Draft 2

May 21, 2010

Volume 107, Issue 3

The Students Speak Reaccreditation

By Kelly McNeil Editor-In-Chief

The Holy Trinity, Harvard, Yale, Princeton, reign as the “crème de la crème” around the world

The Big Three: Why? [INSERT TEXT HERE]

By Zoey Erdenebileg

field hockey photo by charles garrettson; football photo by ryan erenstein/staff; textbook photo by ryan erenstein/staff

Executive Editor In days gone by, Hill was an especially W.A.S.P-y (White Anglo Saxon Protestant) school. Hill students came from the top social class and, generally, from families of means, usually old means. Boys aiming to become business leaders and continue their families’ legacies came here and easily carried on to Harvard, Yale, or Princeton: it was just the next step. For them, it was a question of “Which one should I pick?” Usually, it was the one where Father went.

These days, the question for Hill students has changed. Now, it’s “Why didn’t I get in?” Hill has all the opportunities for its students; therefore it is an enduring mystery why Harvard, Yale, and Princeton don’t seem particularly interested in us. An interview with a former Yale admissions officer could hold the answer.

Trivia Fact: According to the Dial, the Sixth Form class of 1910 had 2 students matriculate to Harvard, 22 to Yale and 12 to Princeton. The ne’er do wells attended Williams, Amherst, Cornell, M.I.T and Dartmouth. Fast forward to 1986, with again, 2 students to Harvard, 1 to Yale and none to Princeton. In 2010 there was one acceptance from Harvard and one acceptance from Princeton – and it happened to be the same guy. No love from Yale, fourth year in a row.

This small success for Hill with the Big Three has a lot of the concerned underformers, parents, and members

of the Board of Trustees posing the question: “Why not?” The answer is complicated, multilayered and has as much to do with the various nuances of social change as much as anything else.

In 1910, there were far fewer people applying to colleges. College was a luxury for the select few who were either smart enough or rich enough or both. Before World War II, about 10 percent of U.S. high school graduates went to college. That changed after the war with the G.I. Bill, and then the women’s movement and then the Civil Rights movement. A small, insular pool of candidates evolved into a large, multicultural amorphous group.

In the 2010 job market, a college degree is a necessity for most occupations. With the specialization of occupations, and the skills needed to succeed in a technology-driven world, education is essential for a comfortable life. Moreover, the Baby Boomers of the post World War II-era dramatically increased the competition, driving acceptance rates at colleges down to abysmal percentages.

Every year colleges report an increase in the qualifications among their applicants. Grade point averages

edge closer to 4.0 and the S.A.T. (a test supposed to equalize millions of high school seniors) becomes ever more futile. With the so-called “inflation” of grades and test scores, colleges have begun to look more closely at other parts of the application to differentiate among applicants. The Harvard website says: “There is no formula for gaining admission….Students with vastly different credentials come from thousands of secondary schools across the country and around the world.

What unifies our students are the talents they bring to Harvard and the passion to explore its vast resources.”

An obscure “talent” or an extraordinary “passion,” they claim, is the key.

This, said the retired Yale University admissions officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, is an important qualification now that almost all Yale applicants have stratospheric grades and tests scores. It’s those passions and talents now that set applicants apart.

“For me, what always made a candidate stand out were his or her extracurricular activities,” he said. “We got many students with 4.0 GPAs and fantastic SAT and AP scores, but in a sea of kids like that, it’s what else they do that makes them interesting.”

See College on page 3

Comparing Numbers 1910 Harvard Yale Princeton

2 22 12

2010 0 0 1

Reaccreditation descended upon Hill in a flurry of emails, visitors, and harmless bemusement on the part of most students. Once students were more informed about some of the issues the school had tried to improve upon in the past and were trying to improve on now, students couldn’t stop talking. Reaccreditation topics were the subject of dorm and lunch table discussion, and the students the Hill News interviewed expressed some very strong opinions on what they think about the topics, past and present, and what they think could be done to improve. So, in simplified terms, here’s what select members of the student body (all anonymous, due to some rather scathing criticism) think about “plans for growth and improvement.”

