Archived Posts

Friday, Dec 10 is the last chance to give to AHS Sock and Heavy Coat Drive Acalanes families looking for ways to give back this holiday season can do so by supporting Acalanes Key Club & Leadership’s Sock and Heavy Coat drive for a homeless encampment in Martinez. Donation bins will be at the AHS flagpole and in the attendance office in the morning and throughout the day through Friday, Dec 10. Thanks for your consideration of this meaningful community effort!
 
Holiday Shopping & Dining- ACA Supports Lafayette Shops & Restaurants Shop Local Lafayette. Our downtown retailers and online shops are thankful to Acalanes families for shopping and dining in Lafayette! They look forward to helping you with your holiday gift giving needs. Check out the downtown Lafayette Dining and Gift Guide brochure & the Lafayette Chamber’s online gift guide that includes links to those businesses that offer online sales or are not included in the PDF guide. Thank you for your ongoing support of these local businesses!
 
P.S. Seniors are partnering with Sideboard to sell their holiday hot cocoa kits (a perfect gift for students during finals). Email here to order one.

If anyone missed out last year and would like to join in on the Race-Work education series, Dr. Watson is tailoring a series for parents to intimately explore issues of race and identity. Participants will learn the tools necessary to speak with our children, friends, and community members about this difficult and important topic. Please RSVP below to save your spot. Sessions will be at 6:00pm on Tuesday, Dec 14 (register here), Tuesday, Jan 18 (register here) and Tuesday, Feb 15 (register here).
 
Facts Corner:
Kwanzaa (celebrated Dec 26-Jan 1) is an African American and pan-African non-religious celebration of family, community, and culture that was established in the 1960’s by Dr Maulana Karenga. Inspired by the Civil Rights and Black Freedom Movements, Dr Karenga asked “How do you create a just and good society?  What does it mean to be human? What is our moral obligation to each other?  What is our rightful relationship with the environment?”  He realized that “Those questions, we usually don’t ask Africa those questions. We usually ask Europe or Israel… we just don’t ask Africa what does it mean to be human? What is my relationship with God or anything like that?… So, I wanted to do that. And so I began to draw from the best of African culture, synthesize it and put into this philosophy called Kawaida.” Learn more about how Dr Karenga developed Kwanzaa as a celebration of Kawaida philosophy.
 
Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram @acalanesdei

Dear Parents,
 
The exams of your children are to start soon. I know you are all really anxious for your child to do well. But, please do remember, amongst the students who will be sitting for the exams, there is an artist, who doesn’t need to understand Math…. There is an entrepreneur, who doesn’t care about History of English literature…. There is a musician, whose Chemistry marks won’t matter…. There’s an athlete… whose physical fitness is more important than Physics…. If your child does get top marks, that’s great!  But if (they) don’t, please don’t take away their self-confidence and dignity from them. Tell them it’s OK, it’s just an exam! They are cut out for much bigger things in life. Tell them, no matter what they score… you love them and will not judge them.
 
From a school principal, courtesy of @russellbrunson

For some ways to help your students prioritize well-being in preparation of exams, refer to Dear Freshman Self, by Lauren Chan- A senior reflects back on her high school experience after she reads a letter she wrote as a freshman to her senior self. With hindsight, she realizes that high school is about much more than achieving a 4.0 or playing a single sport. Remind your student to:

• prioritize sleep
• always err on the side of believing in oneself.
• try something new or they are terrible at (hip-hop!)
• discuss the idea of trusting oneself to course-correct. If honors math is causing debilitating stress, think about the shift to a different track next year and to move forward with their head held high.

Read more for concrete ideas from the Center of Parent and Teen Communication.

Tuesday, Dec 14 at 4pm Challenge Success will be hosting a Healthier Approach to College Admissions talk, helping parents to support their students’ well-being during the college admission process and beyond. Registration link is here with a recording sent afterwards for those who cannot attend the live event. Cost is $10.

Thursday, Jan 20 Save the Date  Challenge Success will present a virtual workshop on the Well-Balanced Student.

Finally, if your teen is struggling with academics or feeling down or frustrated about school, don’t forget to connect with our Counselors, our Nurse, and our Wellness Center.

Feel free to reach out and connect with us with ideas for future topics, shareable resources, or thoughts at parented@acalanesparentsclub.com.

Wednesday Dec 8 from 3:15-5pm in the Library ExamJam- All Students Students can drop in to get questions answered by teachers on hand from each subject. Peer tutors will also be available for guidance. It is a great two hour block of time to jump into final exam preparation.
 
