Choate Rosemary Hall 333 Christian Street Wallingford, CT VOL. CXIII · NO. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER , THECHOATENEWS.CHOATE.EDU CONFERENCE SHIFTS, AND STUDENTS CHANGE THEIR HABITS By Claire Yuan ’21 Since classes began, stu- Copy Editor dents have debated the sched- ule revision. Many miss the op- In the frst few weeks of portunity provided by an earlier school, returning students no- Conference block to grab break- ticed a shift in the class sched- fast when it was still relatively ule, most notably that the early in the morning. Alex Nam 30-minute Conference period ’21 said, “We did ask for more now begins at 10:30 a.m., and time during the lunch peri- not roughly an hour earlier, as it od, but if you don’t have early did last year and the year before. lunch, it’s just an awkward 30 This new schedule comes minutes. The placement is very on the heels of the larger awkward compared to last year schedule change made in 2017, when students could get break- when the School lengthened its fast.” Although that option no 45-minute classes to 70 min- longer exists — and students utes. Mr. Deron Chang, Direc- who want to eat breakfast need tor of Curricular Initiatives, to do so before classes be- was a driving force behind this gin at 8:00 a.m. — the School year’s tweaks. “We knew when has agreed to provide bagels we instituted the first iteration throughout the day in both the of a long block schedule that Dining Hall and Lanphier Café. we would need to revisit it,” he The other changes to the said. “You can almost never be daily class schedule include sure about a schedule until you flipping the early and late lunch actually live it.” blocks from the previous year Photo courtesy of David Schamis Some students have spec- and creating a flexible block on Varsity Football's five-year win streak came to an end last week, when the team lost to St. Thomas More 34-9. ulated that the School moved Wednesday for form, Wellness, Conference to later in the adviser, and College Counsel- morning so that students could ing meetings from 10:30 a.m. no longer use the block to ex- to 11:40 a.m. The campus as a John Legend and the Team Behind His Visit tend a sleep-in. Mr. Chang whole seems amenable to these said this assumption isn’t true. relatively small adjustments. By Niki Gummadi ’21 nowned singer-songwriter John Arts Center (PMAC). When the it,” Dr. Curtis said. He and “The primary reason for us “Ultimately, the number Copy Editor Legend will play a free concert PMAC was completed in 1972, other Choate administrators moving Conference was that one goal has to be designing for the Choate community in the the Boston Symphony Orchestra, wondered if the School could it made very little sense for us something that can allow stu- On September 3, during complex’s new auditorium. This featuring pianist Victor Borge, do something similar for the to have a break after only one dents to learn best,” Mr. Chang Convocation, Head of School Dr. performance is the culmination performed on the main stage. opening of Colony Hall. block,” he said. “We want to said. “It may make it a little dif- Alex Curtis announced a series of almost a year of planning, in- Four years later, in 1976, anoth- Soon, Mr. George Colony ’72, avoid a situation in which stu- ficult here and there, but that is of events set to take place during volving people from across the er performer rocked the PMAC Chair of the School’s Board of dents have three consecutive so we can maximize [students’] the frst weekend of October to School and beyond. stage — Bruce Springsteen. Trustees and C.E.O. of Forrest- classes.” The later Conference ability to learn.” celebrate the opening of Ann & The idea of hosting a concert “The students that were er Research, a market-research block may also help alleviate George Colony Hall. One event in Colony Hall has its origins in there, even 40 years later, lunchtime crowding by provid- Claire Yuan may be reached stuck out: on October 3, re- the opening of the Paul Mellon they’re still telling me about See Legend, Page 2 ing a longer early lunch slot. at [email protected] CHOATE UNVEILS ENHANCED EMERGENCY RESPONSE APP to share their safety status via be found in the entire system. text messaging or the app. “We probably would need to The RAVE Guardian app test [it] a few more times to allows customization — users make sure that it’s working ex- can create their own emer- actly the way that we want [it] gency contacts and set their to,” she said. preferred notification radius Javier Castillo ’20, a pre- — and has six main features, fect in Memorial House, stat- including a call directory and ed that, “I think that we saw a list of emergency procedures. in the lockdown drill last week The entire