Point One: Improved Academic Achievement “I mean, you’re always going to have slackers in the classroom, but in the push to improve I think the smart kids seem to be getting the brunt of the pressure, not the people who need it,” says one 5th form boy in honors English. “I feel like saying ‘we want our students to get better grades’ is almost a cop out. It takes attention away from other more important improvements that could be made.”

Another 5th former agreed with his sentiment: “I think a lot of things are wrong with this school, but none of the things they said they want to improve are the things that are really wrong. ‘Academic achievement?’ Really? I’m actually kinda disappointed.”

“Academic performance?” spouts an even more disgruntled 6th former.

“Something has been done to improve that? People seem to have more work and less free time, and in turn a lot more stress. More of my friends (both upperclassmen and lowerclassmen) have been mentally breaking down this year than I can remember. They don’t seem to be helping us except for giving us more work.”

See CAmpus on page 3

The Hill News

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Vol. 107, Issue 3 Editor-in-chief Kelly McNeil executive editors Steven Gu Zoey Erdenebileg News Editor M. Dinora Smith Photography Editor Ryan Erenstein Staff Writers PJ Mara Cassie Borelly Garvin Chan Maura D’Amico Sam Hernan Kathryn Walsh MJ Kwon Kara Beckman Melissa Lee Emma Woodcock Eddie Lee Christine Oh Ji Young Park Joseph Flanagan Jin Limb Jay Knighton Joshua Ko Faculty advisors Tony Reid Nate Yinger Headmaster David R. Dougherty The opinions and attitudes expressed in this issue do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Hill News, its editors and staff or the Hill School.

OPINION M. DINORA SMITH

to practice and your scores will leap higher very quickly.

Second, get as much of your application done as you can before you come back to school in September.

Fill out your Common App online in August, most importantly your col ow that the final decisions lege essay. While it does sound like a

have come out and the Sixth pain, your teachers don’t take mercy

Form is at the threshold of on you in the fall term because you the new chapter of life called college, need to complete applications. Senior we give you these pearls of wisdom to Fall is arguably the roughest term help you in your application process of your Hill career with deadlines, which approaches much more swiftly classes and interviews. Also, the than you think. This letter is mainly grades you earn in this term are usuto the Fifth Form, those with their ally the last that colleges see before feet closest to the fire of the hell that they make their decisions. Lighten is applying into college. Okay, so it your load a bit by completing as really wasn’t that bad, but the process much of your application as possible must be taken seriously. These are a before school starts so that you can few tidbits of information that many focus on achieving a high GPA that of us wished we had before we began first term. On that note, once you’re this process. all back in September, be sure to use First, the SATs are a very importhe Writing Center for guidance. The tant part of your application. Despite Doctors will help you with your esyour college advisor’s best efforts says immensely. to convince you they are not vital, which is a harmless way to keep you from worrying too much, your scores on these tests must be your personal best. Take the SATs a few times, and Underformer’s worst enemy prepare as much as you can. The SAT course offered at school can be helpful, but the bottom line is the amount of work you put into it is the amount you get out. Take time out of each day

To The Class of 2011

N

Your Letters

JON FONT

[INSERT TITLE HERE]

How to submit The Hill News welcomes e-mail from its readers. Anyone wishing to com ment on any story in the paper should send an e-mail to:

hillnews@thehill.org Letters may be edited for content or shortened to fit the allotted space.

Special Thanks To: Kelly McNeil You’re dedication to the paper is invaluable. From on-the-dot articles to long hours up in the Writing Center, you have set an example for Editors-in-Chiefs to come.

Dinora Smith Your ideas for articles and humor make even the most dull news meetings enjoyable. Best of luck at St. Andrews in Scotland!

Zoey Erdenebileg Through your brutal honesty and sharp wit, you have shaped The Hill News into a quality newspaper for everyone to enjoy.

We will miss you all!

The Hill News Team

H

ill is a traditional place, both

in philosophy and in practice.

