ICA Update No. 104 | Page 5

Letter from the President 130 years Dear Friends of Immaculate Conception Academy, We celebrate 130 years of Catholic education for the people of San Francisco and the Bay Area, particularly within the Mission district neighborhood. We rejoice in our relationship with the Cristo Rey Network of schools across the United States. We cherish our past and our Dominican traditions while we celebrate our present growth in enrollment and our innovative Corporate Work Study Program. Mother Pia, foundress of the Dominican Sisters of Mission San Jose and of Immaculate Conception Academy, walked this neighborhood, visited families and local businesses. She believed in the value of a Catholic education and in the potential of all young women. Mother Pia established enduring friendships with families, supported her Dominican Sisters and lay colleagues in teaching and expressed gratitude for all who gave selflessly to further the Mission. Today, we give thanks for years of alumnae, for faithful and new benefactors, for the leadership of our Board of Directors and for our students who are a blessing among us. They inspire us with their commitment to prayer, study, community and service. We are blessed with families who sacrifice in order to support the learning and future goals of their daughters desiring life to be fulfilling for them. In the Dominican spirit of Mother Pia and the Mission of the Cristo Rey Network, let us give Praise wherever we find ourselves, for gratitude and praise enlarge the heart to welcome all peoples. Let us Bless all with whom we come in contact, encouraging one another, for a word of encouragement makes a difference. Let us Preach through word and action the Good News of love among us in Jesus Christ, for the experience of love changes us and opens us to new possibilities. Let us seek Truth and love Truth wherever we find it. Let us Trust in the love of Go