After leniency over the last two years due to COVID-19 irregularities, LJCDS has returned to requiring all seniors enrolled in AP courses to take AP exams, prompting discussion among students, teachers, and faculty about the function and purpose of mandatory AP exams. Seniors were first notified of...

The 2022 block schedule for the Upper School was released on Tuesday, May 10th. The schedule, of utmost importance to the student body, has been a hotly contested issue among the Upper School student body and faculty since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. It has seen various iterations, including...

For many students, attending a top university has been their biggest dream since childhood. As a student attending a prestigious college preparatory school, I have felt the pressure of college admissions since my first day of middle school. With each year, the acceptance rate at top universities decreases,...

Every year, millions of high school seniors take part in the college admissions process, hoping to get a spot into their dream colleges. It is only natural for students to put their best foot forward and aim for top schools in the country. However, it hasn’t always been this way. Even though higher...

Dear Palette, I’ve had the same group of friends for several years. Lately, I feel totally disconnected from them. More than once, they’ve been kind of reckless and rude to those around them. I’m stuck. Should I keep them in my life? Or should I try to find new friends this late in high school?  - ...

Warning! This review contains spoilers. Films that switch directors during filming or late pre-production do not usually end up well. An infamous example is when Warner Bros. gave Justice League to Joss Whedon after Zack Snyder had to step down. Marvel Cinematic Universe fans may remember Whedon as...

Country Day continues to show its best both on the field and in the classroom. The Class of 2022 currently boasts fifteen commits for sports: baseball, volleyball, swim and dive, football, soccer, and tennis. Congratulations to: BASEBALL -  JOHNNY LUETZOW, C/3B - SANTA CLARA UNIVERSITY Johnny...

The LJCDS Varsity Women's basketball team is looking to bounce back this year after a shortened, yet successful, 2020-2021 season due to COVID. The anticipation is high as observers, fans, and players are anxious to see if they can redeem themselves. Unfortunately, the Torreys fell short against Bonita...

Stories unite us. We buy popular books in droves, and flock to movie theaters. We collectively laugh at the funny moments, and yell when the characters on screen make choices we disagree with. We scream at the girl in the horror movie not to take those fatal steps into the basement, we urge the romantic...

On February 1, 2022, over 1.5 billion people in over 15 nations around the world celebrated the Lunar New Year. This holiday is celebrated in accordance with the lunar calendar, which is based on the orbit of the moon, thus the date changes on a yearly basis. It represents, conceptually, a similar holiday...

It’s been a while since La Jolla Country Day has had a fully free and non-handicapped drama production. Last year’s The Laramie Project had to be performed with masks and had a strict quota on the number of audience members. Although there were still a few COVID-related restrictions in place, A Midsummer...

Warning! This review contains spoilers.  The Marvel Cinematic Universe Spider-Man trilogy was starting to resemble the Star Wars sequel trilogy. And, not in a good way. Both trilogies started with a mostly well-received first film (Homecoming, 2017/The Force Awakens, 2015) and then released a highly...

There is one phrase that I hear on an almost daily basis at school: I’m so tired. This has become a universal complaint for high school students, who are faced with the mounting obligations of modern school life. In the four-ish years I have been in high school, I have seen this constant presence of...

On January 15, 2022, a letter was sent to Mark Schlissel from the “Regents of the University of Michigan” (the University’s “constitutional officers”) informing him of his termination as the President of the University of Michigan. The officers said that they had “received an anonymous complaint...

The coronavirus has kept locks on society everywhere for over a year now, and the 2020 to 2021 school year has obviously been incredibly strange and spontaneous. This year has been different for everyone. However, the school year itself is gradually becoming shorter and shorter, and students are undoubtedly...

Along with basic terms to get you more acquainted with investing, there are also some universal tips that can guide you.  Diversify your portfolio. Whether it’s investing in value stocks or growth stocks, it’s good not to put all your money into one type of method. When the market is doing...

As we approach the end to a truly wild and one-of-a-kind school year, members of the Palette thought that it would be best to feature a graduating senior for our final student spotlight of the year. We believed this would be a chance to reflect on the challenges of the past year that were unique to seniors...

It’s a bird...It’s a plane...It’s another plane? Seriously?  Students attending classes both virtually and in-person can attest to the constant interruptions and loud noises caused  by planes flying past campus. Whether one is trying to have a leisurely conversation with a friend, listening...