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March 30, 2022
Head of School’s Notebook: Friends
I attended a memorial service this past weekend for Tom Jones, the parent of two Cate students, one a member of the Class of ’13 and the other a current sophomore. Tom and I shared a college, but that wasn’t the reason he became my friend. It was Tom’s captivating, adventurous, unflappable, occasionally irreverent and …
March 4, 2022
Head of School’s Notebook: Joy
In Monday’s Convocation, Cate was visited by a hypnotist. We have had so many marvelous and compelling speakers this year, many of whom our kids are still buzzing about – Athena Jones ’90, Sonia Nazario, Walter Riley and Candida Pugh, Von Miller – but even relative to such luminaries, the hypnotist generates a palpable buzz …
February 18, 2022
This Week in Athletics
CIF Playoffs for boys soccer and boys basketball commenced this past week, and for one team the road continues into the quarterfinals while the other saw their season come to an end in heartbreaking fashion in the second round. The boys basketball team (14-4) had an incredible season. As noted in the winter season round-up …
February 18, 2022
Head of School’s Notebook: Benny Kumiyama Sanchez
On Thursday afternoon, I stood before the Vietnam War Memorial and found myself drawn to a name. The monument is full of names. Just over 58,000 of them, a docent said. But my gaze was taken by one in particular: Benny Kumiyama Sanchez. I was in Washington D.C. with a host of Cate students attending …
February 17, 2022
Keeping it Local: Ocean Ranch Organics and Cate Dining
From Lucky Llama açaí bowls to the aisles of Pacific Health Foods and now Booth Commons, if you have had breakfast in Carpinteria in recent years, chances are you’ve encountered Ocean Ranch Organics granola. A local woman-owned and operated business founded by Kim Redman, Ocean Ranch Organics is dedicated to creating nutritious products with organic and …
February 4, 2022
Head of School’s Notebook: Senior Small Things
At a boys basketball game last night, a cheer started late in the first half. “We want John! We want John!” Cate was winning by a large margin at the time, but John had not yet been on the floor. A lover of sport and a senior, John Endres is the guy we all want …
February 2, 2022
Super Bowl-Bound Von Miller Visits Cate School
Less than 48 hours after defeating the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship game and punching a ticket to Super Bowl LVI, Los Angeles Rams linebacker Von Miller made a special appearance at Cate School to kick off its celebration for Black History Month. The eight-time Pro Bowler and Super Bowl 50 Most Valuable …
January 21, 2022
Head of School’s Notebook: Black Joy
We began our celebration of Martin Luther King Day on Monday with drums. There is something elemental about the sounds and rhythms of percussion. We respond naturally, almost instinctively, even at 9:00 a.m. on a Monday morning. The drummers themselves, led by our own Mamadou Pouye, hailed from Senegal, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, and Guinea, …
December 10, 2021
This Week in Athletics
For the first time in our 17-year program history, the Cate football team captured the CIF Division I 8-Man Championship! On November 19, the Rams took down perennial powerhouse Grace Brethren 50-30, behind seven touchdowns from senior Will Bouma and a strong all-around team effort, finishing the year 10-1. The team was recently recognized by …
December 10, 2021
Cate Students Spread Servons and Holiday Spirit with Food Drive
Just before Fall Break, Ellie Tunnell ’23 and a group of Cate students organized a Food Drive in Carpinteria to assist local nonprofit organizations in supporting the kitchenless during the holiday season. Through her work with Cate’s Food Committee, Ellie had a conversation with Siena Hooper from Santa Barbara Food Rescue concerning local nonprofits and …
December 9, 2021
Head of School’s Notebook: Home for Thanksgiving
There is a great line credited to Bilbo Baggins, the Hobbit made famous by J.R.R. Tolkein. “It’s a dangerous business going out of your door,” he said,” … there is no knowing where you might be swept off to.” I thought of that line just a few weeks ago when I stepped out the door …
November 12, 2021
Head of School’s Notebook: Seniors
“Which of our actions have the most meaning?” That’s the question Paige Rawiszer ’22 asked us all several weeks ago, remembering a chance encounter in the summer of 2018 with Brenda Martinez Ruiz ’21, which ultimately led to Paige coming to Cate. Could Brenda have known in that brief conversation that she was changing the …
October 29, 2021
Head of School’s Notebook: The Return of the Familiar
Family Weekend on the Mesa was always something we could rely on. Everything was better, the kids would say, even the food. And then, all of the sudden, there were no Family Weekends. Spring of 2020 was cancelled due to COVID-19 … then Fall of 2020 and Spring of 2021. There were a lot of …
October 9, 2021
Head of School’s Notebook: Hometowns
I wandered over to the Tennis Center on Thursday afternoon to watch our girl’s varsity take on the only team in the league who has beaten us this year. That loss came right after the Outings Week break and our athletes were feeling the effects of their hiatus from sport. But our tennis team has …
September 24, 2021
Head of School’s Notebook: A Visit from a Peacock
On Saturday afternoon, just about the time the Football Team was closing out our victory over Orcutt Academy, a peacock wandered onto campus. We hear them a lot in Lillingston Canyon, where there is a thriving flock of peacocks, the descendants no doubt of birds that escaped from a rancher’s enclosure many decades ago and …
June 11, 2021
Head of School’s Notebook: Lessons at the End
In the final week of the school year, just a few days before commencement, Fritze Mayer ’21, one of the leaders of our Servons Speaker Series, offered some last bits of wisdom from the senior class. 12 places she thanked, one for each trimester of her four years at Cate: Harkness tables, Parsonage patios, fields …
May 21, 2021
Head of School’s Notebook: Inquiry
Our senior inquiry presentations have begun. The first two were on Wednesday night. Ned Sigler ’21 talked about the manner in which we might one day enable human beings to travel to Mars, and why we must. He even quoted Elon Musk, who famously said, “I’d like to die on Mars. Just not on impact.” …
May 20, 2021
Cate Hosts First-Ever Round Square Conference
On Monday, May 3, Cate School, in partnership with Saint Andrew’s School (Fla.), hosted its first-ever Round Square Conference. Students from around the world gathered virtually to discuss the theme “Democracy in a Pandemic” and answer the question, “To what extent should we be prepared to surrender basic freedom and liberties for the greater good?” …
May 20, 2021
Introducing the Jack Ballard Recording Studio
The Cate School music department is proud to unveil the brand-new Jack Ballard Recording Studio. Located in Booth Commons, the state-of-the-art studio includes equipment used by professional musicians and features a 32-channel SSL console, Warm-Audio compressors, EQ, Shure, and Neumann microphones, and more. “Since my arrival nine years ago, more and more students have arrived …
March 20, 2021
Head of School’s Notebook: Bursting the Bubble
Last week I went through all of the communications we sent to families and alumni during the Spring of 2020. What amazed me most, now with the benefit of hindsight, is how naïve we were. How naïve I was. I wrote to our senior class shortly after we made the decision to suspend in-person …