Featured
February 21, 2025
Cate Competes at Ethics Bowl
By Andrew Peng ’26 A team of six students from Ewe Speaks, the Cate speech and debate club, represented Cate at the Regional National High School Ethics Bowl competition in Los Angeles at Chapman University on Saturday, Feb 8. We had a great time competing and collaborating with teams from other schools on addressing various ethical dilemmas. …
February 7, 2025
2025 Dance Convocation
By Colette Chang ’25 and Tori Kim ’27 Journey Through Time was certainly timeless. Featuring pieces that explored decades of dance, this year’s convocation interwove dance history and universal human experiences through flashbacks, time travel, moments in life, and emotions—grief, nostalgia, romance, and sorrow. The journey began with “Solitude” by Michael Szanyi—an introspective piece dealing …
February 7, 2025
Head of School’s Notebook – It’s About Time
Our dancers put on the most remarkable Dance Convocation this week centered on the theme of time and all its dimensions. Like the seasons, the various qualities of time have their own rhythm inviting us into a fuller experience into the cyclical nature of our inner lives. Many cultural and religious traditions speak to the …
January 24, 2025
Head of School’s Notebook
I welcome the opportunity to pause and reflect at the end of the week as it is my strong belief that the story we tell and the meaning we make from our life experiences is what shapes how we see ourselves and the world. Thanks to the tremendous efforts of Multicultural Programming Coordinator Kadeine Peterson, …
January 24, 2025
MLK Day at Cate: Breaking Bread in Community
In celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the Cate community explored the power of food as a unifying tool and a means to address systemic inequities through the theme Breaking Bread in Community. Monday’s celebration highlighted the intersection of food insecurity and civil rights, reflecting Dr. King’s vision of a world where everyone has …
January 24, 2025
Cate Students Organize Fundraiser for LA Wildfire Relief
A group of Cate students organized a successful fundraiser last Saturday, raising more than $1,000 in less than two hours to support those affected by the recent wildfires in Los Angeles. The event, held at the Carpinteria Arts Center, featured live performances in a benefit concert coordinated and performed entirely by Cate students. Quinn Vanasco …
January 23, 2025
Cate Delegates Travel to New York for Columbia Model UN
By Pari Malik ’27 It takes three sugar cane to make one piece of paper. Confused? I was too. That was until I experienced the first trading session at the Minecraft Village Council meeting during Columbia’s Model United National Conference and Exposition (CMUNCE). Columbia University has one of the top Model United Nations programs in …
December 20, 2024
Head of School’s Notebook: Service in Spirit
As we head into the final days of the year where giving and receiving gifts is central to many cultural practices, I find myself reflecting on the adage, “It is better to give than receive.” Here at Cate, our ethos of Servons codifies our shared belief that life is made meaningful through regular and generous …
November 22, 2024
Head of School’s Notebook
Happy Fall Break! Today, our students are in various stages of travel on their way to their loved ones. We can already feel their absence here, yet we know how excited they are for this break and for the chance to reconnect with the people and places they know and love. As we all prepare …
October 25, 2024
Head of School’s Notebook
Fall Family Weekend is an important milestone marking the halfway point between the start of school and Winter Break. Like the start to a story, this first chapter of the year holds clues and emerging themes that foreshadow what we might expect in the months to come. From my perspective, the level of engagement, high …
October 11, 2024
Head of School’s Notebook
During my visits to 9th grade Humanities classes this week, I saw students simultaneously at ease and engaged as they wrestled to make meaning of a passage from Oedipus. Every time I get the opportunity to spend time in classrooms, I see the power of our inquiry method on display as students lean more into …
October 11, 2024
Round Square International Conference: Colombia
At the end of September, Cate School sent six students and two faculty members to the 56th Round Square International Conference (RSIC) in Bogotá, Colombia. This annual event, designed for students aged 16-18, rotates around the globe, with different schools hosting each year. This year’s conference was hosted by Colegio Anglo Colombiano, Colegio Gran Bretaña, …
September 12, 2024
Head of School’s Notebook
I often marvel at the spontaneous moments of magic that characterize life on the Mesa. Such as seeing a senior holding the arm of a younger student on her way to the health center or the happenstance conversation I had at the Amazon Locker Hub with sophomores minutes after their return from Yosemite, packs on …
September 9, 2024
Grading for Equity
History Instructor Clair Dahm and English & Humanities Instructor Michael Szanyi were thrilled to represent Cate at the National Association of Independent Schools’ Equity Design Lab: Grading for Equity held July 10–12, 2024 at the NAIS Headquarters in Washington, DC. Through the support of Elana Stone, the Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Cate, …
May 10, 2024
Head of School’s Notebook: In Loco Parentis – How are the Kids?
Whenever someone asks me, “How are the kids?” I hesitate and often respond by saying, “Which ones?” I don’t know what this says about me as a mother, but my first instinct is to think about the “kids” at Cate. As we approach Mother’s Day, I’ve been reflecting on what in loco parentis means for …
April 26, 2024
Head of School’s Notebook: First and Forever
As I endeavor to learn all I can about Cate, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed examining artifacts from our archives. Each photograph, article, or set of meeting minutes lends me some clue about how who we are today was informed by our past. Most recently, I asked our archivist, Judy Savage, to help me find documents related …
March 22, 2024
Head of School’s Notebook
The vernal equinox has long been my most favorite day of the year as it marks the exact moment when the light and dark are in equal proportion and heralds the official arrival of my favorite season, spring. Of course I love the longer days, warmer weather, and flowering growth. However, what I love even …
February 15, 2024
Head of School’s Notebook: Joyful
A few weeks into my arrival at Cate, Frank Griffin left this note on my desk, and it has been pinned to my wall since then. I look at it as a reminder to pause and gauge my own sense of being settled and present to all the magic here. This week has felt especially …
February 2, 2024
Head of School’s Notebook: How Can We Thrive in the Face of Adversity?
My career has been driven by a quest to help our young people feel at home in themselves so they can bring their distinct expression of excellence to serve our changing world. My journey to Cate follows the same trajectory as I’ve heard so many of you express – our yearning for something healthier, more …
January 18, 2024
Head of School’s Notebook
Last year, after accepting the job at Cate, my family and I visited the Mesa during MLK weekend. We attended all of the festivities that day and I remember thinking to myself how powerful and unusual it felt to see a community collectively taking ownership of building a beloved community. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. …