Adopt-a-Family Thank you to our incredible community for opting in to adopt 72 families this holiday season (it is the most EVER)! If you opted in to adopt-a-family we are asking that you drop your wrapped gifts off December 10 between 7:30 to 8:30 am in front of the small gym. See your email for more specifics. We are so grateful for our community’s support!

Sock & Heavy Coat Drive Key Club & Leadership are running a sock and heavy coat (new or gently used) drive through Dec 10 for a homeless encampment in Martinez. Donation bins will be at the flagpole in the morning and in the attendance office throughout the day. We are working in conjunction with the Stanley Leadership program to make this a community effort. Thank you in advance for your donations!
 
Acalanes Spirit Wear If you ordered spiritwear, check your email. Pick-up will be Thursday, Dec 9 from 3 to 4 pm and Friday, Dec 10 from 7:30 to 8:30 am. We have a few more items available for purchase via the web store. Check them out!
 
A Peek At The Week Ahead: Winter week is here with dress up days and winter-themed events!

• Monday, Dec 6 Pajama Day and movie showing in 314 during lunch & Open Mic Night at 6 pm at Sideboard. Open Mic Night is a traditional favorite-come grab dinner & listen to student entertainment
• Tuesday, Dec 7 Lumberjack Day & snowball stressbusters during lunch & winter instrumental concert at 7 pm.
• Wednesday, Dec 8 Ugly Sweater Day, Holiday Educational Kahoot in 314 during lunch and Winter Around the World Potluck at 6 pm followed by the winter instrumental concert at 7 pm.
• Thursday, Dec 9 Penguin Party (wear white or black)
• Friday, Dec 10 Frozen Friday! Hot cocoa in the quad before school, adopt-a-family wrapping party during academy, and snow globe making for Children’s Hospital in 314 during lunch.

As always, I am here to support you and your students. If there is anything I can do, please don’t hesitate to reach out via e-mail.
 
Katherine Walton, Student Activities Director

The countdown to first semester finals is on! These are sure to be highly stressful times for most students. In addition to the standard stressors such as jobs, extracurriculars and homework, the changes in weather as well as the desire to perform well on finals have the potential to throw students for a loop. To help your student perform at their best, help them beat stress by utilizing “Four A’s”:

• Avoid unnecessary stress- Teach your students the importance of boundaries and prioritization. It is okay for them to say no to people and activities that might might add extra stress during finals preparation
• Alter the situation- Encourage your students to talk about their stress instead of keeping it in. This is also a great opportunity to reinforce the value of self care activities that might help them decompress instead of overloading on academics.
• Adapt to the stressor- Take the time to help your students shift their behaviors toward things that will benefit them during this time. Scientists recognize that teens need 8 to 10 hours of sleep each night. Unfortunately, most teens sleep only 7 hours each night and during finals, they may be tempted to sleep even less. Sleeping, and even eating, regularly not only decreases stress but powers your students bodies to perform their best mentally.
• Accept things you can’t change- Finals aren’t going away. By accepting this reality, students have greater control over the things they can change in relation to finals. Study time, gratitude, personal time and self care are in your students’ control. Each of these things can work toward positively influencing their finals experience.

Finally, encourage your students to participate in the fun activities offered during the school day! There are a ton of school-wide activities taking place this week (Dec. 6-10) that can help your student chill out and de-stress including Winter Week dress up days, movie showings and gift wrapping. The Wellness Center is also offering easy, stress relieving crafts during lunch time each day including origami, slime making and more!
Happy All-idays to you and your loved ones from your Wellness Center team!
 
(Source: Keep Calm During finals by Lisa Brickert, MSW, LCSW)
Kiara Thomas- Wellness Intake Specialist 

Seniors

• Scholarship Opportunity Check out this site for many scholarships!
• American Association of University Women (AAUW) offers three, $2,000 Scholarships to a graduating young woman from Acalanes, Campolindo and Miramonte who demonstrates a sustained commitment to community service as well as a grade point average of at least 3.0. If you know someone who meets these criteria, please share.
• Academy The priority deadline for Cal State Application for many campuses has been extended to December 15. We will continue working on any application support. Students can share essays on Google Docs with me too!

Juniors

• Parent Night-Mark your calendar! Susan Martin, our counselor, and Debbie Levy will host a Junior Parent night to learn more about the college application timeline and career opportunities on Wednesday, January 12, 2022 in the PAC at 6:30pm. The event will be recorded and posted.
• PSAT review Please set up a 1:1 appointment to go over your child’s PSAT scores and take a deeper look at your students’ strengths and areas for growth.
• University of California TIPS! Check out this to learn the Comprehensive Review criteria for which the UC’s follow to evaluate students for admission.

