“Four houses, one home.”

That is the first thing you see as you walk past the student lounge, heading to class.

The House System was created in the 2024-2025 school year, the goal being to increase student leadership.

Since creating the House System, the school has been focusing on building the system, and getting students involved to help. That is why the House of Representatives was introduced this year, to help students lead their houses.

“That was always a part of the vision, that it would help students to develop the program and shape the culture of the school through the house system,” says Meredith Espina, Director of Retreats and House Director. Mrs. Espina and Mr. Yelenic collaboratively came up with the idea of the House of Representatives to help students get involved.

Essentially, the House of Representatives is a group of around 40 students, 10 from each house, who will be the voice of their house and help plan events and help with student engagement.

“I think it will help the House System to have student leaders because students understand what other students engage best with… you need students who are willing to be that outward social motivator and share the news with other people to get them to events,” said Mrs. Espina.

A major part of the House of Representatives is to shift the focus from educator-run events to student-run.

At their meeting at Short Journey, they discussed their visions and proposed ideas for what they can do to grow the program.

“Students will have better ideas that they know their friends are going to want to participate in compared to some teachers,” said junior Matthew Bridgers, a member of the House.

The members of the House of Representatives are passionate about getting other students involved and have come up with great ways to do so.

“I want to have a sorting event for the incoming freshman to build up the enthusiasm about the house system before they even get here,” said sophomore Enzo Lorenzetti, member of the House. This event could promote house spirit within the Freshmen before they even get to Gibbons and help them learn and develop the defining characteristics of the houses so they can live them out during their time at Gibbons.

“Another goal that the House of Representatives has is to really embrace the incoming freshman class and make them feel super celebrated becoming a member of their House,” says Mrs. Espina, supporting the idea of a sorting event.

“We want to collaborate with other clubs and get people to compete for house points,” said Gabriella Santiago Raimundi.

Through this, students with many different interests can learn about getting involved with their House.

Other students have proposed ideas from smaller events like spikeball tournaments and more lunchtime bingo to having larger events such as a field day to increase competition between houses. Events that incorporate faith and service elements have also been proposed.

All of the students within the House of Representatives have come up with great ideas.
With them, the House System is well on the way to becoming one great home.

The History of each House

The system contains four houses: St. Monica, Notre Dame, Dominican, and Franciscan, with each one containing a bit of history behind them.

St. Monica House, this year’s House Cup winner, was named after the St Monica School started by the Diocese of Raleigh in 1930 during segregation. The school was originally for African American students, and later became integrated into Cardinal Gibbons.

Now, the St. Monica building serves as a community center.

Notre Dame House is dedicated to the sisters of Notre Dame who served Gibbons from 1972 to 2020. The sisters helped to reopen Gibbons after the 1971-1972 school year when it closed, keeping Gibbons alive for years to come. Under their leadership they doubled enrollment as well as implementing a wider variety of available Advanced Placement courses and community outreach.

Dominican House is after the Dominican Sisters of Newburgh, N.Y., who assisted Father Thomas P. Griffin in opening Sacred Heart Academy in 1909. They served the school for 56 years, helping build it up from a small one room school into a three story building.

Lastly, Franciscan House honors the Franciscan Brothers of Brooklyn. They were leaders of Cardinal Gibbons High School from 1994 to 2006, and helped design and construct our campus to make the school to be what it is today. They also assisted in growing many of Gibbons greatest programs like fine arts, enrollment and promoting inclusivity.