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VOL.43 NO.6 • Sacramento Country Day School • www.scdsoctagon.com • @scdsoctagon • March 17, 2020
Country Day goes online in response to COVID-19 outbreak
T
BY NIHAL GULATI
he Wuhan coronavirus has been front-page news since its emergence in early January. Around the world, isolations, lockdowns and closures have occurred in an effort to stop the spread of the virus, even in the U.S. Many schools and colleges have already shut down. And now, so has Country Day. Head of school Lee Thomsen announced in an email on March 13 that “we have every reason to expect that the Country Day community will soon be impacted. In an abundance of caution, as of Monday, March 16, Country Day’s campus will suspend in-person classes and begin online learning for the next three weeks leading up to spring vacation. In early April, we will reassess the needs of our community once again.” All school events through spring break, which ends on Monday, April 13, have been canceled or postponed indefinitely. “Beginning this afternoon (March 13), our faculty will begin
preparation for conducting distance learning for the next several weeks and beyond, if needed,” Thomsen said in the email. “Next Monday and Tuesday, faculty and staff will prepare and upload lessons, with remote instruction of students commencing on Wednesday, March 18, and running through Friday, April 3.” Thomsen said in an interview that Country Day was following recommendations of county health officials with this decision. There were no confirmed cases of COVID-19 at SCDS as of March 12, according to the school’s website. “We’re in very close contact with the Sacramento County Health Department and following their recommendations on a local level,” Thomsen said. “We’re just trying to follow the advice and best practices of the CDC, and communicating with other California schools to see if they have advice for ways that they’re going about doing their work.” While recent news focuses on the global scale, the coronavirus
CORONA CONTROL A nurse at Qingdao United Family Hospital in Qingdao, China, checks a man’s temperature. PHOTO COURTESY OF SHIMIN ZHANG
first emerged and hit hardest in China. At SCDS, Chinese students have watched as their families have been isolated and U.S. travel to China has been forbidden. Alumni and their families who live in China, including Ginger Harper, ’00, have also been greatly affected. “It’s not just the virus that scares us,” said Harper, who left Beijing on Jan. 26 and returned to the U.S. with her husband and two young children. “It’s that 760 million people are effectively quarantined in their homes. It’s that, despite attempts to keep supermarkets stocked, our friends have noticed a strain on resources. It’s that, if our kids take a fall or need stitches, I don’t feel comfortable
going to a hospital there.” The novel coronavirus started in Wuhan, the largest city in central China with a population of over 11 million, and spread to cities such as Beijing and Shanghai. As of March 13, there were 132,567 confirmed cases around the world and 4,947 deaths, according to CNN. Almost 2,100 cases with 48 deaths had occurred in the U.S., The New York Times reported. Thirty-two states, including California, have declared a state of emergency, according to businessinsider.com, to increase the ability to respond to the virus. COVID-19 is a respiratory disease with flu-like symptoms that spreads by cough or sneeze. It has a 3.4% death rate, according
to the World Health Organization (WHO), though this is subject to change. The virus is less deadly than previous ones such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS, 36% death rate) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS, 9.6% death rate). Already, over 65,000 people have recovered, according to CNN. However, it is more contagious, with an estimated R0 value of 1.4 to 2.5 according to WHO, meaning that it spreads to 1.4 to 2.5 additional people per infection. COVID-19 is also much more difficult to contain, as many cases are mild, allowing possible
VIRUS page 2
Middle school teacher takes over high school Spanish II class BY SANJANA ANAND The high school Spanish II class changed teachers on Jan. 27, the beginning of the second semester. Middle school teacher Pepa Novell replaced Patricia Portillo, who had taught the class for 12 years. Portillo, who previously taught all five high school Spanish classes, said it became too much work. “Language classes are harder to teach than others because you
have to build a strong foundation from early levels,” Portillo said. “It was hard to keep up with all of the grading and prepare lesson plans for all of my classes.” According to head of high school Brooke Wells, it’s unusual for a high school class to switch teachers in the middle of the year other than for maternity, paternity or illness. He said this is the first time it’s happened in his six years as the head of high school. Novell earned her M.A. and
SPANISH SWITCH Spanish teacher Pepa Novell instructs freshman Grace Eberhart on her workbook homework during the period 3 Spanish II class. PHOTO BY MILES MORROW
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Ph.D. in Hispanic Studies from Brown University, her master’s in publishing from Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona and her Bachelor of Arts in Spanish Literature and Language from Universitat de Barcelona. This is Novell’s first year at Country Day, but her three children have attended the school for the last three years. Novell, a part-time employee, also teaches seventh grade Spanish. Before coming to Country Day, Novell was an associate professor at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, where she received tenure. She left due to family circumstances. “The high school class really resembles the students I taught in Canada,” Novell said. “They are so much more mature than my middle school class, and they’re not afraid to ask for help. They also have a strong understanding of the Spanish language, which I have to thank (Portillo) for.” Novell added that taking over the class in the middle of the year wasn’t challenging because of her past Spanish-teaching experience. Wells said the 11 students in Spanish II were informed about the switch on the first day of the second semester and their parents on the next day. Wells said
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the parents and students weren’t informed earlier because “it could cause too much stress before finals week.” However, a student in the class, who requested anonymity, disagreed. “I wish that the school had informed my parents or me sooner,” the student said. “Switching to a new teacher was unexpected and sprung onto us.” According to Portillo, in her first year at Country Day, there were two high school Spanish teachers, including one for Spanish IV. That inspired her to approach Novell with the idea in November. “I wasn’t too sure which class (Novell) was going to take over,” Portillo said. “I was just looking for something that worked with her schedule. All I knew was that I didn’t want to let go of my higher-level classes. Thankfully, it worked out well for both of us.” Portillo said she then approached Wells, who supported the idea. “We want more one-on-one time between teachers and students,” Wells said. “It’s also a unique experience for our students because they are exposed to different Spanish cultures around the world.” Portillo is from El Salvador, and
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Novell is from Barcelona, Spain . Novell said pronunciation and some grammar are different in Spain than Latin America, but she is not teaching the variations because the students are accustomed to Latin American Spanish. Novell added that there are no curriculum changes. “This class is based on a book (“Realidades II”) that provides appropriate grammar and vocabulary lessons,” she said. “I plan on sticking to that book. I like the order it introduces certain subjects.” Novell said she also shows videos about current Spanish music and culture to keep the students interested in what they’re learning. Another Spanish II student, who requested anonymity, said they like the videos. “Using the videos, (Novell) relates (the class) to the real world and how we can use whatever we’re learning outside of the classroom,” the student said. “I also like her because she makes sure that everyone thoroughly understands whatever topic we’re learning before moving on.” Portillo said she’s unsure whether the high school will continue to have two Spanish teachers. However, Portillo has no plans to leave the school soon.
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