Sophomores/Freshmen

• PSAT review Please set up an appointment to go over your student’s PSAT scores if taken.
• Jobs! There are many job opportunities once your child turns 16. Please send them to the CCC to learn more.
• Volunteer  Here are some volunteer options to get you started. Check out the newforms for tracking volunteer service hours for recognized service awards.

 
Resources:

• CCC Website

Counselor assignments are by last name.
A – Dr  Anne Schonauer
Du-Kr  Christine Todd
Ku-Rog  Marissa Meadows
Roh-Z  Susan Martin

Tuesday, Dec 14 through Friday, Dec 17 Final Exams 2nd Quarter is almost over!  This is the last week before final exams – students should be doing a lot of review in classes this week. Here is the finals week schedule:



Counselor Appointments Counselors are finishing up checking in with all 10th graders during December. We are always seeing any student for drop-in appointments.

Semester Grades  First semester grades will be available by Friday, January 7th.  Report cards will be mailed home to all students.

Second Semester Class Changes Counselors will be changing some student schedules during the first 10 days of second semester only. There are limited options, as our classes are year-long by design. Have your student see their counselor if they wish to discuss a class change.

It’s December and time to get ready for FINALS!  How can you support your students? 

•  Keep lots of healthy food available, especially fresh vegetables and fruits. Do the work for them- buy, clean, peel, cut, chop, etc. Put it into easy containers, put it out for them during study breaks with hummus, guacamole, and salsa. Here’s a yummy and healthy lasagna recipe I made this past week when I had a houseful of adult kids visiting. Lasagna is always great for a cold, cozy night (make enough for leftovers). I used a variety of vegetable layers, and I often like to add some pureed butternut squash (even if it’s from a can) and cannellini beans (canned, whole or blended) for added flavor and nutrition. I use these lasagna noodles so it’s also GF if you need it to be. Tell me how you like it!
• Help them with their calendar over the next two weeks. Try to reduce their busy schedule. Schedule study times and times for restorative exercise (walks).
• Support sleep. You can create “quiet hours” in your house (9 pm to 7 am) most of your kids need at least 9 hours of sleep for optimal health (and good grades!).

COVID VACCINE: I continue to encourage you to get your students and your families vaccinated. Please contact me for support if needed. Don’t forget to get your FLU shot too! Please turn your student’s COVID vaccine record in to me if you haven’t.

Proof of vaccination: Try this site:  https://myvaccinerecord.cdph.ca.gov/  iPhone users: you can now put your vaccination record in your Apple Health app (and Apple Wallet)

Need ideas for holiday gifts? Refresh your student’s mask supply with some fun new designs!

PLEASE EAT MORE PLANTS to keep your student and your family healthier and smarter. Try these yummy but healthy lemon oat pancakes with your family.

Please be in touch with me to discuss any medical, health, or wellness concerns.
Stay healthy and be well,
Dvora Citron, RN, MS
dcitron@auhsdschools.org
925-280-2970 x7128
Acalanes School Nurse Google Site
IG:  acalanesschoolnurse

Winter Concerts 2021
Join Music Director Lauren Gibson as she leads her talented musical groups in performing beautiful melodies in two fabulous Winter Concerts this month!

Tuesday, Dec 7 at 7 pm in AHS Performing Arts Center (masks required)
Performing bands- Concert Band, Symphonic Band, Wind Ensemble, Octet
Free admission

Wednesday, Dec 8 at 7 pm in AHS Performing Arts Center (masks required)
Performing bands- Chorus, Orchestra, Wind Ensemble
Free admission

This week’s can’t miss events:

Boys soccer
Monday, Dec 6 host Mt. Eden HS. JV at 5pm and Varsity at 7pm.
Wednesday, Dec 8 at University HS in San Francisco at 3:15pm.
Saturday, Dec 11 v. East Union HS at the Las Lomas Showcase at 3pm.

Girls soccer
Tuesday, Dec 7 at Mt. Diablo HS at 7pm.
Friday, Dec 10 at Petaluma HS at 7pm.
Saturday, Dec 11 hosts West County HS at 12pm.

Girls basketball
Tuesday, Dec 7 JV host Jesse Bethel HS. JV at 5:30pm and Varsity at 7pm.
Friday, Nov 10 host Carondelet HS at 6pm.

Boys basketball
Thursday, Dec 9 v. Urban HS in Red Brown Invitational at Archie Williams HS at 3pm.
Friday, Dec 10 in Red Brown Invitational at Archie Williams HS.
Saturday, Dec 11 in Red Brown Invitational at Archie Williams HS.

Click here for the full Winter Sports Schedule (subject to change)