Raf

Sena Mughannam is the setter — one of the most important positions in volleyball — for the St. Vincent de Paul High School.  The setter is the player responsible for providing a well-positioned and timed ball to the hitters, but is also aware of their surroundings at all times. It is their decisions and effort that, to a large extent, will determine the success of the team.   The Head Varsity Volleyball Coach Cassie Taylor contributed that, “she is our leader, who is at the right spot, at the right time where the whole team is counting on her.  She is a [...]

Moving on to high school is a challenging transition.  Most eighth grade students will attend the school in their district or dutifully follow their friends to another.  For some, proactively selecting a high school to attend can be a life-changing decision.  Francis Teixeira, parent of Jenna Grosser of San Rafael, reflected on her experience four years ago.  “More than 90% of my daughters’ graduating eighth grade class continued on to the same high school; choosing a different school that was 20 miles away was not an easy decision. After weighing the pros and cons of a few selected schools, we decided [...]

For cousins Rafael Perez Rios and Sebastian Andrade, it was not a direct path to St. Vincent de Paul High School.  They both attended Rincon Valley Middle School Matanzas Charter in Santa Rosa and then matriculated to Montgomery High School.   After an uninspiring freshman year impacted Covid-19 Manuel Andrade, Sebastian’s father and Rafael’s uncle, turned to Principal Patrick W. Daly of St. Vincent de Paul High School.  After many heartfelt discussions and interviews with the boys, need-based financial aid was secured to make this opportunity possible.  Mr. Daly revealed, “I was impressed with these boys.  They committed to work hard and [...]

Arriving on a new campus without long-standing friendships is a situation most students will never experience, until possibly leaving home to attend college.  With a freshman class of students from over 25 public, private and Catholic schools, for many admitted students at St. Vincent de Paul High School they are the only representative from their middle school.  In the fall of 2018, Wambui Munene of Marin Christian Academy in Novato shared this challenge with many of her new classmates. However, for the daughter of Isaac and Ann Munene, there were even higher expectations.  Wambui was the first recipient, and only member [...]

Patty transferred from Petaluma High School and chose to attend St. Vincent de Paul High School because she “wanted to be in a more academic environment surrounded by motivated students.”  In just two years at St. Vincent’s, she was the Varsity Cheer Team Captain, participated in campus ministry and was elected Student Body Vice President while working at two jobs off campus.  She is a member of the National Honor Society and has been able to take Honors Pre-Calculus, Honors World Literature and Honors Chemistry.  In her senior year, she added AP Calculus, AP US History, AP Literature and AP Physics.   [...]

For 13 years, Jade Schottstaedt has attended the St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Schools in Petaluma.  Like her two older brothers, she chose to attend SVHS because she “knew they had great teachers”.  Now, she cites that the faculty as the main reason why she was “able to acclimate to high school so quickly”.  AMBITIOUS ACADEMICS + LEADERSHIP At St. Vincent de Paul High School she was able to take an extensive schedule of challenging classes in AP Physics, AP Computer Science, AP Calculus, AP Literature, AP US History and AP Spanish where she earned a 4.429 GPA.  A truly exceptional [...]

Kai chose St. Vincent de Paul High School in Petaluma.  He offers his advice to those considering where they will attend high school. Kai is a resident of Santa Rosa and attended Wright Charter School.  Along with his twin sister, he shared that “We chose St. Vincent’s for the small school atmosphere.  The faculty and students are great.” He continued, “The 100-year tradition of excellence along with the improving athletics programs were also important considerations.  I wanted to be a part of re-building the independent football program, then play in the Northbay League (“NBL”) next year.” Deciding which high school to [...]