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KATHRYN, CONVENT HIGH SCHOOL ‘17

MITCHELL, STUART HALL HIGH SCHOOL ‘17

SCARLETT, CONVENT ELEMENTARY ‘21

LUCAS, STUART HALL FOR BOYS ‘18

This year’s President’s Report has four different covers to represent the range of our K-12 student body.

2017 P R ESI DENTâ€™S R EPORT

TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S 3

Message from the President

2012-2017 Strategic Plan

Introducing New Strategic Plan

Celebrating Be Mardelâ€™s Big Day

AASH Conference Comes to San Francisco

Alumni Connections

Did You Know?

Meet Our New Athletic Director

OUR VISION Convent & Stuart Hall in 2020: An education of mind, Heart and body that aims at realizing the best in students so they each may live with grace and intellect, preparing them to shape their present and future and to be a positive force, locally and globally, in their rapidly changing world. 13

Students Attend Diversity Leadership Conference

Celebrating Faculty and the Year of the Rooster

The Pedagogy of Space

Faculty and Staff Discover Cuba

The Gift of Music

The IBDP: 5 Questions

Teaching the Election

A Culture of Reading

Our Board of Trustees

Message from the Board Chair

CONVENT & STUART HALL

â€œWe believe our students will lead transformation in their own lives and in the world in which they live. As educators and educational leaders, we charge ourselves with equipping them to do so.â€?

President Krejcarek meets with students to discuss ideas for the new Strategic Plan.

2017 P R ESI DENT’S R EPORT

M E S S A G E F RO M

President Ann Marie Krejcarek Dear Sacred Heart Community: In the pages that follow, we celebrate the successful completion of the 2012-2017 strategic plan and introduce the exciting work we’ve claimed in our new plan, Looking Forward with 2020 Vision. The central story on which this work is based — a vision for our students — is told in our four different covers. The new plan focuses on providing knowledge and skills that will be relevant to our students’ future; exemplary teachers who will guide them in their learning; a school environment where all they encounter contributes to their development; and the organizational structures to scaffold it. Our 2012 strategic plan set a clear course for ambitious and enterprising accomplishments. Doubling our endowment value and Annual Fund contributions, along with other guiding financial decisions, enabled us to bring our faculty salaries and benefits from significantly below market to a much more competitive market position. We put in place buffers against market swings and realized great success in admissions across all divisions. Academic preeminence in service of the Sacred Heart mission to provide a learning experience that stretches minds and hearts led to the on-boarding of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme, curricular revamping of mathematics K-12 and the introduction of world language instruction to our youngest learners. Embracing the life of the spirit, Convent & Stuart Hall proudly claims our Catholic identity while providing an environment of spiritual growth for children and families of all faiths. To quote a member of our recent accreditation team, “What you have accomplished in the last five years is nothing short of miraculous.” I extend a heartfelt thank you to the entire community for embracing this work over the last five years and making our vision a reality. In crafting our new plan, we tested what we are currently doing in support of the student experience and what we might do in support of the why of a Sacred Heart education. The why begins with Madeleine Sophie Barat, our foundress who believed in empowering individuals through education to live fully into their gifts – intellectual, experiential and spiritual. As Phil Kilroy, one of her biographers, writes, “She had no script to follow, few models to learn from… Sophie Barat was endowed with a remarkable capacity for human relationship and she used those gifts to good effect. She used a rhetoric, in conversation and letter-writing, that enabled her to overcome obstacles and pursue her goals…” Kilroy notes that Sophie Barat prepared the way for a new space and place for her students far beyond her own time. This is our heritage and our charge. In our new plan, we claim a vision for our students that provides them with an education that informs independence and innovation, persuasive voice in conversation, public speaking and writing, along with a practice of contemplation and action. We believe our students will lead transformation in their own lives and in the world in which they live. As educators and educational leaders, we charge ourselves with equipping them to do so. Enclosed in this report is an outline of the new strategic plan, Looking Forward with 2020 Vision. I hope you’ll find the work we’ve claimed exciting and I look forward to sharing more with you in person. Please feel free to contact me with questions or comments. Sincerely,

Dr. Ann Marie Krejcarek President Convent & Stuart Hall

CONVENT & STUART HALL

2012-2017 STRATEGIC PLAN In 2012, we put together an ambitious five-year plan that included 145 initiatives. Through hard work, collaboration and a persistent focus on the schoolâ€™s vision, we are proud to announce that we completed this plan early, accomplishing our goals successfully and preparing us for the future. ACADEMIC COUNCIL Formed in fall of 2015, our K-12 Academic Council, comprised of the president, heads of school and department chairs representing each academic discipline, meets quarterly with a mission to create a more aligned, exciting and relevant program for our students.

MILLION$

$21.5 $12.5

2012

2016

ENDOWMENT

FACULTY SALARIES

In a concentrated effort to increase the schoolâ€™s financial stability, between 2012 and 2016 Convent & Stuart Hall grew its endowment from $12.5 to $21.5 million.

Committed to attracting and retaining the highest caliber faculty in an extremely competitive market, each year Convent & Stuart Hall gathers market data from peer schools to determine appropriate faculty salaries based on years of service, degrees, areas of expertise and performance. Since 2013, the base salary for a first year teacher has increased by 14 percent and faculty salaries overall have increased by an average of 26 percent.

SPIRITUAL L.I.F.E. DIRECTORS In January 2016, Convent & Stuart Hall realigned the Campus Ministry program to animate our Catholic identity as a Catholic school for all faiths. Complimenting their teaching roles, Sergio Vasquez and Kristin Monfredini were appointed Spiritual L.I.F.E. (Liturgy, Interiority, Faith & Engagement) directors for the high school and elementary school divisions, respectively.

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INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE DIPLOMA PROGRAMME Convent & Stuart Hall’s first class of 30 International Baccalaureate candidates successfully completed their first semester. More than 60 current sophomores have signed up to start the program next year.

NEW WEBSITE To enhance and enrich our communications and access to information, Convent & Stuart Hall’s new website officially launched on August 10, 2016. The site includes streamlined navigation, robust calendaring systems, directory information and multimedia that conveys aspects of school life, past and present.

SIGNATURE PROGRAMS As part of ongoing efforts to align our K-12 academic experience, Convent & Stuart Hall offers Signature Programs and scholarly competitions, such as the Launch Grant, Prix Barat and Hudson-Gibson Artist in Residence.

