Today we shared the final report of the external investigation into past reports of sexual abuse and misconduct with our community. The community letter, full report, and letter from the Sisters of the Presentation can be found here. Lee en español aquí.
Pres Senior, Ellie Blach '20, makes an awardee appearance on Tuesday, June 23, 2020 on NBC Sports Bay Area presented by San Jose Sports Authority. The 24th Annual REACH Youth Scholarship Awards, presented by Qualcomm, recognizes high school seniors in Santa Clara County who have overcome adversity to achieve excellence in academics and athletics.
Nikitha Kalahasti '20, competed in the National Speech and Debate Tournament 2020, held virtually online this year. Team President, Nikitha led our efforts in the International Extemporaneous Speaking event, placing 7th on the virtual national stage. Two years running, she has finished in 7th place at the NSDA National tournament. Nikitha made Presentation history, being one of the first students to finish back-to-back seasons ranked in the nation's TOP TEN in their respective event.
As Santa Clara County copes with the new normal of sheltering-in-place, Presentation is leading the way ensuring that our students continue to receive a quality and rigorous education. Through professional development in best teaching practices and ensuring that all students had access to the devices and internet connection to complete lessons, our faculty and students jumped into online schooling on Monday, March 16th.
Presentation's commitment to our students' intellectual, spiritual, and emotional growth continues even in these uncertain times. Teachers are providing the most up-to-date online learning practices allowing us to continue offering traditional grades. Our co-curricular activities and student support services have consistently collaborated with students to continue programming and guidance virtually.
Please see our Remote Learning page for more information to learn how we are supporting our students in a remote world.
Today is the anniversary of Juneteenth, June 19,1865, the day that the Texan slaves found out they were freed by the Emancipation Proclamation two and a half years after it happened. The 200,000 Texan slaves were the very last to be informed. Major General Gordon Granger and his Union soldiers delivered the news to the slaves and after that day it became a tradition for African Americans to celebrate freedom every year around this time. As former slaves these African Americans knew what it was like to not be granted the rights to property, education, or employment by their own country. June 19th was nicknamed Juneteenth by combining June and 19. The day has traditionally been celebrated with music, prayer, food, education, sports, etc.
Today we honor this day and recommit ourselves to embracing diversity, equity, and inclusion and acknowledge there is much work we need to do as a school and as a nation to help ensure equality, freedom, and justice for all. Click here to read our immediate next steps to make Pres an inclusive community for all. We lean on our Catholic values and the words of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops from their pastoral letter against racism, "as followers of Christ, we seek to reclaim the God-given sanctity of each person's inviolable human dignity."
For more information on Juneteenth, visit: http://www.juneteenth.com/history.htm
Congratulations to Pres Alum, Maya Varma, for being awarded "The Terman Award" from the Stanford Engineering department.
This Scholastic Award is presented to the top 30 students of each year's undergraduate senior engineering class. Maya is studying computer science (with a focus on artificial intelligence) and a minor in electrical engineering at Stanford University.
Today we announce the following school-wide commitments to our community:
Presentation High School is excited to announce that Jacqui Dorman will be taking over as the new head coach of the Presentation Volleyball Program.
Coach Dorman brings a great deal of knowledge and coaching experience to the Volleyball Program at Presentation High School.Prior coaching at Presentation, Coach Dorman took over the American High School boys program, leading them to their first NCS appearance in six years.
As a San Jose native, Coach Dorman attended and played volleyball at Archbishop Mitty High School. During her playing career she helped her teams achieve two CIF State Championships, two CCS Championships, two WCAL Championships and a National Championship.
Coach Dorman is excited to begin this fall and pass on her volleyball knowledge to the student-athletes at Presentation.
We continue to listen and learn from members of our community and are committed to ensuring that everyone in our community feels valued and welcome. We will not tolerate racism or hatred of any kind and also understand that systemic change does not happen overnight. To that end, we are working carefully to build specific plans to address any systems, policies, or practices at Presentation that might promote racism or biases.
There are many conversations happening and many voices to be heard in this important work. And, we want to make sure that your voices are reflected in our plans for change.
We invite any student, alumnae, parent, or faculty/staff member who experienced racism at Presentation to attend a listening session this week.
Dear Presentation Community,
We have been reading every comment, email, and the open letter shared by students and alumnae and continue to listen and learn. We are deeply sorry that any Presentation student was ever made to feel isolated, excluded, or experienced outright racist treatment while at Presentation by anyone in our community, or through our systems, policies, and practices. We are heartbroken to hear of the accounts of racism at Presentation, and are committed to making systemic changes within our community to stop racism, biases, and transgressions.
Even if just one member of our community experienced racism at Presentation, one is too many. Enough is enough, now is the time for action.
