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THEOctagon
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Why caps and gowns aren’t a good idea for Country Day graduation.
SCDSOCTAGON.COM
VOL. XXXVI, NO. 1
Our junior reviewer doesn’t much like an East Sac hipster breakfast restaurant.
September 11, 2012
Points of Interest Enrollment
Renovations like a colonnade and tile roofs create a “Mediterranean” setting in the high-school quad. (Photo by Kelsi Thomas)
Contemporary renovations transform quad according to headmaster Stephen Repsher. They found that solution in the PPRRSM, or Provision for Plant Renewal, Repair and Editor-in-Chief Special Maintenance fund. This fund contains money designated for n open vaulted awning. Windows “capital projects,” or investments that leave practically from floor to ceiling. An elevated and elegant platform for behind concrete improvements to the school rather than simply contributing to day-to-day the classrooms and lawn. operating expenses. A few months ago this would hardly have deUsing approximately $435,000 from this fund scribed the high school. and others, the school embarked on a complete But the decaying 21-year-old portables have update of the high-school quad, as well as most had a rather dramatic facelift. of its classrooms, over the summer. Over the summer they were refurbished and Carpets, wall sidings, doors and windows revitalized along with the rest of the quad. were replaced in all but two of the classrooms After the Newton Booth plan for the reloca- surrounding the quad, and a massive vaulted tion of the high school fell through early last colonnade was added over the central row. year, the school immediately began looking for Around the quad only rooms 1 and 2 (used solutions to improve already existing facilities, by teachers Brooke Wells and Patricia Dias)
By Jeffrey Caves
A
Soph trip relocates to ‘dude ranch’ By Emma Williams
Reporter
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hen PE teacher Michelle Myers was five years old, she spent her first summer at an equestrian camp, Copper Creek Ranch in Quincy, Calif. “I was learning to jump a horse at five!” Myers said. “Are you kidding? I was so there. I stayed the whole summer and I loved it!” Now, Myers will be revisiting her past this fall as a chaperone on the new sophomore trip. For years sophomores have been spending their trip rafting on the American River. Due to a lack of water, however, the trip has been changed to four days at the Greenhorn Creek Guest Ranch in Quincy. Because of the low snow level last winter, power companies have limited water releases and can guarantee only enough water to raft on weekends during October. Since the upperclassman Ashland trip is in October and all the high school trips must take place during See Sophomore trip, page 7
were left relatively untouched. Louis Kaufman, a local architect and Country Day parent who consulted on the design of the middle school in 2011, oversaw the project with input from both the administration and the Buildings and Grounds Committee of the Board of Trustees. “The main challenge was to create a strong sense of place, so the landscaping and architecture were focused on redefining the high school as a unique space,” Kaufman said. However, the color palette, door and lighting fixtures and window styles from the lower school buildings were reincorporated into the high school. “The school has always had an emphasis on Mediterranean architecture,” Kaufman said. See Renovations, page 7
No more tests—computer proficiency exam eliminated by curriculum changes those. Students had to create documents to show their competence in each part—documents, simple Copy Editor slide shows, spreadsheets and graphs. Microsoft Word is a basic prerequisite for all ight before taking final exams, students are always reminded: don’t for- English classes—by high school, nearly everyone get to take your computer proficiency can use it. “Most (students) know enough about it that test —you need it to graduate. we don’t have to show them how to input docuBut starting this year, that pesky little exam is ments,” English teacher Brooke Wells said. no more. PowerPoint and Excel, on the other hand, are The programs it tested—Microsoft Word, introduced intentionally into the sophomore curPowerPoint and Excel—all have a niche in rericulum via the sophomore project and the required high school courses, making the test unquired chemistry class, respectively. necessary. Chemistry teacher Alan Beamer sets aside two “We felt it was more effective to have it within weeks near the beginning of the year to teach his the content of the students Excel, which he academic classes,” later tests them on. Sue Nellis, head Beamer also requires of high school, students to use Excel for said. lab reports throughout the “There were year. always problems Beamer has always (getting people taught Excel in his curricuto take the test). lum—even before he came Everybody evento Country Day—as Excel tually did it, but is the most-used program it was somein the world, he said. times like pulling His first year teaching at teeth.” Country Day, however, he The test was did not include Excel. So split into three Tom Wroten, director of technology, helps this year’s seniors who did parts—one for sophomores Lauren Larrabee and Tori Peffer- not continue to AP Chemeach program— le with their new laptops, which will be incor- istry weren’t exposed to so students could porated into their classes and help eliminate the program. fail specific parts the Word, PowerPoint and Excel proficiency See Requirements, page 7 and retake only tests. (Photo by Will Wright)
By Garrett Kaighn
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Country Day may be turning away prospective students this year for the first time in three years. Grades four, six, seven and nine are all full and any more students seeking admission to these grades will be placed on a waitlist, according to Lonna Bloedau, director of admissions. As a whole, Country Day opened this year with a total enrollment of 469 students, one more than last year. As of Sept. 7, there were 474 students enrolled. In the high school, enrollment was 135 as of Sept. 7, compared to last year’s 131. None of the four high-school classes have dropped in size, and five new international students joined the freshman and sophomore classes. The lower school lost a total of 25 students in pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, second, third and new students in the middle school led to “incremental growth in the right direction (overall),” Bloedau said. —Maxwell Shukuya
Stolen laptop On orientation day, Aug. 27, math teacher Chris Millsback left his computer on his desk before going to the high-school orientation meeting. Since desks and other furniture were still being moved in, the room was unlocked at the time. When he returned, Millsback realized his school-issued Macbook Pro was missing. Nothing else was stolen, but the value of the brand new computer was approximately $1200. The school did not contact police and, according to Tom Wroten, director of technology, the tracking software installed on the computer has been unable to locate it. In light of the incident, teachers have been advised to store cabinets. —Skovran Cunningham
Pacemaker nomination For the second year in a row, the Octagon has been nominated maker award, often referred to as the Pulitzer Prize of Journalism. The Octagon has entered over 17 times, but has been nominawinning once in 2002. The Pacemaker winners will be announced Saturday, Nov. 17, at the JEA/NSPA Fall National Journalism Convention in San Antonio, Texas. —Mary-Clare Bosco