News & Announcements

ACA Spirit Week: Wicked Week November 2-6
Students have a very fun spirit week planned and there are multiple ways to get involved and engaged. The week will be a competition in cohorts. Cohorts will compete in daily challenges including GooseChase (scavenger hunt), dress up days, and two lunchtime activities. 

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 2

• Cohort GooseChase Competition Begins – Encourage your student to opt in to the scavenger hunt via GooseChase. Students & their cohort teacher will compete against other cohorts for points to crown the winner at the end of the week. It is a great opportunity to connect with students & staff and have a little bit of fun. Every day new challenges are released through the goosechase app.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3

• Cohort GooseChase Continues (check your app for details)

• Lunch – Staff-student Shark Tank. Students will compete along with staff members to pitch their best invention to the judges (aka admin team). Encourage your student to opt in.

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 4

• Cohort GooseChase Continues (check your app for details)

• All day – Our first dress-up day of the week is Wacky Wednesday. Consider making it a household dress-up day!
  
  

Wednesday, Nov 4 at Lunch – Dialogue on Gratitude & Anxiety
Encourage your student to join us! It will be a meaningful discussion about anxiety and ways to cope with it especially during the month of gratitude!  Link will be sent out via Canvas.

Ends Tomorrow! Canned Food Drive for the Contra Costa Food Bank
Bins are at the flagpole and in front of Whole Foods. Thanks for all your support!

2020-2021 Clubs
Club meetings continue this week. Encourage your student to attend even if they missed the first meeting last week. Check out our 45 clubs!

Save the Date: ACA Days + next Women in Leadership Event

• ACA Days – will run over multiple days as we program in-person, socially  distanced opportunities. Stay tuned for details & how to sign-up.
  • Frosh/Soph: Monday, November 16th from 3-5p
  • Juniors: Wednesday, November 18th from 3-5p
  • Seniors: Tuesday, November 17th from 2:30-4:30p
    
• Wednesday, Dec 2 at 7pm Women in Leadership # 2 – Mark your calendar!

Save the Date: Equity Week Nov 16-20

• Wednesday, Nov 18 at 7pm Lori Hayes “Be an Upstander, Not a Bystander” Equity speaker Lori Hayes will join us to dialogue about how we can address issues of equity on our campus and in our community. Register here!
• Every day, our equity clubs will be holding lunchtime events that will allow students to engage in education and dialogue about various issues of equity. Stay tuned for the calendar of events!

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

Katherine Walton, Student Activities Director

When you read this, we will be on day three of our “7 Days/7 Hacks” Whole Health Challenge. With pandemic fatigue settling in for many of us and the tension created by conflicts and divides that can cause us to feel more separated than connected, it’s perfect timing to make a self-care related change. We can’t eliminate our stress but we can chip away at it by investigating and adopting new (small and incremental) habits. We’re focusing on seven areas of quality of life and we’re providing tips, links to valuable learning sources, and a challenge to the community to try out one per day. You can learn more at our instagram account and we’ll be sharing more broadly as well. And speaking of self-care, please REGISTER HERE for a parent ed. event, “Caring for Oneself & Others” on November 19th at 5:30pm. This is a joint event from the Contra Costa County Office of Education, the Contra Costa Crisis Center, and CourAge Youth Health Coalition.

Allen Choi, Wellness Coordinator
Casey Sasner, Intake Specialist

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

Practice ACT Exam, Nov. 14, 9am-1pm
Live, online, proctored exam, cost: $10.  Sign up here.

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.

Tomorrow, Nov 2 Admissions Virtual Reps Visits for Junior and Senior students via Naviance.
Have your student sign up! Here are some of the schools this week: URichmond, Texas Tech, Tufts and more!

Tuesday, Nov 17 at 7pm Parent Naviance Workshop for Juniors
Zoom ID: 651 363 0875 Password: DONS2021. Log in using your students AUHSD Zoom account.

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

Seniors
Many seniors have still not ordered official transcripts for college apps or updated their Naviance accounts. Students pay the $5 fee for official transcripts on the webstore. Mrs. Finn, the registrar, will process requests. Documents will be sent electronically through Naviance whenever possible. Please contact Mrs. Finn with questions. Students can review unofficial transcripts in Aeries.

