After months of intensive research and success at district, county, and state-level competitions, more than 3,000 students from 50 states and seven international affiliates participated in the national competition at University of Maryland College Park Campus in the Washington, D.C. area June 11-15. In the Junior Division, Anne-Sophie was honored as a finalist in the Individual Performance category.
Under a light-filled tent, the members of the Class of 2017 were serenaded by faculty, applauded by friends and family, and awarded their diplomas by head of school Lee Thomsen.
After defeating Del Campo, Laguna Creek, Jesuit, Rio, St. Francis, and Natomas Pacific Pathways Prep, Country Day lost in the final to defending champion Elk Grove HS.
King Kuipers and Middle School teachers, with art teacher and Faire organizer Patricia Kelly (far right), pose in front of their castle at the 11th annual Renaissance Faire.
The celebration also marked the beginning of their study of California history, which includes an overnight visit to Sutter’s Fort in period dress and reenactment.
Headmaster Steve Repsher welcomed parents and friends to the Lower School closing ceremony, where each fifth grade student shared his or her favorite memory of Lower School and second grade students sang “Saying Goodbye” to their fifth-grade buddies. Three Lifer students from this year’s graduating class of 2016 were on the program and talked to the Lower School “graduates” about what they learned in Lower School.
SCDS 8th graders advanced to the National History Day State Championship in four of the five categories: Performance: Jackson; Website: Heloise and the Marisa/Anna team; Documentary: The Spencer/Michael team; and Paper: Anu and Aidan.
Kindergarten teacher Ms. Song dissected the fish and students learned the location of the fish’s gill fans, stomach, liver, heart, and backbone. Both kindergarten classes viewed female perch dissections, each having hundreds if not thousands of eggs.
Thirteen members of the Class of 2015 were asked many questions about their first semester in college. They spoke about the difficulties in living an hour from the nearest major city and the joys of roommates.
All in all, our most recent graduates have made an easy transition to exceptional colleges and universities, and are well on their way to remarkable and interesting degrees.
High School AP Computer Science students visit Lower School classes to teach basic programming. Using Minecraft, Star Wars, or characters from “Frozen,” students begin to code. Try it yourself at code.org
Country Day will join the Caring Schools Initiative (CSI) that seeks to elevate the importance of kindness and commitment to the public good and to promote concrete strategies designed to develop these capacities in our students.
Click on the website link to learn more about Making Caring Common (MCC)
The MCC mission aims to “help educators, parents, and communities raise children who are caring, respectful, and responsible toward others and their communities.”
Sophie Naylor, 10th grade, and Casey Vasquez, 7th grade, received first place awards at the Youth Art Month exhibit at the Crocker Art Museum. The exhibit is housed in the Education Center at the Museum.
High School students were on their hands and knees on Friday, October 14, reproducing works of art by ten different artists including Thiebaud, O’Keeffe, Magritte, Matisse, Rivera, Picasso, Van Gogh, de Chirico, Tiffany, and Hopper.
Two Country Day groups – the Cruise Boat Combo and the Gypsy Jazz Combo – traveled to Reno to compete in the Reno Jazz Festival. This festival is considered one of the top three most competitive festivals in the Western U.S., with over 8000 participants coming from six states throughout the west. The Gypsy Jazz Combo – Lily Brown, Keaton Ochoa, and Lucas Fishman – scored straight 1’s, 90 to 100 points out of 100, from all three judges and all three received medals. The Cruise Boat Combo earned the 2nd place trophy in the High School division for schools with fewer than 1000 students.
Congratulations to our CMEA State Solo/Ensemble Festival winners. Chardonnay Needler ‘19, Anny Schmidt ‘17, Vanessa Previsic ‘16, and Allison Zhang ‘19, earned a Gold rating last Friday at CSUS, performing a Haydn String quartet. Anny also received a Gold rating on her performance of the Seitz Concerto No. 3.
Take a moment to listen to Haydn String Quartet Opus 20 No. 4 in D Major played by Chardonnay, Anny, Vanessa, and Allison.
In February, students and teachers read stanzas from Dr. Seuss’s children’s book. Languages represented include Russian, Serbian, Modern and Ancient Greek, Korean, Hebrew, English, Spanish, German, Italian, French, Cantonese, Hindi, and more.
The day is filled with music, madrigals, monologues, skits, singing and dancing, and games and court trials.
The Middle School Hansen Plaza is transformed into a Renaissance village, where a classroom becomes a castle or an apothecary, merchants at booths hock their wares, and laughter abounds as games and performances delight all the guests. Seventh grade students and teachers are dressed in period costumes, and knights are at their best. A highlight for seventh-grade students is the outdoor feast put on by seventh-grade parents.
Junior Amalie Fackenthal and freshman Becca Waterson competed in the CIF Swimming and Diving State Championships in Clovis last weekend.
Congratulations to Amalie, who won State Championship titles in both the 50 Free (22.56) and the 100 Free (49.21). In addition, Amalie set a meet record during the prelims with a time in the 50 Free of 22.45.
Amalie’s first-place finishes, along with strong swimming by Becca in the 100 Fly and 100 Back, earned the Country Day team a 20th place overall finish out of the 75 women’s teams competing.
Seeded 23 of 26 in the first flight of the triple jump at Cal State Stanislaus, Heidi nailed a 35′ and won the flight. Seeded 2nd in the final flight, Heidi won the championship with a personal best jump of 35′11.25″.
At the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Championship, sophomore Amalie Fackenthal won the varsity 50 and 100 freestyle, breaking the section record in the 50 free. Freshman Joe Zales also placed, finishing in 5th place in the varsity 500-free.
In the Section Singles Tennis Championship in Stockton, senior Johann Dias came out the winner with a final three-set match, 4-6, 6-4, 6-0, over the top player from Colfax. Over the season, the 100 boys in the league playing singles were finally reduced to the top 14, two of whom were from Country Day: Johann and sophomore Nico Burns. Nico lost in the first round and Johann had to play two matches to win the title. Johann’s win gives Country Day the first individual male championship in any sport!
At the Sacramento State High School Track Classic, Heidi’s long jump of 17′ generated “wow’s” from the crowd, as well as a first place among the 20+ competitors.
In the men’s all-league ski awards, freshmen Luca Procida was 1st, followed by Ethan Hockridge, 4th. Junior Daniel Hernried was named 5th and senior Amelia Fineberg came in 5th in women’s ski.
The four skiers, plus snowboarder Aidan Cunningham, will represent SCDS at the California Nevada Interscholastic Ski and Snowboard Championships at Mt. Shasta the week of March 7.
Leading the Cavaliers baseball team to the playoffs, Chris Millsback was named all-league coach of the year by the other coaches in the Sacramento Metropolitan Athletic League.