ALL SCHOOL MASS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT Kindergarten through Grade 12 students gathered with faculty and the extended Convent & Stuart Hall community in the beautiful Cathedral of St. Mary’s of the Assumption to mark the opening of the school year together with a Mass of the Holy Spirit on September 29, 2016.

BUSY PERSON’S RETREAT For the second year, more than 20 Convent & Stuart Hall faculty and staff participated in the annual “Busy Person’s Retreat,” meeting daily with RSCJ companions in one-on-one sessions to discuss and further their spiritual lives and practice.

MODERN LANGUAGES IN THE EARLIEST YEARS Because opportunities to engage in both tonal and Romance languages encourage cognitive and social development in our youngest learners, we now offer Mandarin and Spanish beginning in kindergarten.

CONVENT & STUART HALL

LOOKING FORWARD WITH 2020 VISION

During the fall of 2016, Convent & Stuart Hall constituents — parents, faculty, staff, students, alumni and the Board of Trustees — participated in design thinking workshops to capture feedback on experience and aspirations for the future. From this multitude of input, in addition to multiple years of data from parent and student surveys, we created a plan which, at its core, reflects the desire to serve with unparallelled excellence each student’s total development — academic, spiritual and physical.

VISION STATEMENT Convent & Stuart Hall in 2020: An education of mind, Heart and body that aims at realizing the best in students so they each may live with grace and intellect. We prepare them to shape their present and future and to be a positive force, locally and globally, in their rapidly changing world.

STUDENTS: Educating to stretch human capacity, now and for the future Objective: The school commits to developing thoughtful individuals who pursue excellence in mind, spirit and body; who seek a deep and thorough understanding of the world around them and the world within them; who engage ambiguity and develop a capacity for critical thinking; who exercise initiative in learning; who design, create and produce; who have compassion for others and for themselves and a passion to serve their world.

2017 P R ESI DENT’S R EPORT

Immersed in the design thinking process for the new Strategic Plan, post-its cover the walls of the president’s office.

PLACE & EXPERIENCE: Amplifying each aspect of the learning community experience to engage and stretch human capacity Objective: The school commits to designing and fostering an environment — physical, philosophical and virtual — that enriches the mind, spirit and body, shaping students to be thoughtful, creative and courageous advocates for the local, national and global community.

SCHOOL: Optimizing organizational structures and systems that demonstrate strategic agility, scaffolding student growth and inspiring effective community engagement Objective: The school commits to reflecting the aspirations and expectations for teaching and learning in its structure, leadership and design. A culture of excellence, professionalism and innovation is in evidence throughout the school and through constituents’ lifelong relationship with Convent & Stuart Hall.

CONVENT & STUART HALL

HAPPY 99TH BIRTHDAY, BE MARDEL On March 2, 2017, Mary Mardel, RSCJ, celebrated her 99th birthday. Sr. Mardel, known to many as Be, served as a teacher, principal and director of schools at Convent & Stuart Hall. She has been, often simultaneously, a beloved champion of Sacred Heart traditions and an agent of change propelling the school toward contemporary management models. In addition to approving the first computer class and other important innovations in curriculum, some of Sr. Mardelâ€™s most influential work was the establishment of the first lay Advisory Board, which would subsequently become the first Board of Trustees, the Business, Development and Admissions offices and the Parents Association. 8

We look forward to celebrating Beâ€™s 100th birthday with a festive gathering on March 3, 2018, featuring a service in the chapel that now bears her name and a reception in the Flood Mansion. Please save the date!

President Krejcarek and Vice President of Advancement Sarah Leffert celebrate Be Mardel with a birthday lunch in Menlo Park.

2017 P R ESI DENT’S R EPORT

AASH CONFERENCE COMES TO BROADWAY

Create the Future, Celebrate the Past, the 41st Associated Alumnae & Alumni of the Sacred Heart (AASH) Conference comes to San Francisco, April 27-30, 2017. Established in 1930 and 40,000 strong, AASH is comprised of alumni of Sacred Heart Network schools. AASH offers opportunities for alumni to network and celebrate Sacred Heart’s common story. This year, the conference celebrates Sr. Mary Mardel, RSCJ and Sr. Barbara Dawson ‘66, RSCJ, Superior General. Convent & Stuart Hall is proud to host a luncheon and the festive Saturday night gala, bringing together Sacred Heart alumni from the Bay Area and beyond. A special thanks to Convent Administrative Assistant, Jeanne Asdourian ‘79, for chairing the conference.

CONVENT & STUART HALL

From lively discussion during the alumni college panels to recordbreaking reunion weekend attendance, the Convent & Stuart Hall Alumni Association has made great strides toward strengthening the value of lifelong membership in the Sacred Heart community. Inspired by the charge set forth in the new strategic plan and the overwhelming feedback from parents, students, faculty and alumni, evaluating opportunities for alumni involvement is among school leadership’s highest priorities.

CONVENT & STUART HALL ALUMNI CONNECTIONS ABOVE Stuart Hall welcomes back recent graduates for a college panel FAR LEFT Alumna Libby Brittain ‘03’07 helps judge the Kate Chopin writing competition

BOTTOM LEFT Eighth-graders visit alumna Senator Dianne Feinstein ‘51 in Washington, DC ADDITIONAL PHOTOS Alumni from all generations reunite at campus events

Alumni & Constituent Relations Director, Samantha Tabarez, and the alumni council enhance the Convent & Stuart Hall community through alumni involvement by providing opportunities for mentorship and global networking, regional gatherings, faculty and alumni lectures and parent-alumni collaborations.

2017 P R ESI DENTâ€™S R EPORT

The beautifully sculpted Cipollino marble legs of the sideboard in the Flood Mansionâ€™s Reception Room date back to ancient times. The Flood family acquired the pedestals in Europe and brought them home to San Francisco, where they became a permanent fixture in their state dining room.

DID YOU KNOW?

