REACH

REACH Parents Helping to
Recruit New Students
By Brian Daley
We say it and hear it often: “REACH
is a family program.” Without the
support and love of their families, our
students could not do what they do.
But the same could be said for our
staff. From the beginning, the REACH
team has relied upon the assistance of
our families on important occasions
throughout the year, particularly
admission events. On Information
Night, Exam Day and Interview Day
our families provide hospitality and
encouragement to interested families,
and we are consistently told that
meeting and speaking with current
REACH students and parents are
among the most convincing reasons for
applying.
Nevertheless, reaching out to families
who are not familiar with Regis or
Catholic schools in general does present
its challenges. Last year we had a
record number of nominations (211),
but over half of them did not apply—a
large percentage of these students were
enrolled in public schools. We did a
survey of our nominators to learn why;
close to 60% of the respondents said that
it was because of concerns expressed by
the parents. The most common concern
was that parents were not comfortable
with their children going away for
three weeks, followed closely by parents
not being comfortable with their sons
commuting to Regis.
Chaired by Ms. Yvonne Alier, Ms.
Rosemary Apun, and Mr. Abelardo
Zeron, the RPC is currently supported
by over 50 parents, representing all
current classes as well as alumni parents.
The mission of the committee is to help
recruit families who can benefit from
REACH in the same way that previous
families have. The plan is to have our
REACH parents contact nominated
families in the winter months to say
congratulations and to encourage them
to follow through on the application,
and to answer any questions they might
have along the way.
When asked what inspired her to join
the RPC, Ms. Apun remembered back
to when her family was applying: “We
really didn’t know anyone, and we
didn’t know much about REACH.
This program has benefited our sons
so much that we want others to know
what it can do for their sons. It’s a
challenging process and we want to help
them navigate the obstacles. We want
to tell these families that the rewards are
bigger than they can imagine.”
Events Calendar
DECEMBER
15 Christmas Party
22 Alumni ’09-’12 Reunion
JANUARY
6 Alumni ’05-’08 Reunion
24 Notifi cation of Regis
Scholarship Winners
26 Winter Meeting
FEBRUARY
1 Nomination Deadline
5 Memorial of Pedro Arrupe
6 Feast of St. Paul Miki
14 Information Night
MARCH
2 Spring Saturday
Session Begins
23 Entrance Exam /
Application Deadline
MAY
11 Interview Day
12 Memorial of
Matteo Ricci
22 Spring Recognition
Ceremony
JUNE
9 Candidate Orientation
To address this issue, we have organized
the REACH Parent Committee (RPC)
so we can personally connect REACH
families to families of nominated
students at the very beginning of the
admissions process. REACH is new,
different, sometimes confusing, and
maybe even a little scary. What better
way to assure parents of nominees than
to have a current REACH parent talk
to them?