Beginning School News

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Join the "What's Next?" workshop online

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Live broadcast begins at 9:00 a.m. on January 23

Alumni, parents, students, and friends of Catlin Gabel are encouraged to join the workshop online.

1. Download handouts 1 and 2.
2. Watch the video feed.
3. Send responses and/or discuss using the chat box below.

 

To participate in chat, you will need to register a user account when prompted.

We also welcome you to make suggestions for how Catlin Gabel can keep the spirit of the Rummage Sale alive through a new activity. Post your ideas on our website forum.

» Learn more about the What's Next? process

 

 

 

January Congrats!

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Congrats!

Senior Kevin Ellis won a Best of Category award in computer science at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair 2009 in Reno, Nevada. Intel presented Catlin Gabel with a check for $1,000 in recognition of Kevin’s outstanding achievement. The funds are intended to further support excellence in science, math, or engineering education at Catlin Gabel.

Senior Lauren Edelson’s op-ed, “Taking the Magic Out of College,” was published in the New York Times.

Sophomore Megan Stater placed first in the recent Oregon Music Teachers Association Classical Piano Festival.

Lauren Reggero-Toledano’s Spanish V Honors students presented their research project, "The Hispanic Presence In Oregon: From the Great Depression to Today," to the Latin American studies program at Lewis & Clark College. Kudos to seniors Sam Bishop, Kalifa Clarke, Abby Conyers, Becky Coulterpark, Lauren Edelson, Eddie Friedman, Ollie Garnier, Molly Hayes, Leslie Nelson, and Leah Weitz, and junior Josh Langfus.

Seventh grader Conner Hansen received his second-degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do.

All five Middle School robotics teams came home from the league tournament with trophies. Three teams are advancing to the state championships on January 17. Veteran 7th grade team the Green Dragons won the Champions Award, the top award at a local tournament. This award recognizes the team with the best overall score covering robot performance, robot design, research project and presentation, and teamwork. Green Dragons Maddy Bunnenberg-Ross, Claire Fitzgerald, Sophie Paek, Jillian Rix, and Chloe Smith are headed to state.

The other veteran 7th grade team, Team Delta, scored 305 points on the course (the highest of any Catlin Gabel team) and was the first runner up Champions Award winner. Max Armstrong, Evan Chapman, Conner Hansen, and Elliot Lewis are on their way to state as well.

First-time 6th grade Team Echo members Julian Baynes, MacGregor Beatty, and Jake Hansen pulled off the Young Team Award, which qualifies them for the state tournament.

The 6th grade Screaming Eagles with Harry Alterman, Anna Dodson, Alex Richardson, and Calissa Spooner won the robot performance award for the team with the highest scoring robot that didn’t qualify for state. The 6th grade team Catlin Gabel Champions with Nicolas Bergen, Jack Bishop, Justin Tung, and David Vollum brought home the Research Project award for the team with the best research project that didn’t qualify for state.

Congratulations to recent 6th grade Poetry Box winner Hayle Meyerhoff for her poem Lonely. (Click on poem title to read or listen to the winning poem.)

Twelve Lower School chess players participated in the annual Ridgewood Elementary fall invitational. Avi Gupta, 3rd grade, took second place in the overall tournament ratings. Grade level prizes were awarded to 5th grader Lila Reich–second place, 4th grader Ben Karp–second place, 3rd grader Avi Gupta–first place, 2nd grader Evan Karp–first place, and 2nd grader Jimmy Maslen–third place.

Fifth grader Claire Rosenfeld, 3rd grader Layton Rosenfeld, and 2nd grader Will Attig were among 50 winning contestants from all of Oregon whose art pieces were selected for the “Super Hero” exhibition in the Jordan Schnitzer Art Museum in Eugene. There were well over 400 contestants. The winning art is on display at the JSAM through May.