CONVENT & STUART HALL

ANTHONY THOMAS JOINS CONVENT & STUART HALL AS HEAD OF ATHLETICS & PHYSICAL EDUCATION

Varsity badminton takes on S.F. International High School

In the spring of 2016, after a year-long study of the Education of the Body, a major recommendation to align our athletic program resulted in the creation of a new position to lead K-12 athletics, physical education and outdoor education. A successful national search was conducted, and we are pleased to announce Anthony Thomas as Head of Athletics and Physical Education at Convent & Stuart Hall. “Anthony has spent most of his life involved in athletics and physical education,” says Juli Devincenzi, human resources director and a member of the search committee. “He is a proven teacher, coach and leader.” A UCLA graduate currently completing a masters degree in Coaching and Athletic Administration, Anthony brings 22 years of experience in education, most recently as Director of Athletics at The Branson School. Anthony believes in strengthening the mind, body and spirit of students by building relationships based on

mutual respect and compassion. He looks forward to taking on the challenge of leading the athletic and physical education departments of our K-12 community. “We have to meet the students where they are and guide them from there,” he says. He teaches and practices the philosophy that physical education provides opportunities to learn, compete, lead and follow, be humble, generous and hard-working. These opportunities provide the structure and discipline to promote balance and confidence, leaving students equipped and encouraged to “take the risks needed to shape their own minds and have a positive impact on their peers,” says Anthony. Anthony will be a member of the Senior Leadership Team, reporting directly to the president. His work will be informed by our new Strategic Plan, which holds many aspirations for our students and their development of lifelong health and fitness. We look forward to welcoming Anthony in the 2017-2018 school year.

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DELEGATION OF STUDENT LEADERS ATTEND STUDENT DIVERSITY LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE TOP ROW LEFT TO RIGHT: Jorim Powell (‘18), Angel Padilla (‘18), Randy Dumalig (‘18), Trevor Blanc (‘19) BOTTOM ROW LEFT TO RIGHT: Starr Hooper (‘18), Kate Etter (‘19), Mary Crawford (‘18), Darrean Loy (‘19)

In December, eight Convent & Stuart Hall students traveled to Atlanta to attend the 29th annual Student Diversity Leadership Conference (SDLC) sponsored by the National Association of Independent Schools. The conference attracts students from all across the country and focuses on self-reflecting, forming allies and building community.

SDLC offered a safe space where everyone could say how they felt without any judgement. I was able to recognize that the problems and experiences I face as a young African American woman are shared with other students in different parts of the country. I was comforted knowing that I am not alone in what I encounter on a daily basis and appreciated the chance to connect with other students from varied backgrounds. To see over 2,000 students who only wanted to spread love, peace and equality among all races within our schools was the greatest feeling I have ever had. SDLC has truly changed my life forever and has made me want to help change the world for the greater good. —Starr Hooper ‘18

In order for someone to fully indulge in the experience of SDLC, they must have a sense of open-mindedness and connection. I say openmindedness because the topics being discussed brought out very opinionated responses from the peers around you. If you didn’t keep an open mind, it would be difficult to understand why people had those opinions or why they would think in that way. There were many different types of students at the SDLC, and we all offered an outgoing spirit, courage and the willingness to make a stand with our beliefs while listening to and respecting other people’s beliefs. –Trevor Blanc ‘19

CONVENT & STUART HALL

FACULTY AWARDS 14 FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: Ben Su, Heather Wells, Karen Niehaus, Michael Campos, Denise Wall, Helen Leong-Luke, Dick Wall, Nancy Morris, RSCJ, Liana O’Brien, Anne Mori, Cathy Cannon-Corea, Tony Farrell (for Ray O’Connor)

During the President’s Chinese New Year assembly on February 1, faculty and staff celebrated the Year of the Rooster and were honored with awards that allow them to pursue professional development or that recognize their contributions to the community. What began decades ago with the awarding of two honors now includes seven awards, all of which are supported by endowed gifts.

CHINESE NEW YEAR

2017

YEAR OF THE ROOSTER

2017 P R ESI DENT’S R EPORT

2017 Awards & Recipients: Sr. Mary Mardel Fund:

The Niehaus Family President’s Excellence Award:

Liana O’Brien

Michael Campos

The Sister Mary Mardel Fund for Faculty Excellence was established in 1997 by gifts to an endowed fund, in honor of the beloved Sacred Heart educator. Each year, elementary faculty apply for the award in pursuit of a specific professional development opportunity or personal enrichment. Nancy Morris, RSCJ, was on hand for this year’s awards ceremony to help honor Liana O’Brien, Convent Elementary Religion Faculty & Enrichment Coordinator. Liana will use the award to help integrate mindful teaching with body awareness and movement. “I believe yoga is the perfect platform for this,” wrote Liana in her application, “and I plan to use the funds to support my training certification.”

The Niehaus Family President’s Excellence Award was established in 2013 by Joe and Karen Niehaus, longtime supporters of the school whose three children attended Convent & Stuart Hall. Additionally, Joe served on the Board of Trustees for seven years, with one term as chair. The Niehaus family established the fund so that the president could select a recipient each year who exemplifies their professional excellence in their work for the school. Karen Niehaus presented the award to Michael Campos, Religion Faculty at Stuart Hall High School.

Sr. Ann Conroy Award:

In November 2015, the school received a gift from the estate of Elvera “Ellie” Fusco, a beloved friend of the school. Her bequest established an endowed fund to support faculty salary and benefits. President Krejcarek, in collaboration with the estate trustees, wanted to honor Ellie’s passion for education through the establishment of three awards presented each year in honor of Ellie, her sister Millie and their brother Lorenzo (Larry). The Fusco Family Award in honor of Ellie Fusco is presented to a faculty or staff member who has the true “heart of an educator,” someone who gives their all in the classroom while making sure the hearts and minds of his or her students are activated and engaged. The award in honor of Millie is presented to a faculty or staff member whose work with students inspires passion and aspiration. The award in Larry’s honor is presented to a staff person who shines in his or her work with students as a coach or service learning mentor. Friend of Ellie’s and trustee of her estate, Anne Mori, helped honor these faculty:

Ben Su The Sister Ann Conroy Fund for Faculty Excellence was established in 2013 in honor of another longtime Sacred Heart educator. This award application process is open to all high school faculty and Central Services staff for pursuits of personal enrichment. Sr. Nancy Morris also helped to award the Sr. Conroy award to Ben Su, Studies in Literature & English Language Faculty at Stuart Hall High School, who plans to spend six weeks this summer studying Arabic in Amman, Jordan. “I hope that my learning Arabic and becoming more conversant in the literature and culture will enrich my teaching,” wrote Ben. Esther Rossi Excellence Award:

Helen Leong-Luke The Esther Rossi Excellence Award is given each year to an employee of the school who has made outstanding contributions to our tradition of excellence, focused particularly on Goal 4 of the Goals & Criteria: the building of community as a Christian value. The award was established and continues to grow thanks to the support of members of the Rossi family, in honor of their beloved mother, grandmother, aunt and grand-aunt. Esther Rossi was a devoted alumna of the San Francisco College for Women at Lone Mountain. Rossi family members Dick Wall and Denise Wall presented the award to Helen Leong-Luke, longtime Physical Education Faculty at Convent Elementary.

