Volume 20 Issue 1September 2009
Headlines
Welcome! I hope you are looking forward to the 2009-10 school year as much as I am. Some fabulous new students are joining us in all four divisions. I know that returning families will join me in welcoming our new community members.
We are proud to open with full enrollment. We were able to increase this year’s financial aid budget by 41 percent, which allowed us to keep our community together despite the recession. This is a real testament to our board members and their commitment to making financial aid a school priority. While we have never been frivolous spenders, faculty and staff worked hard to trim budgets without negatively affecting the academic and co-curricular programs. The school’s long-term financial health is in great shape.
To our parents: sending your child to Catlin Gabel is a big commitment, and we deeply appreciate the trust you have placed in us. Your child will have a great year in school. Your daughter or son will be enthusiastic about learning and will grow in ways you do not expect. Our extraordinary teachers, librarians, counselors, and support staff members will work side by side with students to make learning engaging and challenging.
Teachers and staff members were busy throughout the summer preparing for students to return. The much-needed new coat of paint on the Barn symbolizes our approach to education: honor our traditions while making things fresh and new. We launch the year fully invested in all our students’ success at school.
Catlin Gabel teachers are extraordinary, as exemplified this spring and summer by four faculty members who received honors of note. The United States Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board honored two teachers with awards: Paul Monheimer, 7th grade world cultures teacher, was awarded a Distinguished Fulbright Award in Teaching to conduct research in Israel spring semester, and Cindy Beals, Upper School math teacher, received a Fulbright Teacher Exchange grant to teach in Turkey for the 2009-10 academic year. Upper School English teacher Nichole Tassoni attended a seminar on Dante in Italy this summer sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities. The American Immigration Council awarded Upper School Spanish teacher Lauren Reggero-Toledano a grant for her project, “The Hispanic Presence in Oregon During the Great Depression and Today.” Read more about the awards that speak to the excellence of our faculty in the “Congrats!” article.
As the 2009-10 school year begins, I invite you to join Upper School students and teachers in reading Mountains Beyond Mountains. We are fortunate and thrilled to welcome the author, Pulitzer Prize winner Tracy Kidder, to campus for this year’s Karl Jonske ’99 memorial lecture on Tuesday, October 13, at 11:30 a.m. in the Cabell Center Theater. You are all welcome to attend this special Upper School assembly.
I look forward to seeing everyone on campus again and finding out about your summer and your hopes for this new year. It’s going to be a great one!
Yours truly,
Lark Palma
Head of School
New faculty-staff members and transitions for fall 2009
We welcome one new exchange teacher, three teaching assistants, and five interns to our campus this year. In addition, a few people have shifted jobs.
Please welcome Nagme Karamustafaoglu, a Fulbright exchange teacher from Turkey, who will teach 6th grade math. Nagme (pronounced Nah may) has a B.A. in mathematics from Istanbul University. She has lived and traveled in the United States as an AFS exchange student and has completed graduate course work course work at Harvard. In addition to teaching middle school math at Eyuboglu High School in Istanbul, Nagme led the Destination ImagiNation team, a creative problem solving program, coached volleyball, and instructed the origami club. Her supervisors consistently mentioned her humor, commitment to young people, and her incredible ability to instruct students with different levels of math understanding.
Planning ahead for swine flu
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention anticipates that the H1N1 virus will be widespread this fall and may stress schools and health-care systems. Guidelines issued by the federal government in early August call for schools to stay open under all but the most severe circumstances during a swine flu outbreak. Instead of closing after the fact, they encourage educators to take proactive steps to detect the virus at schools and prevent its spread.
Congrats!
New website has useful features
Summer Programs offered international travel, outdoor adventures, projects, and enrichment learning
More than 20 instructors were involved in approximately 43 classes and programs with more than 300 participants both from the Catlin Gabel community and beyond. Students from preschool through high school took classes in art, music, writing, sports, woodworking, acting, SAT prep, French and Spanish, cooking, claymation, and photography to name a few. The Outdoor Program offered 13 backpacking, bicycling, climbing, and kayaking trips to locations near and far including Mount St. Helens, the Steens Mountains, and British Columbia.
