BHS Parents Group

Dear BHS Community,

What is our role as parents in helping our children make good decisions? …when they are reluctant listeners? ...or base choices on incomplete information?...or are acting or reacting seemingly without reason? …or don't fully think through a situation? When are we enabling them? When are we providing good guidance?

These are questions I asked myself as I agreed to allow my daughter to drive her grandfather's car back to college…in upstate NY last weekend. She wanted to maximize her time at home (to see her friends, not me) and she wanted all the costs to be less than a flight, so that meant not stopping to sleep at a hotel. That isn't the crazy part. The crazy part is that I drove with her! We left after her “last sunset over the Pacific” on Friday (oh the drama, she'll be back in May), and she dropped me at the Cleveland airport on Sunday afternoon for the final 5 hours alone (and yes it was snowing). After I booked my flight, she mentioned that her dorm wouldn't open until Tuesday, oops. Well, at least I didn't miss work.

Did I fall for this teenage belief that this-one-magical-thing is going to improve their life? Do your kids become fixated on a solution with dubious potential? If only x happens, then all will be good in their world?  Was I supposed to be the adult who said: They don't issue freshmen parking permits for a reason? 

Or I am supposed to go with the times? YOLO. And just make sure she was safe with this driving-X-C-in-the-winter plan? Some days, I think I'd be happier if my kids made all their decisions without consulting me! Parenting is hard. Hopefully you're engaging your children about how to make good decisions. If you aren't sure how well you are doing as a parent, you aren't alone.

Now I know, it really is possible to drive to New York in 42 hours!

Go Panthers!

Principal Jen Fong

jenfong@smuhsd.org

January 23, 2026

Dear Families,

Our parent group has been incredibly busy, and we want to take a moment to give a huge shout-out to our amazing Excellence Team—Michele Jackson, Eve Glatt, and Meredith Thacker, with the invaluable support of Cyndi Wright for gift processing. Thank you all for your time, dedication, and hard work in support of BHS.

Thanks to the generosity of our families, we have reached $440,000 toward our Excellence Fund goal—and we are so much closer! We are deeply grateful to the parents who have already stepped up in support of our students, our school, and our teachers. With your continued help, we can reach our goal of $588,000.

We are truly blessed to be part of such an amazing and supportive community.

Please mark your calendars for our next Parents Group meeting on February 11, held in the Alumni Room at 6:30PM. A Zoom link will be available, but we strongly encourage you to join us in person if you are able. You’ll hear more from Principal Fong about how Excellence Fund contributions directly support our school—and learn how AI is being used in the classroom.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Warmly,

Ingrid Gauthier, BHS Parents Group President

ingridgauthier@bhsparentsgroup.org