Thanks to a generous anonymous gift from a Catlin Gabel community member, the entire 7th grade class attended a presentation by activist Greg Mortenson, author of Three Cups of Tea. The class began the year by reading the young adult version of Mortenson’s book. Elayna Caron was inspired to write, “After reading Three Cups of Tea, I was really moved, but not as much as I was last night. Greg is one of the most amazing people out there. How he dedicated his whole life to changing these people’s lives — I don’t see how he can do it, but at the same time, it made ME want to go out and change the world. He was talking about the soldiers being more afraid of the children’s pens than of bullets. It really makes sense to me now, why they would be scared. This was an amazing, amazing experience.”

IT support technician Johny Nguyen completed CompTIA certification, the industry standard for computer support technicians. The international, vendor-neutral certification proves competence in areas such as installation, preventative maintenance, networking, security, and troubleshooting.

All Kinds of Minds named Catlin Gabel a School of Distinction.

Changes announced for next year in the Beginning School

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Kindergarten hours expanded, preschool program adds drama class

Letter from Hannah Whitehead, Beginning School head

Dear Beginning School Parents,

I am happy to share with you some exciting news about next year’s Beginning School program. Two years ago Beginning School parents answered a survey about the length of the school day. We learned that a large majority of Catlin Gabel families, especially those with children in other parts of the school, found the 1:30 pm dismissal time challenging. Teachers also felt some limitations from the short day. The Beehive staff has worked for several months to address these concerns. As a result, we have a plan that we believe will strengthen our kindergarten program by increasing valuable classroom time, and also add something exciting to the preschool curriculum.

Preschool. Because we have preschoolers who are old hands at school, and also children for whom five mornings a week is a stretch, we will keep our present format of 8:20 am-1:30 pm, but with the assurance that there will now be space for every child whose family would like to take advantage of an extended day program. We are thrilled to add drama classes with one of our Catlin Gabel drama teachers, Deirdre Atkinson, on Wednesday mornings, three weeks of the month. 

Kindergarten. The kindergarten day will start at the same time it does now, but will extend to 2:45 or 2:50 pm. The new ending time will allow families who do not have other children at Catlin Gabel to slip in and out before the pick-up line gets too busy. It will also give families with other children in the school time for an unrushed Beehive pick-up before setting off to Lower, Middle, or Upper School to collect the rest of the family.

The kindergarten afternoon will be full of opportunities for children as they rotate through drama with Deirdre, extra shop time with Jennifer, and a special music curriculum with Rhonda, along with more campus exploration, craft projects, play with the Honeybees, and open-ended time to imagine and create. We are very excited about the richness of the longer kindergarten day. 

The tuition has not yet been set for next year. The longer kindergarten day will likely cost somewhat more than at present, but Lark and the board of trustees are committed to keeping the increase as small as is fiscally prudent. We will keep you informed when the budget is passed.    

Best,
Hannah

 

Boys and girls soccer teams head to state finals

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Congratulations, Eagles!

The boys varsity soccer team faces OES for the state title after beating St. Mary's of Medford 1-0.

Game time for the boys: Saturday, 1 p.m., Wilsonville HS.

The girls varsity soccer team won their semifinal match against Sisters, 4-3, and take on Gladstone for the championship.

Game time for the girls: Saturday, 6 p.m., Wilsonville HS.

Adults - $8, Students - $5 at the door
VISA / MasterCard accepted

Come cheer on the mighty Eagles as they play for the state championships!

Video of game-winning shot from the boys semifinal game against St. Mary’s of Medford. Thanks go to Jennifer Davies, parent of alumni, for shooting video.

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Rummage Sale generates $274,000 in sales

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Retiring in style

The 65th and final Rummage Sale was an AMAZING success thanks to energetic volunteers and loyal customers. We generated $274,000 in sales, just $1,000 shy of last year's total.

The Catlin Gabel community spirit is epic. We do great things together — we always have and we always will.

Thank you very much!

So, what’s next?
Do you have ideas about what Catlin Gabel might do to recreate the wonderful sense of community and commitment to service we have experienced through Rummage? Share your after-Rummage Sale ideas with us on the After Rummage Forum or send your ideas by e-mail to AfterRummage@catlin.edu. Ideas will be considered at a community-wide meeting in January. Stay tuned for details.

