For the third year in a row, St. Mary’s is offering Lead Like a Girl (LLG): A Leadership Symposium, created by girls for girls. LLG is full of fun for 5^th and 6^th grade girls, with opportunities to connect with peers from across the city and participate in curated leadership workshops led by St. Mary's Academy high school students. This virtual, girl-centered, after-school program is free to all and will be held on three different dates: May 5, 12 and June 2. Each session includes two workshop bands and a panel conversation. Topics include goal setting, self-care, female empowerment, vision board making and more.

What is it really like to be on the front lines of COVID-19?  “The best I can relate” shares St. Mary’s Academy alumna Hataya Kristy Poonyagariyagorn, MD, '97, “is that initially, it felt like being at war.  We didn't really know what the enemy was and, as a result, had to prepare for all worst-case scenarios.”  Kristy, who serves as both a pulmonary critical care physician at The Oregon Clinic as well as the Pulmonary Chairperson at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center, has been on the front lines of COVID-19 since day one. 

When Alice Ott Middle School Assistant Principal LaShawanta “Taye” Spears was asked to lead a Zoom staff meeting for her faculty and staff, she couldn’t understand why colleagues from the Coalition of Oregon School Administrators were also joining the meeting.  It turns out that it was a surprise party, or as they are better known in this day and age, a “Zoom Bomb,” and the occasion was to announce and honor Taye with being named Oregon’s Assistant Principal of the year for 2021.

When St. Mary’s Academy alumna Caprice Neely set out to launch a new shoe company, it never occurred to her that she could not.  “I think that’s what St. Mary’s taught me,” she shares “that anything I imagined doing is possible.”  She adds, “We were taught and encouraged to have freedom and diversity of thought and to ask questions.  I learned that my voice and ideas mattered.”  It was with this mentality that Caprice left her longtime position as a designer at Under Armor to launch not just a new shoe company, but a new shoe category: BALA, premium footwear for nurses. 

The Christmas season at St. Mary’s is one of the students’ favorites, and this year is no different. Service Coordinator, Caitlin Whitty ’08 and her Advent Service Team are hard at work to make this year just as special and fulfilling. St. Mary’s students are eagerly signing up to spread joy through safe, socially-distant service projects from home. Here are some of the few service projects the Service team has planned for this holiday season.

Given the value our society places on individualism, what does that mean for our ability to address equity? On October 13^th, we are happy to welcome Eric K. Ward to explore what a non-individualistic approach to equity could look like in your life and supercharge your ongoing work with racial justice.

In preparation for the 2020-21 academic year, the St. Mary’s Academy admin team forged a Back-to-School Task Force that sought to examine every aspect of school, ensuring readiness for various reopening scenarios, including both in-person and remote instruction. Among the many initiatives to enhance health and safety for the St. Mary’s community, the Task Force approved the purchase of technology designed to livestream classes from the school building and enhance the remote learning experience for students. This technology, called Swivl, uses a camera to track teacher movement around the classroom, allowing them to move freely and offering students a 360° view of the teaching environment, while increasing engagement.

St. Mary's honors the class of 2020 with a virtual tribute, recognizing their incredible accomplishments the past four years and their strength, perseverance and grace in these unprecedented times.  We look forward to celebrating an in-person graduation, as they truly deserve, when it is safe to gather as a community.

What a great season for winter sports at St. Mary’s. We are excited to share the latest from each of our fantastic teams.