The Fusco Family Awards in Support of Educational Excellence

The Fusco Family Award in honor of Millie Fusco:

Heather Wells, Modern & Classical Languages Department Chair & Faculty

The Fusco Family Award in honor of Larry Fusco:

Ray O’Connor, Religion Faculty & Service Learning Director at Stuart Hall High School The Ellie Fusco Heart of an Educator Award:

Cathy Cannon-Corea, Stuart Hall Lower Form Faculty

CONVENT & STUART HALL

When President Ann Marie Krejcarek joined Convent & Stuart Hall in 2012, she brought with her a fresh perspective on space. Her professional experience included planning and construction of flexible learning spaces, and the development of one of the first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) for Schools buildings that earned a Gold Certification. The pedagogy behind this work is linked notably with a positive impact on the cognitive process of learning. Flexible classroom space works to engage the learner more fully, mentally and physically, and the environmental qualities, such as light, air, sound, moisture and temperature quality influence health, attention, focus and alertness.

2017 P R ESI DENT’S R EPORT

In 2012, Ann Marie set in motion a campus-wide initiative to re-examine school spaces with the objective of maximizing the student learning process. Under the leadership of Director of Educational Innovation and Information Services, Howard Levin, and Plant Operations Director, Geoff De Santis, it began with a few pilot projects. Since then, Howard and Geoff have traveled far and wide to find expert knowledge and are systematically scrutinizing every space for optimum classroom orientations, furniture and access to writable surfaces as well as analyzing air quality, temperature control, noise and lighting. This team of leaders frequently forms task forces and project committees, holds focus groups and brings in space-design leaders. Ann Marie coined the term “Pedagogy of Space” to help explain and capture the thoughtful and important consideration of space as a tool for educational transformation.

In 2012, the school community made a promise to build an environment for our students that would improve their learning experience. Pedagogy of Space initiatives have kept that promise, informing and directing a multitude of initiatives, improvements and opportunities.

Ann Marie notes, Our campuses are beautifully expansive and architecturally significant and no one wants that to change. But we weren’t taking advantage of all the positive ways space — when looked at as a significant factor in our students’ learning — could enhance the great teaching already happening here.

TOP LEFT Middle Form boys take advantage of flexible furniture to gather for class discussions TOP RIGHT Students are encouraged to engage with their surroundings in unconventional ways BELOW Time-lapse photography captures multiple configurations in Grade 2 classroom

CONVENT & STUART HALL

2013

2014

Space Transformations

Partnerships with Thought Leaders

A pilot project on the third floor of the iconic Flood Mansion began the process of evaluating, designing and renovating spaces to maximize flexibility and invite dynamic learning opportunities. These new learning spaces — with fully moveable furniture and erasable white boards around their perimeter — remove the teacher-centered “front of the room” and invite student engagement and movement, known to enhance the cognitive process. Next, we re-imagined and redesigned Convent Elementary classrooms, the Unkefer Spark Studio, the Pine & Octavia science labs, Stuart Hall for Boys Grade 2 classrooms and the Mother Williams Library. With the belief that all space is essential to the learning environment, 30% of our spaces — 126,000 square feet — have been renovated to date, including learning spaces, administrative offices, hallways and play spaces.

Prioritizing our learning-environment design is a critical component of the value proposition we offer our students. To give you a sense of the depth of our commitment and knowledge in the emerging field of educational space design, we’ve worked with an interdisciplinary list of thought leaders including: The Third Teacher +; WONDER, by Design; VS Education Summit (in Germany); Dr. Dieter Breithecker; Play Spaces; David A. Stubbs II; MKThink; and Gensler Education Design Division.

ABOVE Unistrut ceiling in physics classroom takes advantage of otherwise unusable vertical space RIGHT Space outside president’s office serves as gallery wall to display student artwork TOP RIGHT Newly renovated Siboni Court dramatically expands outdoor learning opportunities

2017 P R ESI DENT’S R EPORT

Capturing Data From October 2016 through January 2017, the school partnered with MKThink to analyze our buildings and operations to develop strategies for optimizing light, air, sound, moisture and temperature quality as they influence health, attention, focus and alertness. MKThink installed sensors in the Siboni Center for Arts & Sciences to monitor the building’s performance based on these factors. To date, findings illustrate opportunities for significant reduction in resources with behavioral and systems changes, notably opportunities to increase reliance on natural lighting. With this data, we intend to create and continually test optimal internal environmental conditions for learning such as acoustical testing and noise mitigation that have occurred in classrooms and in large common spaces.

2015

2016

2017

2018 +

Ad-hoc Board & Staff Committee

SPARKplaces

Faculty/Staff Action Team Formed

Sharing & Collaborating

Recognizing the generative power of the Board of Trustees and the significance of our intent to deliver a preeminent educational experience by transforming the school’s buildings and learning spaces, we shifted from populating a traditional Building & Grounds Committee to creating a group of trustees and internal staff focused on maximizing the potential and performance of our physical plant. This ad-hoc group is named the Capital Asset Performance Committee and has played a significant role in our successful space transformations.

After seeking conferences or workshops on learningspace optimization to add to our knowledge base and finding none existed, in March of 2016, Convent & Stuart Hall decided to host one. Howard partnered with Carla Silver of Leadership+Design and Christian Long of WONDER, by Design to create SPARKplaces, a dynamic two-day design conference which explored the creation of remarkable, contemporary learning environments. Seventy-five leaders in education, school administration and design attended the conference, brainstorming and generating ideas on how physical environments can foster conditions that lead to creativity, innovation and critical thinking in our students. It was a great success, and SPARKplaces 2.0 is currently under design.

In early 2017, the school leadership announced an opportunity for K-12 faculty to join a representative group to catalyze the community’s mindset on Pedagogy of Space, to maximize the deployment of renovated learning spaces and inform the design process of learning-space conversion. The group now meets regularly to research and study global examples of innovative school design, to test prototypes and to share best practices. This thought leadership cohort will continue to shape the definition of Pedagogy of Space and the animation of optimal environments for transformative learning.

After four years of in-depth study and design of educational learning environments, we have been invited to share our Pedagogy of Space process and models. In both 2016 and 2017, Howard and Geoff presented the story behind Convent & Stuart Hall’s transformative work at the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) annual conference. To date, leaders from 16 schools around the country have toured our spaces, in addition to several international schools, with near monthly visits calendared through 2017. We hope to soon announce SPARKplaces 2.0. The summer ahead holds 8-10 more renovation projects. As we live into our vision to create an optimal learning environment for students, we look forward to sharing future progress with you.

