Welcome

Welcome to Juana Briones School!

We could not be more excited to welcome you back to school for the 2021-22 school year!

The ongoing pandemic has deeply impacted our community, our nation, and our world in ways that may take years to realize and a lifetime to process. Through the tragedy and challenges, there have also been silver linings and we have learned a great deal. I am deeply grateful to our staff and families who have supported our students and each other through these challenging times and I welcome our new families to this incredible learning community!

The Three C’s - care, connection, and collaboration, are the theme of the year as we welcome students to school, some of whom have not set foot on campus since March of 2020. We understand the importance of cultivating care, connection, empathy, resilience, resourcefulness, and the spirit of never giving up throughout our school culture. We are all teachers and learners, we all bring with us unique strengths, perspectives and experiences that enrich our community, and we are committed to the health and well-being of every community member.

Our namesake, Juana Briones, was an avid learner with an incredible sense of care for those in her community. She was empathetic, resilient, resourceful, and never gave up on her dreams of owning land. As a result of her determination she quickly became known as one of the most independent and accomplished women in California (facts drawn from the Stanford Humanities Center, Juana Briones Archive).

It is with this spirit that quality learning opportunities are designed for each of our children at Briones. They are not accidental, but rather born from our intentions, attention, energy and expertise in unison. It is the strong partnership between our home and school communities. It is the commitment on the part of our staff to provide the best possible learning experiences for each of our students, our parent / guardian / PTA community to support and enhance student learning opportunities, Palo Alto Partners in Education to fund the supplementary staff and initiatives necessary to sustain the exceptional quality of our school programs, and our students themselves to grow their brains and do their best learning in school each day.

It is my honor to serve as principal of this incredible school, and I look forward to collaborating with you so that each of our students thrive.

With warmest regards,
Kathryn “Katy” Bimpson
Principal