Acalanes Community Always (ACA)

AHS ROBOTICS CLUB SEEKING SPONSORS
The Acalanes Robotics Club, aka ACABOTS, is looking for Acalanes parents or alumni working in related businesses to support our thriving club through sponsorships.

Our team competes in the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Competition (FRC). Each year we build a robot to overcome specific challenges set for the year’s competition.

Please click here to learn more about the Robotics Team and the opportunities to sponsor.

DRESS DRIVE – THE PRINCESS PROJECT
The leadership team at Acalanes High School is excited to host a dress drive benefiting the Princess Project of San Francisco. The Princess Project is a non-profit whose mission is to “promote self-confidence and individual beauty by providing free prom dresses and accessories to high school teens who cannot otherwise afford them.”
 
AHS is now collecting semi-formal and formal dresses that teens can wear to their high school prom, free of charge. We are hoping to collect as many dresses as possible through Friday, Mar 1. We ask that all dresses be clean and in good condition.

There are two drop-off locations:
1. Acalanes High School in front of the Main Office
2. Lafayette Community Center at 500 St. Mary’s Road
To learn more about the Princess Project, and to obtain a tax-deductible receipt for your donation, click here.

PRINCESS PROJECT – DRESS DRIVE
The Leadership Team at Acalanes High School is excited to host a dress drive benefiting the Princess Project of San Francisco. The Princess Project is a non-profit whose mission is to “promote self-confidence and individual beauty by providing free prom dresses and accessories to high school teens who cannot otherwise afford them.”

Acalanes HS is now collecting semi-formal and formal dresses that teens can wear to their high school prom, free of charge. We are hoping to collect as many dresses as possible through Friday, Mar 1. We ask that all dresses be clean and in good condition. There are two drop-off locations:

1. Acalanes High School in front of the Main Office
2. Lafayette Community Center at 500 St. Mary’s Road
To learn more about the Princess Project, and to obtain a tax deductible receipt for your donation, click here.

AHS GARDEN UPDATE

Big things have been happening in the Acalanes Garden! Please read the Full Garden Update Here to hear all about what Ms Tewskbury, the Garden Club and the dedicated crew of supporters and volunteers have accomplished in the Garden. 

Don’t miss their wish list included. And please join for the next Garden Work Day on Sunday, Feb 25 from 10am-2pm. All are welcome!

  

AHS GARDEN UPDATE
Please refer to the email sent Friday, Jan 19 for more details on what’s going on in the garden! A quick glance at the updated workday schedule:
 
Sunday Jan 18 10am – 2pm

• add gravel to the meditation garden
• install the rest of the hardware cloth into the beds in the farm
• replace soil back into the beds after the hardware cloth is installed
• weed

Sunday Feb 25 10am – 2pm

• add new soil to the refurbished/taller beds (there will be a lot of soil)
• weed
•  

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to reach out to LTewksbury@auhsdschools.org.

JUNE 2024 TRIP TO FRANCE & SWITZERLAND
Looking for the holiday gift that your child will remember for the rest of their lives? Give the gift of travel! Acalanes staff are taking students on a trip to Europe this summer. Students of any age can attend! The only requirement is an interest in travel! This summer we are going to France and Switzerland. This trip has a little bit of everything – ancient/historical sites, relaxing beaches, awe-inspiring locations, amazing food, and a once-in-a-lifetime bonding experience with your Acalanes peers. Final deadline to sign up is Thursday, Feb 15!
 
For anyone interested in going on the Europe trip this summer, please follow this link to preview the trip and to register:  June 2024 Trip to France & Switzerland!
 
GARDEN UPDATE
We are plugging away with our garden projects! During our last work day on Dec 3 we dug out the old soil in the raised beds, started installing hardware cloth (to gopher proof them) and made a prototype bed. Our next work party is Sunday, Jan 21 when we plan to add gravel to the meditation garden, finish the hardware cloth installation and replace the soil into the beds. We also have a workday on Sunday, Feb 4 when we plan to add more garden soil to top off the newly raised beds. This will set us up for planting in the spring. While all of this is happening, the garden club has been meeting weekly during lunch. We have been planning work days and in January, we will turn our focus to planning and then planting our seeds for our spring planting.