Think of chapel talks; of coats and ties; of seated meals; of the Sixth Form dinner. All have been handed down from one generation to the next through the ages, and that process and these things serve to define the character of the school. The Hill School respects the idea of tradition – that customs from the past are worth preserving – and yet, it is dynamic, able to apply new ideas that reflect our ever-changing times.

Some traditions, alas, outlive their pertinence, and certainly, we can argue about whether that’s true of a few already mentioned. Should we be wearing coats and ties when the powerbrokers on Wall Street shed them a decade ago? Should we be going to a Protestant chapel when the religious makeup of the school’s population has long since exceeded that narrow boundary? We’ll save those debates for another day. The tradition we want to deal with today is the prefect system, a relic that has become unnecessary in its current form.

In days gone by, when the forms were grouped together in dorms, prefects served as monitors and advisers for underformers. In the original set-up, the hall masters, as dorm parents were then known, got to choose which rising 6th formers would lead their halls. The idea was that hall masters would choose students with whom they had a relationship so all could work The way the dorms were structured made it necessary for such a prefecting system.

Our community is constantly changing, and our community must evolve to fill the needs of its time.

This fact makes most rules and traditions subject to change. The switch to vertical housing came abruptly, yet it was a necessary adaptation to accommodate the admissions process, the changing demographics of our student body, and the dormitory set-up.

This switch to vertical housing provided a unique opportunity. The presence of 6th formers on each hall provides upperclassmen with the opportunity to be leaders. In the same manner that one would guide a younger sibling, these older students would direct, advise, and counsel the underformers. Bestowing this responsibility upon all older students would essentially make the presence of prefects redundant.

If clearly given this responsibility, these older students would rise to the occasion. Raise the bar and they will strive to reach it. Also, by providing

The third and final piece of general advice is to seriously consider Early Action or Decision. Many sixth formers recommended it to relieve your acceptance worries early in the year.

The earlier you get your decisions back, the less worry you have, and less application paperwork. Once you know where you’re going to college, the world seems more relaxed. No, this does not mean your senior slide; it’s the security of knowing what’s coming up next in your life.

Do not let any of this advice intimidate you. Everyone in your life, from your parents to your teachers, wants you to succeed in this process. Find the college that best suits you, and try to relive yourself of as much admissions stress as possible. Fill out the Common App early, get amazing SAT scores, and keep the level of work to a minimum. This experience is not meant to trick you, it is meant to help you attend the school that’s right for you. Above all, college is what you make it. If you sulk through your first year because you’re not at Harvard, then you definitely will be miserable. Whatever way the winding road of admissions takes you, complete your Hill career knowing you tried your best, and that’s all you can do.

everyone with the same opportunity, the best natural leaders would rise to the top providing for the best leadership on the hall, not just the students a committee thinks would do the best job. This system would eliminate the need for the Residential Life Committee to choose those whom they deem best fit to be prefects, and then, all the controversy that inevitably follows those decisions. Everyone knows someone whom they believe should have gotten the position, and someone whom they believe should not have. And in some cases, they’re right. Some may argue that without one clear individual to assume a responsibility, the job will not get done. However, consider our existing Honor System.Implementing our Honor System is not the responsibility of one specific individual, and yet it is a responsibility accepted by each and every one of us. It works not because of the efforts of a few people, but because of the collaboration of the school as a whole.

I have served as a prefect this past year and I genuinely believe that many of my peers, especially those who are older and more mature, exercise the same good judgment and decision making as those individuals who have been chosen as prefects and who could have contributed in a worthwhile manner if they had been given the responsibility. I often feel uncomfortable “prefecting” other

See PRefect on page 3

photos by ryan erenstein/staff

Page Two

Volume 107, Issue 3

The Hill News

May 21, 2010 Prefect, from PaGe 2 6th formers because I view them as fellow peers. The fact that our peers are on the hall, our social equals in age, status, and responsibility, creates a difficult dynamic for prefects.

In one of the prefect meetings earlier this year, Mrs. Dougherty said, “Prefects act as the bridge between the faculty and the student body”. Imagine having the entire 6th form class as a bridge instead of a select group of 6th formers. This would allow for better student-faculty relations and would include the entire 6th form as members of the leadership of our school.