Global Education program shrinks the world
Did you know that one of the most likely places for a collision is in a parking lot?
Now consider the consequences if that accident involves a pedestrian!
Bus schedules posted, daily service begins September 3
Tired of traffic hassles?
Send your kids to school on the Catlin Gabel bus! Riding the bus is good for the environment, reduces parking lot overcrowding, and saves you time and money.
The 2009-10 bus schedules are posted on the school website in the Parents section.
Parents must print out, complete, and sign the two 2009-10 required documents, Department of Education Regulations and Parent Guidelines, authorizing bus ridership for this year. Please return the completed documents to the administrative assistant in your child’s division.
Discovering Ruth Patterson Hart (1910 – 2001)
Art exhibition in Cabell Center foyer September 9 – October 12
Artist, teacher, and arts advocate Ruth Patterson Hart was an early visionary in Portland’s vibrant art scene in the late 1930s. Half a century later, following Ruth’s death, her daughters Martha Hart Schulte ’65 and Sally Hart Retecki ’67 uncovered a treasure trove of her creative endeavor. Selections from Ruth Patterson Hart’s inspiring body of work will be exhibited in the Cabell Center foyer from September 9 through October 12.
There's No Place Like Home — Catlin Gabel Gambol Auction
This year's theme is inspired by what’s important: family and community. Auction items will include wine tastings, dance parties, dinners with distinguished guests, and family travel adventures. Co-chairs are Heather Gaudry Blackburn ’90, parent of Kyle ’22, and Gina Wand, parent of Sophie ’21 and Lily ’23.
Save the dates!
| November 9 – 23 |
Online Silent Auction |
| Saturday, March 13 |
Big Event at the Nines Hotel in downtown Portland |
The Gambol auction proceeds support professional development for our teachers, and a special appeal provides financial aid scholarships for our students. If you would like to be involved in this important fundraising event, please e-mail or call Lauren Dully Hubbard ’91 at dullyhubbardl@catlin.edu or 503-297-1894 ext. 363.
Rummage news – it's our 65th sale!
by Lesley Sepetoski, alumni and community relations officer
What goes on by all those big trucks parked in the southeast corner of the main parking lot? RUMMAGE! Join fellow parents from all divisions at the Rummage sorting center to see the inner workings of our famous sale. You can come for a visit, and of course we welcome you to roll up your sleeves and help.
| Beginning and Lower School |
Tuesday, September 22, 8 – 11 a.m. |
| Middle and Upper School |
Friday, September 18, 8 – 11 a.m. |
The Rummage Sale is a great place to fulfill your volunteer commitment to the school, and with just two months to go until our AMAZING 65th Catlin Gabel Rummage Sale, the opportunities abound (see below). What? You can’t wait? Please e-mail
Lesley Sepetoski to help right now!
- Coordinate volunteers for the sale
- Design coupons, flyers, business cards
- Coordinate grassroots advertising
- Help promote our car donation program
- Help plan the Upper School collection contest
- Assist in the Rummage office
- Sort on Tuesdays and Wednesdays
- Coordinate supplies
- Polish silver
Save the date, tell the world, and plan on volunteering: The Rummage Sale runs Thursday, November 5, through Sunday, November 8.
Newsletters now look different
Returning families will notice we have changed the way we publish newsletters. Our new website allows us to publish newsletters in this web-based format. Let us know what you think. Reading the
All-School News each month and the newsletters published in your child’s division is the best way for you to stay in touch with what is going on at Catlin Gabel. The website is chock full of news, calendar information, volunteer opportunities, athletic schedules, and the daily lunch menu. We encourage you to take the
online website tour to familiarize yourself with the new site. Be sure to check out the
Parents section, where you will find the online directory, zip code map, bus service information, volunteer opportunities, and information about After-School Care.
