Official Newspaper of SAR High School
The Buzz
December 2012 — Vol. 8, No. 2
What’s Inside
Judy’s Jabber Page 2
So You Want to be an SAR Student? The High School Admissions Process
By Shalhevet Schwartz SAR is only in its tenth year of existence, but in that short amount of time, the number of applicants per year has increased dramatically. As the number of applications increases, so has the school’s size; SAR already has more students than Rabbi Harcsztark thinks it should. “I think a little smaller would be good... [an ideal grade size] would be more like 80-100,” he says. The school’s current average grade size, somewhere in the range of 120 students, he thinks is “fine.” This influx of applications and burgeoning school size has caused complications for the SAR administration, which has to make decisions about which students merit a place within its walls (or lack thereof). SAR’s class of 2016 is, by SAR’s standards, enormous—there are currently 151 freshmen roaming the halls of SAR High School. As most concerned students know, this high number was due to a fluke. SAR has, for the past several years, experienced a yield of approximately 65%, meaning that of students accepted, about 65% have chosen to come. Aiming for a grade size of approxi-
mately 120 students for the class of 2016, SAR accepted about 180 students, only four more than it did the previous year. But instead of the expected 65%, there was closer
Ms. Lerea addresses a group of ninth grade “buddies”
to an 85% yield, causing the anomaly of the current freshman class. While this was clearly an unexpected aberration in yield, perhaps the SAR administration is not entirely blameless for its error in calculation. Last year saw a dramatic increase in the number of SAR High School
open house attendees as well as an astonishing number of applicants; 256 students applied, a number far higher than in any previous year. While SAR might not have expected such a high yield, there certainly were indicators that last year was going to be different from any grade SAR had seen before, and that interest in SAR had gone up significantly. Regardless of whether or not SAR is responsible for the “mistake” of the class of 2016, the question remains: what if the same situation arises this year? After all, SAR has steadily risen in popularity among the Metropolitan area. Rabbi Harcsztark admits, in fact, that if this high number of applicants and high yield continues, SAR will need to seriously reconsider its admissions policy. As the current policy stands, there are four basic factors that SAR considers in deciding which students to accept. SAR looks at students’ middle school transcripts, compares BJE scores, reads recommendations from the students’ teachers, and conducts interviews with each student. The decision is Continued on page 14
Don’t Forget to Love the Restaurant Hurricane Horrors Page 9
Sleep or Lack Thereof Page 12
A Brief Look into Skyview Behaviors
By Deena Nerwen It’s 7:45 am. You bolt out of davening, grab your cash and a friend’s arm, and race down the stairs, shouting out excuses as your push in front of your peers. It’s a mad rush to the finish line: Dunkin’ Donuts. You arrive, and breathe a sigh of relief, smiling with triumph as you look behind you towards school and see your fellow coffee addicts still waiting to cross the street. Then, you look ahead, and sigh sadly because the line is daunting and tiresome. Many SAR students have been confronted with this situation from time to time, or even every day. But how do they deal with it? Recently, Rabbi Harcsztark met with each grade separately, sharing with them an email sent to Rabbi Kroll from the owner of Dunkin’ Donuts, Sachin Shah. Mr. Shah explained that he has noticed a problem with line cutting for years, but as it was isolated to a few, he has looked the other way. “This year, however,” he continued in his email, “it has gotten out of control, as a large num-
ber of students are doing it just so they don’t have to wait in line. This morning, I had three regular customers walk out of the store
Skyview Shopping Center
because they had been cut several times after waiting in line. I don’t need to tell you that this is not good for business.” When asked if they think inappropri-
ate behavior in Skyview is a problem, every student replied with a firm “yes.” Orly Arbit (‘13) elaborates, “It’s a problem because it’s a ‘Chilul Hashem,’ although we are technically surrounded by other Jews. Also, it makes a bad name for the school, which we don’t want because we want everyone to love SAR.” If the general consensus is that this behavior is unacceptable, why is there any issue at all? Alec Waxman (‘16) offers a plausible explanation: “I think it’s mostly because people are rushed to get to class. [This is true] especially in the morning, at breakfast, because we don’t have a lot of time.” Some students disagree, arguing that students are impatient and therefore don’t want to wait on line for fifteen minutes to purchase their food. Jacob Ungar (‘15) elaborates: “You know what the move is these days? You call to your friend at the front of the line, and go stand with them. Or you tell them to order you something. That’s the move.” Though students recognize that this Continued on page 14