“Spread way too thing” could be Hill students’ mantra Responsible change should always occur in a slow and thoughtful manner with all points of view being carefully evaluated and considered. I am not proposing immediate elimination of the existing system, but rather a slow evolution whereby 6th formers are systematically given more responsibility while prefects see a reduction in the demands placed upon them.

This subtle progression would give all involved individuals more time to adjust to their changing roles and would permit restructuring of the system to evolve in a more natural and palatable manner. Tradition simply lays the foundation upon which we build needed change.

College, from PaGe 1 This of course runs in opposition to the days when HYP took boarding school students because of their social position or, later, because boarding schools were thought to offer superior college preparatory academic programs. While it is true that a Hill education will test a student, that may not be what matters when it comes time to be one of the 7 percent or so of students that HYP accepts.

“I never paid much attention to what type of school an applicant went to when I reviewed applications,” the Yale source said. “Of course, I did note the difference between the difficulty level of a boarding school and, say, a public school, having worked at a boarding school, but that was about all I considered. For me it wasn’t a strike for or a strike against a particular student.”

So it’s not Hill itself that works for or against its students, but it might be Hill’s philosophy. The school is committed to the liberal arts and in giving its students the broadest possible education. So a student good in English but bad in science still has to slog his way through chemistry. But perhaps more importantly, a student who, say, plays the violin well but has no athletic ability or interest still has to spend time away from the practice room and on the practice field.

“One reason I would mark a strike

Campus, from PaGe 2 Point Two: Improved Student Leadership Says one 6th form girl in a leadership position: “I mean, I think that Alex Hero’s influence on the new schedule has improved the status of student leadership and given the student body the idea that we really are listened to, but I don’t think it’s going to be a reoccurring thing, unfortunately. To me the positive reaction to the new schedule seems like it should send a message to the administration that we should be listened to because we actually have good ideas. But will it help? Probably not.”

“We have a lot of student leadership positions, but all of the same people seem to fill them,” gripes a 4th former.

“It would be nice to have some variety instead of having, [for example], one 6th form girl holding four leadership positions.”

“I think student leadership has improved, actually,” a 5th former contributed. “It seems to be taken a lot more seriously than before, which I think is great.”

photo by joshua ko/staff

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Point Three: Enhanced Community Relationships (specifically the areas of weekends at Hill, community involvement, and community service) The school has stated that the weekend presence of students on campus “is an indirect indicator of the strength and health of the campus community.” Here’s what students had to say: Opines a 5th form girl in Dutch: “I think the administration’s got it

against an applicant was because there was a lack of specialization on the student’s part,” the Yale source said. “Many kids -- especially those I saw from boarding schools -- seemed to be spread way too thin, obviously trying to cram in sports and other things like yearbook and band to try and make themselves more appealing to colleges. To me, it was always more important that a student be passionate and skilled at a few things than to try and do everything at once.”

“Spread way too thin” could be Hill students’ mantra. From the morning to the afternoon, students are committed to classes, sports, activities, required events, meals and meetings.

Hill kids are required to do a million things in one day. This may make them well-rounded but lacking the one specific attribute that would make them a viable candidate for HYP. Craig Allen, Hill’s director of college advising, said this shift away from the generalist and toward the candidate with a specific skill “has been the biggest difference in college admissions in the last 20 years.” He went on to say that Hill’s traditional approach to education “perhaps provides an extra bit of challenge to students in the college admissions process…We still believe in sports requirements and that you have be in the dorm at a certain time…”

Take, for example, the afternoon activity requirement. Hill expects a student to do at least one interscholastic sport each year. For the artist or the scholar, that obligation takes time from their demonstrated interest or “passion” for one specific subject or area. Instead of working on his or her portfolio, an artist, for example, is compelled to compete in a sport or manage a team for at least one term.

Then again, the argument also runs that most teenagers have not developed extreme passions yet and do not yet know what they want. If they don’t know, how could the colleges know what they’re actually getting.

