Dec 17 and 18 Spirit Wear Pick-Up
If you ordered spirit wear in November, we will have pick up days on December 17th from 2:30-3:30p and December 18th from 7:30-8:45a in the front of school.

Adopt-a-Family Thank You!
Another thank you to Acalanes families and our community for supporting 26 adopted families this holiday season! We appreciate your support of this program.

2020-2021 Clubs
Club meetings continue. Check out our 45 clubs!

Thank You
We will be taking a much needed and deserved break but will be back to gear up for January 2021 and beyond. I would be remiss if I didn’t publicly thank all of the resilient and determined student leaders who worked tirelessly to re-envision student programming this first semester. Each one of them (and there are SO MANY) remained hopeful, supportive, and determined to show up for one another and for our community. I am grateful and inspired by every single one of them and am so lucky to work alongside them. I also know our amazing community is supported by our incredible parents. Thank you for your unwavering support of student activities! See you in 2021!

If I can ever do anything to help you or your student, don’t hesitate to reach out!

Katherine Walton, Student Activities Director

This week, we’d like to share a story about a recent meeting we had with a student who was working with an extremely common problem in adolescence. The student was frustrated by what they called “mood swings.” Nothing radical, just feeling down when they felt they should be feeling “up;” feeling exhausted when they wanted to be energized, etc. We asked about how sleep factored into the mood picture. The student laughed and said, “I have no idea!” We talked about sleep tracking and the student took the ball and ran with it, returning for check-in three weeks later with their sleep “diary.” They reported that sleep deficit nights were followed by low-to-dysregulated mood days. This was a big aha exercise for the student. While a sleep diary is hard to initiate during finals week, it is exactly the right time to share with your student this anecdote. Best of luck to your students on final and we hope you have a peaceful and sweet break. 

Allen Choi, Wellness Coordinator
Casey Sasner, Intake Specialist

For updates, tips and advice, follow Wellness on Social Media: Instagram @acalaneswellness

Monday, Dec 14 from 7-8pm – Sophomore Student/Parent College Check-in
Join Acalanes College & Career Advisor Wendy Reicher for an informal check-in regarding college planning for sophomores. Learn about summer opportunities, Naviance overview, College & Career website resources, and more! 

• Register for the meeting using this NEW link. Log in via your student’s AUHSD email account. The meeting will not be recorded but the materials will be available for anyone who can’t make it.

For Juniors: Upcoming College Planning Academy Sessions
Students use Ms. Reicher’s Zoom link to attend. 

• Wednesday, Jan 13: Things to Do
• Wednesday, Jan 20: About Me/Personal Assessments
• Wednesday, Jan 27: Building Your List

Assistance League of Diablo Valley Scholarships
This philanthropic program of Assistance League Diablo Valley aids students with college expenses based upon their need, school/community activities, and grade point average. Applicants must be residents of Contra Costa County, California.

AAUW Scholarship Application Opportunity
$2000 awarded to a Senior woman who demonstrates a sustained commitment to community service as well as a grade point average of at least 3.0. Apply now!

One-on-One Appointments
Students can book an individual meeting with Ms. Reicher here. Please encourage your student to take advantage regardless of where they are in the process.

Helpful Links:

• Career Exploration
• Alternatives after High School
• Fall CCC Newsletter for updates!

Freshman College Planning
Sophomore College Planning
Junior College Planning
Senior Checklist

• CCC Website 
• Follow us on Instagram: @acalanesccc
• Facebook Page for Students Have your senior or junior join the College and Career Student FB page 

Keep up the good work! 
Wendy Reicher/College and Career Advisor: wreicher@auhsdschools.org

Senior Transcripts
Seniors who need official transcripts for college apps due Jan 1 should order them on the webstore before winter break. Documents will be sent electronically through Naviance whenever possible. Please contact Mrs. Finn with questions. Students can review unofficial transcripts in Aeries.

Friday, Dec 18 End of First Semester
Official transcripts will not be updated until after the winter break. Mid-year reports (transcripts) with first semester grades will be available the second week of January.

Counselor Appointments
We love talking to our students! Email is the best way to reach us. Counselors have appointment slots for students and will email them a link for signing up. We are trying to reserve the limited slots outside of class time for students. Parents can schedule a time when students are in class. 