CONVENT & STUART HALL

FACULTY AND STAFF DISCOVER CUBA

“Windows” By Nicholas Hom ‘18

OPPOSITE SIDE An expansive reading list is the foundation to develop the essential cultural literacy that crosses and connects all academic fields. Our Great Texts Canon invites students to think critically, flexibly and passionately as engaged citizens of the world.

Students pause in front of “The Garage” adjacent to Herbst House, future home for a fabrication studio.

2017 P R ESI DENT’S R EPORT

21 ABOVE The group consults a map in Trinidad BELOW, LEFT TO RIGHT Convent & Stuart Hall leadership “test drive” a Cuban classic car, the faculty group in Plaza de la Catedral of Havana, local man enjoying a cigar

During February’s winter break, 21 Convent & Stuart Hall faculty and staff traveled to Cuba on a unique study trip involving Sacred Heart heritage and first-person oral history. We asked several participants to reflect on their experiences. Michael Campos Religion, Theology & Spirituality Faculty

For a teacher, classrooms delineate discrete spaces and moments of learning. But often, they speak too of boundaries, discerning encounters beyond the limits of one’s teaching. When 21 Convent & Stuart Hall faculty traveled to Cuba in February, we transgressed these ephemeral boundaries of teaching and learning. We did more than “pick up” historical data and exercise

CONVENT & STUART HALL

BACKGROUND Cuban flag blows in the wind ABOVE Cuban classic cars, basic essentials donated to the RSCJ mission in Cuba ABOVE LEFT Admiring a lifelike sculpture at one of Havanaâ€™s art collectives

2017 P R ESI DENT’S R EPORT

our facility for Spanish — and definitely more than immerse our winter-weary bodies in the azure of the Caribbean. We traversed the familiar to the unknown, crossing personal and professional thresholds to allow for momentary displacement.

of two brothers: Julián Abel and Guillermo Domenech, both of whom guided us into their disparate Cuban worlds. As a rising figure in the Castro

The experience gave birth to a proliferation of images, colors and sensations. Straddling English and Spanish, words took on a peculiar significance for me. They identified junctures of connection and Zoe Scott impasse. In a country that struggles to Grade 3 Faculty shape its narrative, Traveling to Cuba expanded my heart. The unknown words clearly engage exercised my heart to be open to new experiences. People the political. And so, to people, our theme from the time we checked the box amidst the slippages for our visas at JFK, made my heart grow as I met others. of text and language, I found myself drawn to Turning the corner on our bus, in the middle of a small familiar terms, viewed town in Cuba, to see the open red heart that represents from the perspective of Sacred Heart around the world on the wall of a community “the other,” standing on center made my heart skip a beat and brought the opposite side of a unexpected tears to my eyes as we met and prayed with conversation. Of these, and listened to the RSCJ. la revolución surfaces over and again. My heart raced as we listened to the music of Cuba, on street corners and at the Buena Vista Social Club. My heart was calm and satisfied as I sat down to communal meals with my colleagues, friends and local Cubans. My heart felt conflicted as I learned about communism and heard firsthand what it has done to individuals, locals, brothers, the young and old, farmers and business owners.

regime, Guillermo facilitated Julián’s escape to the United States at the height of the latter’s critical activities against the government. In conversation with each other, both named the enduring bonds that transgressed the limits of political ideology. Exiled from each other by principle and circumstance, both epitomized the promise and failure of la revolución.

More than define a political moment for modern-day Cuba, la revolución evokes a dynamic of “unending returns,” an aspiration for what could and But it was among our My heart is full as I return to my family and students could never be. For own with whom we to share my experiences. me, la revolución found Cuba most fully exposes the quotidian enfleshed. Religious interaction of official and unofficial articulations, of the Sacred Heart sisters María Jesusa Péris, Olga prescribed and implicit economies, lionized and Madan Rey and Pilar Guallart welcomed us to the silenced stories — confounding my imaginings of Capilla Sagrado Corazón de Jesús located in the city of Cuba’s cultural universe. The ubiquity of Santería Sancti Spíritus. Expecting only a handful, they opened throughout the archipelago especially embodies their doors to 21 pilgrims, quickly overwhelming the this syncretic confrontation of “opposites” — African, limits of their hospitality. But the abundance of our Indigenous, Spanish and European bodies and gifts never fully matched their generosity. Beyond the initial exchange of words, we named the common worldviews drawn into the mystery of “otherness.” Santería shadows and illuminates the specter of affinity of those who live the charism of Sophie Barat and Philippine Duchesne. Listening to their stories, slavery and colonial opportunism that structures so 1 we discerned a common narrative, but one uniquely much of Cuba’s mulataje sensibility. attuned to Cuba’s history. We learned of Philippine’s For most onlookers, the U.S.-led embargo configures brief layover at the archipelago, the invitation to remain, much of Cuba’s engagement with the world. But this and her subsequent resolution to travel farther north, to geopolitical trajectory also trickles deeply into the the United States. We learned of the sisters’ later arrival everyday, shaping the flow of human interactions. through Latin America, of their robust ministry prior to Nowhere was this most apparent than in the reunion the revolution, their work of education in a grand building

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that now houses the medical school of the University of Havana. And then, there came their inevitable exile to Puerto Rico and Venezuela at the height of the revolution, and their enduring connection to Cuba even from a place of estrangement. Only after 30 years would the sisters slowly trickle back into the island, initially the Cuban RSCJs, and later, the sisters from Spain. Sitting in their tiny capilla — removed from the mansions, glorious edifices and privileged circles of their lives in pre-revolutionary Cuba — the work endures. Today, these sisters open their home to neighborhood children, families in need of support and even strangers and pilgrims like us. And so, in a place of displacement, we found grounding in the rhythm of a shared heart, prayer and language.

Cuba always seems to thrive at the edge of imagination, the phantasmic other. While there was much to celebrate — and that we did — in the music, art, culture and dynamic faith of the nation’s tumultuous history — I found cubanismo most alive in the failure of language itself. When translations prove insufficient, silence unfolds. Words gain potency in the impossibility of their utterance. Confronted with incomprehensibility, we reach out in deeper embrace of the other, transforming our estrangement into a moment of hospitality.

