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What improvements can a high school make if already 100 percent of graduates are accepted to four-year colleges and universities? One answer might be to expand.

With the private school Loretto High School closing, Sacramento Country Day School might be an option for those who wish to purchase a quality education, given that the school prepares every student for college. Real estate agent John Banchero, who is marketing the Loretto property, said in a recent Sacramento Business Journal article that the best possible tenant for the Loretto property would be another high school.

"This [property] would be the one they would try to get their hands on" if a school wanted to expand, Banchero said to the Journal.

The article specified that one good candidate for the property could be Sacramento Country Day School, though Headmaster Steve Repsher wrote in to the Journal that he did not have "enough time to evaluate the idea" of buying the property.

Perhaps Repsher is still hoping Country Day will be able to rent the 50,000 square foot building at 2600 V Street, which was once the Newton Booth School — a large upgrade to their current 13,000 square foot facility.

The building was originally a public school which opened in 1921, according to an article from the Octagon, Country Day's Newspaper. Newton Booth School closed in 1976 due to the Field Act which forced schools to close if they were not up to earthquake codes. It was then converted into office buildings in the 1980s.

Jones and Stokes, an international environmental and natural resources consultant recently used the building, but they moved out over six months ago.

This historic site is one of the over 100 schools Country Day headmasters have looked at over the past 30 years, says another Octagon article which provides a history of Country Day's consideration of other possible sites.

Though quoted in Octagon as saying the discovery of the location was "beautiful," Repsher told Sacramento Press, "we are considering a property there but there is nothing final at this point. At this point it would be speculation."

"I would be happy to share the news if something firm becomes a reality," he added.

"Personally I have had no negative response, and I've talked to a number of people," said Newton Booth Neighborhood Association board member Richard (Bud) Halliday. "It would be a definite advantage for our neighborhood." The group meets once a month in the McClatchy Public Library the third Wednesday of each month.

"There are many in this neighborhood who attended the Newton Booth School," Halliday added.

The Newton Booth Neighborhood Association received a project notification April 1, and for those in the Newton Booth neighborhood, Halliday encourages people to email him with feedback about the project.

The following is from the Association's website:

Would you like this school in our neighborhood or would you rather not have it located here? What advantages would there be? What disadvantages?

Let the board members of the association know your feelings not later than April 17, 2009 so a timely response to the request for input can be made. E-mail responses to bud@newtonbooth.org or mail to Newton Booth Neighborhood Association; P.O. Box 161466 Sacramento CA 95816.