A- Ed  Anne Schonauer
Ee-Kr  Christine Todd
Ku-Ros  Marissa Meadows
Rot-Z  Susan Martin

While our school district moves ahead with comprehensive plans for a return to in-person instruction using a hybrid learning model, other districts around the state have not been able to agree to do so. Now a group of state legislators, including Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, D-Orinda, have proposed a bill requiring every school district to physically return to school in stages once that district has returned to the red tier. The bill is particularly focused on the huge numbers of English learners and low-income, foster, and homeless students who have fallen behind during distance learning. California Assembly leaders press for all districts to resume in-school teaching in the spring

PTG (Posttraumatic Growth): Using Challenge To Cultivate Resilience
During this pandemic, we are ALL experiencing trauma, grief, and loss, individually and collectively, and that cannot and should not be minimized in any way. This, undoubtedly, is going to be the hardest holiday season that most of us have ever experienced. But I want to encourage everyone to look for opportunities for growth and resilience. We can set an intention to practice anchoring ourselves in core values that support health and wellness, including gratitude, self-care, and generosity (to name a few). Try visualizing those values as “eyeglasses” that you put on (ex: now I am putting on my gratitude glasses. What does my perspective look like from here?).

In anticipation of the opportunity to return to our school sites to some degree in January, I implore you and your families to be vigilant about staying healthy and taking whatever precautions you can to prevent the spread of Covid in your households and families, and in our community. Our school district is working hard to create a protocol to promote safety and health on our school sites and in our school community. We need to be cohesive partners in working together to promote health and safety in our community.  Thank you for your commitment!

Updated Medical Forms
Parents, please make sure you turn in any pertinent medical forms for your students for this school year, especially if your students will be in the Hybrid Model. See this page on my website and let me know if you have any questions.

Be Covid Proactive!
See update on my google site. Stay healthy by keeping this symptom checklist in mind.

Improve Mental Health
Cook meals together as a family! It doesn’t have to be complicated; it can be as easy as arranging a fruit platter or putting a salad together.

This is a perfect opportunity with the upcoming holidays and our plans to STAY HOME. There are so many benefits – more to come!

Happy Healthy Holidays to all!

Dvora Citron, RN, MS
Acalanes School Nurse Google Site
dcitron@auhsdschools.org
IG:  acalanesschoolnurse

Performing Arts has as NEW website!!! Check out our event details and more at ahsperformingarts.org

WINTER PERFORMANCE EVENTS

Tuesday, Dec 15 at 7pm-  2020 Choral Music Virtual Winter Concert, “Together, from a Distance”
This streamed concert will feature music from the Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque and Classical eras, as well as some solo acts. Look for the YouTube link on the Acalanes Performing Arts website on the day of the concert.

Thursday, Dec 17 at 7pm – AHS Instrumental Virtual Winter Concert
Enjoy the amazing musical talents of the Acalanes Instrumental Bands. Instrumental Music Director Ms. Lauren Gibson will be showcasing performances by each ensemble (Jazz Ensemble, Concert Band, Symphonic Band, Wind Ensemble, and Orchestra) as well as chamber music. Best of all, you can hear all this beautiful music safely from the comfort of your home via this Zoom live webinar link. Look for more details at acalanesinstrumentalmusic.com or on our website.

Tuesday, Dec 22 at 7 pm – DramaDons Holiday Special
Happy Holidays from the DramaDons! The DramaDons have a present for you! The premiere of our Holiday Special will include selections of work that the DramaDons have created over this past semester. Pieces include original puppet stories, dialect monologues, an 8-minute Zoom movie adaptation, and an original children’s theatre Zoom play. YouTube link to the Holiday Special will be available on the day of the performance on our website as well as on Instagram @ahs_dramadons.

The California Department of Public Health has postponed the issuance of its updated youth sports guidance. The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) does not expect the CDPH will issue any guidance allowing for schools to return to full practice and competition until after January 1, 2021, at the earliest. All full practice and competition start dates are officially on hold until updated guidance is issued. Read the full press release here.

Peer Tutoring
As students prepare for final exams, be sure to remind your Don to take advantage of Acalanes’ FREE Peer Tutoring program. Fellow students are ready to support their peers in any academic subject. Students can get help with test prep, essay writing guidance, lesson clarification, how to create a weekly work schedule, and much more. The tutors and directors connect personally with each student to provide an encouraging and engaging environment. Students can book peer tutors on TeachMore.