When The Presentation School opened its doors for classes this year, it welcomed three new teachers as well as all the students.
Joining the school as its fifth-grade homeroom teacher is Jamie Mitchell of Rohnert Park. Mitchell comes to Presentation from Evergreen Elementary School where she was a long-term substitute teacher in the fifth grade, and from John Reed Elementary School where she ran the after-school program and oversaw their Science Olympiad Program. Mitchell has a B.A. as well as a Multiple Subject Credential from Sonoma State University.
Presentation also welcomed an additional sixth-grade teacher, making a total of two teachers to serve that grade’s 29 students. The new teacher, Jessica Laniohan Coffey is from Santa Rosa and she joins the school from Helen Lehman Elementary School where she was a third-grade teacher. Prior to that, Coffey was a Reading Intervention Teacher at Roseland Elementary and was a fifth-grade teacher at St. John Catholic School in San Lorenzo for more than three years. Coffey has a degree in American Multi-Cultural Studies and a Multiple Subject Teaching Credential from Sonoma State University. She also recently served on a Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) accreditation team.
Gayle Gurule has joined Presentation as its Spanish teacher for grades four through eight, as well as teaching a section of middle school Science and Pre-Algebra. Gurule, originally from Sebastopol, graduated with honors from Sonoma State with a B.A. in Spanish and a BCLAD in Spanish and a preliminary Multiple Subject Teaching Credential. At SSU, she was also the recipient of an APL Award honoring exemplary future teachers. She comes to Presentation from Cali Calmecac Language Academy in Windsor, where she taught third and fourth grades.
This year, The Presentation School has moved to a block schedule for its middle school students, allowing more in-depth instructional time in the sciences, math, Spanish, social studies and English Language Arts. The school has also launched a Student Council program run by its Middle School students and has a full complement of elective options for the sixth, seventh and eighth graders including School Newspaper, Beginning Guitar, Graphic Design, Book Club, Foods & Nutrition and Drama. The school offers 11 after-school academic and enrichment program, including Stock Market Investing, Yoga, Clay, Golf, French, Writer’s Workshop and many others, which are open to students throughout the Valley.
