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Heavenly Father,

As we celebrate the joyful season of Christmas, we give thanks for the gift of our school community and the families who bring it to life. We ask Your blessing upon our parents—may they be strengthened with peace, encouraged with hope, and surrounded by Your loving presence.

Guide our families during this holy season. Fill their homes with kindness, their hearts with gratitude, and their days with moments of rest and joy. May the light of the Christ Child remind us of the love that unites us and inspires all we do.

Bless our parents, guardians, and all who care for our students. Keep them safe, renew their spirits, and let this Christmas bring them comfort, grace, and renewed faith.

Amen.

How to Prepare for Midterm Exams & the Stress Involved

The end of the semester, and exam week in particular, is a period of great stress for students. Certainly, many students feel some anxiety as they prep for exams and await the results of their efforts. A normal amount of stress can serve to motivate a student to buckle down and concentrate on her studies. For other students, though, the stress builds to unhealthy levels as they feel completely overwhelmed, unable to concentrate, & unable to eat properly. Such stress may also interrupt her sleeping pattern and cause her to become highly emotional. In a very few cases, the distress a student feels can spiral from anxiety into depression. As a concerned parent, I am sure that you want not only to stay on top of your daughter's academic performance, but also to monitor her emotional state. If you see signs of stress or anxiety, reassure her of your support by lending a sympathetic ear and a shoulder to lean on. If she appears especially distressed, please do not hesitate to contact her guidance counselor to discuss your concerns. Preston's Counseling Department faculty is experienced in helping our students deal with their emotional issues, especially at exam time. When anxieties intensify into depression or a student threatens self-harm, our counselors can help the family find outside psychological, psychiatric or medical support as well. As always, we want to partner with you in keeping your daughters emotionally healthy and academically successful.

7 Quick Tips for Managing Exam Stress and Anxiety from Faster Capital

Effective Time Management
Regular Exercise and Physical Activity
Mindfulness and Relaxation Techniques
Healthy Eating and Hydration
Seeking Support and Talking about Concerns
Practice Past Papers and Mock Exams
Develop a Growth Mindset.

Below are a few articles that can offer additional suggestions

Understanding Exam Stress and Anxiety

Child Mind Institute - Tips for beating test anxiety

Connections Academy by Pearson - How to Help H.S. Students prepare for Midterm Exams.

Stress in teenagers | Challenges and stress in teens

Congratulations to

Freshman Kaylie Mercedes

Congratulations to

Sophomore Caylee Santiago-Otero

Congratulations to

Junior Jaiden Medenilla

Congratulations to

Senior Nicole Yencik

Parent Association

The January Parent Association meeting will be in person on Tuesday, January 13th. Preston High School's ADAPP counselor Ms. Maria Doroni will join the administration team to give her presentation "Hidden in Plain Sight".

Preston Players Presents

We are excited to announce that the Preston Players will present Mamma Mia! from March 20–22.

Our cast and crew will soon begin bringing this wonderful production to life, and we can’t wait to share it with you.

As always, we welcome and appreciate the support of our parent community. If you are interested in volunteering in any capacity—before, during, or after the performances—we would love to have you join us.

More details will be shared as the dates approach. Thank you for your continued enthusiasm and partnership!

Preston Food Drive

Once again, Preston came together and donated food and money to spread Compassion in the Thanksgiving season.. Students, faculty and staff collected 5623 lbs of non perishable food and $4482. Our goal was a total of 10,000 - we raised 10,105! With this collected food and money, Preston's Compassion Connection was able to make donations of food and or money to St. Anthony's Pantry, St. Francis of Rome Pantry, St. Raymond's Pantry, The Mary Clancy Foundation, LifeWay, Lamp Ministries and the Preston Center of Compassion. Especially in a year of lower enrollment, it is remarkable that our goal was still met. This was truly a group effort - truly deserving of that day off from school on February 9! Special shoutouts to the winning homerooms - 1st Place: Ms. Farrell's Freshman 2, 2nd Place: Ms. Sow's Sophomore 4, 3rd Place: Mrs. Dekajlo's Senior 2 and 4th Place: Ms. Wolovich's Senior 4.

Christmas Door Decorating Contest

In preparation for Christmas, all homerooms were invited to decorate their classroom doors with festive cheer and creativity. The winning homeroom will be announced at the Christmas Assembly on December 19, and the selected class will earn a free dress-down day on January 5. Thank you to all our students for spreading holiday spirit throughout the school!

Guest Speaker in Law Class: Amanda Cascione, Esq.

Students in Ms. Connolly’s law class recently welcomed Amanda Cascione, attorney with Brennan, Scungio, and Kresge LLP, for an engaging presentation on criminal law and criminal procedure via Zoom. Drawing on her experience as both a prosecutor and a defense attorney, Ms. Cascione offered students valuable insight into the justice system, courtroom practice, and the real-world challenges attorneys face. Her remote visit helped bring classroom concepts to life and inspired many students to further explore careers in the legal field.