It is hopeless to try to pinpoint what Harvard, Yale, and Princeton want from applicants. Those schools “are going to do what they need to do as institutions. We cannot affect that,” Allen said. Consequently, the Hill college office stresses the importance of “fit” – a frustrating concept when all one might want to do is attend a highly ranked school. But perhaps the question should not be why Hill students are not gaining admittance to Harvard, Yale and Princeton, but rather why these schools matter so much. As institutions, the things they value seem to be the very things that Hill does not.

wrong: I go home because I miss home, I don’t go home because I hate Hill. I just don’t want to be stuck here all the time, and I miss my family a lot.”

“I can appreciate the school’s eagerness to improve our Hill community, but if they make any more closed weekends I’ll scream!” laughs a 4th former at the Grille. “You can’t just expect us to grow closer together by making us stay here on the weekends.”

“As a day student,” a 3rd former says.

“I have a lot of respect for boarders.

True, their life is a little bit easier, but I think living here everyday for weeks on end would be unhealthy or something without a break to go home.”

Next up, community involvement.

The school wants an “increase in the number of students taking advantage of the cultural resources and opportunities available by virtue of the school’s location.”

“We don’t really do anything in the community,” a 5th former tells me. “To me we’re never really offered opportunities to go into Pottstown in a positive way; we’re told to not walk into it on our own. We’re not particularly inviting, either. With all the gates and security and air of isolationism, I think we seem to cut the Pottstown community out. The school seems to be sending a dual message: Pottstown isn’t dangerous, but don’t go into it past Its and don’t leave campus alone.

I think that we need to get more in touch with getting out there and inviting them in here.”

Complains a 4th former: “Day trips into New York and Philly are hard be-

cause Sunday is really the only day you can do it, and Sunday you want to sleep in , and usually you have a lot of work to do for the upcoming week. I would to different cities around here if I had more time, but that’s not going to happen anytime soon, so I won’t be traveling very far very often.”

And the final section, community service.

“I like community service,” says another 3rd former. “I volunteer with my church at home. I think it would be helpful if we could be given more opportunities. I don’t have time to volunteer on my own, considering sports and academics. I think more community service days as a school would be really nice.”

Says a 5th form girl: “I did community service for a term, but I would like to do more of it. It’s almost impossible to volunteer outside the school; I tried when I was a day student. I don’t know what the school could do to fix it so that we could have more opportunities or something, but if they fixed it that would be good.”

Improved academic achievement, improved student leadership, and enhanced community relations: genuine issues facing the school or “cop outs?”

Students interviewed differed greatly in opinion about these two views, but all expressed a need for change. Overall, the students expressed a strong desire for the school to improve, not out of hate for the school, but so that our “city on the Hill” can reach its full potential.

The Hill News

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Volume 107, Issue 3

You Say Goodbye, and I say Hello Leaving and New Faculty

By Zoey Erdenebileg Executive Editor While sixth formers dive into the Dell and the underformers dot their i’s and cross their t’s on final exams, certain faculty members say “Goodbye Hill” as well. Hardest hit departments are Modern Languages and Sciences with both areas replacing senior faculty members as well as those young, novice teachers.

The Modern Languages department will be losing the entire Spanish branch of teachers. Mr. Lagor, head of the department comments, “The MLD is being re-staffed appropriately, and we have filled 2 positions in Spanish and 1 in French. We still have 1 Spanish teacher to hire…This is a great opportunity to make changes and adjustments to our program, to increase our awareness of the use of technology in the language classroom, and to capitalize on the energy that invariably comes with change. It is also a wonderful time to celebrate the contributions of those colleagues who are leaving the department.” This year marks the final classes for Mrs. Maria Adinolfi, Ms. K. Adia Jahi Denalle and Ms. Heather Olney.

Mrs. Adinolfi takes a long needed

rest after having served the school as an instructor of Spanish for twentyfour years. She had served on several Committees while at Hill, including Honor Council and was once a dorm parent in Dell. Her husband, Mr. Richard Adinolfi, was a Trainer and published his book Self Massage Plus while at Hill (available for purchase at the Campus Store and Amazon.com).

