THE
OCTAGON
VOL. 40, NO. 4
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Sacramento Country Day School
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Non-Profit Organization U.S. POSTAGE PAID Sacramento, CA Permit No. 1668 @scdsoctagon
2636 Latham Drive, Sacramento
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January 18, 2017
HUNGRY KIDS High schoolers and middle schoolers line up outside the MP Room for Noodles and Company lunch on a Tuesday in January, when students wait on average 5-10 minutes to receive lunch. PHOTO BY JACQUELINE CHAO
Slow Tuesday lunch line frustrates older students BY JACK CHRISTIAN
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t’s a normal Tuesday, around noon, and 36 high schoolers are headed down to the MP Room to get their lunches from Noodles and Company. And like always there’s a line of lower-, mid-
dle- and high-school students Comb said. that trails out the door and “It’s the manner of distri‘BILL (CRABB) AND I CAN snakes along the outside wall bution that is the problem. ONLY SERVE SO FAST” to the end of the building. “It takes a long time, so if That’s why 66 percent of there is ever a (Tuesday) when JENNIFER ADAMS, LUNCH those students said they were I have to do something at PROGRAM MANAGER either “dissatisfied” or “highly lunch or I am hungry, it bedissatisfied” with the lunch comes a big problem.” service on Tuesdays, in a Dec. In that same poll, two13 Octagon poll distributed to 116 high-school thirds of the students who ordered lunch on students. Tuesdays also said that they waited 5-10 minSenior Quin LaComb is one of them. utes to receive lunch. And 24 percent said they “It’s not the lunch that displeases me,” La- waited over 10 minutes.
The problem may be the time it takes to serve Noodles and Company meals. “Bill (Crabb) and I can only serve so fast,” said Jennifer Adams, lunch program manager. On Tuesdays, the lunch is served by hand. Adams and Crabb serve each student from large pans. On other days the meals come pre-packaged and have the students’ names on them. But wait time is not the only problem on Tuesdays. “It annoys me when I have free period before
LUNCH page 10 >>
Why AP Music Theory isn’t happening
Fine arts teachers say electives get little respect, not enough time timing. Few students want to stay after school or come in on weekends, and in a Dec. 13 Octagon poll, most The school offers a wide range who were interested in AP Music of electives, from AP classes to the Theory said they preferred schedulanalysis of scientifically inaccurate ing it during the elective period. movies. Yet those who teach more rigorous Yet the debate over adding an AP classes during the bi- or tri-weekMusic Theory class next year makes ly elective periods, say it’s hard to it evident that some teach serious conelectives require tent-based courses more commitment, during that time. focus and, more imAP Music The‘LOOK AT HOW MANY portantly, time, than ory must cover TIMES WE HAVE others. complex topics and Over the years, FOUR-DAY WEEKS’ adhere strictly to a students have come textbook, Ratcliff BOB RATCLIFF, BAND to band teacher said. DIRECTOR Bob Ratcliff asking And the elecfor that class. But tive time slot, some it hasn’t happened teachers say, proand is currently bevides barely enough ing put off due to scheduling prob- time for their non-AP classes, let lems. alone AP’s. One of the main obstacles is the Even though Ratcliff said that
BY CHARDONNAY NEEDLER
things had improved under former head of high school Sue Nellis, there still are many holidays, three-day weekends and teacher workdays. In fact, according to Ratcliff, it’s more common for electives to meet only twice a week than three times. “Look at how many times we have four-day weeks,” Ratcliff said. Furthermore, Ratcliff said electives usually come last on the priority list. When students miss tests, they often make them up during their electives,. And Ratcliff isn’t the only teacher who feels that way. AP Studio Art teacher Patricia Kelly does, too. “I challenge any (academic) AP teacher to teach every other day for their AP class, regardless of having an hour and 10 minutes,” Kelly said. “See if they can establish consistency, regularity - if students can stay
ELECTIVES page 3 >>
Valerie Velo
New high-school assistant’s love lived ‘next door’ Valerie Velo is the new assistant to the head of high school. She was hired over winter break as a replacement for Gabriella Foster, who recently moved to San Diego.
TIME STRUGGLE Band director Bob Ratcliff conducts his band elective, which takes place during Elective II from 12:45 to 1:55 p.m. PHOTO BY AIDAN CUNNINGHAM
Senior class first to try out revamped college-application process BY EMMA BOERSMA The seniors have a new SAT, a revised UC application and an earlier submission date for the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid). Obviously, the class of 2017 has had to cope with a lot of changes related to the college admissions process. Since 2005, the SAT has had three sections - reading, writing and math - with each scored out of 800 points. Now the SAT has combined reading and writing to form a single section called “Evidence-Based Reading and Writing.” With only two sections, the SAT has a maximum score of 1,600 points instead of 2,400. This has created some problems converting old SAT scores to the new point system and vice versa. “Colleges have accumulated lots of data using
the old SAT, and at first they didn’t have much data on the new SAT to use,” said Jane Bauman, director of college counseling. “Students with scores from both the old and new exams needed to convert one set of scores in order to compare them.” “Furthermore, if a student was looking at information about a college that used the old SAT scores, then to compare, scores needed to be converted.” To make converting the scores simple, the College Board has created a converter on their website, as well as a free iPhone and Android app. But, more importantly, the SAT has changed its specifications for what students should study. According to the College Board website, the new questions are based more on problems that a student might encounter in real life. For instance, on the College Board website
under the “Reading Test” section, it states, “The Reading Test focuses on the skills and knowledge at the heart of education: the stuff you’ve been learning in high school, the stuff you’ll need to succeed in college. It’s about how you take in, think about, and use information. And guess what? You’ve been doing that for years.” This means that students no longer have to learn strategies specific to the test. “It tests what we cover in the college prep(aratory) high-school curriculum,” Bauman said. “We don’t have to teach to the test. We don’t have to say ‘You have to know this because it’s on the (SAT).’ “We say, ‘You have to know this because I’m teaching it - oh, and by the way, it’s on the SAT.’” Like the ACT, the SAT has also made its essay optional and is giving students 50 minutes to
APPLICATION CHANGES page 3 >>
Q: What did you do before you worked here? A: I was a preschool teacher for a few years at Holy Family Catholic School and Capital Christian School. I was also a teacher’s aide at St. Mary. Q: Are you married? A: I am; his name is Giovanni. Q: How did you two meet? A: We met back when we were both working at St. Mary. Actually, it’s a funny story. We both went to Christian Brothers (High School) but we never met. I was a freshman when he was a senior. Then we lived three blocks away from each other in college and never met, at least not until St. Mary. —Quin LaComb
Read the full Q&A with Valerie Velo @ www.scdsoctagon. com