November Minutes

The monthly meeting of the CPS Parents’ Association Board for November 2006 was held in Buttner Auditorium on Wednesday, November 8.  Based on the sign-in sheet, at least 46 members of the Parents’ Association were in attendance.  Also attending were Head of School Murray Cohen and Director of College Counseling Martin Bonilla.  President Debby Barach rang the bell at 7:05 PM to open the meeting. 

Martin Bonilla:  The first speaker of the evening was Martin Bonilla.  Martin provided comments with respect to the college search process in general and the process at CPS in particular.  Martin comes to CPS with 14 years experience in the field, including eight years on the other side of the table in the Penn admissions office and six years at high-powered high schools in Dallas and Miami.  He came to CPS in July.  He and Marsha Gardner are working full tilt with the current senior class.  Martin will be having three meetings with junior parents (divided by alphabet) over the three Tuesdays beginning November 14.  He will meet with sophomore and freshmen parents next spring.

In terms of the various roles which are being played and could be played by the parents in the college search process, Martin noted that the students in general have the view that the parents are adding fuel to the flames in terms of pressure.  The students are feeling the parents’ anxiety as to which college their child will attend. 

Martin also suggested that each student should develop a well-rounded list of schools which are right for that student.  When Martin recommends that families look beyond the Ivies, this does not mean to make sure that MIT and Stanford are on the list.  The target list should be developed beginning with the more likely admits and work up to schools which have admission rates in single digits.

Martin suggested that 6-10 schools would be an ideal size for most students.  He said that in practice the list can become much longer when parents add their schools of choice to the list, which are often slanted towards the most selective schools.

In answer to a question from the audience, Martin said that parents should consider the College Counseling Office at CPS as a primary source of information.  In addition to Martin, the office includes Marsha Gardner, who has been at CPS since the 1970’s, and Jan Walt, who has eight years experience at CPS.  The college counselors and the parents need to work together as a team during the college search process.

In terms of the college admission process in general, Martin said that the class of 2007 is the largest group of seniors in US history, and that the class of 2008 will be even larger.  In addition to the crunch that this provides, the colleges themselves have become more active in terms of recruiting students, with the goal of attracting more diverse applicant pools.  Throw natural anxiety into this mix, and the result is a fairly high level of stress.  Martin also noted that CPS is held in such high regard by colleges because CPS prepares its students so well during our students’ time here.  Success begets success.  Our students will likely thrive wherever they wind up in the search process.

Head of School:  Murray Cohen presented the 2006-2007 CPS wish list.  Murray canvasses the various departments to see what they would like in terms of items which can enhance the school’s academic and extracurricular programs.  Murray then puts together a final list, which is funded from scrip sales.  The final list includes an exercise bike for the athletics department, a digital camera for the debate program, a follow-spotlight for productions by the arts department in the auditorium, a printer for the math department, 2 Vernier heart rate sensors for the science department (to measure with more accuracy how much student heart rates change when their heads are plunged into buckets of ice water- I kid you not), a digital video camera for the languages department, materials for a castle play structure for the community service and stagecraft programs, a slavery DVD and two specialized encyclopedias for the library and a set of headsets for the multimedia lab.  The grand total for these items is $6,075.

Additional items in the initial list which did not make this round of $6,075 are logical candidates for contributions from future additional scrip sales.  Unless the Raiders really step their offense up in the next few weeks, the purchase of NFL DVD’s for the debate department could be a long shot.  Laurie Bronson made the suggestion from the floor that items not included in the final $6,075 could be considered for inclusion in the auction, as an additional means to fund these items.

The other major topic which Murray covered was the image of CPS in the greater community.  Based on feedback from attendees at open houses and elsewhere, the stereotype of CPS is that the school is an academic boot camp.  In other words, academics are pushed to the exclusion of arts, sports, and other extracurriculars.  Since academics in fact do not displace arts, sports and other extracurriculars, the school needs to address how to present a more accurate image.  In interviewing several firms to help the school with this issue, the firm of Patty Crane in Atlanta stood out.  She and several associates will be making a site visit next month as part of their efforts.  Murray noted that he more fully appreciates that the marketing effort actually can be a useful self-awareness exercise, where the school’s values and core principles are more fully brought to the fore.  As part of the site visit, Patty Crane’s team would like to meet with three parent focus groups for our input on December 5.  These sessions will be held at 7:45-9 AM, 2-3:15 PM, and 5:15-6:30 PM. 

President’s Report and Discussion Items:  Lisa Katovich mentioned that the CPS film club will be using a raffle sale at the Friday, January 12 screening of China Blue as a fundraiser for the upcoming music tour.  China Blue is a documentary which deals with manufacturing practices in China, where a lot of our blue jeans originate.  The director will be present for q&a after the screening.

Volunteers are needed for grandfriends’ day on Monday, November 20 from 8:30 to 9:30 in the morning to help escort guests from the parking lot up to the main campus.

