MESSAGE from the BOARD CHAIR

DEAR CONVENT & STUART HALL COMMUNITY,

When my oldest daughter, Eliza, was born in 2004, I would never have imagined that 18 years later I’d be standing on stage, presenting her with a high school diploma. But, fortuitously, that’s what happened this past May. As the Board Chair, I had the privilege of joining the procession of faculty and staff and standing alongside the Class of 2022 at the A.C.T. Theater for the first joint Convent & Stuart Hall high school commencement ceremony.

As gazed out into the bright theater lights, conferring one diploma after another upon our graduates, I was filled with pride for my daughter and her classmates as they entered the next stage of their lives with everything a Convent & Stuart Hall education bestows. Our graduates have been challenged to investigate the world and bridge linguistic, geographic, ideological and cultural barriers with a level of fluency that will serve them — and our world — well. They are fully equipped to excel in college and beyond.

In my last President’s Report letter, I highlighted the incredible job Ann Marie, her Leadership Team and the faculty did in guiding Convent & Stuart Hall through one of the most challenging times in its 135-year history. Despite the adversity presented by the pandemic, the school was the first in the Bay Area to have its students back in class learning in person. In addition, we have continued to invest in increasing faculty salaries, advancing our K–12 curriculum, improving our athletic programming, modernizing our facilities and making progress toward funding our Strategic Plan. Financially, we remain in a healthy position and have rasised close to $15 million toward our fundraising goal of $20 million, strengthening our endowment and providing the resources needed to complete two major renovation projects.

As you read in the Q&A with music faculty members Bonnie Fraenza and Leandro Joaquim, completing the reimagined Merlone Family Little Theater last spring has created a superb home for our performing arts programs. The state-of-the-art space puts us in a position to continue expanding our offerings in music, dance and theater. The responses I’ve heard from several students, faculty and staff have been ecstatic.

Finally, I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to two dedicated Board members, Martina Lauterbach and Mark Farrell SHB’88, who finished their term of service last summer. With their time, talent and energy, they helped position us to navigate the unknown with creativity and grace. I’m also pleased to welcome several individuals who joined the Board in July. The addition of Bill Brentani, Jeff Chang, Jill Hazelbaker Franks, Andrew Homan, Jacques Lehot and Saira Malik will help us continue to sustain and grow our impact in the Bay Area.