Cate School Celebrates 100 Years On 10.10.10

Sept. 28, 2010 - PRLog -- “CATE SCHOOL CELEBRATES 100 YEARS ON 10.10.10”
Recognizing $65 million campaign success, green buildings, diversity, achievement

CARPINTERIA, CA - Cate School, one of the oldest 9-12 boarding schools in the West, will celebrate its Centennial Anniversary in a four-day event this October 7-10, 2010. Distinguished alumni, teachers, and special guests (including keynote speaker NBC news anchor Ann Curry, and alumnus Garrett Lisi, sometimes called “the new Einstein”) from around the world will join the celebration. Weekend events include master classes by former and current faculty; special interest panels and roundtables featuring notable alumni and parents in the fields of arts and entertainment, economics, environmentalism, journalism and communications, politics and international relations, technology, and science and medicine; a diversity symposium, and dedications of new buildings.

100 years ago, founder Curtis Wolsey Cate, a graduate of Roxbury Latin School and Harvard University, said that the characteristics of his school were to provide students with: “...a simple, active life with certain daily chores to be performed; early, cold-water bathing, out of door living and playing; serious studying and reading, choral singing, good music, and a sympathetic attitude towards all the arts; high standards of work and conduct; daily moments for reverent thought, and the almost constant companionship of honorable and unselfish men and women.”

In October, Cate School will celebrate 100 years of students who experienced this “simple, active life.” And the $65 million Centennial Campaign, which began in 2005, dedicated to building the endowment and developing a sustainable site, will help secure the future of Cate for the next 100 years. Alumni, parents, and friends of Cate have not faltered in their contributions, despite the economic crisis, bringing the campaign within $8 million of its goal to date. Last year, a record 45% of alumni and 91% of parents made donations to Cate. Other campaign milestones have been:

• Two gifts totaling $5.9 million
• 11 gifts of $1 million or more, and 11 gifts of $500,000 or more
• First ever leadership gifts of $50,000 from female graduates of Cate

Part of the Centennial Campaign funds are dedicated to sustainable/green buildings on campus. Cate is an industry leader in its stewardship to the environment--and over the past 100 years, has always kept its responsibility to the natural world a priority. The Cate campus now has seven LEED buildings on campus, more than any other school in the country, including one of the nation’s first green aquatic centers completed in August. Notable green buildings are:

• A Gold LEED (Leadership in Energy Efficient Design) certified aquatic center, which recaptures heat from the micro turbine used to power the facility
• An environmentally friendly, underground tertiary wastewater treatment plant which greatly reduces demand on local water
• Five new Platinum LEED certified faculty homes
• A Gold LEED certified Childcare Center for faculty children
• Relocation and restoration of a historically and architecturally significant Stables designed by architect Reginald Johnson

The Centennial Campaign also builds the endowment, which directly supports students and faculty. Even after 100 years, Cate School is still one of the most selective (20% acceptance rate in 2010), and the most diverse boarding school of its size (265 students) in the country (41% students of color; see TABS.org), working with organizations like A Better Chance (abetterchance.org) and The TEAK Fellowship (teakfellowship.org); 30% of its students receive a combined $2.5 million in financial aid.

Today, Cate’s seventh headmaster (since 1998), Benjamin D. Williams IV, has high ambitions for the school, keeping to the values that have guided the education of thousands of young men and women at Cate School over the years:

“At its inception, this school was a crucible into which our founder poured equal measures of the classic scholarship of his birthplace, the weathered, hearty toil of the man who works the land, and the enterprising spirit and commitment of those who pushed the frontier ever westward. Today we continue that fine tradition believing that our collective endeavors generate power and meaning through confluence rather than isolation. We are about the many who labor in search of the kind of eternal meaning that only a rich and full education can evoke.”

Space considerations prevent the event from being open to the public, but those interested in learning more about Cate School and its Centennial Campaign and Centennial Anniversary Celebration may contact Don Orth, Director of Communications at don_orth@cate.org or (805)-717-0944.

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Founded in 1910, Cate School is a grade 9-12, coeducational, college preparatory boarding school in Carpinteria, California. What began as a group of twelve boys and a few teachers has expanded into a 265-student, 65-teacher, deeply academic and talented community with the most diverse student body of any boarding school of its size in the United States. The faculty are experts in their fields: 74% hold advanced degrees, 18% of whom have PhDs. Cate is one of this nation’s most selective boarding schools, accepting only 20% applicants each year. 52% of Cate graduates from 2010 now attend the 25 top-ranked colleges and universities in the country. The Cate experience combines academics, athletics, art and co-curricular activities in a close-knit, community setting where students are enriched by their relationships with their teachers and each other.