Co-Presidents’ Message

First of all, we hope this email finds you all safe and healthy. While our content is limited, we believe communication continues to be one of the most important ways to connect to one another while Shelter in Place keeps students, teachers, friends, neighbors, co-workers, and even family members physically apart. A special thank you to our APC Communications co-chairs Kristen Labrosse & Heidi Hambidge who along with editor Sarah Ortman who have worked to make the APC Newsletter such a valuable resource to our parent community now and throughout the school year. 

Earlier this year, APC paid for teen motivational speaker Mike Smith to host a student assembly for sophomores and juniors along with a working group of students across all grades. The positive feedback was tremendous. Leadership teacher Katherine Walton sent a recent email regarding Mike Smith’s current video Rooted in Love, a call to action for all of us, in this unprecedented time, to find ways to build community, take care of one another, and stay rooted in love. It’s a terrific 5-minute video to sit down and watch together as a family. 

Finally, in case you missed it, the district sent out an email regarding student wellness by sharing guidance regarding the value of keeping family schedules consistent and highlighting resources for students during this unsettling time. The Wellness Center section of the APC newsletter will continue to provide additional guidance so you may want to check it out each week.

Please reach out if you have any suggestions for content or other ideas for this newsletter at president@acalanesparentsclub.com. 

Sending our extended Dons family a large virtual hug!

Dawn Brightbill and Sarah Cusumano

Now more than ever we feel the need to communicate and stay connected with our Acalanes community as we all make major adjustments to our lives during this uncertain time.

AUHSD Superintendent Nickerson has emailed parents with updates regarding school closure and guidelines for social distancing. This information is critical as we all figure out how to best handle social interaction during school closures. We expect that the district and Principal Bell will have an update for parents and students early next week regarding how teachers have prepared for AHS Distance Learning.

The LPIE Power Party unfortunately has been cancelled but the LPIE Auction is still a go. We are hopeful that you’ll consider checking out the hundreds of auction items available for bidding. All donations will allow LPIE to continue to bring tremendous resources to Acalanes. Your students may want to consider using the upcoming downtime to enter Project LPIE’s 2020 student competition. There are seventeen categories in which students can compete, many of which are conducive to working at home. More details in the LPIE section below.

As parents, we are in this together and welcome your thoughts, resources and advice during this time. Please feel free to email us at president@acalanesparentsclub.com. We will continue to share the latest updates to help keep the AHS parent community informed as information becomes available over the next few weeks.

Dawn Brightbill and Sarah Cusumano

It’s been a busy time on campus. Spring sports are in full bloom, and last week’s spring musical Urinetown received rave audience reviews with vast numbers of students showing up to support and cheer for their peers. Bravo! 

Just a reminder that this week is a short week as Friday, March 13, is a Staff Development Day.  Thanks to your donations, APC provides $35,000 of funding each school year for staff development for teachers and staff like Friday’s development day. We look forward to sharing more regularly in our APC in Action section how this funding supports development of our AHS teachers and staff. 

Dawn Brightbill and Sarah Cusumano

We hope all Acalanes families enjoyed the 4-day weekend! February is shaping up to be a busy month for Dons’ parents. We hope you will mark your calendar for the following upcoming events:

• Dons Dialogue: February 21
• APC Sponsored Just Mercy Screening for Black History Month: February 24
• APC Parent Education Event with Parent Expert Dr. Dan Peters: February 27

We are in the early stages of filling APC Exec Board and volunteer positions for the 2020-2021 school year. There are numerous ways to get involved and put your talents to good use! Take a look at all of the possibilities on the APC Job Descriptions page. If you’re interested in volunteering, please contact APC Parliamentarian Meg Fellner who is heading up the Nominating Committee.
 
Dawn Brightbill and Sarah Cusumano

The month of January was a busy one at the home of the Dons with the second semester kicking off with a flurry of activity. One of the highlights was our annual Open House Course Preview night last week. The Dons community showed up in droves for an excellent event with a kick off address by Principal Bell and followed by three breakout sessions, where students and parents could self-select into offerings of individual interest. Teachers and staff organized and facilitated sessions about course pathways, class curriculum overviews and expectations, and assorted other informational offerings.

Continuing the class selection theme, counselors have spent this week, and will continue next, meeting with all 9th, 10th and 11th graders for individual sessions based around students selecting their classes for next year. With graduation requirements, a huge array of exciting electives and an intriguing peppering of new classes, there are choices aplenty at every level. Our counselors’ expertise, and recommendations from current teachers, is of great value and these individual 5-10 minute meetings have been a great way to clarify those challenging decisions.

Our final mention for this month is to reference the current #QuitLying campaign, orchestrated by our Leadership class in partnership with a nation-wide campaign. The purpose of this initiative is to spark curiosity amongst our youngsters to unearth some of the unethical and morally corrupt lies that big vape and tobacco companies are using to market vaping as a low-risk endeavor. Placards around campus exposing some of the myths, misconceptions and falsehoods, along with a slogan-adorned T-shirt and factual videos distributed by Ms Walton and the Leadership class are all parts of the campaign. This educational, factual approach, along with recent campus-wide policy changes designed to limit opportunities for our students to make bad choices, is all part of our school community;s response to combat the plague of vaping that is an issue on high-school campuses nation-wide.

