Volume CVI, Issue 2
Walnut24 needs YOU!
KAYLA BOGGESS/CHATTERBOX
MICHELA RAHAIM/CHATTERBOX
ACT and SAT: By the Numbers Jessica Fan, ‘12 Josh Medrano, ‘13 News and Features Editors As part of the college admissions process, every graduating student must have a qualifying SAT and/or ACT score to go to the school of his or her choice. Accordingly, over 1.5 million students showed modest yet compelling results on their college entrance exams this year. SENIOR Abby Janke is one of the eighteen local high school students who aced the 2011 ACT test. Of the 1.6 million students who took the ACT only 704 reached the highest possible score of 36. The College Board, on the other hand, reported that out of 1.5 million students who took the 2010 SAT, only 382 earned the perfect score of 2400. While the rate of perfect scores has been increasing, many school officials were dismayed to find that about three quarters of the nation’s high school students are not “college-ready.” That is, 1.2 million students failed one or more of the benchmarks tested in the ACT. Similarly, The College
Tuition to attend Walnut? Ayana Rowe, ‘12 Copy Editor Of all the public high schools in Ohio, Walnut Hills High School stands out as one of the best. Despite being a public high school, about 100 families living out of district pay tuition for their children to attend Walnut Hills. Why would parents pay tuition just to send their child to
Board reported that about 57% failed its benchmarks for college readiness. Janke, however, notes that there is a difference between SAT and ACT: “ACT measures achievement and the materials you get from your coursework whereas the SAT is more of an aptitude test.” Meanwhile, the class of 2011 nationwide recorded the lowest SAT reading scores ever, as well as the lowest combined score of math and writing since 1995. The College Board attributed this to the fact that the class was “the largest and most diverse class in history.” In addition, more than a quarter of the test-takers did not speak English as their native language, 44 percent were first-generation college students, and one in five came from lowincome families. Walnut’s 2011 average composite score of 1729 did drop from last year’s score of 1772, but is still notably higher than any of the national average composite score by more than 200 points. With average scores of 591 in reading, 571 in math and 567 in writing, Walnut still exceeded the national averages by a significant margin and continues to prepare its students, including Janke, for their next step, whatever that may be. a public high school? The most apparent factor is the tuition fees at other schools. Cincinnati Public Schools offers out-of-district tuition at a price just over $6,000 and out-of-state at approximately $10,000. Compare that to the annual tuition of the St. Xavier boys ($11,000), for McAuley girls ($9,500) and Summit Country Day ($18,000). All of these numbers, except Summit Country Day’s, waver around CPS’ tuition fee for an out-ofstate student. The Chatterbox found that
October 12, 2011
Kayla Boggess, ‘14 Staff Writer Are you playing a sport? A member of the Boo Radley Society? Or maybe a part of the Junior Classical League? Are you a reporter for the Chatterbox? Many students participate in the large pool of clubs and programs at Walnut, but with budget cuts and the current state of the economy, the number of extracurricular activities could dwindle if nothing is done. This year, the Walnut24 Walkathon event aims to raise over $125,000 for the funding of Walnut’s over 100 programs; the goal is for each student is to raise $50 to $75. Last year the Walkathon raised over $70,000.
All of the proceeds will go to club advisers and coaches, without whom there would be no sports teams or clubs. Some rules have been changed and others will be more carefully enforced this year to ensure student safety. These changes include keeping food and drinks off of the football field because of the current football season, providing large communal tents for those who are spending the night while also allowing personal tents as long as they are stationed in the family section of the field with adult supervision. Even with these changes the event should be just as exciting as last year, with entertainment like DJ Shoeshine, the Steel Drum Band, Amanda & the Amoebas, 46 Long, the Social Rejects Club, movies that will be playing all
night, contests and games. Teams will be competing each other for awards, such as best uniforms, most laps walked and many more. The biggest contest prizes, however, are awarded to teams or individuals who contribute the most money. There will be food stands available during the course of the event, including Buffalo Wild Wings, Habañero to Go, Graeter’s and Kona Shaved Ice. In addition, there will be high-end coffee stands, like Starbucks Coffee and Green Mountain Coffee, to keep walkers awake all night. So whether it be sponsoring, forming a team of walkers or simply just buying a t-shirt, everyone should join in! The Walkathon will be held at the Marx Stadium on October 16 to 17.
Music is in the Air The Renovation
The Recital space will be state-of-the-art, with a dedicated lobby. Garret Oester, ‘14 Business Manager
SHP LEADING DESIGN
For the approximately 1000 students and faculty who participate in the music program at Walnut Hills High School, the new two-floor music wing is on the way. It will contain five classrooms, multiple spaces for private lessons, two workrooms and a 125-seat recital space, with a lobby which will feature seating,
display cases and a ticket window with a concessions stand. The building will adopt a classical yet modern theme with muted blues, yellows and woods to lighten and enliven the building. All of the classrooms will have recording capabilities. There are also more storage rooms to hold the plethora of instruments, uniforms and other materials. Two new ensemble rooms will also be added.
Alumni Foundation Executive Director Debbie Heldman says that this room is “where the small ensembles could be taken to... deal with one part. [It is] dedicated to fine tuning parts of the whole.” Another new space is the Multimedia Production Room, a computer lab dedicated to music production and mixing. As for the faculty, an office space will be included with a kitchenette and conference table.
Walnut performed better than its sister schools on the SAT and ACT tests 2009-10. On the SAT, the average for CPS was 1042 (out of 1600), while Walnut students scored an average of about 1200; Clark Montessori followed Walnut by 206 points. On the ACT, Walnut students earned a score of 26 (out of 32), eight points higher than the district’s average (18). According to this data, the obvious choice for parents concerned with academic excellence would be Walnut Hills High School.
To further put a value to the tuition, the Chatterbox has compared National Merit standings among these schools. This past year Walnut commended 21 seniors as National Merit SemiFinalists (NMSF), in contrast to McAuley’s sole finalist, and the empty-handed Summit Country Day. And while St. Xavier had 10 NMSF this school year, it still does not quite measure up to Walnut Hills’ excellence. Therefore, higher tuition does not lead to higher grades. On the contrary, even with its low
tuition, Walnut has produced an advanced group of students consistently.
Illustrations by JP Schmitz