The Independent School Report

Chatsworth Hills Academy
Chatsworth, California
Originally Published in News from the Top of the Hill, December 2007

It was a beautiful Tuesday morning…actually a perfect one. It was mild and sunny and the winds had died down from a couple of days before and were not due to pick up again until the evening hours. The hustle and bustle of yesterday’s afternoon and early evening hours when the tent, chairs, stage, and sound system were delivered and set up turned in to the morning’s hustle and bustle of plasma screens, coffee makers, breakfast foods, last minute decorations, luxury buses, lots of registration materials and, of course, the arrival of grandparents and grandfriends.

CHA’s Third Annual Grandparents’ and Grandfriends’ Day was about to begin. Actually, we’ll hold off on that… As I mentioned before, this is our Third Annual Grandparents’ and Grandfriends’ Day. For those who remember the first two events, we had a “good” turn-out, a “very good” turn-out and, this year, an “amazing” turn-out. There were more than 237 positive responses…we stopped counting on the day of the event. Every year, this Day is made possible by CHA parents who say those two little words that every committee chair wants to hear…“I’ll help.” And, help they did! Our parents, some who had helped out in years one and two and others for whom this would be their first time, stepped up, volunteered, came to meetings, discussed visions, found solutions, baked, bought, decorated, made phone calls, sent emails, recruited others and, together, pulled off an event that would be the envy of any school.

CHA’s Third Annual Grandparents’ and Grandfriends’ Day was to begin at 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday, November 20, 2007. The first and very excited grandparents arrived at 7:20…we were ready! Staff and faculty members directed traffic and gave extra help to those in need. Student Council Representatives were standing by to offer a Program of the morning’s events and show our guests to their seats. The morning we’d planned for was about to speed by! As more guests began to arrive, they made their way through registration and on to a continental breakfast with the assistance of CHA parent volunteers. While the grandparents and grandfriends chatted and ate, a slide show of our CHA students going about their daily business of being CHA students was shown on the plasma screens. After a warm welcome from Graham Brown, our Head of School, the musical performance began. Weeks of rehearsals certainly paid off. From CHA’s youngest Beginner to the graduating class of 2008, our students made us all very proud. After a brief Thank You, a bus trip up the hill brought grandparents and grandfriends to the children’s classrooms to meet their teachers and spend some time on an activity or two. Just a little “side bar”…For the past six years I’ve been a part of the Chatsworth Hills Academy family and I’ve always wondered – what school wide event could even come close to the CHA Halloween Spectacular? As the morning of November 20, 2007 came to a close, there was an excitement in the air and more smiling faces than any one of us could count…hmmm. On behalf of Chatsworth Hills Academy, I’d like to thank those parents, faculty and staff and, of course, our entire student body for making our Third Annual Grandparents’ and Grandfriends’ Day one that we will have to work very hard to beat next year!

On behalf of the Committee Chair of Grandparents’ and Grandfriends’ Day …Whew!!! What a day, what a team, what an event…what a school!