Octagon 2016-17 issue 3

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THE

OCTAGON

VOL. 40, NO. 3

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Sacramento Country Day School

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2636 Latham Drive, Sacramento

Non-Profit Organization U.S. POSTAGE PAID Sacramento, CA Permit No. 1668 @scdsoctagon

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December 6, 2016

Administration considers early start to ease swift AP pace BY QUIN LACOMB Many AP teachers begin the first day of school with a short speech about what the class is about, but some include an addition. Usually, it’s something like “We don’t have enough time to cover all of the material, so we’re going to have to rush.” But there’s a way to give more time to the APs that many other schools have already incorporated in their schedule: starting school a week earlier. That’s why Sue Nellis, AP U.S. History teacher, said she pushed to start (and end) school a week earlier when she was the head of high school, 2006-13.

“Obviously our students do well - we have some of the highest AP scores around - but it’s tough when other schools start a few weeks before us,” she said. “There’s a lot of pressure during the school year.” And Glenn Mangold, who teaches three AP classes (Physics 1, Physics C and Calculus BC), said that he would be “happy with (any change) that would add more school days before the AP tests.” AP Biology teacher Kellie Whited said she would have supported the shift a few years ago, but since the College Board revised the AP Biology

STARTING EARLIER page 2 >>

LINCOLN LECTURE AP U.S. History teacher Sue Nellis lectures about Abraham Lincoln’s impact during the Civil War.. Nellis, during her time as head of high school, strongly advocated for starting school a week early. The shift would allow AP courses to have more time to cover material. and review for the exam. PHOTO BY KEVIN HUANG

School aims to renew WASC accreditation

BY KATIA DAHMANI

MEET AND GREET Sophomores Allison Zhang and Joe Zales, and director of admission Lonna Bloedau greet students from St. Michael’s Episcopal Day School, Nov. 29. The students stayed for a half day before having Noodles and Company with the ambassadors at lunch. PHOTO BY JACQUELINE CHAO

New Ambassadors impress

Revamp includes short pitches, school-specific shadow days BY ALLISON ZHANG

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hat’s the best way to promote Country Day? Reading off SAT and AP scores? Or maybe talking about all the clubs and extracurriculars Country Day offers? It’s a difficult question, but it’s the job of Country Day’s Ambassadors to find the solution. The goal of the Ambassador Program, started over 20 years ago by director of admission Lonna Bloedau, is to spread community recognition of the school. Student Ambassadors visit other schools and promote Country Day, encouraging eighth graders to sign up for a shadow day. After limited success last year, Bloedau decided there had to be a change in methodology. Last year, when the Ambassadors visited other schools, they stood in a line and talked at the students, reciting a pre-rehearsed mountain of information. “Beforehand, we had each planned out a topic that we were going to be an expert in, so we wouldn’t be talking over each other,” sophomore Jack Christian said.

“We would literally just talk to them for 35 minutes.” The remaining time was dedicated to answering questions, but there were rarely any because, according to Christian, it was obvious the students were bored and uninterested.

‘THE FIRST THING WE NOTICED WAS HOW QUICKLY THE ICE MELTED AND THE CONVERSATIONS STARTED’ LONNA BLOEDAU, DIRECTOR OF ADMISSION

This year, Bloedau came up with a different, more interactive approach for the Ambassadors. She said she was inspired by head of school Lee Thomsen’s request for all the faculty and staff to craft an “elevator pitch” to introduce the school. “I so enjoyed the process of crafting my pitch that it got me to thinking about how the Ambassadors have typically pitched to students at other schools,” Bloedau said. Therefore, this year, the Ambassadors

start with a 60-second pitch about themselves, what they do, and what they like about Country Day. Sophomore Joe Zales, one of the Ambassadors, talks about free periods in his pitch. “Because I am a competitive swimmer, my free period allows me to get much of my schoolwork done at school,” he says. Ambassadors might also include their favorite thing about Country Day or one of its extracurriculars in their pitches. Afterwards, they divide the eighth graders into small groups with one Ambassador in each. There the Ambassadors answer questions and chat with the students. And the new approach seems to be working. “The first thing we noticed was how quickly the ice melted and the conversations started,” Bloedau said. “We added a bowl of M&M’S to each group, and the atmosphere became happy and chatty. We then added a shadow day sign-up sheet and asked them to indicate if they’d like to come to campus.” According to Bloedau, nearly every student has signed up. So far, the Ambassadors have visited

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Some very important visitors will be stopping by in the middle of March. The Western Association of Schools and Colleges/California Association of Independent Schools’ visiting committees (WASC/CAIS) accredit independent schools every six years, and they’re coming to SCDS from Monday, March 13 to Friday, March 17. The committee visiting SCDS is headed by the Rev. Canon Julian Bull, the headmaster of Campbell Hall School in North Hollywood. The accreditation assures the community and colleges that the school has clear objectives with regards to education and is “committed to ongoing improvement,” according to WASC’s website. Actually, the accreditation has already begun with a self-study. Assistant head of school Tucker Foehl is leading the work for the self-study, which started in the summer. Foehl said that the CAIS has a new framework for the selfstudy. “It’s more reflective and geared towards why we do what we do instead of what we do,” Foehl said. The self-study was submitted to the Accreditation Portal in December, head of school Lee Thomsen said. The self-study has 16 categories, including Institutional Purpose and Core Values, Teaching and Learning, Financial Sustainability, Operations and Institutional Improvement and Sustain-

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RUNNING FOR FUNDING Team SCDS poses before the annual Run to Feed the Hungry (RTFTH) race, Nov. 24. The final amount raised was $11, 435. Donations to RTFTH will be accepted until Dec. 31. PHOTO BY TOM WROTEN


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