system is “more us- that the school is ramping up er-friendly and more dynam- the levels of communication ic,” said Director of Communi- to a student to make sure that cations Ms. Alison Cady. each and every one is informed The School acknowledges of the situation; RAVE helps by that, while it is an impressive providing another layer of re- piece of soft- sources.” ware, the RAVE And so, even app comes with as the School be- its shortcomings. The more user- gins to make use Of the four lay- friendly and of a technolog- ers of the emer- dynamic system ically-advanced gency protocol — emergency app, SMS messaging, will accelerate individual prepa- emailing, calling Choate's ration is critical mobile phones, emergency to ensure the and sending response time. safety of all stu- messages to dents. Ms. Cady Graphic by Sesame Gaetsaloe/The Choate News The new RAVE app was introduced to students at the year's first school meeting on September 10. speaker systems said, “The most (or calling class- important thing By JeeHwan Kim ’21 load the RAVE Guardian app, past year for its implementa- inundate the poles of carriers, room phones) — Mitel still that we can do in response Copy Editor one of the components of the tion over the summer. which led the older systems to dictates the speaker systems to a crisis is actually before new system. The impetus for the tran- operate slowly at during peri- aspect. “There are limitations the crisis happens — that’s This year, the School trans- Prior to RAVE Alert, the sition came from the gener- ods of high traffic. to us getting messages to the to be prepared, to review our ferred to a new notification School used the Mitel Mass al slowness of the Mitel Mass Beyond speed, the notifica- far reaches of campus where procedures, understand how system, RAVE Alert, recog- Notification system, more Notification system. “The old tion system offers several other we might not have Wi-Fi signal we’re going to get messages, nizing the importance during commonly known as Blaze- system could take up to nine improvements. The SMS com- or connection,” said Ms. Cady. and practice the drills.” The emergency situations for every Cast. According to Director of minutes to get the message out ponent of the RAVE Alert sys- In the coming years, Mr. Spey- aim, she said, must be to gain member of the Choate com- Information Technology Ser- completely to all the different tem signs up everyone in the er hopes to eventually replace “much more muscle memory munity to not only receive vices Mr. Andrew Speyer, the spaces,” said Mr. Speyer. “We Choate community by default, the phone system with a cloud- and understanding of how we some type of notification but transition process began two wanted something that would unlike the old system, which based system to stop using Mi- should respond.” to take correct action. During years ago, and Choate began get us about three to six min- required an opt-in. RAVE Alert tel completely. the year’s first school meeting, granting funds towards the de- utes.” The RAVE Alert system also facilitates international Moreover, Ms. Cady ac- JeeHwan Kim may be reached students were asked to down- velopment of the program this is cloud-based and does not calling, and allows respondents knowledged that bugs may yet at [email protected] New Faculty Aboard Walmart and Guns What’s Choate welcomes Is the superstore's new Inside 18 new faculty School gun-sales policy anything News......................................1-2 members to campus. Local News....................................3 BREAKFAST SERVED ALL DAY more than a marketing ploy? Opinions: Campus ........................... 4 Opinions: Nation/World .................. 5 DELIVERY AVAILABLE School News • P2 Opinions N/W • P5 Features .......................................... 6 Arts and Leisure ...............................7 Sports .............................................. 8 Roman Holiday Read it, then recycle it. The Hill House Diaspora Last summer, the Symphony Students and advisers adjust to Orchestra embarked on a new housing afer the fire. Visuals by Choate Flickr, long-awaited concert tour of Italy. NBC Connecticut, CNN, and (203) 269-9507 Local News • P3 Arts and Leisure • P7 Mr. Phil Ventre. WWW.COLONYDINER.COM PAGE 2 || THE CHOATE NEWS FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER , MS. TANISHA CLARK MR. AUSTIN SANCHEZ-MORAN MR. NICK TAGGE Ms. Tanisha Clark, a new assistant athletic trainer, joined A graduate of Rhode Island’s St. George’s School and Virginia’s A new addition to Choate’s Math Department, Mr. Nick Choate this fall after studying anatomy and training preparation George Mason University, and formerly on the faculty of Maine’s Tagge teaches Precalculus and Calculus, Honors.