Gospel Choir

Preston's Gospel Choir is moderated by Mr. Romano. The choir consists of members from all of our four grade levels. Mr. Romano has a strong background in Music and sang in the Gospel Choir at his former parish for 16 years. This year, the Gospel Choir members are focusing more on collaborative effort to sing a mix of both Gospel, Contemporary and Traditional hymns of praise. The Gospel Choir members know that this is more than a choir. This is a God and Jesus praising ministry where the first and only purpose is to give God and Jesus all the deserved glory and honor. The Gospel Choir will officially debut at the Immaculate Conception Mass on Monday, December 8. The members have been working extra hard and will make their gifts known by giving God all the glory. Psalm 89 verse 1 says: "I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever, with my mouth will I make known his faithfulness to all generations." Amen

Video Production Class Field Trip

On Thursday, November 20th, students in Preston High School’s Video Production class had the exciting opportunity to visit the headquarters of Condé Nast. Preston alumna Tai Garcia ’01 graciously welcomed the senior elective class, leading them on a tour of the offices and introducing them to a panel of dynamic women representing a variety of roles in video production across the company’s well-known publications. During the visit, Tai shared insights into the history of Condé Nast, highlighted the company’s educational programs and initiatives, and spoke about her own non-traditional journey from Preston to her current role. It was an inspiring and eye-opening experience for our students as they continue to explore potential career paths in media and production.

Cultural Thanksgiving Celebration

On Tuesday, November 25th, we celebrated Our Cultural Thanksgiving, and it was an incredible success. Students shared delicious homemade dishes that showcased the rich cultural diversity of our community. Teachers, parents, and Student Council worked together to organize and serve, filling the cafeteria with a true sense of togetherness. A special thank-you to our amazing parent volunteers and to all the families who contributed food. Your generosity helped make this not only a learning experience, but a heartfelt celebration of who we are as a community.

SUNY Maritime Rowing

Vinny Houston from SUNY Maritime visited our PE classes to introduce students to the exciting world of rowing. He brought rowing machines for a hands-on experience and spoke about the growing opportunities in the sport, including SUNY Maritime’s interest in developing a high school rowing program. Rowing is not only a fantastic full-body workout, but it also stands out on college applications—and there are significant scholarship opportunities available, especially for women’s collegiate rowing. We look forward to exploring this partnership further!

AP Biology

Part of our AP Biology curriculum is to learn real word science skills. To conclude our lab on fermentation rates, students learned how to make scientific posters similar to those used at professional conferences. Check out this example from one of our lab groups!

Constructing a Contour Map & Graphing a Topographic Profile

Earth Science Students explored how elevation and landforms are represented on maps by creating their own contour maps using clear plastic shoeboxes. As they raised the water level one centimeter at a time and traced each new “shoreline,” they watched a three-dimensional landform take shape on a two-dimensional map.

They then transferred their contour lines to paper, labeled elevations using a 100-meter interval, and created a topographic profile along a designated line. This hands-on activity helped students better understand contour intervals, depressions, peaks, and changes in elevation.

Using digital graphic organizers in Padlet Sandbox, students compared ideas, provided peer feedback, and completed written analyses for their lab reports.

Student Outcomes

Students observed how the shape of the “mountain” became clearer with each new water level and learned the importance of accurate measuring, tracing, and labeling.
They correctly labeled contour lines, identified summit depressions, and constructed smooth, accurate topographic profiles.
Their work reflected correct spacing, scale, elevation changes, and use of hachured lines to show depressions such as volcanic craters.

Student Reflections

“I need to do this again because my lines are intersecting—so something’s off!”
“Labeling each line was like using a tiny ruler.”
“The hachured lines show the depression—like a volcano crater—going to a lower elevation.”

Operation Christmas Child

Compassion Connection is spreading love around the world! 50 boxes of gifts were donated to Samaritan's Purse - and will be shipped to countries where underprivileged children will be able to celebrate a little bit of Christmas spirit from the Bronx!

Preston Players Presents

We are excited to announce that the Preston Players will present Mamma Mia! from March 20–22. Our students are already hard at work bringing this wonderful production to life, and we can’t wait to share it with you.

As always, we welcome and appreciate the support of our parent community. If you are interested in volunteering in any capacity—before, during, or after the performances—we would love to have you join us.

More details will be shared as the dates approach. Thank you for your continued enthusiasm and partnership!

Card Party

Preston High School's Annual Card Party will be March 7th and this year's theme is Survivor! The Card Party is Preston's biggest annual fundraiser but it cannot be done without your help. We are accepting donations of brand new household items as well as gift cards to local businesses. More information regarding ticket sales and donations will be shared in January.

Giving Tuesday

Thank you to all who contributed to our Giving Tuesday fundraiser! With your support, we raised a total of $17,757.55, which was then matched by a generous donor for a grand total of $33,757.55!

Young Alumnae Brunch

On Thursday, January 8th, we welcome graduates from the classes of 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025 to join us at 11:00am for the Young Alumnae Brunch. Guests will have the opportunity to reminisce with former classmates and share advice with the current seniors on life after high school. If you have a recent alumna in your household or know a recent alumna, please share this information with them and encourage them to check their emails to RSVP.

College Bound

The Counseling Department is proud to announce that Preston High School has officially hosted 6 Colleges/Universities for Instant Decision Day! Year after year, visiting college representatives continue to be impressed by our students’ dedication to strong academics, athletics, and co-curricular involvement.

This year, our seniors earned 87 acceptances, along with generous scholarship offers from Mercy University, Pace University, Dominican University, St. John’s University, Iona University, and the University of Mount Saint Vincent.

In addition, we have already processed 1,394 college applications, and it’s only December! We encourage you to check in with your student to see if they are applying to schools with January deadlines. If so, please remind them to submit a Counselor Review Form to their counselor before Christmas Break.

Take a moment to remind your Preston Panther how proud you are. Their hard work is paying off, and your support continues to make a difference!