportunity to glimpse high school life, the tours also try to help with high school decision making.

“Families come from outside the school district to make decisions about where they want their child to go to high school,” said Iseda.

One of the most frequent examples of this is families that come from the Chicago Public School system to decide if they want to continue their child’s education in Evanston.

Properly informing people about the student experience at ETHS is one of the tour’s main goals.

“[We] give a general enough overview that [incoming students and their families] feel like they have enough information to make the right decision,” said Iseda.

Student ambassadors were also present to help attendees get a first hand account of life at ETHS, especially as a freshman.