Hi All and Happy New Year! It’s wonderful to be able to report that the budget for the new digital sign has been met. The contract is signed. The deposit check is written. You can look for the sign to be installed on the front lawn of Montgomery High School in February 2017. I am very, very excited about this project and what it means to Montgomery High School, its students and alumni. I trust all of you are also excited, because you have had a big role in our achieving this goal. MHSAF’s Board of Directors and I want to thank all of you for your fabulous support!

I’m also happy to be able to tell you Montgomery High School students are experiencing a notable revival of school spirit that is very apparent to me when I visit the campus. To keep the momentum, the Associated Student Body wants to purchase new spirit wear, but needs seed money. You can support this spirit revival by making a donation to MHSAF for the Associated Student Body. Annotate ABS or spirit on your donation and it will go to the Associated Student Body. With those donations the ABS will buy new spirit wear to sell to the students. Profits from spirit wear sales will go to purchase more spirit wear.

The Santa Rosa City School Board appropriated $16,000,000 for long overdue campus upgrades and classroom renovations. The planning process has started and soon the upgrades and renovations will start. Thank you, Santa Rosa City taxpayers! If you would like to tour MHS and see for yourself what I’m seeing and how your tax dollars are being spent, please contact me.

It’s great news that former MHS Principal Laurie Fong was elected to the Santa Rosa City School Board in November 2016! If my memory serves me correctly, now there are two former MHS students and one former MHS principal on the school board. Not quite a majority, but working on it!

It hardly seems like it, but Montgomery High School Alumni Foundation formed six years ago. In that time, as is our mission, we have raised and donated significant funds to MHS student educational and extra-curricular programs. This is only possible because of our generous donors and volunteers, like you and the guests attending our four very successful Polenta Feeds. To each and everyone of you, a huge THANK YOU!

Our last three events have focused on a special project: 2014 – Sight and Sound Project, 2015 – Golf Cart Project, 2016 – Digital Sign Project. In addition to funding special projects your donations and participation at our events have made it possible for us to make grants to these MHS groups:

  • English Department
  • Math Department Debate
  • Team Girls Baseball
  • Wrestling Team
  • Student Assistance
  • Intramural Sports
  • Green Build Band
  • Church of the Roses Daily Student Breakfasts
  • Cheerleaders
  • AVID Team
  • Key Club
  • Art Ceramics “Fill the Glaze Buckets”
  • Montgomery Boosters
  • Montgomery Educational Foundation
  • Project Graduation

Our 5th Annual Polenta Feed will be held in October 2017. We look forward to seeing each of you there! Stay tuned for further details. The board hasn’t identified a project for 2017 as yet. If you have an idea – now is a good time to let us know. Once again, many thanks and may your New Year be a happy, healthy, and successful one!

Bob Parker, President