Eric Gordon Middle Form History & Social Sciences Faculty Having spent a lot of time in Spanish-speaking countries, I had a general idea of what I expected to find in Cuba — a rich culture filled with visual art and music, excellent cuisine, a beautiful natural landscape and a warm dose of hospitality. While Cuba did not disappoint in any of these regards, it felt “different.” I think this uniqueness results from Cuba’s transitional phase. There are modern flourishes throughout, yet also stark reminders of the past. One only needs to spend a few minutes on a highway to see this in action. The roadways are shared by horse-drawn

carts, bicycles, Soviet-era clunkers and modern charter buses. Different rules and laws exist for Cubans and foreigners; most modern goods can be acquired (mostly through backchannels and cash exchanges) and, despite a state-controlled media, Cubans are fully aware of the world that exists beyond the island’s shoreline. There is so much from this trip that I intend to bring into the classroom. Our Middle Form social studies curriculum touches heavily on the theme of migration — where humans first existed, how they spread throughout the world and why people continue to migrate in modern times. The mass migration of Cubans during the Revolution ties in directly. I hope to work with colleagues in the development of a summer service opportunity for our students to experience Cuba firsthand.

Rachel Simpson Head of School, Convent High School Traveling to Cuba with a “People to People” tourist permit proved a strong reflection of the Sacred Heart commitment to an education that is rooted in relationships. In meetings with farmers, dancers, musicians and artists — and, most poignantly, with the Cuban RSCJ — we crafted an international community, resonant with hospitality, gratitude and the kinship of new connections. Jesus, our Cuban tour guide, discovered that Olga, one of the Cuban RSCJ, was a good friend of his boss at the San Cristobel Society for historical preservation. Ana Maria, our Explorica tour guide from Mexico City, now has a mission to visit the Sacred Heart school when she returns to her home city. And Magali, a French guide with Explorica, was so inspired by our group that she began to ponder a career in teaching. Cuban brothers, Julian and Guillermo Domenech, discussed their different life journeys in the wake of the Castro revolution, living proof that two people in their differences can remain connected in an unending circle of compassion and kinship. All told, our trip to Cuba was a powerful testimonial of Convent & Stuart Hall’s international, relational mission.

Mulataje is a Spanish word derived from mulato, referring to the mixture of Spanish/European, African (and to some extent, indigenous) social, historical, biological, religious and philosophical worldviews that evolved out of the slave trades between Africa and the Americas at the height of the Spanish colonial period. More than a description of culture, mulataje (and its related term, mestizaje—referring to the mixture of Spanish and Europeans with indigenous cultures) names the existence of a cultural sensibility that characterizes the colonial experience. See Espín, Orlando O. “Mulataje.” Edited by Orlando O. Espín and James B. Nickoloff. An Introductory Dictionary of Theology and Religious Studies. Liturgical Press, 2007.

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BACKGROUND Discovering the art of cigar making ABOVE The story of two brothers: Guillermo and Julian Domenech RIGHT Enjoying time with the RSCJ in Cuba

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THE GIFT OF

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French Noels on the Flood Mansion stairs, productions in the Little Theater, music in the Mardel Chapel …. My sister, Karen Lewis Olson, and I were grateful for the opportunity to donate our family’s piano to Convent & Stuart Hall on behalf of the Lewis family who recognizes the integral part music plays throughout the school. The piano, a prestigious 1914 Model M Grand Steinway, was part of our home for more than four decades. It was purchased by our late parents, Rolf and Nanette Lewis. Our mother, who graduated from Villa Duchesne, a Sacred Heart school in St. Louis, greatly valued her Sacred Heart education. Upon moving to San Francisco, marrying and having children, she continued the Sacred Heart legacy in her family by enrolling Karen and me at Convent Elementary. We were both students at Convent until 1978. Our mother was a member of the Children of Mary on Broadway and attended many services in the chapel. The piano is now a part of the Mary Mardel, RSCJ Chapel, where years ago Karen and I received our First Holy Communions in a special dual ceremony. Music and faith were so important to our mother, and we wanted to honor that. She would be delighted to know the piano found a new home in the chapel that held such a special place in her heart.

My mother could often be heard singing and humming in her spare time and loved to play the piano at our family home, which is also on Broadway, just a block from the school. Karen took piano lessons and enjoyed playing on this Steinway. I, however, learned just one song on the piano, the extent of my musical career.

MUSIC In an acknowledgment letter, the school thanked our family on behalf of students and faculty for the “gift of music” that will “enhance the many celebrations and milestones that take place in this sacred space.”

Today, when a melody floats through the Flood Mansion foyer from the piano along with the laughter of children playing in the courtyard, that is music to our family’s ears indeed.

by Jennifer Lewis

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Having completed their first semester of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP), several juniors enrolled in the program answer questions. 5 QUESTIONS ABOUT THE IBDP:

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What initially attracted you to the IBDP? Ian Hu I saw the IBDP as something that would make me stand out in college applications. It would set me apart from many AP/ Honors program applicants and, since the pool of IBDP is much smaller than AP/Honors, it would allow me to look better. Mary Crawford I was initially attracted to the IBDP because I was interested in the international aspects of the program, and I wanted to finish high school with an education that would allow me to engage in issues that extend beyond the United States.

Katie Thomis The IBDP allowed me to take challenging classes without forcing me to “specialize,” like taking APs would.

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What makes the program different from the traditional curriculum at Convent & Stuart Hall? Mary Crawford As a whole, the IBDP tends to value analytical skills and critical thinking, which means we have to develop strong argumentative and writing skills in all our classes. Katie Thomis In the traditional curriculum, there may be connections that come up between your classes. In the IBDP, these connections are very deliberate. I was able to use information I’d learned about slavery in history class to enhance presentations I gave in both my English and Spanish classes. Theory of Knowledge, which makes students think about why we know what we know, has also helped me to draw on these connections. Overall, the IBDP isn’t just seven separate classes, you’re truly participating in an international program.

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How was the transition into the program? Ian Hu The transition into the program went mostly smoothly, with a few bumps in the road, as can be expected with any new program. Because it is the first year of the program, we have been adjusting alongside our teachers. Katie Thomis Even though my first two years at Convent gave me a really solid foundation, the IBDP requires a completely new way of thinking that I had never done before. While Convent does challenge students to think in new ways, the IBDP expects candidates to make connections between classes and ask “why” and “how.”

