June 4, 2021

 

Dear Branson Community,

 

We are writing to provide new information relating to the letter we sent on Wednesday about the recent lawsuit filed against the school. As we have communicated, the lawsuit concerns sexual assault in the late 1980s by former volunteer basketball coach, Rich Manoogian. 

 

Yesterday, I was contacted by an alumnus of the school from the late 1990s to inform me that while he was at the school Manoogian again served as a volunteer assistant coach for boys' basketball at Branson. Yesterday was the first time we had heard that Manoogian was at Branson in the late 1990s. We have since verified this to be true. This information was not a part of the report from the initial investigation by Covington & Burling LLP, the outside law firm that performed an independent investigation into historical accounts of sexual misconduct. We felt it was important to correct the record immediately. 

 

Since May of 2018, when we first learned about past sexual abuse at Branson, we have committed ourselves to uncovering the truth and communicating our findings promptly and transparently to our community. We will continue to do so. If you have any information pertinent to this case, please reach out to our HR Director, Michelle Jones at michelle_jones@maqve.com.

 

We are grateful to the women who courageously came forward and, once again, we apologize to them for the harm they experienced while students at Branson. 

 

Sincerely,

 

Christina Mazzola

Head of School

P.O. Box 887 ⋅ Ross, CA 94957-0887 ⋅ 415-454-3612 ⋅ maqve.com