By Jay Sorgi • Posted March 31, 2026

Hundreds of seventh-graders heard the song lyrics “make this place your home” as they made a 9 a.m. walk from the spacious Archbishop Ryan High School theater to their first taste of what a Catholic high school class would be like.

They and about 3,500 of their cohorts across the Archdiocese of Philadelphia encountered the same new experience, meeting teachers and students at 16 archdiocesan high schools Thursday, March 26 as they all held 7th Grade Visitation Day.

“This is a fun day. It’s a really great day to experience a little bit of what it’s like to go here,” Archbishop Ryan Director of Admissions Erin Colon told the students before sending them off to 20-minute mini-classes inside the Northeast Philadelphia school.

“You are going to get out of this experience what you put into it. Pay attention, ask questions, meet teachers, meet the students.”

Archbishop Ryan Principal Joseph McFadden said the day was “a great way to really get a start on who we can build as our future class of 2031. Everyone has promotional materials. Everyone has videos. Everyone has a website.”

“But getting a feel inside the building for that sense of community, family, what we really hope for our students, it becomes home,” he said.

Owen Logue, the Office for Catholic Education’s senior director for Enrollment Management for Secondary Schools, believes the annual day allows students a third touchpoint opportunity to preview what could be their high school, besides attending a school’s open house and day-long shadowing experience.

“It is a yearly marquee event for all of our schools in the Archdiocese,” said Logue. “It’s incredibly important just for putting that face to the transition from elementary school to high school, and more specifically, Catholic elementary school to Catholic high school.

“It’s important for these students to have that day-in-the-life-of experience, to meet some of their future teachers, even some of their future classmates maybe moving forward. Globally it’s helpful for these students to set an expectation and move forward in what high school is going to look like for them.”

Archbishop Ryan sophomore Evelyn Van Reuter and junior Madison Murray volunteered Thursday at the school.

Van Reuter remembered how awestruck she was at the size of Archbishop Ryan in comparison to her seventh grade experience, and how that early visit helped her transition to high school.

“You’re coming from a small elementary or middle school, then you’re in a humongous building with so many kids, and you’re seeing people from older grades,” said Van Reuter. “I’d never interacted with someone from high school before. This was my first time interacting with people who are older.

“It’s a lot, but it helps you get adjusted, so that when you do come to high school, it’s easier.”

Murray graduated from a middle school “with 10 people, so I was by myself at the time,” she said. “I was pretty much a lone wolf in that situation. I had to find my own way myself. I didn’t have anybody with me going through it.”

“Everybody at the school was very helpful. They gave directions. They tell you everywhere where you need to be. They make sure that you’re OK. I enjoyed that. It gave me a chance to get connected and understand how the high school environment was going to look like when I got to that time.”

Colon suggests 7th Grade Visitation Day as a meaningful and important chance for families to get a critical jump-start in learning about the different options within Catholic high schools as they discern where students will attend.

“This day means getting ahead of the game. You’re looking at your options early, not waiting until eighth grade,” she said. “Once students get to eighth grade, parents start to panic. It feels like that year goes by so quick. They don’t know what other options are out there.

“Letting families know what’s out there, what we can offer in terms of financial aid, academics, extracurriculars, athletics, is really important. Knowing their options going into eighth grade makes for a very smooth year.”

Colon adds that parents of sixth graders should register for next year’s 7th Grade Visitation Day as soon as the opportunity to sign up opens for the March 2027 edition.

“Look at your options. See what schools offer this. All of the archdiocesan high schools offer it. It is all the same day,” Colon said.

“Pick one (high school) that you want to see right now. Pick one that your child’s been talking about, that other students in their class have been talking about. Go to that school. Get that fun experience.”