Dear Parents,

On Thursday, September 24, over 1,000 people will attend the traditional Family BBQ event and enjoy superb food and company! It will be a great gathering of our community. I hope you can join us. RSVP today!

The remaining four Grade Level Coffees for parents are coming up:

• 12th grade on September 15
• 8th grade on September 17
• 11th grade on September 29
• 10th grade on October 6

These coffees provide an excellent opportunity to discuss school priorities, grade level-specific programs and other issues. The coffees begin with teachers at 7:30 pm in the atrium of Norris Auditorium, followed by a program in the Auditorium at 8:00 pm.

Back to School Night is Thursday, October 8 at 7:00 pm sharp. This is the evening when parents visit their students’ classrooms. Students will bring home more detailed information about this evening in the coming weeks. Please log in to your account and check the online school directory.

Send any new updates to addresses, phone numbers and emails to our registrar, Rachael Madore. We now direct everyone to the online School Directory for the most current information.

Conversations in Education

We have begun a blog for parents that organizes interesting topics in education. Published once a month, you can find the blog here and on the Parents Portal. This month, we explore the long view of parenting. Subscribe to the blog by clicking the blue Alerts button at the top of the page.

One City, One Book

The city of La Canada Flintridge chose Mark Salzman’s book Iron and Silk for its annual One Book, One City discussion. All are invited to read the book and join the discussion on Sunday, October 11, at 3:00 pm at the La Canada Public Library. The non-fiction work tells the story of Salzman’s two-year journey to Changsha, Hunan Province, where he taught English and studied martial arts. Click here for more information.

7th Grade Trip

The 7th Grade Trip departs for Cedar Lake on Monday, September 28 at 8:30 am from the upper parking lot on Crown Avenue and returns on Friday, October 2 at 2:00 pm to the same location.

STEAM & Service Fair

Prep's annual Science Fair is now the STEAM & Service Fair. STEAM stands for science, technology, engineering, arts and math. The change in name is to better reflect the interdisciplinary nature of our fair, which includes science fair projects, robotics club displays, community impact projects and more. The fair will be held February 11 and 12, but it's not too early for students to begin a project. Students who are planning to complete a project that involves tissues, human subjects, vertebrate animals, microbes or hazardous chemicals must apply for pre-approval by November 6 in order to be eligible for the LA County Science and Engineering Fair. For more information, contact Laura Kaufman.

Homecoming Dances and Games

The Middle School Homecoming Dance is Friday, October 16 from 7:00–9:00 pm in Miller Theater. The High School Homecoming Dance is Friday, October 23 from 8:00-11:00 pm in the Crawford Family Gym. Our Homecoming games against Polytechnic will take place Saturday, October 24 at La Cañada High School. Junior Varsity will play at 3:30 pm, Powder Puff at 5:30 pm and Varsity at 7:00 pm. See you there!

Athletics

The fall sports season is underway, and there is great anticipation and optimism. In high school, the varsity football team won its season opener, and both girls and boys cross country teams are ranked first in CIF preseason polls. The girls tennis team is inspired under the direction of a new coach, Morisa Yang. Girls volleyball is making strides as the team hopes to capture a playoff bid. Boys water polo is preparing to defend a Prep League title. Middle school teams in flag football, girls volleyball and cross country are just getting underway. Athletics schedules and directions can be found on the new Athletics Portal. If you have any questions, please contact Garrett Ohara, Director of Athletics, at (818) 790-0334.

Athletic Council on Leadership

The Athletic Council on Leadership had a very busy summer, hosting the Second Annual Boys and Girls Club Summer Camp. Falling on the heels of that great week, the ACL helped out at the Alumni Family Picnic. Later in the summer, they assisted in the Ramses Barden Football and Dance Camp, as well as the JP Blecksmith 4th of July Run and hosted a dinner and dance for our three guest countries, Namibia, Tanzania and Singapore, at the Special Olympics World Games. Six of the 15 ACL members traveled to Nicaragua with Mr. Nunez. All of the ACL members contributed their energy, planning and passion to successful and memorable summer events.

All are welcome to the public exhibit of Remembering Our Fallen, which highlights all those who lost their lives in the War on Terror, including two of our own, JP Blecksmith ’99 and Scott Studenmund ’08. The exhibit runs from Sunday, September 20 through Saturday, September 26 from 12:00 pm to 7:00 pm at the American Legion Post 13. The address is 131 North Marengo Avenue, Pasadena, CA 91101. For more information, call (626) 792-2158.For upcoming events, the ACL student roster, and pictures, visit the ACL Portal. If you have questions, contact Alex Rivera, Director of Athletic Initiatives, at (818) 949-5564.

College Counseling

Seniors: We have completed meetings with senior families, outlining each student’s college application plan, and are now launching the college application process. Seniors began the fall college counseling class this week. Parents, feel free to contact our office if you have any questions or concerns about where your child is in the process. Starting next week, we will be scheduling appointments with each senior who wants to submit an early application so that we can outline their early application plan.

Juniors: A reminder that the Prep college counselors do not recommend juniors sit for the ACT or SAT until March or April 2016. The focus needs to remain on the student’s academic coursework this first semester.