As always, we want to state what a pleasure it is to work at Acalanes on a daily basis. Our exceptional staff and faculty, our engaging and kind students and our wonderful, supportive community all serve to make us proud and happy Dons.

All the best,
Andrea Powers and Mike Plant

 It was wonderful to see so many students and parents at the 2020-21 Course Preview & Open House last week. Special thanks to our APC Hospitality Team led by Marlene Peacock and Kim Siegal for their creative “Love Lafayette” themed reception and our APC board members who were on hand to welcome incoming freshman families. 

All freshmen, sophomores and juniors will have a brief meeting with the counselors this week to confirm their fall schedules. It’s a great chance for your student ask any final questions they may have about which classes to take before finalizing their schedule. 

Finally, we’d like to call your attention to the Wellness section of the website. If you haven’t yet stumbled upon it, the Wellness staff shares insightful information each week regarding how to support your student as they deal with the pressures of high school. This week, they highlight the value of sleep. While we all know how important sleep is for our kids, the message is a good reminder of how much they actually need to succeed.

Dawn Brightbill and Sarah Cusumano

If you have a Sophomore or Junior, we hope that they came home and told you all about the exciting Breaking Down the Walls Program they participated in last week. It is consistently one of the most talked about programs on campus by students, teachers, counselors and AHS administrators. Here’s just one takeaway from a student:

“Breaking Down the Walls makes our school more of a community and I was able to connect with people I normally couldn’t of otherwise and today, I realized that I am never alone.”

Ask your sophomore or junior for input if they have yet to share their thoughts about the day. Thanks to your contributions, APC funds this valuable program.

We look forward to seeing lots of students and parents at the Acalanes Course Preview & Open House this Thursday! This is a worthwhile event for any current 8th graders, freshmen, sophomores and juniors to help guide students with their 2020-21 course selections. You can find more information in our General Announcements below. If you’re able to make it, please stop by the APC Reception in front of the Main Gym starting at 5:30 to grab a hot cocoa on your way to learn more about the various course pathways and course offerings. We hope to see you on Thursday evening!

Dawn Brightbill and Sarah Cusumano

APC is kicking off the second semester with a number of exciting programs thanks to your donations and support. Some of the highlights APC is funding include:

Breaking Down the Walls will be on campus next week working with all sophomores and juniors to help students break down barriers between them to build stronger relationships with one another creating a more inclusive climate on campus. Refer to the Student Activities section to learn more. 

APC Spring Grants are now open for students, teachers, and parents with a focus on ideas that will enhance the educational and campus experience of AHS students in new and innovative ways. Refer to grant guidelines here, and submit your creative solutions using the application form. Email completed applications to Laura White or deliver to the APC box in the office. Grant applications are due by noon on Friday, Feb 21. 

Acalanes Testing Center (ATC), located in the Peer Tutoring Office, is a new program that strives to support students in need of making up tests from excused absences. Students may ask their teacher whether or not the ATC is an option for their testing since teachers must pre-approve utilization of the resource. The center provides a valuable alternative to using the Academy period for test taking.

We hope you have added the upcoming Course Preview & Open House to your calendar for Thursday, January 30th (see below). Students and parents of incoming 8th Grade, Freshman, Sophomore, and Juniors are encouraged to attend.

Dawn Brightbill and Sarah Cusumano

Happy New Year and welcome back Dons!

We hope you had a wonderful and relaxing winter break with friends and families, especially with a true break from school this year.  Reflecting on 1st semester successes and challenges has been a priority for us when we closed out the year. We are grateful for the hard work and dedication of our students and staff, as well as the support we have received from our parent community.  We will continue to support and show up for our Dons as we are back refreshed and ready to dive into second semester.  

The Dons look forward to cheering on our winter sports, our upcoming Breaking Down the Walls program for Sophomores and Juniors, and finishing off the month with Open House.  We wish you all the best in 2020 and look forward to a great semester.  

Associate Principals,
Andrea Powers & Mike Plant

Welcome to the last week of the first semester! We know your kids have spent the past several days preparing for final exams and we want to thank our APC Finals Fuel team, Carey Starn and Nicole Carberry, along with lots of parent help, for providing healthy snacks for students throughout the week. Don’t forget to remind your students to take advantage of our Wellness Center and Peer Tutoring resources as needed.

We want to express our gratitude to our entire APC Board, sub-committees and Class Liaisons for all their dedication to the many Dons programs and events on campus this first semester. We wish everyone a restful holiday break and hope that you all enjoy the festivities and traditions of the season. A reminder that the first day of second semester is Tuesday, January 7.  

Dawn Brightbill & Sarah Cusumano