Thanks for all the support! Our APC grant is paying for the gravel for the meditation garden and a generous parent has helped us with a grow stand, as well as raised beds supplies and refurbishing. We still have a few items on our wish list here if you’d like to help.

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to Lori Tewksbury (LTewksbury@auhsdschools.org; room 201).  Happy Holidays!!

JUNE 2024 TRIP TO FRANCE & SWITZERLANDLooking for the holiday gift that your child will remember for the rest of their lives? Give the gift of travel! Acalanes staff are taking students on a trip to Europe this summer. Students of any age can attend! The only requirement is an interest in travel! This summer we are going to France and Switzerland. This trip has a little bit of everything – ancient/historical sites, relaxing beaches, awe-inspiring locations, amazing food, and a once-in-a-lifetime bonding experience with your Acalanes peers. Final deadline to sign up is Thursday, Feb 15!
 
For anyone interested in going on the Europe trip this summer, please follow this link to preview the trip and to register:  June 2024 Trip to France & Switzerland!

SEED HIGH SCHOOL FRIENDSHIP CIRCLE:  Where our special needs high schoolers hang out with their typical peers.

• Upcoming Regular Meeting Date:  Thursday, Dec 14 from 5 – 6:30pm
• Special Holiday Movie Date:  Saturday, Dec 16 from 11 – 12:45pm
• Volunteers and Participants RSVP here
• (Volunteers get 2-hour community service validation per session)

To receive SEED High School updates, sign up to the High School newsletter here.

JUNE 2024 TRIP TO FRANCE & SWITZERLAND
Does your student love to travel? Acalanes staff is taking students on a trip to Europe this summer and students in any grade can attend. The only requirement is an interest in travel! This summer we are going to France and Switzerland. This trip has a little bit of everything — ancient/historical sites, relaxing beaches, awe-inspiring locations, amazing food, and a once-in-a-lifetime bonding experience with your Acalanes peers.

• For anyone interested in going on the Europe trip this summer, please follow this linkto preview the trip and to register.
• Here is the link to the meeting video to learn more.

The deadline to sign up is NOW, so please do so as soon as you can if you’re interested.

Thank you,
Erin Barth and Tina Gullberg

AHS Garden Update
The garden club has outlined a path to get the farm up and running in the springtime. We want to replace the hardware cloth in the beds (to “gopher proof” them), build the beds up to 1.5 feet and then add good veggie soil. We also plan to start the spring crops from seed after winter break so both the beds and plants will be ready for spring planting. We have a few workdays planned and can really use some skilled people (with tools) in January when we will be adding to the current beds. 

Here is our workday schedule, please join:

• Sunday, Dec 3 10am – 2pm
• Sunday, Jan 21 10am – 2pm* – We need skilled people with tools on this datet!!
• Sunday, Feb 4 10am – 2pm

We are very appreciative of the support from APC and the community, especially members of the Lafayette Community garden. We also have a wish list and you can email us if you’d like to help/make a donation! Thanks for your support!

SEED HIGH SCHOOL FRIENDSHIP CIRCLE – where our special needs high schoolers hang out with their typical peers.
Upcoming regular meeting dates:

• Thursday, Nov 16, 5-6:30pm
• Thursday, Dec 14, 5-6:30pm

There’s also a special holiday movie date on Saturday, Dec 16 from 11am-12:45pm.
Volunteers and participants can RSVP here (volunteers get 2 hour community service validation per session). To receive SEED High School updates, sign up to the High School newsletter here.
 
AHS GARDEN UPDATE
We had a garden workday on Sunday, Nov 5. Lot of students, a few parents, and a few community members show up to help clean out the raised beds in the farm and the weeds behind the meditation garden and in the farm. We received a small grant from the Parent’s Club to add more gravel to the meditation garden – thank you APC! We also have plans to reinforce the raised beds in the farm, add hardware cloth to keep gophers out and add some good soil all in time for a spring planting. Looking ahead, the garden club has saved seeds from some of the summer crops. We hope to use these, as well as seeds that have been donated, to start the plants for our summer crop. Please take a look at our updatedwish list. Our next work day is Sunday, Dec 3 from 10am – 2pm.

Thank you for the continued support! If you have questions or donations, feel free to reach out to me: LTewksbury@auhsdschools.org (room 201).