 

Catlin Gabel News Fall 09

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From the fall 2009 Caller

AWARDS TO OUR TEACHERS
7th grade history teacher Paul Monheimer was awarded a Distinguished Fulbright Award in Teaching from the United States Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board to conduct research in Israel. He plans to spend the spring semester in Israel researching and creating meaningful virtual exchanges, using graphic software to overcome language barriers. . . . Upper School Spanish teacher Lauren Reggero-Toledano received a grant from the American Immigration Law Council to work with students on a project about the Hispanic presence in Oregon during the Great Depression and today. Students will create interactive, multimedia presentations for display at Teatro Milagro/Miracle Theater.

ANUAL FUND REACHES GOAL
The 2008–09 Annual Fund reached its goal of $892,500 by June 30. Thanks to everyone who participated and gave so generously, especially during this economically challenging year. Big thanks to Eric ’83 and Tiffany Rosenfeld for co-chairing the 2007–08 and 2008–09 Annual Fund.
 
AROUND HONEY HOLLOW
The campus was jumping during Summer Programs, with more than 20 instructors, 43 classes and programs, and 300 participants. . . . Catlin Gabel was selected by Oregon Business magazine as one of the 100 best nonprofits to work for in Oregon, based on staff responses to a survey about workplace satisfaction.
 
HONORS TO OUR STUDENTS
Poems by Conner Hansen ’15 and Annika Carfagno ’15 were published in A Celebration of Poets, a national anthology. . . . The Upper School chamber choir placed 4th at the OSSA state choir contest. . . Erica Berry ’10, Flora Field ’13, Guillem Manso García ’09, Fiona Noonan ’13, Sage Palmedo ’14, and Yu (Victor) Zheng ’12 placed in the top five in the nation for their level on the National French Contest exams. Rahul Borkar ’13, Brynmor Chapman ’10, Casey Currey-Wilson ’12, Rose Perrone ’10, and Leah Thompson ’11 came in first in the state for their level in the national Spanish exam.
 
ATHLETICS
The boys golf team won the state championship and set a team record.
 
The girls track and field team also won a state championship and set a new state record. Hayley Ney ’09 was state champion in the 3000m and 1500m. Leah Thompson ’11 was state champion in the 300m hurdles, set a new school record, and was second in state in the 1500m. Isabelle Miller ’09 was 3rd in state in the 400m. Calley Edwards ’09 was 4th in state at both the 800m and the 3000m. Cammy Edwards ’12 was 2nd in state in both the 100m hurdles and the 300m hurdles. Eloise Miller ’11 was state champion in the triple jump. Mariah Morton was 4th in state in the long jump. The 4x100m relay team was state champion: Mariah Morton ’12, Linnea Hurst ’11, Isabelle Miller ’09, and Eloise Miller ’11. The 4 x 400m relay team was state champion: Hayley Ney ’09, Isabelle Miller ’09, Eloise Miller ’11, and Leah Thompson ’11. . . . In boys track and field, Nauvin Ghorashian ’10 was 3rd in state in the 110m hurdles, and Ian Maier ’10 was 5th in state in the 300m hurdles.
 
The girls tennis team set a team record and was 2nd in state. Kate Rubinstein ’12 was state champion in singles, and Rivfka Shenoy ’09 and Ainhoa Maiz- Urtizberea ’09 were 2nd in state in doubles. . . . The boys tennis team also set a team record and were 2nd in state.
 
Andrew Salvador ’12 was state champion in singles.
 
Katy Wiita ’12 won numerous top places nationally for synchronized swimming, as did her sister Elli Wiita ’15, who was named to the 11–12 national team with the second highest score.
 
Devin Ellis ’12 won gold for his age group in scratch bowling at the State Games of Oregon and qualifies for the 2011 State Games of America.

 

Empty the Lot Day video

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How did people get to school on October 15, 2009? Video by Rose Perrone '10

Gambol Auction Needs Your Help

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Dear Parents, Alumni, and Friends,
 
We are proud members of the Catlin Gabel community. The school is inspiring to children, parents, teachers, and alumni. Being involved in Gambol committees during the last two years, and seeing the good that this event does for the entire Catlin Gabel community, we are honored to co-chair this year’s Gambol Auction.
 
