The Presentation School Viewbook

LOVE LEARN

LEAD

THE PRESENTATION SCHOOL

LOVE

Demonstrated by a learner who:

Is faith-filled

Possesses self-awareness

Builds community

Demonstrates kindness

Embodies the values of love, gratitude, respect, service and integrity

LEARN

Demonstrated by a learner who:

Thinks critically

Thinks creatively

Communicates effectively

Solves problems collaboratively

LEAD

Demonstrated by a learner who:

Serves others

Communicates respectfully

Articulates ideas clearly

Speaks up for others

Welcome to The Presentation School,

A nine year educational commitment is a monumental decision for a family. We believe this is the most important decision a family can make because a K–8 education lays the foundation for success and well being in high-school, college, and beyond. To share our community with you, we have designed this viewbook to highlight what makes our school a special place for students and a warm home to families.

Presentation is a visionary and collaborative community where our academic rigor is unmatched and our student’s leadership and ethical compass find their foundation.

We are proud of and grateful for our outstandingly talented and dedicated faculty, as well as our beautiful and spacious campus. We are fortunate here at TPS to know and love each and every student. Our students have the confidence to LOVE themselves and others, LEARN with curiosity, and LEAD with compassion, empathy, and confidence.

Tours are given throughout the year and we welcome you to schedule a visit. A typical tour includes a walk around our campus, visiting classrooms, and an introduction with our Head of School. You will have an opportunity to meet with both our faculty and our students — they are our best ambassadors!

We invite you to connect with us directly with questions and for more information. We look forward to introducing you to our community and getting to know your family.

Jacqueline Gallo Emma Evanson HEAD OF SCHOOL DIRECTOR OF ENROLLMENT

The Presentation School, the only independent school in Sonoma, challenges its students to be active learners reaching their individual potentials with an integrated curriculum and small class size. Together we work to prepare students to become life-long learners and socially responsible leaders.

EDUCATORS

The world needs creative children, who will adapt their intrinsic sense of wonder and trial and error to solve complex problems. Equipped with an innovative curriculum, each educator creatively adapts and responds to individual students and the world around us. Our faculty create a learning environment which makes it safe for kids to stretch and challenge themselves.

Our class sizes are intentionally small and a premium is placed on classroom relationships with excellent teachers who are experts in their field. Intimate classes and engaging, passionate teachers mean that students have the time they need with adults who know and love them.

Our children are living in a constantly changing world and they need role models who have a love of learning and an ability to grow. Keeping our faculty at the forefront of best teaching practices and research backed curriculum is critically important to their professional growth.

Faculty driven leadership allows for our faculty to engage in the most pressing educational debates of the day and autonomy to design a path forward for their students.

OUR CAMPUS

In the heart of Sonoma Valley, The Presentation School is situated on 4.5 acres in a park-like setting. Our campus is equipped with classroom and administration buildings, a library building, dedicated art and science rooms, and an impressive Activity Center that houses a full size basketball/volleyball court, a theater with full stage, a 40’ horizontal climbing wall, and classroom space. Additionally there is a dedicated play area just for kindergartners, a schoolwide community garden, and an expansive athletic field. We are a wireless and solar campus.

Providing a safe, beautiful, and inspiring place to learn is an important dimension of a Presentation education. Where our kids learn matters at Presentation, both in and outside of the classroom. Every room is a model of seamless integration of educational technologies and flexible, learner-centered furniture. For our students, our campus is a home.

PROGRAMS ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE

For 25 years and counting, Presentation has been the premier independent school in Sonoma Valley. We are proud of our academic traditions and embrace innovative thinking to prepare for the future.

COMPASS, our school’s faculty leadership team, guides and supports our community by evaluating and developing curriculum, improving community engagement, supporting social emotional learning, assisting with technology and testing, and leading our faculty’s professional development program. Here are noteworthy accomplishments of our COMPASS team:

• Rolling out new curricula such as K–5 English Language Arts, K–8 RULER Social Intelligence program, and 6–8 Social Studies.

• Ensuring accountability for learning through standardized ERB testing where our students outperform 96.8% of students across the country (ERB 2022).

• Building 21st century skills through our 1:1 technology for all students.

• Supporting life-long learning through faculty mentoring and support.

