On the weekend of October 18-20, parents flocked to Choate hoping to get a feel for what student life is really like. In addition to visiting classes, the parents participated in multiple featured events including parent-teacher conferences, a concert put on Friday night by student musical ensembles, and form meetings as well as informational sessions, panels, and receptions. Admissions held interviews and activities for siblings, and the parents watched their athletes take on Hotchkiss during the Saturday sports matches.
Changes in the Schedule
Although Parents’ Weekend is always hectic, this year parents registered online for teacher conferences, rather than signing up through their children on sheets of paper in each classroom. The change was welcomed and applauded by parents, faculty members, and students alike. The conferences themselves were extended by 30 seconds to 8 minute periods. A new program, the Students of Color Parents Reception, was held in the Archbold Solarium on Saturday the 20th.
A less anticipated improvement was that the rain, although present, cleared up before the athletic matches on Saturday. “And I’d say my track record is unbroken in that we’ve had rain each of the weekends I’ve been involved,” said Libby Peard of Communications and Parent Relations, who has been involved in planning parents’ weekend for the past three years.
Annual Receptions
Other annual receptions included Headmaster Shanahan’s welcome on Thursday night, and the Parents Advisory Council Meeting. Teachers Joel Backon; Charlotte Davidson and Ben Gardner; Dean Jacoby and Lisa Rodenhizer; and Charlie Long, Nancy Buress, Carol Chen-Lin, and Carl Hermey led information sessions on the topics “The Fire and the Rose: Stress, Resiliency, and Technology?” “Parenting from a Distance,” “The College Process,” and “International Study Programs” respectively.
Campus Participates
“There’s really no group on campus that doesn’t play a role,” said Mrs. Peard, referring to efforts made by different groups within the school, including Aramark, Facilities and Services, and the development office. Mrs. Peard meets with each of the groups involved, from those who staff the events to those involved in set-up, administration, and scheduling. “It’s completely a group effort and could not possibly happen without all hands on deck.”
The musical performance, which ran from 7:30 pm to 9:20 pm, showcased student talent from the jazz ensemble, the chamber and festival choruses, the chamber and full orchestras, and the concert band—for over 300 parents. The Arts Department faculty decided to reverse the performance order from previous years, starting with the smaller groups and building up to the band, a sequence that remain for future parents’ weekends. Student a cappella groups sang at a reception following the concert.
“Each group really performed incredibly considering the short amount of time we’ve had since the beginning of year,” said Ralph Valentine, leader of the Choate choruses. He commented that transitions between the songs were time-consuming because stands and chairs had to be moved on and off the stage. He also noted that, because conferences are scheduled during ensemble rehearsals, the concert is the only opportunity parents have to hear the students perform. The students, he says, “always put forth their best efforts to do well for their parents.”
Fourth Form Dean Tommie Oppegaard says that she enjoyed having the opportunity to bring parents together at the form meetings. She remarked that for parents who live far from campus these were often the first opportunity to meet and talk with other parents of students in the same form.
Good Timing
Mrs. Peard commented that she believes the timing of parents weekend to be ideal, because it allows the parents to connect with the teachers early on so that they will feel comfortable making further inquires later in the year if necessary. The schedule still has room for improvement, though: she noted that some parents expressed desire to confer with dorm advisers as well but that “there really are no open windows in the schedule.”
Many students complained that additions to campus life such as fresh coffee in the dining hall, along with the students’ own desires to impress their parents, and the parents “hovering,” made the weekend unrepresentative of what school is normally. “They should be happy with what they have there all the time,” said Sara Kirshbaum ’11.
Ms. Rebecca Abbate, French teacher and adviser to Nichols, saw the issue differently: “I don’t think it’s anything very extraordinary or unusual; I think just about every school and every college do something like that when parents come. It’s not really saying ‘this is what it’s like all the time;’ it’s just saying ‘Welcome.’”
Parents Experience Classes
She also took a unique approach to compensating for differences in her students’ class performances by adding nothing new on the syllabus and by making the parents participate in class, whether or not they had any knowledge of French. This, she said, “turns the tables and has the parents performing in front of the kids.”
Deron Chang had his junior SRP students give presentations telling the parents about in-house experiments, but because his senior students are preparing their annual lectures, he kept their classes as productive as they normally are. “Clearly we prepare our classes with parents being there in mind,” he conceded candidly, explaining that no teacher would give a test during parents’ weekend and that the classes tend to be based more on discussion and less on lectures. He remarked that the parents made an effort to engage themselves in the science as they witnessed the energy of the campus and began to appreciate the “crazy pace of life” at Choate. The students, he thought, interacted with him and with each other differently as the parents were “invading [their] world.”
Are Conferences Helpful?
Chang described parent conferences as “a double-edged sword,” commenting that he loved speaking with the parents but that conversations were often forced and unnecessary with the parents of students who were doing well. He was also disappointed by the lack of decadence in the dessert assortment during the conferences. “We clearly had a budget cut…this year it was so thin, it was ridiculous.” However, he was pleased by the “cool water bottles that said ‘CRH water.’”
Marta Escartin, a Spanish teacher new to Choate from Spain, said that she was nervous at first, but enjoyed the weekend. “Sometimes with speaking with your parents you can have a whole idea about the students, and this is very helpful,” she said referring to the conference periods. In class, “they can understand how difficult it is to learn a language.”
Sam Cabot ’08 in his fourth year of parents’ weekends said: “It is nice to have the parents around for a couple of classes, but [now that the parents have left] I am glad things have returned to normality.”
