Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish and School were founded in 1961 when Monsignor Cornelius Higgins, Diocesan Chancellor, arranged for its establishment on 6.5 acres of property on the corner of Norris and Robertson avenues in Sacramento.

Monsignor Higgins, who would later become the first Pastor, arranged for a community of Presentation Sisters from Cork, Ireland, to staff the yet-to-be built school and for the parish to be named “Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary.”

The first Mass was said on February 16, 1961, and the gigantic task of building a convent, school and temporary church was undertaken. Largely as the result of volunteer labor, the convent was completed when the Sisters arrived on August 22, 1961. The school was ready for classes in September, and the first Mass was celebrated in the temporary church (now the gymnasium) on October 1, 1961. Fundraising efforts began in earnest within the parish community. By the time Monsignor Higgins left in 1968, the debt had been retired. The new church was erected and dedicated by Bishop Alden J. Bell on May 11, 1975. The Presentation Sisters, for whom the Parish was named, left the area in 1991.

Today, the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, continue the legacy of the founding order.  These Sisters partner with lay staff to create a dynamic, Christ-centered, authentically Catholic experience for our PBVM children.