Dear Parents, Alumni, and Friends,
 
We are proud members of the Catlin Gabel community. The school is inspiring to children, parents, teachers, and alumni. Being involved in Gambol committees during the last two years, and seeing the good that this event does for the entire Catlin Gabel community, we are honored to co-chair this year’s Gambol Auction.
 
As you may be aware, it has become increasingly more difficult for schools to meet all of their budgetary needs. Although Catlin Gabel is more fortunate than most schools, the Gambol supplies essential funds needed to achieve several goals. It helps our incredible teachers hone their skills and further their educational goals through professional development, enabling them to create fresh and current curricula for our children. The event’s special appeal goes directly to the school’s financial aid program — more than 25% of our students receive financial assistance.
 
This year’s “There’s No Place Like Home” theme is inspired by what is important: family and community. Not only would we love for you to join us for what will be a fun and exciting evening, but also we would be especially grateful if you would participate by donating an item or experience to the auction. We need many items to make this year's auction a success and have complied a wish list to help generate ideas. The list is just a sampling of suggestions; any other ideas you have for donations are welcome. If you prefer to be an event sponsor or buy an advertisement in the auction catalog, please download the necessary forms by clicking this link.
 
This year we start an exciting new tradition with a Gambol Online Auction available November 9–23. The online auction will expand our participation to alumni, family, and friends. The Gambol Party & Live Auction is on Saturday, March 13, at the Nines hotel. Please join us as we celebrate our children, honor Catlin Gabel's outstanding teachers, and make this a successful year for the Gambol to give back to our amazing community. 
 
We are working hard to make the Gambol a success, and we need your help. Please use the donation form to pledge your support today.
 
Thank You,
Heather Blackburn ’90                                    
Gina Wand                                         
Gambol Co-chairs

 

Viewfinder Global Film Series Screening #1

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Thursday, October 8, 6:30 p.m.

Planning ahead for swine flu

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Catlin Gabel's plans and recommendations in anticipation of the coming flu season
Lark, division heads, and other staff members are constantly monitoring information from local county health departments. Administrative assistant Chris Balag attended a statewide conference on swine flu in late August, where she met with Governor Kulongoski and local health authorities. Since the start of the school year we have been in regular contact with Kathleen O'Leary, Washington County public health administator, and Dr. Paul Lewis, deputy tri-county health officer and associate professor of infectious diseases at OHSU, to ensure that our information is current and our plans are appropriate.
 
Here are some of Catlin Gabel’s plans and recommendations in anticipation of the coming flu season:
 
Anyone with flu-like symptoms should STAY HOME and remain at home until he or she is fever free without medication for at least 24 hours. This is a public health issue; everyone’s cooperation is vitally important.
 
When calling in to report your child’s absence, we would appreciate knowing if he or she has flu-like symptoms. We will do our best to track trends.
 
Students missing classes will have ample opportunity to make up work. Teachers will take special care to help.
 
Students missing practices or games because of illness will not be penalized for their absence.
 
When one-third or more of the students in any one grade level are out sick for any reason, be it swine flu, pink eye, or any other communicable illness, we may close appropriate portions of the school.
 
We are reserving “sick rooms” on campus where we can isolate adults and children who become ill with flu-like symptoms at school until they are taken home.
 
The cleaning crew will take extra measures to disinfect tables, doorknobs, faucets, and other surfaces.
 
We will step up efforts to remind students and teachers of the following precautions to prevent the spread of viruses. We urge you to reinforce these good hygiene practices at home.
 
  • Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.
  • Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hands cleaners are also effective. 
  • Avoid touching your eyes, nose, or mouth. Germs spread that way. 
  • Try to avoid close contact with sick people.
  • Influenza is thought to spread mainly person-to-person through coughing or sneezing of infected people.
  • If you develop flu-like symptoms of fever, aches and pains, sore throat, coughing, trouble breathing, runny nose, or nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting, you should contact your health care provider. Your health care provider will determine whether influenza testing and treatment is needed.
 
For more information about the H1N1 virus, please visit www.flu.oregon.gov
 
If you have any questions about Catlin Gabel’s plans, please get in touch with Chris Balag at 503-297-1894 ext. 274.