theOctagon
Sacramento Country Day School
www.scdsoctagon.com
VOL. XXXIX, NO. 2
October 27, 2015
Search for head of school narrows to three
Finalists visit school, propose plans for growth and student opportunities
Adrienne Odell
Tucker Foehl
By Marigot Fackenthal Opinion Editor
T
hree prospective school heads have visited the school to be interviewed by a lineup of administrators and com mittees over the past two weeks. Each candidate came prepared with a vision of a “per fect school” and plans to improve SCDS. Candidate Adrienne Odell, assistant head at Shorecrest Preparatory School in St. Petersburg, Florida, said that she wants the job because the school aligns with the standards and priorities she’s looking for. “I realized that a lot of the things the school is looking for in its next head are areas that I’m very comfortable with,” she said. “I felt that it’d be a and my own expertise.” Odell’s plan is to im prove the school exter
Lee Thomsen
ties, including increased social variety and more elective options. However, she added that the school’s conditional use permit must be amended before the population can grow. Despite her goals for expansion, Odell said she wants to keep the population at a level that main tains the current sense of community. we lose those close relationships with peers and teachers,” she said. Another priority is renovating old buildings in the middle school and constructing a Fine Arts objective. Candidate Tucker Foehl, SCDS’s assistant head of school, said discussing changes in teach ing style, reintroducing a student counseling pro
“When the Sacramento Community hears ‘Country Day,’ they should know what this school is all about, what it stands for, and why it’s such an excellent school.” —Adrienne Odell, candidate
nally. Her top priority, she said, is developing the school’s public im age in the community. “The key is shining a light on the great things that are hap pening here,” she said. “I keep hearing people say that Country Day is
‘Country Day,’ they should know what this school is all about, what it stands for and why it’s such an excellent school.” Odell’s second priority is expanding the high school. Increasing the student body would, ac cording to her, open up a number of opportuni
his main priorities. “I want to have a dif ferent, richer conver sation about teaching and learning at Country Day,” Foehl said. “I’m re ally invested in how our evaluation system works and the conversations we have about teaching and community want to look
that would include myself as head of school; I want the community to have a chance to review my work.” Foehl is also interested in bringing a theme of innovation and technology to the school. “The curriculum committee’s initiative this year is innovation and technology,” he said. “I’m invested in not trends, but more substantively how we think about our program and how inno
Headmaster Stephen Repsher stands in front of the new middle-school building. Building was a priority of Repsher’s tenure. (Photo by Marigot Fackenthal)
vative it can be. I think it’s a real strength of the school, but we need to consider what that’s going to look like moving forward.”
ing a program to aid students going through so cial and emotional struggles. “I hear of students from all grade levels going through emotional challenges,” he said. “It’s not
more buildings 31% more parking
overall program.” schedule up for discussion, he doesn’t necessarily want to change it. “I want to lead a conversation about our sched still think it’d be productive to look at our sched ule and see if it’s working for the things we want our students to experience here,” Foehl said.
ways. I want to make sure we’re able to accom modate to the best of our ability.” Candidate Lee Thomsen, head of the upper
27%
more scholarship money 16%
increased high-school population 19%
relocated high-school campus 7%
We asked high-school students to choose the priorities they considered most important for the next head of school.
See Head, page 10
New dress-code policy unpopular By Katia Dahmani Page Editor
codes,” Bauman said. “In the winter, girls are more covered up.”
year, and some students aren’t happy about it. Last year, a student’s parents received an
changed over the years. Bauman calls the process more “stream lined.”
infractions in a quarter. This year, however, parents are emailed if their child doesn’t have another set of appropriate clothes to change into at school, no matter the number of of fenses. Patricia Jacobsen, dean of student life, says “Because of the policy, the number of re
at the posted violations to talk to the student about their clothes. Now teachers email Jacobsen directly, ask ing her to go talk to the student and decide whether or not the student is breaking dress code. If the student’s attire is deemed inap
She said that in the past, parents were nev er fully aware of what clothes could cause
recorded in PCR. According to Jacobsen, before this new
Most violations occur during the beginning of school due to the heat, according to Jacob sen.
would be “bombarded” with remarks because teachers had no way of knowing whether or by another teacher. Jacobsen said that having one teacher
straps,” she explained. English teacher Jane Bauman, who often reports violations, agrees.
See Dress code, page 10
At left, sophomore Katia Dahmani wears pants that were dress-coded for being excessively ripped. At right, senior Amelia Fineberg wears shorts that were dresscoded for being too short. (Photos by Adam Ketchum)