<p>Hi Choate Parents: I wanted to make you all aware of the Choate Parent Cafe accessed via the the new Parents Portal on the Choate website (log in>Parent-to-Parent>Groups>Choate Parent Cafe). I started this forum as a venue for discussions specific to Choate that you might not want to post in this more public forum where anonymity is key. This community forum is not meant to drain your wisdom from CC but rather to enable you to speak more freely about specific Choate issues. Hope to see you there.</p>
<p>Hi ChoatieMom - fascinated by this. How do Choate parents know they will be anonymous? I am no techie, but would their parent portal login somehow identify them to the school? If not, I’d love to try to start something like this wherever DS ends up!</p>
<p>Interlochen has a private yahoo group for parents of students. It is moderated by a school employee, so it isn’t anonymous, but it’s a great forum for all kinds of helpful been-there-done-that sharing. Especially things like “looking for a ride-share for my child to the Grand Rapids airport for the beginning/end of spring break,” etc.</p>
<p>You are not anonymous on the Choate forum (your posts are tagged with your name as it appears in the Choate directory) but, for me, that’s the point. We can get to know each other personally within the confines of our own community. If you prefer anonymity, CC is the place. However, if you don’t indicate your CC name on the Choate forum (and you don’t need to), you can still be anonymous on CC–no need to make the connection between your real name and CC name.</p>
<p>Oh, got it. Good for you for setting this resource up for Choate. And it’s great to hear that Interlochen has something similar. I hope in time many other schools will offer the same. Great resource for parents who live far from the school, which is often the case for boarders. I’ve been befriended by some local parents at DC’s current school, and it has been wonderful to have the local connection. Especially when I was new and had basic questions like what shoes the kids favored and other pressing teen concerns :)</p>