Anna Urrea led a discussion as to potential improvements in student dances.  This item scores consistently on the low end of the scale in CPS student and parent surveys.  Anna mentioned that a group of sophomore parents had been kicking around ideas based on comments by their children.  Debby Barach said that she would suggest to Andy Dean that the school conduct a survey of the students with specific focus on the dance to elicit suggestions.  Debby also noted that the Parents’ Association would like to support the school dances, but does not want to take over responsibility for the dances from the student council.  Debby will also be talking to Andy about setting up a meeting for parents to get more info on the prom logistics as well as have an opportunity to discuss options, traditions  and supervision for parties following the prom and graduation.

Approvals:  A motion to approve the CPS Wish List as presented by Murray Cohen was made and seconded, and was approved by voice acclamation.  A motion to approve the October minutes was made and seconded, and was approved by voice acclamation.

Safety Committee (Flip Jubelirer) - the committee continues to work with CalTrans on remedying the signage issue, in the hopes of improving traffic safety around the school.

Auction (Linda Perry)-  next committee meeting is Wednesday, November 15.

Corresponding Secretary (Jean Andrews) - we need a location for the December PA Board meeting, which is the annual holiday social.  Locations of choice from prior years are more problematic this year, given that the students have moved on from CPS to college.  In any event, anybody willing to host should contact Jean as soon as possible.

Parent Education (Cynthia Chiles) - Lynn Ponton, Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at UCSF, will speak on Tuesday, February 13.  Dr. Ponton specializes in risk behavior by adolescents, so her thoughts should be very interesting.  The talk might be open to the community and donations might be accepted- details to follow.

Athletics (Laura Stewart) – photographers are needed at sports events.  Also, the school needs scorekeepers for home basketball games.  With 4 teams (boys and girls varsity and JV), there are plenty of opportunities to lend a hand with this critical task.  Please let Laura know if you are interested. 

Book Fair (Linda Foust) – there will be an on-campus book fair on a date to be determined.  We will be able to store books on campus for the fair.   

Care Boxes (Jacqui Richter) - 59 boxes were sent in October to CPS alums at college.  Reports are that the social standing of recipients went off the charts- thanks to all for helping.  The next distribution of care boxes will be in February.

Diversity (Aixa Gannon) - the multicultural evening on October 26 was a huge success, with over 250 attendees.  Aixa noted other events with Diversity Committed involvement, including attending the admissions open houses for prospective families.

Drama Dinner (Chris Werme) – the drama preview and dinner will be held on Thursday, December 7.  The working title of this year’s production is Ash.  The students are preparing the script with several faculty members.  Since the play has a multicultural emphasis and takes place in numerous locales, the choice of menu items is wide open.  A splendid time is in store for all.

Livetalk (Lisa Katovich) - The next live talk is on Thursday, November 9, featuring science writer Mary Roach.  Her theme is  Science Tackles the Afterlife.  Lisa mentioned that attendance was less than hoped for at the October event, which featured Tony Taccone, artistic director of Berkeley Rep.

Oxfam - we have plenty of food and servers for this year’s feast on Tuesday, November 14.  The next day will be the fast portion of this event.  Students will be seeking donations via pledge forms in recognition of giving up something for the day (hopefully, not homework).

Periscope (Flip Jubelirer) - the deadline for submittals for December will be December 7, the day after our December social event.

Scrip- this is the source of funds for the CPS Wish List discussed earlier in the meeting.  The scrip program now includes $20 cards from Peet’s Coffees and Teas.  The portion going to CPS is 10%.  Please note that this sharing is only available for new cards.  Recharging Peet’s cards will still bring the same good coffee and tea, but with -0- going to the school.  Linh Tran has Peet’s cards available for purchase.  You may also contact any member of the scrip committee- Rachel Bradley, Denise Smernes, Linda McCoy or Ann Del Simone.

Freshman Reps (Frances O’Kelly) - there were some less than perfect aspects to this year’s potluck dinner, including insufficient food.  Debby suggested that the current freshman reps memorialize the issues, so that next year’s parents can attempt to address them.

Junior Reps (Tori Lawrence) - the junior parent social received rave reviews.

Senior Reps- thanks to parents for helping with the admissions open houses.

Upcoming Events:  Please make note of the following events in the relatively near future-

Livetalk- Thursday, November 9- Mary Roach- Science Tackles the Afterlife

Oxfam Feast- Tuesday, November 14

Cody’s Book Sale- November 17 through November 19

Fall Music Concert- Friday, November 17 and Saturday, November 18

Grandfriends Day- Monday, November 20

Diversity Meeting- Monday, December 4

Parents’ Association December Holiday Social- Wednesday, December 6

Drama Preview and Dinner- Thursday, December 7

Drama Performances- December 8 through December 10

Parents’ Association Board Meeting- Wednesday, January 10 (guest speaker Assistant Head of School Sharona Barzilay)

CPS Film Club Screening and Music Tour Fundraiser- Friday, January 12

Respectfully and exhaustingly (for the reader and the writer) submitted,

Raleigh Klein, Recording Secretary

Handouts for November 8 Meeting: CPS Wish List for 2006-2007

Flyer for CPS Film Club screening of China Blue

Parents’ Association Financials- actuals through November 8, 2006