THE PRESENTATION SCHOOL AT A GLANCE

100 %

5 OVERNIGHT FIELD TRIP EXPERIENCES

55 %

5 SPORTS TEAMS 9 SPECIALIZED TEACHERS 7 OF STUDENTS RECEIVE TUITION ASSISTANCE

9,340 DEDICATED LEARNING SUPPORT DEPARTMENT 1 ACRES OF OUTDOOR SPACE

SQUARE FEET OF MULTI-USE ACTIVITY CENTER

8:1 CLASSROOM SUPPLIES PROVIDED 7 THE PRESENTATION SCHOOL 6 THE PRESENTATION SCHOOL

LOWER SCHOOL

In the Lower School (K–4) we lay the foundation for a lifetime of curiosity, academic commitment, and community leadership.

Our teachers carefully guide our K–4th graders, instilling in them a love of learning, confidence in their own voice and respect for others. We value a young person’s natural desire to learn through exploration, creation, and self-expression.

We want our students to see themselves as part of the world, with big dreams and to be equipped for success! Beginning in Kindergarten, students learn what it means to be a Presentation student, exploring what it means to Love, Learn, and Lead. Our students are emboldened with confidence, embracing these values at a young age.

Helping children develop their natural strengths means honoring the whole child and where they are in their development. Beyond rigorous academics, our Lower School students spend significant portions of the day immersed in Spanish, art, music, drama, and PE and social emotional learning.

“ Every stage of development is complete in itself. The three year old is not an incomplete 5 year old. The child is not an incomplete adult. Never are we simply on our way! Always we have arrived! Enjoy now!”

— JC PEARCE

UPPER SCHOOL

As our Upper School (5–8) students continue to grow and mature, our program and school grows with them. The words Love Learn Lead become more meaningful as students put thoughts and ideas into action across all curricular areas. Our faculty challenge them intellectually, support them emotionally, and treat them individually as they undertake more complex academic and personal pursuits, culminating in their capstone year-long 8th grade service project. Education at Presentation extends beyond the classroom and boundaries of the school, as students partner with local and international organizations to help address complex local and global problems.

The Upper School schedule incorporates longer class periods to allow in-depth study and project-based learning. Additionally, students attend split classes for more individualized attention and integration across grade levels. Our interdisciplinary curriculum ensures students go beyond learning a single subject, fostering an understanding of how all disciplines are related.

Middle school students experience a spectrum of exploratory classes in our Electives Program. New electives are designed every year and students choose one elective each quarter. Electives are interactive and engaging, non-graded courses that meet twice weekly. These courses allow for exploration beyond the traditional subjects, and dive deeper into a niche topic.

Sample elective offerings include:

Yearbook, Garden, ZAP electricity elective, Outdoor Ed, Oxford Style Debate, Board Game Creation, Collage Workshop, Shadow Box Making, Improv, Nature Documentary Films, Student Council and more.

MUSIC & PERFORMING ARTS

“ The fact that children can make beautiful music is less significant than the fact that music can make beautiful children.”

Our Music and Performing Arts program is designed to develop an appreciation of music, chorus, and theater arts productions. Music classes inspire creativity and an intellectual curiosity for the performing arts while igniting all areas of child development for school readiness, including intellectual, social-emotional, language, and overall literacy. We’re proud to showcase our students’ talents with a winter celebration chorale concert, while encouraging imagination and self-expression. Students develop math and pattern-recognition skills as they explore music history, genres, and elements of theory. Students in upper school build on the skills and knowledge they have acquired and strengthen the foundation of a lifelong relationship with music and the performing arts. Students continue to learn about the emotional, historical, and cultural significance of music and the arts throughout the world. Vocal technique, harmonic and rhythmic skills and confidence are nurtured through concerts, plays, and small ensemble work on rhythm instruments.

FINE ARTS

The Fine Arts program provides K–8 students opportunities to gain insight and knowledge about art as a functioning academic subject. The Fine Arts program provides a hands-on, holistic approach that encourages all students K–8 to realize that art is a thoughtful discipline. The Art Studio will strengthen cross-curricular connections, build literacy skills through discussing art, and develop one’s sense of being in the local and global communities. We are proud to showcase our students’ artistic talents and achievements in our annual Spring Art Show.

PERFORMING ARTS

The Presentation School performing arts program enables students to explore their talents and interests on stage. The student-centered productions focus on educating students on acting techniques, dance, choir, stage crew, set design, costuming, and stage makeup and hair. Students learn theater etiquette, such as how to be part of a cast and work as a team. Each spring our students bring classics to life.

