Dear Marymount Families, Faculty, Staff, Alumnae, and Friends,

 

Anxiety, fear, sorrow, shock, horror, guilt, and grief are just a few words to express some of the emotions we each have experienced over these past ten days. As you know, wildfires have affected the interconnected communities of the Pacific Palisades, Malibu, Altadena, and other areas around Los Angeles County. 

 

One’s proximity to trauma -- be it through direct experience or relationship(s) to the traumatized – influences the level of its impact. Although our beloved Marymount campus has been safe, everyone in our Marymount community has been distressed; many have experienced displacements – including Dawn Regan, our Interim Head of School; and some -- including several of our Board members -- have suffered total losses. The devastation from this natural disaster is of a magnitude unparalleled by any in recent history. 

 

However, there is good news: We are blessed in so many ways, and it starts with leadership. Ms. Regan, as our Interim Head of School, has been phenomenal through this crisis. She and the Administrative Team have worked tirelessly to bring normalcy, security, and well-being to our students while ensuring that academics do not falter. They are achieving incredible success in supporting not only our current Marymount families but also alumnae and prospective Marymount families, as well as those from other Los Angeles schools who have been adversely affected by the wildfires. 

 

Wednesday was our students’ first full day back to school since last week. I visited the campus myself and saw the joyful faces we are used to seeing. The difference was they were in regular clothes instead of school uniforms, a concession to ensure that every student could feel she belonged and not out of place if she did not have access to her wardrobe. More than one administrator told me the girls wanted – nay, needed -- to be back on campus. Many staff said the same was true for them too. The MHS community closeness and face-to-face interactions provide a healing that cannot be overstated nor replicated in a virtual space.

 

Not every student was present. Some families are trying to navigate relocations, whether they be temporary or more permanent. Although classes are only on campus and not hybrid, our Academic Dean, Julie Whittell, and Lyndsey DeMuro, our Dean of Student Affairs and Wellness, are flexible, compassionate, and experienced in helping our displaced families with students’ academic and mental health needs. Lori Paillet, Director of Finance and Operations, has been supporting our families in their financial hardships as well as navigating uncharted waters of economic change affecting our school because of the natural disaster. In meeting with Rachel Grella-Harding, Director of Development and Foundation Giving, and with Kristin Billings, Director: Head of School Office and Board Relations, I learned of the tremendous expressions of care, concern, and appreciation from people across the nation through phone calls, emails, and donations. They shared that there has been a constancy of prayers and support from the Sisters of the RSHM, and from the Marymount community, for Ms. Regan’s ongoing reassurance that the School is doing everything within its power to support the families and students who have been impacted by these tragic events. There is a special Fire Victim Relief Fund accepting monetary donations (which can be made online HERE) that is dedicated to raising money to provide resources to students and families who have been directly impacted by the wildfires. 

 

We have had an influx of transfer families. Our admission team, led by Dr. Laura Arenstein, Director of Enrollment and Community Outreach, is to be commended for extending admissions applications deadlines for Fall 2025 as well as conducting full reviews for very recent transfer applicants. In speaking with her, Dr. Arenstein told me that six new transfer students began school last week, three more will begin on Monday, and four more may also transfer to our school. Clearly, Marymount is a symbol of hope and stability…an anchor, if you will.

 

Amazingly, many faculty and staff were on campus before School officially reopened because they were helping with the Marymount Distribution Center. Marymount alumnae, staff, and student volunteers worked tirelessly. Consistent with our school’s Mission, our students demonstrated they are ethical leaders with an unshakable commitment to the common good. Over several days, Ms. Regan had given me descriptions of the outpourings of generosity, but I was still unprepared to see its enormity: The Pavilion was completely full of donated goods and supplies. The volume was so plentiful, MHS had to stop accepting physical donations after 24 hours. When I was there, I witnessed one example of the amazing process. A parent came into the gym, followed at some distance by his daughter. They were warmly greeted by Hillary Del Regno, Director of Alumnae Relations and Constituent Events, and Lindsay Mays, Director of Student Life, Inclusion, and Belonging. The parent explained that their daughter was a Marymount alumna and they lost everything in the wildfires. Hillary and Lindsay walked the pair through the Pavilion helping them “shop.” Hillary left the Pavilion briefly, returning with a Marymount sweatshirt for our alumna so she would leave campus with the warmth, familiarity, and comfort that only one of our sweatshirts could bring.

 

Micaela Plummer, Director of Campus Ministry, shared amazing stories of community-building at so many levels, including the extraordinary Distribution Center. A forthcoming example will be a Community Mass that will be held on campus in February. This Mass was originally going to be for students, then expanded to families, and now it seems it will be even larger given the need for healing, spirituality, and support for the broader community. Information about this Mass will be sent next week.

 

There are continuing developments that the Board of Trustees stands ready to address. Ms. Regan and I have been in nearly daily communication, as she leads the Marymount community through these challenges. I have been in close communication with Marymount leadership, past, present, and future. All have expressed tremendous concern for our community while endorsing the excellence of Dawn’s leadership at this unprecedented time. 

 

In closing, you are reading this letter, in part at least, because a piece of your heart belongs to Marymount. People in our community lost their houses. But thankfully, “home” is where the heart is. And because MHS – her grounds and her people – stands unaltered, each of you will always have a place to call home: Marymount.

 

God blessed, Sailor strong, Marymount formidable.

 

In prayer for our beloved community and with enormous appreciation on behalf of the entire Board of Trustees,

Michele Cooley-Strickland, M.Ed., Ph.D.

Chair, Board of Trustees