You probably figured it out - I am a Cate parent ?. There are others besides me here, too.
If you have any questions, one of us will be happy to answer it if we can.
How is your student doing with the online learning? Are they overwhelmed or is it relatively similar on workload. My son just registered for Cate in fall
Congratulations! Welcome!!! He seems to be fine with it. My honest assessment is that he has too much free time. It feels like he has on average about 5 hours total of classes/homework per day. Based on his class schedule, he ends up without any classes on Tuesdays. He loves that. Me, not so much. I would be curious to hear from the other Cate families’ experience so far on this. To be fair, he is exceptionally regimented and efficient about his work - much more than I am. That is definitely something he learned at Cate.
Cate seems to have gone about this online learning thing in a quintessentially Cate sort of way - so it is worth laying it out for you because it will tell you a lot about the school ethos:
They divided the spring trimester into two-week “chapters”. The goal of the first chapter was to try out various approaches, assess how it was going with surveys, and then implement changes at the beginning of week four (ie starting tomorrow). Until now, the students each only have had one class per week for each subject, but an uptick in homework from normal. The biggest change they are making is giving teachers an option for a second class period during the week (but adjust the homework downward if they do). They are going to have evening classes, to help with the international students, they are changing up office hours. They are also having the first class start at 9:00 am instead of 8:00. They are also moving math and science classes to happen at the beginning of the week.
I am hoping the changes address my issues. I like how they are thinking outside of the box, and really trying to match what they are providing to the realities of teaching a global community.
They seem very mindful that many students have many challenges getting online at proscribed times, and are trying to provide a community learning experience in other ways. Group projects, discussions, lots of one on one teacher interactions, more advisory activities, etc. In kiddo’s language class this week his small group had to write and record a skit and had 2 days to put it together. The problem was that the kids were spread from California to Europe. That was logistically tough time-zone wise, but they worked it out.
If you have other questions, please don’t hesitate to ask. DM me, too, if you prefer.
So happy to welcome you to the Cate family!