Academic summer programs, internships and research opportunities: Ms. Madore and Ms. Kinder will begin meeting with students in October to identify academic summer programs, internships and/or research opportunities for each student based on their areas of interest. This is a new addition to the college counseling program and we hope this will allow more time for each student to research summer options and begin program applications. Any questions regarding this opportunity should be directed to Claire Kinder.

Save the date: Junior College Night is Thursday, November 12 at 7:00 pm in the Norris Auditorium. This evening is for parents only. We will host a college admission dean who will demystify the college application process.

Parents Association

Thank you to all the Parents Association committee chairs and the many volunteers who assisted in back to school events: Nadine Ono (summer mailing), Karen Evans and Stephanie Kilpatrick (Book Day), Melissa Mazin and Elizabeth Besch (New Parents Reception), Susan Pai and Karen Turner (Parents Association Membership), Carin Yates and Kristy Bremer (Picture Day) and Tami Brown and Patty Cartwright (Family BBQ).

The next Parents Association meeting is Tuesday, October 13 at 8:15 am at the La Cañada Flintridge Country Club. Rob Lewis, Performing Arts Department Chair, will be the guest speaker. November 10 is our first evening meeting with guest speaker Art Stetson, Director of Admissions. A wine and cheese reception will begin at 7:00 pm, and the meeting at 7:30 pm.

You can now pay your family’s dues online with a credit or debit card. We’d really like to reach 100% participation--we use every penny to support Prep! Contribute today to support our fall membership drive.

Fathers Club

Prep dads, please join us on October 13 for our next Fathers Club meeting in the Chandramohan Library. Refreshments begin at 6:30 pm, and the general meeting starts at 7:00 pm. During September, the Fathers Club hosted and supported several important school events. On September 1, Eric Kristensson and Gene and Deanne Detchemendy hosted 140 dads at the annual Back-to-School Mixer. On September 3, Jerry Faulkner and his team served as greeters and bartenders at the New Parents Reception.

On September 24, Bill Bremer, Kevin Gunning and their crew of over 130 volunteers will set up and serve over 1,000 meals during the Family BBQ. It is not too late to RSVP and get in on the raffle tickets.

Prep Fathers Club Internship Program

Entering into its third year, this successful internship program for college-age alumni truly reflects the Prep for Life mission. The program has placed 20 alumni into high-quality summer internship positions spanning professions from finance to engineering, journalism and marketing. Learn more about opportunities to host an internship at your workplace or volunteer for this important program by clicking here.

Performing Arts

• Auditions for this year's Winter Play, Prepp'd, a comedic look at life as a 7th, 8th and 9th grader at Flintridge Prep, will be September 23 and 24 at 2:30 pm in Miller Theater. The script will be co-written by students and our new drama teacher, Jen Bascom.
• High school students are invited to come try out for ComedySportz on September 21 at 2:30 in the Miller Theater. This renowned group of high school students is our campus' improvisational comedy troupe and always promises a great time. Games are held almost every month, so come participate! 
• If you are interested in signing up for the extracurricular orchestra, please see Mr. Murray at your convenience. Rehearsals are early morning every Thursday in the Music Room.
• Stagecraft meets at 2:30 every Wednesday to learn about stage technology, construction and creative problem-solving in the heat of the moment.
• Auditions for this year's spring musical will take place October 19-23, so mark your calendars!
• Like us on Facebook for program updates.

Sammy the Cat Needs a Home

We really need the help of the Prep community to find a home for Sammy the cat. Sammy was the pet of two beloved members of the Prep faculty, Kathi and Orra Herroon. Sammy is 12 or 13 years old and he is an independent outdoor cat who likes to hunt. He was very close to Orra and likes a lot of attention. We'd love it if someone from the Prep community would adopt him, since Prep meant so much to Orra and Kathi. Please contact Midge Kimble if you're interested.

Website Quick Tips: The Calendar

Each month in the Headmaster’s Newsletter, we’ll give you tips on using the site to get customized information. This month, we’re exploring calendars, subscriptions and alerts.

Several parents have noted that trying to subscribe to calendars on a mobile device is cumbersome. We have asked our website provider to fix this problem, and in the meantime, the best way to subscribe to our calendars is by visiting our online calendar using your desktop computer, iPad or laptop and setting up the subscription from there. Any time you view the web calendar, you can select and deselect event types. Don’t forget to click Update View.

To set up subscriptions for your desktop computer and and mobile devices:

1. Visit the calendar using a PC, laptop or iPad.
2. Scroll to down the page and look for the red iCal button.
3. Click the type of subscription you want and then mouse over the green iCal button for subscription options.
4. The subscriptions are incredibly easy to link with other calendars you might have on your phone, including Outlook, iCal and Google Calendar.
5. The first subscription option allows you to subscribe to all the public calendars on the page, including athletics calendars.
6. If you want to subscribe to some calendars and not others, you must do so individually.

You can set up the calendar to send you alerts to your email address or to send an alert to your phone.

For more information on managing subscriptions and alerts, watch this short, helpful video.

Happy new school year!  

Peter Bachmann Headmaster