By Annie Nesbitt ’13, Contributor
This year, the Upper School has 25 new students: 20 freshmen and five sophomores. These students come from 41 different zip codes, with some switching from other schools in the area, and some moving from other parts of the globe. Four of the new students include Hailey Connor ’14, Jack Fridley ’14, Khreah Everett ’13, and Zack Higginbotham ’13.
Hailey Connor came to CCDS from Mariemont Junior High School. “I wanted to be able to get to know new people and get better opportunities,” she said. “I’m interested in sports, the play and the musical, and I haven’t gotten the list yet for all of the clubs,” she added. When she shadowed at CCDS, she thought “It was really fun [because] everyone was so nice to me.” However, Connor’s expectations were not up to par. “Truthfully,” she says, “I was expecting that no one would talk to me and that the seniors would throw me in the dumpster. My expectations were way off!” She said that she’s already made many friends, and is really enjoying her new environment.
Jack Fridley also came to CCDS from Mariemont Junior High. He decided to come to CCDS to achieve “a longtime academic goal.” Fridley is interested in mainly computers, math, and science, but admits that he “is not totally sure yet,” about what career path he wants to follow. Fridley also shadowed, and thought “It was really cool to hang out with [his] future classmates.” Before coming to CCDS, he was expecting “a really hard, rich-kid school with high standards in everything.” While he does feel that some of his expectations were met, CCDS “is better than I expected,” said Fridley. When compared to his old school, Fridley says that it is “better in the students, faculty, classes, sports, art… everything!”
Khreah Everett is a sophomore coming to CCDS from Withrow University High School. “I wanted to go to [a] school that was diverse and where [she] could try new things,” she said. She did not shadow at CCDS, instead just taking a tour of the campus, and “[had] a few friends who went here to help [her] out.” Before she came to CCDS, Everett “[expected] it to be boring,” but now that she’s here, she can “see that it’s a really cool place to be.” Everett is excited to be here, and is eager to “do the winter musical and volunteer at fall fest.” She said that “compared to [her] other schools, CCDS is way off the charts!”
Zach Higginbotham came to CCDS from Elder High School. He came to CCDS because of Greg Ross, Country Day’s Associate Athletic Director. It was very difficult for Higginbotham to decide to either stay at Elder or come to CCDS. “They both had their pros and cons,” he says. But one of the key factors in his decision was the food at CCDS. Higginbotham says “The best part of the school day in high school is lunch.” He had expected CCDS to be “almost like a college atmosphere with a lot of hard work, and so far I’ve been right with the atmosphere, [but] the work isn’t quite as hard as I was expecting.” Higginbotham is an athlete, and currently is playing on the football and basketball teams. Although he finds CCDS to be a tough environment, he is happy here so far, and is “feeling [his] way around and the students are a great help with making [him] feel at home!”
Director of Admissions Aaron Kellenberger, said that it is often hard for students to make the switch to a new school. “I think that the social transition is probably the easiest, [and] the academic transition is always the hardest,” said Mr. Kellenberger.
He also believes that students are often surprised by many things at CCDS, especially the diversity of students. Mr. Kellenberger said “Sometimes [new students] think we’re all from 45243,” the Indian Hill and Madeira zip code, but “We have a wide array of students.” Kellenberger said he feels that all types of students are accepted in the CCDS community, and appreciated for their own individual talents. Parents also want to know what kinds of students would not fit in at Country Day. Mr. Kellenberger replies, “The student who just wants to be known as one thing, [like] the athlete or the writer, [but] I think it’s cooler to be a couple of different things.” In alignment with Mr. Kellenberger’s ideas, the CCDS Upper School’s new students are from a variety of backgrounds, locations, and talents.