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This Wednesday, all students will meet in Carrington Hall to hear from Administrative Vice Principals Gary Gooch and Sophia Olliver about expectations, boundaries, and pathways to success at Sequoia in the areas of behavior, attendance, academic integrity, and campus safety. Each student completed a pre-test during Flex on Friday to help our VPs identify topics they may want to emphasize in their presentation. Understanding the rules and expectations makes everyone feel safer, which is foundational for successful learning to occur.
Likewise, the beginning of the year is a great time to clarify some common misconceptions we hear in the community. Here goes:
“Zero and 7th period are optional.”
Sequoia is able to offer a broad academic program which includes career academies, specialized electives, and a variety of pathways in core academic classes because of our 8-period bell schedule. Students are scheduled into 0 and 7th period classes in order to meet as many course requests as possible (>95% is typical). This wouldn’t be possible without having seven periods nor would it be possible to offer if 0 and 7th period were optional, even to scholar-athletes.
“The IB Programme is only for the most elite students.”
We encourage all students to take rigorous IB classes during 11th and 12th grades, including students who are traditionally underrepresented in IB or AP courses nationwide. Sixty to seventy percent of graduates from year to year pass at least one IB course. A school goal is to increase that number. What’s more, assessments in many non-IB courses are aligned to IB courses to encourage and support students who want to push themselves and “jump tracks.” Significant support is offered as part of the after-school program for students to be successful in IB classes. The characteristics of the IB Learner Profile make their way into many Sequoia classes. Most often, the IB Programme at Sequoia is confused with the IB Diploma Programme. In order to earn an IB Diploma, students must complete the most rigorous academic program offered at Sequoia, including multiple two-year honors-level IB courses, a special elective, hundreds of hours of community service, and an extended research paper.
“Approaching teachers with questions or concerns could backfire on my student.”
The average Sequoia faculty member has been teaching for over 14 years. Our partnership with new teacher certification institutions, such as the Stanford Teacher Education Program (STEP), align with the kind of learning we like to see - an emphasis on differentiated engagement strategies, and collaborative, student-centered pedagogy. Our staff is highly professional and, as such, recognizes the importance of student self-advocacy and parent/family partnership. Questions or concerns are almost always answered or resolved through a conversation between students and teachers, or between teachers and family. Sequoia’s teachers innovate and work together daily to provide relevant, engaging instruction. While it is always best to encourage students to be the ones to advocate for themselves, Sequoia teachers anticipate questions and are the best source for direct information about what’s happening in the classroom and with your student.
“They took away brunch.”
Changes to Sequoia’s bell schedule redistributed minutes to allow students more time between all classes throughout the day instead of just in the morning. In doing so, we learned through state auditors that our previous configuration, with an additional five minutes between the first two block periods, was non-compliant. More importanly, however, is the fact that students still have access to two no-cost meals each day. The first meal is served between 7:30-10:15 a.m. and can be picked up at food service windows in the main quad. Last year we served between 250-270 meals every morning. Thus far, our numbers look similar. “Brunch” is still very much in swing at Sequoia.
I did get a chuckle overhearing a group of seniors telling a ninth grader last week that we used to have a Belgian waffle bar every day. I wrote a note to track down the younger student next week and tell them the older kids were messing around.
Please make sure to talk to your student after Wednesday’s AVP presentation to see what other misconceptions were cleared up!
Have a great week!
Best,
Sean
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