News from Santa Catalina School

September 1, 2017 | Newsletter

Greetings from Dr. Brenot

Dear Parents,

Our 67th year of educating girls is off to a beautiful start. On Sunday, August 21, our returning boarders moved into the dormitories. Head of School Meg Bradley and her husband, George Choquette, hosted a lovely reception at their home to kick off the new year for returning parents that afternoon. It was a wonderful chance to catch up after summer vacation.

On Monday, we welcomed to school the newest members of our Santa Catalina family, both boarding and day. The afternoon was filled with orientation sessions for new parents and students, followed by a reception in Sullivan Court. It gave all of our faculty, staff, Student Senate members, and Senior Big Sisters the opportunity to meet our new students and families. An enormous thank you goes out to members of our Parent Welcome Committee, who have so graciously given their time to greet and get to know new families.

On Tuesday morning, we began the day with our first Assembly of the school year. The rest of the week flew by, marked by more orientation activities, advisee group meetings, and our first chapel service of the year, which centered on our Honor Code and was followed by a signing ceremony. Our second week of school has been smooth, and today we send off our senior class on their river rafting trip in California gold country.

As we settle into the 2017–18 school year, we all join together in thoughts and prayers for those suffering in Texas in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. Director of Alumnae Relations Gretchen Mueller Burke '83 has been in contact with our Texas alumnae, a number of whom are helping with relief efforts. We here at school are mobilizing as well; our students are eager to help. We are all called upon to help others in need, and thus we begin a new year with an open heart ready to serve.

Warmly,

Kassandra T. Brenot '87, Ph.D.

Head of Upper School

News and Notes

Around Campus

New Faculty and Staff
Catalina welcomed a number of new faculty and staff members this year. Read their bios.

Getting a Jump on Service

On Saturday, August 26, seven students took a service trip to Lakeside Organic Gardens in Watsonville, where they helped Ag Against Hunger glean 3,930 pounds (4 1/2 pallets) of baby bok choy. The harvested produce will go to local food banks. What a great way to start the year!

Walk to End Alzheimer's

Speaking of service, Santa Catalina will once again have a team participating in the Walk to End Alzheimer's on October 7. Last year, the team raised just over $3,000! To donate or walk this year, click here.

Admission

By the Numbers

Catalina is starting this school year with 226 students. We are thrilled to have admitted 73 students this season, with 60 new freshmen, 8 new sophomores, 4 new juniors, and 1 new senior! They come from all over the world, including Switzerland, Mexico, and China. Welcome to all!

Share the Spirit

We are excited for the new admission season and invite you to share our upcoming events with your friends and families! Here are two quick and easy ways for you to encourage others to join our community:

"Like" the Santa Catalina School Facebook page and share posts about upcoming admission events with your friends and family—near and far!
Tell a friend about Santa Catalina and invite them to join us on or off campus to learn more about the Catalina journey.

We always welcome innovative ideas and thoughts about admission recruitment and invite you to be a part of the process. We look forward to hearing from you and thank you for your continued support!

Congratulations to Our Head Tour Guides!

Our students make the difference in the admission process, and great student leadership is key. We congratulate the following stellar seniors who have been selected as 2017–18 Head Tour Guides for the Admission Office:

Rachel D' Agui
Sarina Baratta
Anna Baricevic
Carolina Bishop-Iglesias
Coco Chai
Jessica Cheng
Samantha Do
Madison Gong
Alyssa Kwon
Sophia Leonard
Tara Mann
Ana Leon Nuñez
Molly Racich
Danuisca Rangan
Teresa Ricapito
Emma Roffler
Caroline Stewart
Vivien Yip

Boarding Life

Prefects Help Students Get Settled

Congratulations to the 11 senior student leaders who were selected to be this year's prefects! Prefects act as a bridge between resident faculty and students. They mentor new students, assist with dorm duty during the week, and help out during study hours, among other responsibilities. A day before students returned to campus, the prefects participated in a retreat in which they worked on becoming an effective team, learned about values-based, mission-driven leadership, and heard from new guidance counselor Bonnie Bufkin on how to be a good role model. With the following prefects, your daughters are in good hands!

Anna Baricevic

Charlotte Gerzanics

Katherine Kim

Ana Leon Nuñez

Orlinka Mitoko-Kereere

Teresa Ricapito

Emmi Rivera

Emma Roffler

Bella Sainz

Vivien Yip

Grace Young

Reminders

As we begin this year, please know that you can keep up-to-date by visiting our school website. Our online calendar continues to be the main and most timely source of school information, including any last-minute schedule changes that come up.
As in past years, we ask that both resident and day families who are traveling at major vacation times make travel arrangements in accordance with our school calendar. It is especially important to note that we are not able to change the time of a final examination in December in order to accommodate travel plans. Those traveling at Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter vacations should make arrangements as soon as possible. We very much appreciate those of you who have taken care of these details so promptly and correctly over the years.
Students must attend classes; early vacation departures and late vacation returns to classes are not granted. Please know that tests and quizzes are often given on the last day of classes before vacations.
Should your daughter need to miss classes for an event such as a college trip, funeral, or important family event, she needs to fill out the Expected Absence from School form. This form is available for students to pick up in Student Services and is processed by our registrar, Ms. Julia Dubiel, in collaboration with our Interim Dean of Students, Ms. Katherine Burkhuch. Please note that parents must either phone or email Ms. Dubiel to confirm the expected absence at least 10 calendar days before the expected absence.