By Ethan Wang
Staff Writer
Tardy Policies
Starting this semester, students who receive 10 tardies will be required to attend one day of Saturday school, as opposed to the 20 required last school year.
“When I go into classrooms and see kids coming in late, I’ve already noticed a lot of things they’ve missed,” Principal Elena Li said. “When they come in late, they’re lost because they already missed the beginning of the lesson. That’s a huge part of why attendance is important.”
Saturday school sessions take place on select Saturdays from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Failure to attend could result in further disciplinary action and restrictions from participating in extracurricular activities.
This move reflects a broader trend to adopt CARE culture, an acronym for communication, accountability, respect and empathy. These attendance policies aim to foster accountability.
“When we came back from Covid, we were trying to be sensitive to the kids adjusting back,” Li said. “We weren’t as strict about tardies, but now we’re getting further along and we need to set boundaries. Part of those boundaries is getting to class on time.”
Homeroom
All students met with their Homeroom starting on Monday, Aug. 25, and continued Tuesday, Thursday and Friday of that week, with subsequent meetings taking place the first Wednesday of each month. This schedule seeks to establish regular contact between students and their homeroom teachers.
The course follows a curriculum centered around CARE culture, and provides an adult students can ask questions to. Each class is organized by grade level and counselor, allowing the counselors to easily meet with students.
“We’re hoping to educate kids at their grade levels,” Principal Elena Li said. “What freshmen need to hear are very different because they just started high school. Our seniors need to know what to do to get ready to leave.”
Although it is similar to RAMS advisory from last school year, Homeroom’s curriculum builds on the topics RAMS covered.
“There are some aspects similar to RAMS,” Assistant Principal Scott Sherman said. “However, we are bringing in mental health strategies that weren’t part of RAMS to bolster our student population’s ability to cope with different parts of their lives.”
Culinary
Culinary was added as a separate course at the beginning of this school year. Students are currently taking Culinary I, with Culinary II and III set to be introduced in subsequent years.
“I used to focus on Business and Culinary, but this year it’s straight Culinary,” Culinary teacher Benjamin Pando said. “It’s going to be a pathway, so that’s why we don’t have a lot of seniors in the class. We want to create opportunities for students to continue. If they want to take the second level, we would have a course for them.”
The administration decided to create a separate culinary program, splitting the Business Marketing class, which is no longer offered, into Culinary and Business Entrepreneurship. Business Marketing consisted of multiple subjects, including culinary, fashion and business. The class was separated to create pathways towards each of the specific industries.
“Culinary is a really fun class,” junior Mara Taylor said. “The teacher, Mr. Pando,
is amazing. So far, we’ve been getting a basis of what the kitchens are like and taking notes on food safety.”
The program aims to help students learn about the food industry, the goal being Culinary III students opening a cafe on campus.