—CHERYL LAVENDER

Students learn the art of leadership and bring spirit and community service to our campus and wider community. An integral part of developing leadership is developing voice and speaking publicly. From K–8, students are challenged to address and serve their peers and community daily. From greeting guests, touring prospective families and leading all school

There are many avenues for students to serve the Presentation School community and beyond. Students engage in activities like Student Council as well as grade and schoolwide service opportunities. Presentation students are able to advocate for themselves and others

PE & ATHLETICS

Healthy habits, physical fitness, and athletics are important aspects of a Presentation education. Critical skills such as body awareness, coordination, gross motor skills, and respectful sportsmanship are all developed through our PE curriculum. Starting in kindergarten, students begin circuit training, spending time on the rock wall and doing yoga. As students grow and their bodies and skill level increase, they move into a developmental PE program. Students will be introduced to various sports and games that are units of study, enforcing kinesthetic learning and teamwork.

The Athletic Program at The Presentation School is an extension of the physical education program, championed by our Athletic Director. We believe that through participation in physical education classes and after-school athletics, our students can have fun while exemplifying Love. Learn. Lead.

The Presentation School participates in the Middle School Sports League and offers sport teams for 5th–8th graders. The offered athletics and their approximate seasons are as follows:

FALL SPORTS

Co-Ed Flag Football

Co-Ed Cross Country

Co-Ed Volleyball

Boys Basketball

WINTER SPORTS

Girls Basketball

SPRING SPORTS

Golf Boys Basketball Girls Basketball

Track & Field

SPANISH

Our Spanish program builds a new bridge of communication and develops cultural awareness beginning in Kinder through 8th grade. It is important to expose our students to cultures, traditions, and languages right here in our own local community and around the world.

K–8 Spanish provides a foundation in the Spanish language to equip students with conversational tools, comprehension, and confidence. Students will engage in speaking, reading, listening, and writing activities in order to work toward beginner level proficiency.

Integral to our program is the development of students’ cultural competencies and respectful understanding of a diversity of our multicultural world. Students learn the vast cultural diversity of the Spanish speaking world demonstrating knowledge of and respect for individuals, movements, and celebrated customs.

SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING

The K–8 SEL curriculum program at our school teaches emotional intelligence with the goal of creating a healthier, more equitable, innovative, and compassionate society. Our school counselor, as a member of our faculty leadership team, has led the way in partnering with Yale University’s Center for Emotional Intelligence to implement their evidence-based and systematic approach to social and emotional learning (SEL) called RULER, an acronym for the five skills of emotional intelligence — Recognizing, Understanding, Labeling, Expressing, Regulating.

RULER supports the entire school community in:

• Understanding the value of emotions

• Building the skills of emotional intelligence

• Creating and maintaining a positive school climate.

Research shows that children who understand and manage their feelings make more responsible decisions, have stronger relationships, and perform better in school. RULER infuses the principles of emotional intelligence into the immune system of our school informing how leaders lead, teachers teach, students learn, and families support students. This is why we’ve partnered with Yale University and the premier SEL curriculum and research institute in the nation.

HIGH SCHOOL AND BEYOND

Presentation graduates are prepared to excel at the most academically competitive schools in the Bay Area. Beyond academics, our students develop a strong sense of self nurturing their innate talents, creating intellectual curiosity, and forming a strong moral compass. We prepare our students to become life-long learners and socially responsible leaders.

Presentation students have attended a wide array of independent, Catholic, public, and charter high schools. Our graduates have attended the following:

• The Branson School

• Cardinal-Newman High School

• Convent of the Sacred Heart

• Credo High School

• Justin-Siena High School

• Lick Wilmerding High School

• Marin Academy

• San Francisco University High School

• San Domenico School

• Sonoma Academy

• Sonoma Valley High School

• St. Vincent’s High School

And, our students have been accepted to boarding and day schools farther afield:

• Ashley Hall (SC)

• The Cate School (CA)

• Choate Rosemary Hall (CT)

• The Foxcroft School (VA)

• Groton School (MA)

• The Kent School (CT)

• The Madeira School (MD)

• St. George’s School (RI)

• St. Paul’s School (NH)

• The Robert Louis Stevenson School (CA)

• The Stoneleigh-Burnham School (MA)

• The Thacher School (CA)