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How has the program met your expectations? Freddy Kiaie We’re currently studying material that we’ll need to know for our testing senior year, which is daunting to me. With that, my teachers are doing a fantastic job of organizing our assignments and preparing us for the plentiful work we’ll be tackling next year. Mary Crawford At the heart of every assessment, the IBDP really wants to see what you know, and they will give you every opportunity to show that in whatever way you can. They want to see that you know the skill more than that you know the answer to one specific question. 29

In its inaugural year, 30 students are participating in the IBDP. More than 60 current sophomores plan to start next year. IBDP students pursue an intensive curriculum including advanced studio art seminars. Recent work is currently on display at SFO (San Francisco’s International Airport). “India” By Julia Alvarez ‘18

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What do you find most engaging or rewarding about the program? Ian Hu The IBDP really tries to question our beliefs and challenges us to make our own reasoned and thoughtful opinions. It requires us to critically think about our surrounding environment and life. Mary Crawford We have many opportunities to write and do research on topics of our choice. This allows IBDP students to customize our own education, and really have a say in what we learn. Katie Thomis Every single teacher I have is so knowledgable and so passionate about their subject, and when you have a teacher like that, it makes you want to be engaged and learn as much as you possibly can. I’m constantly amazed and impressed by how brilliant my classmates are, from the questions they ask to the comments they make. The learning environment has made me want to challenge myself more and has been really rewarding.

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THE 2016 ELECTION: A TEACHING OPPORTUNITY By Sarah Garlinghouse and Anne Porter, History & Social Sciences Faculty 30

Connecting what we’re studying in class with the world outside our walls is a staple in history and social science classes. And the 2016 elections provided a particularly rich opportunity.

curriculum. Some discussions happened in the classroom while other election-themed events were designed to bring the community together. In their justice class, Stuart Hall seniors created posters on state and city propositions, which they shared with the entire school community. Stuart Hall for Boys and Convent High School hosted student-led election assemblies. At their assembly, the Grade 8 boys analyzed each presidential candidate and discussed themes and issues. After the serious part of the presentation, students were treated to a humorous re-enactment of a presidential debate. Students from Convent Elementary were invited to watch the high school girls read the poetry of Langston Hughes and see a short performance from the musical, Hamilton. The senior girls who voted for the first time received white roses, symbolizing the women’s suffrage movement.

Many students held passionate — and sometimes conflicting — views about the unfolding dramas on the political stage and were eager to find out more. These passions provided the fuel for a wide range of real world learning opportunities. They also created challenges for teachers. As a community, we had many thoughtful discussions, from senior leadership to individual teachers, about how to balance principles and engagement with open-mindedness and objectivity. We worked to create a setting in which every student’s views and values were respected without shying away from difficult but important conversations. We recommitted to leaning in and encouraging students to stay at the table and “Cultivating Democracy” was the theme for the week of respectfully explore their own and others’ beliefs using the 2016 election and students and faculty worked hard critical thinking and curiosity. to create a festive environment on campus. Patriotic balloons decorated all four campuses, and students, Leading up to the 2016 elections, teachers in all four faculty and staff wore red, white and blue spirit wear. Art divisions incorporated age-appropriate lessons into their students transformed the Belvedere with a whimsical

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Students of all ages learn about the electoral process and stage mock elections.

and playful election-themed installation as a way to invite students to think about what it means to vote. All divisions hosted a mock presidential election to give our students a voice in the democratic process. Younger students voted using picture ballots while older students voted in traditional voting booths. High school juniors volunteered at polling stations across the city, watching democracy happen in real time while serving the community. The elections may be over, but opportunities to bring the real world into our classes and our classes into the real world continue. Increasing authentic learning opportunities allows students of all ages to shape their present and future and be a positive force in their rapidly changing world. When students make experiential connections to content they have learned in class, they become more engaged and excited about learning.

Students develop critical thinking skills and are motivated to take ownership of their learning to reach mastery. Every class has opportunities to connect with the world outside our doors, from speaking with JapaneseAmerican survivors of internment camps and tackling pollution through beach cleanups to writing letters to California politicians and engaging with local entrepreneurs. Our students have traveled to places as far away as Costa Rica and as nearby as the Chinese consulate down the street. The 2016 election inspired us, as faculty, to seek out first-person experiences for our students, teach them to interrogate sources of information and exercise fully their civic responsibilities and opportunities. Refreshing curriculum with content from the real world is guaranteed to make lessons more meaningful, effective and fun.

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By Michael Campos, Religion, Theology & Spirituality Faculty and Amanda Walker, Head Librarian

A CULTURE OF 32

Lower Form students participate in the annual All Day Read.

In his opening address at this year’s Key West Literary Seminar, Robert A. Caro suggested that “power could not but reveal itself.” It drifts between concealment and disclosure, reorienting the spaces of its own existence. This claim, based on years of researching the presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson, framed the conversations of the 35th annual writers’ conference and festival. Following on the heels of a most contentious election, participants flirted with word, tone and context to reveal power’s elusive traces. Whereas writers like Gail Collins, Thomas Mallon, Daniel Menaker and Joyce Carol Oates affirmed the necessity of truth-telling, they also considered if, inevitably, truth were indeed stranger than fiction. Annette Gordon-Reed and Peter S. Onuf seemed to think so. For it was precisely this specter of the stranger — the estranged, enslaved black body — that forever dimmed the luminous democracy of Thomas Jefferson, that “most blessed of patriarchs.” For Gordon-Reed and Onuf, purveyors of history and text, power reveals not so much itself as the very assumptions of truth we attach to its articulation.

These conversations resonate with the culture of inquiry we work to engender at Convent & Stuart Hall. In Theology III: Ethics, we reconsider binaries of good and evil, maleficence and beneficence, duty and outcome. But we also reorient the structure of truth claims: unveiling assumptions of knowing, aspiring to question rather than resolve. In Theory of Knowledge, we take the further step of separating knowledge from the scaffoldings of truth, learning to problem-pose as a means of claiming to know.1 In the process, we nuance information from knowing, assumption from inquiry, truth from imagination. We learn how knowledge is constructed — identifying the ways we favor speech over silence as sources of information.2 By resisting the binary of unknowing and knowing, we engage in a kind of truth-telling that reveals. The experience confounds, uncomfortable for its inability to articulate a desired outcome. But the questions endure, exposing the power of problem-posing to simultaneously examine assertion and doubt, truth with fiction.

