Dear Upper School Families,

We hope you’ve had a fabulous start to October! We’re looking forward to Fall Conferences next week. I want to offer a few reminders.

Fall Conferences, October 12-14:
We look forward to seeing parents/guardians and students for Fall Parent/Teacher Conferences, which will be held on:

Those familiar with conferences know they are short, sweet, but valuable, offering teachers, students, and their families a vital opportunity to connect and get to know each other. We ask that Upper School students attend conferences.

For those families who are unable to attend conferences, our teachers will write comments for your student, as teachers will not be able to schedule conferences for a later date.

 

Comments will publish online to parents and guardians on Friday, October 21, at 4:00 p.m. Given that we are only at the mid-trimester, we will not publish grades—only comments. The steps to view your student’s comments are included below:

A few more notes as we head into the second part of the first trimester:

As discussed during the parent/guardian orientation and our coffee chats, all Grade 9 students take Biology, English, and Global Perspectives as Pass/Fail during Trimester 1. The rationale being that this allows students to focus on intellectual risk-taking while acclimating to the high school experience. Our experience with the P/F system is that it encourages greater engagement and provides a low-stakes way for students to receive their first round of teacher feedback. This also means, however, that teachers of these courses will not have grades they can share regarding how a Grade Nine student is doing, but they will have ample data regarding non-graded learning that they can pass along during conferences.

For Parents/Guardians of Juniors:
A reminder that on Wednesday, October 12, the College Counseling Office will administer the PSAT to all Juniors. Please refer to the email sent to the parents/guardians of the Class of 2024 from the CA College Office for more information. 

Finally, if you would like to schedule a conference with a member of the administrative team, please email them directly to schedule a time.

Max Delgado: Upper School Principal

Camille James: Grade 9 Dean

Emily Pérez: Grade 10 Dean

Ali Kittle: Grade Grade 11 Dean

Gabe Bernstein: Grade 12 Dean

Kate O’Donnell: Upper School Counselor, Class of 2026 & Class of 2024

Liza Skipwith: Upper School Counselor, Class of 2025 & Class of 2023/Director of Counseling Services

All my best,

MBD