The APAB Board is still seeking New Board Members If you have a passion for the arts, join us today! APAB has the following Board openings:
Contact APAB President, Debra Bussey, if you’re interested in one of these positions or any other performing arts volunteer opportunities.
Debra Bussey
Acalanes Performing Arts
Here are some recent updates from www.edsource.org, my favorite source for reliable information on education legislation, school funding, and distance learning:
Also, if you haven’t completed the Census, please do so today! Only 64.7% of Californians have completed the Census to date. For EVERY person that goes uncounted in the census, California loses $20,000 over ten years for our local communities. It only takes a few minutes and is as easy as 1, 2 or 3:
Great News! Peer Tutoring is Back
Peer Tutors are available to help students across all academic subjects starting NOW. To access a tutor, encourage your student to visit TeachMore, select “Peer Tutoring” and access the Zoom link for the desired time slot. Peer Tutoring looks forward to being a vital part of the remote learning experience. And remember, Peer Tutoring is free to all families thanks to the generosity of your APC parent donations. Below is the Peer Tutoring schedule:
Canvas Tutorial & Q&A Support
Acalanes parents and guardians! Check out this helpful 7 minute tutorial video on Canvas, for both the desktop and the app. If you still have questions, consider attending a drop in Q&A support session on Monday, August 31 from 8-9am. You must RSVP to Katherine Walton to receive the zoom link.
Textbook Return & Pickup
Thanks to those Dons who have returned materials. For those still holding on to books, please drop them outside the AHS Library as soon as possible. If your student is still waiting on books for a class this year, please make an appointment to pick up your resources by emailing jcrain@auhsdschools.org.
Updated APC Volunteer Service Awards
Updated program guidelines and forms will be released shortly as a result of limitations on volunteer work due to Covid. Once you have reviewed the new guidelines, please email us if you have any questions about qualifying hours or opportunities.
Student Work Permits
Students need to complete the following steps if they will be employed during this school year. Parents, please keep this information handy as a reference.
Contact us with questions:
Mrs. Gullberg, tel. 925.280.3970 ext. 7126
Mrs. Perlman, tel. 925.280.3970 ext. 7125
Part of our ACA initiative is to build an Acalanes alumni network and make it a rich resource for current students and alumni. If you are a current alumni of Acalanes and would like to be involved in developing this program, please email us at aca@acalanesparentsclub.com!
Dawn Brightbill & Sarah Cusumano
New Bias Incident Reporting Tool!
Please let your student/s know that Acalanes has developed a tool to assist students in reporting racism or bias incidents. A report can be made anonymously and can be accessed using a valid auhsdschools.org email address. More about this tool here.
21 Week Racial Equity Habit Building Challenge
Join us for the next 21 weeks as we build habits supporting racial equity. Each week, we will suggest one article or activity which will help you become more educated and thoughtful in this area.
Did you miss our Forum on Race?
Watch it here. We are so grateful to those who joined us and tried it on.
Tuesday, Sept 22 at 6:30pm Teacher-moderated Book Club: How To Be An Antiracistby Dr. Ibram X. Kendi
The book, a NYTimes Bestseller, brings a “groundbreaking” approach to understanding and uprooting racism and inequality in our society — and in ourselves. Copies are available at Orinda Books, and a portion of each sale will be donated to the Center for Antiracism Research. Register at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/acalanes-dei-quarterly-book-read-tickets-118207875939
Interested in joining our committee? Have questions? Email us.
Peer Tutoring is back and ready to support your student! This program is 100% funded by donations to the Acalanes Parents Club. If you have not had an opportunity to make your donation, please join us today!
If you have any questions, please contact VP Fundraising Kelly Daggs.
Class Shirts and Yearbooks
We are handing out class shirts and yearbooks in the next two weeks. Here are the days and times:
Spirit Wear
If you missed ordering spirit wear, the webstore is back open until September 7! Any items purchased will be shipped to your house.
Due Thursday, Sept 3 Club Applications
Although we are beginning the year in distance learning, we want to get our clubs up and running! Any student can start a club and the process will be digital this year. Club Applications are available here, due by Thursday! All club guidelines and FAQs are in the registration form.
Friday, Sept 4 During Academy Kick Off Workshop on Organization
Encourage your student to attend a student-led workshop. Upperclassmen will walk through systems of organization including Google Drive, a calendar system, and Canvas. Students can sign up by joining Katherine Walton’s Academy.
ASB Card Support
Thank you to all who purchased ASB cards. The money directly funds student activities throughout the year AND gives your student discounts throughout the community. Look for stickers in business windows then show a student ID card to receive the discount. Thank you to those Lafayette businesses for supporting Acalanes!
If I can ever do anything to help you or your student, don’t hesitate to reach out!
Katherine Walton, Student Activities Director
We always want to practice what we preach and so this past week, we were “Trying On” lots of new things. Here’s one of the things that we’ve never done before that worked really well: a lunchtime community conversation where students opted in to engage in dialogue with each other around racism. We used the four agreements and the compass (believing/thinking/feeling/acting) from the equity curriculum the students have been learning. These tools really benefited the conversation and the participants. At the close, we tried on connecting to our emotions and the feelings in our body–how it felt to talk about painful things and how it felt to do so with a new community. Here are some of the words shared by our 60 attendees in the chat box as they exited: enlightened, safe, comfortable, respect. We learned a lot about how much students want to engage with each other and how badly they want all students at AHS to feel welcome and included. There’s an amount of fear that always accompanies trying new things but when you push through that fear, there can be wonderful things on the other side.
Allen Choi, Wellness Coordinator
Casey Sasner, Intake Specialist
For updates, tips and advice, follow Wellness on Social Media: Instagram @acalaneswellness
