“Our academic program is rigorous ... one that forces you to work to think, to go beyond the text- book and make discoveries of your own,” said Leslie Turnbull, 1985 Cate graduate and the school’s current Director of Centennial Events.
Until 1981, Cate was an all-male school. Turnbull grew up in Carpinteria and entered Cate with the school’s first freshmen class of girls. She remembered adjusting to classes one-fifth of the size of those in public school. “When there are seven kids around the table and that teacher’s looking at you ... there is no way to get away with not giving it your all.” Cate teachers are more than a voice from behind a lectern or a challenge confined to the walls of the classroom. Most of Cate’s teachers live on campus and take on coaching assignments and dorm duties in ad- dition to their class schedules. Discussions that begin in the classroom frequently continue in the cafeteria and the hallways.
Academic discussions, however, are not the sole in- gredient of the “well-rounded” students that Mr. Cate designed his school to produce. Cate students all par-
ticipate in physical activities̶sports or dance̶and all pitch in with chores. In addition, many participate in the voluntary Service Program, which has produced one of the many ties between the Carpinteria com- munity and the community on the Cate School Mesa. Students are regularly bussed into town to tutor Canalino School students, offer computer assistance to seniors at Shepard Place Apartments, and provide companionship for developmentally disabled children in local foster homes.
The Cate and Carpinteria communities connect for sporting competitions as well. Carpinteria High School competes in a larger-school league than Cate, however, non-league matches are held between the baseball, water polo, tennis and track teams. The his- tory of athletic competition stretches nearly a century into the past.
“We sent a team to the first Russell Cup Meet in Carpinteria on May 30, 1914 ... ranking second in the meet with 64 points. Carpinteria won with 88,” stated Mr. Cate in “School Days in California.” In the early years of the school, Cate’s entire
THE SCHOOL IS HIDDEN, SOMETIMES FORGOTTEN, STRATEGICALLY PINNED ON A FOLD IN THE CAPE OF MOUNTAINS FLOWING BEHIND THE CITY.
50 CARPINTERIAMAGAZINE
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100