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In defining power as a process of concealment and revelation, Caro illuminates the spirit of inquiry that thrives at the heart of teaching. Refusing the stability of any one claim, inquiry flirts with truth and untruth. It defies absorption into the artifice of an unchallenged assumption, an unquestioned claim. One opens to the possible.

and discredits the alignment of reading with passive activities (watching TV, waiting to be entertained). Rather, says Smith, the more accurate analogy is “of a reader as an amateur musician who sits at the piano, has a piece of music, which is the work, made by somebody they don’t know, who they probably couldn’t comprehend entirely, and they have to use their skills to play this piece of music. The greater the skill, the greater the gift that you give the artist and that the artist gives you…. [W]hen you practice reading, and you work at a text, it can only give you what you put into it.”4

READING There is something deeply poignant about sharing time with writers and thinkers who disclaim the stability of word. Recognizing the ability of prose and syntax to unsay, these writers subvert the linearity of knowing. In a time when words are truncated for efficiency, when opinions subvert the weight of substantiated claims, they reclaim the potency of utterance and text to prod, unveil and unfold, dismantle and transform. Akin to power, words cannot but reveal. If only for their ability to inquire, words engender existence.

The opportunity to engage with the writers at the Key West Literary Seminar, shared by six fortunate faculty members this year, is but one example of our work at Convent & Stuart Hall to develop and amplify a “culture of reading.” At the center of this culture is our Great Text Canon — a critically evaluated and expansive list of titles that reflect transcendent intellectual and literary exceptionalism. Much like words themselves, the canon is dynamic, so as to continuously reflect and reveal life — all lives, not just those from which words have historically been given the greatest volume and value. This list, our library collections, and nearly all class reading assignments consist of primary sources and voices as opposed to secondary sources (such as textbooks); the former require interpretation while the latter filter information through the lens of someone (somewhere; sometime) else’s analysis. We believe in the power of the written word to form connections, through both windows and mirrors, to content and curriculum; to the realities and experiences of others; to ourselves. The quality of this connection is not inevitable; to the contrary, it requires the active process of deep reading, which demands critical analysis, reflection and time. Zadie Smith posits that “reading, done properly, is every bit as tough as writing,”3

Our libraries’ Information Philosophy program offers many opportunities for students to “work at a text” and to “practice reading.” We agree with Teju Cole’s assertion that “writing is not simply about trying to get an idea out. It’s about trying to find the best words that can sustain the argument.”5 As such, we present the reciprocal practices of writing and deep reading as a means of entering scholarly conversation; citation as a means of identifying, wayfinding within and evaluating these conversations; research strategies as paths to information and answers, as well as, more fundamentally, to questions about whose perspectives lay claim to history, who determines and codifies truth, and where we might look to find clues about what lies beyond these narratives, but is no less (and perhaps more) true. The Extended Essay, an indepth study of a focused topic and a formal, 4000-word piece of academic writing completed by IBDP students, is scaffolded and supervised by our library department, and is a master class in the requisite skills and practices involved in participating in scholarly conversation. It stands as one of many examples — along with initiatives to increase the community’s exposure to current authors, to study and support the practice of digital reading, to read Great Texts in community — of the power we perceive and place in words.

Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed (New York: Continuum, 1986).

Elliot W. Eisner, The Educational Imagination: On the Design and Evaluation of School Programs, 3rd ed. (Upper Saddle River, N.J: Prentice Hall, 2002), 87-101.

Zadie Smith, “Fail Better,” The Guardian, January 13, 2007.

Zadie Smith, interview by Michael Silverblatt, Bookworm, KCRW. First broadcast November 9, 2006.

Teju Cole, “Power and Subjectivity,” lecture, Key West Literary Seminar, January 13, 2017.

CONVENT & STUART HALL

Gabriela Parcella, Board Chair

Sameer Gandhi Nora Gibson CES’80

Todd Chapman

Troy Griepp Ed Conlon

Lokelani Devone ‘70’74 Geoffrey Dillon, SJ

Sean Jeffries Mark Farrell SHB’88

Nancy Morris, RSCJ

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Robin Praeger, Board Vice Chair

Patricia Munter ‘86

Mark Zanoli

Holden Spaht

Lisa Zuckerman Maureen Sullivan

Paula Toner, RSCJ Dawn Vroegop

Martina Lauterbach

Diana Wall, RSCJ Lisa Wendt

Dr. Roger Wu

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Tem auditiunto omnia volectassum es eosto quiam, sequam solupta volupta vel moluptatur? At excerati il mollorescias soluptibus

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LET T E R F R O M T H E BOAR D C HAI R

Dear Convent & Stuart Hall Community, It’s an exciting time for our community and the Board of Trustees as we embrace our new Strategic Plan, “Looking Forward with 2020 Vision.” It’s a perfect time to set forth our vision for the next three years given our current position of strength. Our last Strategic Plan focused on building the foundational pillars for Convent & Stuart Hall. With this solid foundation in place, we’re now focusing on producing the Students, Place and Experience and School of the future. The Board does the majority of its work through its committees, and we created a special committee to work with the president and her team on the new Strategic Plan. I’d like to thank Robin Praeger, chair of the Strategic Committee, who together with Ann Marie and her leadership team, the Strategic Committee and many other trustees, developed the new Strategic Plan. When you read it you’ll see that we have a lot of work to do, but with Ann Marie’s leadership, the amazing heads of schools, administrators, teachers, staff, alumni, trustees and parents, I’m confident we’ll achieve these goals together with your support. As we near the close of the school year, I’d like to thank our trustees who are concluding their term on the Board. After six loyal years of service, Troy Griepp, Patricia Munter, Robin Praeger and Diana Wall, RSCJ, are retiring. Their contributions, too great to list here, will be celebrated at our end-of-year board dinner. We’ll miss them and appreciate their passion and dedication to Convent & Stuart Hall. In addition, we are excited to welcome three new trustees who will begin their terms on July 1, 2016: Kirsty Ellis, Tom Roberts and Jennifer Tulley. We’ll also be adding a Religious of the Sacred Heart trustee before the school year closes who we will announce in the next newsletter. I am enjoying the opportunity to serve as your board chair. It’s been an exciting and fulfilling first year and I am hopeful that you’ve experienced some of the Board’s good work. With gratitude,

Gabriela Parcella Chair, Board of Trustees

It is a perfect time to set forth our vision for the next three years given the position of strength that we are in today.

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sacredsf.org This is a publication from the President’s Office at Convent & Stuart Hall. We are grateful to our many contributors. Special thanks to: Amanda Walker CES’91, Anne Porter, Devin DeMartini Cooke, Elias Feldman, Eric Gordon, Geoff De Santis, Heather Wells, Juli Devincenzi, Michael Campos, Michael Hong, Michel Edens, Nano Visser, Rachel McIntire, Rachel Simpson, Sarah Garlinghouse, Sarah Leffert and Zoe Scott. Editor: Lili Weigert Design: Peter Locke

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