Archived Posts

Athletic Clearances
Use this down time to fill out athletic clearance paperwork for your student athlete. Forms can be found here. Fill them out with your pediatrician, then email Randy Takahashi for further instruction.  

Week one…Check!  Now that students have the first week under their belt and have had a chance to learn Canvas and get acquainted with their Virtual Academy Cohort teachers and peers, they are ready to move on to the next step of meeting the rest of their teachers and diving into classwork! Tomorrow, students will check in live with each teacher, then begin following the regular distance learning schedule on Tuesday (with the addition of a cohort meeting on Wednesday morning). The regular distance learning schedule can be found here.

We had a great first Dons Dialogue last Friday with Principal Bell. As always, he gave our parents valuable information about distance learning, our Wellness Center, and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion efforts. He also answered several parent questions. If you didn’t get a chance to watch it live, click here for the recorded version. And mark your calendar for next month’s Dons Dialogue on September 18.

This week, we have two great events for our parent community. APC’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion committee is hosting its first Forum on Race on Tuesday, August 18th from 6:30pm to 8:30pm. Please see their section below for more information.  On Thursday, August 20th the school is hosting the 2020-2021 Virtual Back to School Night. Watch your email for more information about that evening.

We’re off to a great start and have lots to look forward to this week! 

Acalanes Community Always,
Kristen Labrosse & Angela Ketcham

Acalanes Sports Camps
The athletic department is conducting sports camps on campus as recently reported in Blueprint, Acalanes’ student newspaper. These camps are operating by state, county and district guidelines. Email Randy Takahashi for more information.

Athletic Clearances
Use this down time to fill out athletic clearance paperwork for your student athlete. Forms can be found here. Fill them out with your pediatrician, then email Randy Takahashi for further instruction.  

We hope the first week was positive for your students. Like the entire Dons community, we have much to learn about new technologies and procedures. We’ve been busy connecting with students who’ve reached out, as well as developing content for upcoming events. We are planning brief visits to virtual classrooms that will take place over the next month. We’ll introduce ourselves, wellness services and how to access them, and emphasize the need for students to prioritize their mental health. You can find our referral form here. And in the spirit of supporting the new habits and attitudes we must cultivate for distance learning, here is a video on neuroplasticity (our brain’s innate capacity to reorganize itself based on experience.) Our theme for this semester is “Try It On with Wellness” — we hope you’ll join us in trying on new ways of doing things and new ways of living. 

Allen Choi, Wellness Coordinator
Casey Sasner, Intake Specialist

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

Wellness is excited to get back to work in support of all of the Dons! We are training, planning, and anticipating needs. The most important thing that students and parents should know is that they can access the referral for services here. In the first few weeks we will be pushing into classrooms to connect. We are planning a variety of offerings that will proactively support mental health. Parent education workshops are in development and coming soon. Social-emotional learning student modules will be developed. Happy start of the school year! Please follow us on Instagram.

Allen Choi, Wellness Coordinator
Casey Sasner, Intake Specialist

Follow Wellness on Social Media: Instagram @acalaneswellness

Thanks to your APC donations in the fall, and despite COVID-19, Acalanes Parents Club is pleased to fund the following spring grants totaling almost $10,000:

• Funding to help support the Performing Arts project to update the PAC lighting system 
• A new podium for student and parent events on campus
• Funding towards a refresh of the Main Quad 
• Additional funding for a new water station

Thanks to your APC donations in the fall, and despite COVID-19, Acalanes Parents Club is pleased to fund the following spring grants totaling almost $10,000:

• Funding to help support the Performing Arts project to update the PAC lighting system 
• A new podium for student and parent events on campus
• Funding towards a refresh of the Main Quad 
• Additional funding for a new water station

Special thanks to our Grants Coordinator Laura White for doing such a fantastic job managing the grants process this school year. 

We’re having many rewarding interactions with students right now that are interesting for two reasons. Firstly, we notice how productive it is for them to name their challenges right now. Whether it’s procrastination or motivation or fear over uncertainty, they feel better just by voicing it and having the news met with understanding (versus judgment or advice). “That makes sense because this is hard!” is the best response you can offer. The second interesting thing is that by being curious and asking follow up questions we find that they have many answers to the challenges presented by the shelter-in-place. What is in short supply for them right now is self-kindness.

Finally, we must share The Importance of Safe Gun Storage During the COVID-19 Pandemic. If you have them in your home, make sure firearms are locked, unloaded, and stored separately from ammunition.

Be sure to check out the Wellness section below for all the real-time, online programming to support and connect students to Wellness Staff and peers during distance learning. And help get the word out by following @acalaneswellness on Instagram.