AP Exam Registration
AP Registration ends on November 12th! Any student that may be interested in taking AP Exams must be registered in AP Classroom by November 12th – no exceptions. Students then pay on the webstore starting Nov. 1. Exams need to be paid for by March 10. Contact Hannah Welling hwelling@auhsdschools.org with questions about registration.

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

(Fore)HEADS-UP!
Part of our “new normal” needs to be checking our temperature each morning, especially if you are leaving your house to be in any public/social environment. That means if you don’t already have a thermometer, this is a good time to get one!

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

Flu Vaccine is available NOW!
Reduced illness from flu will also ease the burden of illness from Covid in our hospital facilities. Flu vaccines are available at most medical practices and pharmacies. 

Parents: Feeling Overwhelmed? Who isn’t???
I found this TedTalk with Elizabeth Gilbert validating and nourishing.

Here’s a great one-pager on SLEEP to remind you why it’s so good for us.

Is your student interested in joining the Acalanes Health & Medicine Student Club? They meet at lunch on the 2nd and 3rd Tuesdays. Check it out here.

Please get in touch with me with any questions, concerns, and/or requests. I look forward to being in touch and connected!

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

The LPIE Podcast series turns its attention this week to the arc of student growth into adulthood.
Though Acalanes students have made it through the middle school years, Episode 4’s focus on Stanley Middle School gives us good insights into how to prioritize the whole student, regardless of where our children are in their growth path. Adam speaks with three prominent Stanley staff members, Stanley Principal Betsy Balmat, Counselor Mary Nolan, and Psychologist Melodi Dewey. The panel explains how distance learning has provided a unique opportunity to reach the entire student body, enabling staff to foster communities and create spaces to check-in and discuss topics and issues that are relevant to students right now on a weekly basis – both personal and academic. Click here to listen!

Laura–Kate Rurka & Jennifer Palmer
Acalanes LPIE School Chairs

www.lpie.org

Online Peer Tutoring
Now is a great time to remind your student to take advantage of Peer Tutoring. Thanks to your APC donations, Peer Tutoring is FREE and available for all academic subjects. No appointment is necessary and it’s easy to participate. Click here for the schedule. Students can access Peer Tutoring using the link emailed through Canvas every Monday morning.

Thursday, Oct 29 at 6:50pm – ACA Night at the Drive-In Movies, Solano Drive In
Mark your calendars for the final celebration of ACAtober! Join your friends & family (socially distanced) for a fun movie night under the stars! The theater is showing Monster House, an animated family movie that is perfect for Halloween. We encourage you to get there a few minutes early!

ACA E-Thanks to Acalanes Teachers & Staff
The first quarter is over and November will focus on gratitude and giving back. Let’s let our awesome teachers and staff know NOW how much we all appreciate what they do for our students. This week, please email at least one – if not all! – of your student’s teachers with a brief note of thanks. Not sure what to write? It can be as simple as: “Thank you for all you’re doing to help support my student during Distance Learning. Your efforts are thoroughly appreciated.” Emails to Acalanes administrators and staff are encouraged too!

Questions, comments or feedback, email aca@acalanesparentsclub.com.

Tomorrow’s Monday Cohort focuses on how to have hard conversations. Encourage your student to continue the dialogue at lunch on Wednesday with Keith Hawkins. It will be facilitated by two student leaders, Scott Ruegg & Claire Rowell.

Have you sent your ballot in yet? Don’t delay – get those votes counted! In addition to the presidential election, there are several critical state propositions and local elections which will directly affect our schools and students, so be sure to fill out your entire ballot.  

Prop 15: California Schools and Local Communities Funding Act
This initiative, which is supported by the California Teachers Association, endorsed by Governor Newsom, and opposed by the California Business Roundtable, would require commercial and industrial real estate property worth $3 million or more to be taxed on current market value. This money would be allocated to schools (40%) and other local governments (60%). It is estimated to result in $11.5 billion in additional funding statewide, and between $1.9 million and $3.4 million for AUHSD. For more information see: Quick Guide: Proposition 15, the proposed ’split-roll’ tax on commercial property.   

Prop 16: Repeal Proposition 209 – Restore Affirmative Action
This constitutional amendment would permit the use of race, gender, and ethnic diversity as factors (but not decisive factors) in education including college admissions, government hiring, and government contracting. CSU Trustees endorse repeal of affirmative action ban. For more information, see: Proposition 16 — Allow Public Agencies to Consider Diversity.  

You can also find impartial analysis of all the propositions at https://votersedge.org/ca.