Ms. Denalle has taught both French and Spanish at Hill since 2004. She has been known for her talent of linguistics – citing Swahili, Portuguese, Chinese and Arabic to her list of spoken languages. Ms. Denalle leaves us with mystery as she will not say where she is going, or what she will be doing.

Ms. Olney taught several classes of Spanish as well as a beloved dorm parent. She has also been a vital part of Girl’s Ice Hockey as Head Coach, an up and coming sport on campus. Additionally, she has served as Assistant Coach for Girl’s Cross Country.

The Science Department also suffers huge losses with the exits of Mr. and Mrs. Pine, Mrs. Laucks, Mr. Levitt and Ms. Giffin. Mr. Nelson stated “I’m disappointed that so many members of our department are leaving…We will miss them all. As for the future, it’s always bright, as new faces always bring renewed energy and experiences.”

Mr. Pine has been a part of the Chemistry Department since 2000, teaching

Chemistry Honors to those wide eyed fourth formers. Mr. Pine has been instrumental to the development of the Girls Cross Country program, leading them to their most successful season this fall and a win over Lawrenceville Fall of 2008. His supportive coaching methods have more than doubled the number of cross country runners.

Mrs. Pine taught AP Psychology and various levels of Math. She was assistant coach on Girls Cross Country and is in such good shape that she should have been a member of the team. The Pines were, for a long time, dorm parents to sixth form girls in Rolfe. They have seen both of their daughters graduate from Hill. The Pines decided to change their locale and are packing their bags for the European life in Budapest, Hungary where they will teach at an international school.

Mrs. Laucks was known for a long time as Ms. Belanger until her marriage this past summer. She has been a Biology teacher at Hill since 2006 as well as J.V. Girls Soccer coach. She will to continue to teach Biology at The Tilton School in New Hampshire where she will also help her husband with his boating company.

Mr. Levitt and Ms. Giffin both arrived at Hill in fall of 2008. Since then, Mr. Levitt has made quite an impression with his love of physics and his odd collection of machetes and origami. Ms. Giffin was originally hired

as the Advisor to the Green Team, but later began to teach a section of Environmental Science Honors. Mr. Levitt and Ms. Giffin leave to pursue further education at Louisiana State University and New York University, respectively.

As of April 30, 2010, Hill has already hired six new faculty members. Ms. Blair Barnes comes from Lawrence Academy with M.A.’s in Spanish and French from Middlebury College. Ms. Lucretia Witte comes fresh off from Dartmouth College to teach Spanish as well. Mr. Seth Boyd arrives from St. Paul’s School as an instructor of English. Ms. Patrice Patrinostro has taught at Kent State and comes to Hill to teach Math. Ms. Mackenzie Pelletier also arrives after having received her diploma from Hamilton College in Economics and minor in Mathematics. Dr. Joshua Schmidt will teach Chemistry after having taught at Marianapolis Preparatory School in Connecticut since 2006.

Mr. William Robertson, Hill Class of 1992, returns to Hill as the new Director of Alumni Relations. Since graduating eighteen years ago, Mr. Robertson has received his B.A. from Duke University in Psychology. He has served Woodberry Forest School as the Director of the Annual Fund since 2006.

Reactions to the College Admission’s Process 72 people took this survey 67 people answered they were happy with their college process 5 Sixth Formers highly recommended applying Early Decision “Yes, definitely. By being rejected from my early decision school, I realized that there are other schools that I actually preferred. I got the opportunity to look into other cities as well as other programs and am satisfied, as well as happily surprised, to be heading to BU in the fall.”

photos by ryan erenstein/staff

“Yes and no. I wish I could redo it all now, not because I didn’t get into some of my schools, but because I just would have worked harder on the process in general.”

We asked the Sixth Form:

“Were you happy with your college process?”

“No. Hill did not do a good job with the athletics aspect of the college process. I had to do nearly everything on my own even though it is vital to coaches make calls and promote their players during the recruiting process.”

“I wish my college adviser allowed me to apply to my number one school despite the fact I had not visited there. I think if I was allowed to apply ED I would not be waitlisted there right now.”