In October, several New York City high schools will welcome prospective students and parents to their respective open houses, in an attempt to explain the benefits of a Catholic education.

Several notable high schools – including Archbishop Molloy High School in Brooklyn, Holy Cross High School in Queens, and The Mary Louis Academy in Queens – will hold open houses on Oct. 14. Brooklyn’s Xaverian High School has announced a date of Oct. 21.

An admission open house seeks to acquaint families with a school’s learning environment, including its curriculum, staff and technological resources, as well as its extracurricular offerings.

Each event allows boys and girls, from seventh or eighth grades, to meet with administrators, alumni, coaches, current students, parents and teachers. They receive a guided tour of the school, and information regarding the advantages of a Catholic education.

According to Catholic New York, Catholic high school students “scored higher than New York City public schools students in math and English Language Arts (ELA), and higher than New York City charter school students in English on the New York State Education Department assessment tests during the 2011-2012 school year.”

The National Catholic Educational Association (N.C.E.A.) lists its graduation rate as 99.1 percent. And of these graduates, 84.7 percent attend college, in comparison to 44.1 percent of public school graduates.

The open houses aim to encourage enrollment in a Catholic school system whose numbers have steadily dropped in recent years. Nearly a quarter of its elementary and secondary schools were reported as closed or consolidated, between 2000 and 2012. In addition, the number of students fell by 23.4 percent, or 621,583.

Certain families cite tuition costs as a point of concern. However, a report from the N.C.E.A. reveals that 97 percent of high schools provide some form of tuition assistance.

For more information regarding the open houses, please contact the admissions department at the respective school or visit www.tachsinfo.com/openhouse.html.