In light of the upcoming 2023 Mercy Education Conference in Jamaica, Newsprint had the opportunity to talk with a student from Mercy High School Burlingame (California), run by the Sisters of Mercy, and compare it with our own Mercy High School Farmington Hills.

Mercy Burlingame is similar to Mercy Farmington Hills, but also differs in many ways. Mercy Burlingame is a private, all girls, Catholic college preparatory school about a six hour drive north from downtown Los Angeles. It has an average class size of 100 students in each of its four grades.  

We spoke to Mercy High School Burlingame senior Jazmine Moran about some things that unite us as Mercy sisters. Moran is a student body officer, student body treasurer, and diversity, equity and inclusion student leader at her Mercy High School. “I think just a general passion for educating women and young girls into being stronger unites us all. Because I feel like we all have very similar goals and we are all very ambitious students, I feel like we challenge each other and we have opportunities to take harder classes if you want to and explore these opportunities and pathways,” Moran said. “That just kind of brings us all together because we all know that our goal is to succeed in life and that’s what we’re all trying to do.”

In contrast to Mercy Farmington Hills, Mercy Burlingame works on an A, B, C day schedule, with one lunch period for the entire school from 11:10 a.m. to 12 p.m. each day. Four classes take place on A days and three classes take place on B days, followed by  collaboration period. C days take place every other month and are a day of no academic classes. Instead, a school-wide activity takes place, like bowling. During academic collaborations on B days, after students get released from 7th hour, they are free to spend the rest of the school day talking to teachers, going to the library, or doing any other productive activity. During community collaborations on B days, students have a set time to go to advisor groups for activities and then go to an all school event, like a rally or assembly. 

Advisor groups at Mercy Burlingame stay the same for all four years, with the same advisor following them from freshman to senior year, but the advisor groups are only composed of one grade, not multiple grades like Mercy Farmington Hills. 

Mercy Burlingame has an all boys brother school, Junipero Serra High School in San Mateo, California. Events and classes are done including the two schools. The students at Serra come to Mercy Burlingame for AP Psychology and forensics while Mercy Burlingame students go to Serra for theater and Mandarin language classes. 

Like Mercy Farmington Hills, religion is also integrated into the education at Mercy Burlingame. They have religion classes, chapel once a week, and morning and afternoon prayers. 

“Our core values are based on Catholic Social Teachings and the Mercy Sisters Core values,” Moran said. 

Mercy Burlingame also holds special traditions and activities for students at the end of the year. Similar to Mercy Farmington Hills, a moving up day event takes place at the end of the year for all students. Mercy Burlingame calls it their “Senior Splash”, where the senior class jumps into the pool on campus in full uniform, holding hands. 

As for the campus part of school, the Mercy Burlingame campus has two main parts: the Mansion/Wing and Russell Hall. 

Russell Hall is where the science and math classes are held, along with the AMES center, on-campus library, and counseling department. The Wing and the Mansion, up the hill from Russell, are attached. The Wing is Mercy Burlingame’s humanities building, where English, language, and religion classes take place. The Mansion is used for arts, photography, and ceramics.  

Also like Mercy Farmington Hills, Mercy Burlingame offers a unique experience to its students. “The unique thing about Mercy, at least for me, has been the bond. The sisterhood is really there,” Moran said. “It’s such an interesting environment to be a part of and it’s so supportive. Your teachers will be some of the best people you’ll ever meet.”

Although Mercy Burlingame is a five hour flight away from Mercy Farmington Hills, the two schools have many items in common while also keeping their own individuality. United through the Sisters of Mercy, with a passion for educating young women and creating a unique high school experience for each student, these two Mercy Schools both have the important qualities needed to create a great private high school.