General Announcements

Peer Tutoring
The 2025-2026 Peer Tutoring Program is off to a great start!

Peer Tutoring aims to better the educational, social and emotional well-being of all Acalanes High School students and support them in developing the skills necessary to succeed in academics and life post high school.

We are open and ready to welcome students in Room 107. Students can drop in to receive help from junior and senior student tutors in any AHS academic subject, or just come in to do homework, read or study.

We are thankful to the Acalanes Parents Club for continuing to fully fund and support this program.

Hours of operation: Everyday @ lunch, Monday & Wednesday @ Academy, 7th period, and Monday through Thursday after school for 1 hour after the last school bell rings.

We look forward to seeing your students! Follow us on our new Instagram page: @acalanespeertutoring
 
Fall 2025 Grants Application Now Available!
Calling all teachers, parents, and students in the Acalanes community! Acalanes Parents Club is looking to award grants that will enhance and enrich the educational experience of AHS students in new and innovative ways. Teachers, staff, and students are encouraged to submit ideas for meaningful programs and educational equipment. Applications are due by Friday, Sept 19.
 
Click here to read more and access the application!

Lunchtime Volunteer Opportunity!
We have an amazing opportunity to volunteer on campus!  We are looking for volunteers to help oversee the student lunch line in the cafeteria and keep it running smoothly on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Volunteer shifts are less than an hour, and there are a lot of dates to choose from. Sign up once or for multiple shifts!  Volunteer with a friend! This is a super easy and fun way to volunteer on campus during lunch and support our students. Click here to learn more and to sign up!  Please check in at the front office when you arrive for your volunteer shift.  Go Dons!!
 
Preparing for a Teen Driver– Free Parent Information Night
We know that the process of teaching your teen how to drive and earn their license can feel daunting. That’s why we are excited to offer an informative presentation by driving experts and Greenlight Simulation founders. Their team will lay out the steps to acquire a license and provide some foundational tips on how to approach behind-the-wheel driver training with your teen. *Flyer to follow.

• What: Parent Pit Stop – A Guide To Getting Your Teen Behind The Wheel
• When: Tuesday, Oct 7, 6:30-8:00pm
• Where: Acalanes High School Library

Stay Connected:  Follow the Acalanes Parents Club on Instagram to keep up to date on what’s happening at Acalanes and reminders for important dates. Please reach out to APC here with any questions.

Peer Tutoring
The 2025-2026 Peer Tutoring Program is off to a great start!

Peer Tutoring aims to better the educational, social and emotional well-being of all Acalanes High School students and support them in developing the skills necessary to succeed in academics and life post high school.

We are open and ready to welcome students in Room 107. Students can drop in to receive help from junior and senior student tutors in any AHS academic subject, or just come in to do homework, read or study.

We are thankful to the Acalanes Parents Club for continuing to fully fund and support this program.

Hours of operation: Everyday @ lunch, Monday & Wednesday @ Academy, 7th period, and Monday through Thursday after school for 1 hour after the last school bell rings.

We look forward to seeing your students!
Follow us on our new Instagram page: @acalanespeertutoring
 
Fall 2025 Grants Application Now Available!
Calling all teachers, parents, and students in the Acalanes community! Acalanes Parents Club is looking to award grants that will enhance and enrich the educational experience of AHS students in new and innovative ways. Teachers, staff, and students are encouraged to submit ideas for meaningful programs and educational equipment. Applications are due by Friday, Sept 19.
 
Click here to read more and access the application!
 
Community Service
Anyone wishing to set up a Helper Helper account to log their community service hours should be using their personal email address. If you’d like to set up an account, please email from your personal email account to: communityservice@acalanesparentsclub.comand include your personal email, name, birthdate, and graduation year.
 
If you have an existing account linked to your school email, please be patient as we work through a solution to change this. Any communication to the above email address should come from your personal email address.
 
Please Consider Volunteering!
If you are looking for fun, easy ways to support our Dons, APC has a wide variety of events throughout the calendar year. The snack shack during football games, community support at the Lafayette Food & Wine Fest and ResRun, passing out snacks during finals weeks, and new volunteer events geared for Dons Dads only are just a few of the APC volunteer opportunities. Please check out our full list and sign up today – and don’t forget to invite your friends to join you!
 
Stay Connected:  Follow the Acalanes Parents Club on Instagram to keep up to date on what’s happening at Acalanes and reminders for important dates. Please reach out to APC here with any questions.

Fall 2025 Grants Application Now Available!
Calling all teachers, parents, and students in the Acalanes community! Acalanes Parents Club is looking to award grants that will enhance and enrich the educational experience of AHS students in new and innovative ways. Teachers, staff and students are encouraged to submit ideas for meaningful programs and educational equipment. Applications are due by Friday, Sept 19.
 
Click here to read more and access the application!

Community Service
Anyone wishing to set up a Helper Helper account to log their community service hours should be using their personal email address. If you’d like to set up an account, please email from your personal email account to: communityservice@acalanesparentsclub.com and include your personal email, name, birthdate and graduation year.
 
If you have an existing account linked to your school email, please be patient as we work through a solution to change this. Any communication to the above email address should come from your personal email address.
 
Please Consider Volunteering!
If you are looking for fun, easy ways to support our Dons, APC has a wide variety of events throughout the calendar year. The snack shack during football games, community support at the Lafayette Food & Wine Fest and ResRun, passing out snacks during finals weeks, and new volunteer events geared for Dons Dads only are just a few of the APC volunteer opportunities. Please check out our full list and sign up today – and don’t forget to invite your friends to join you!

Stay Connected:  Follow the Acalanes Parents Club on Instagram to keep up to date on what’s happening at Acalanes and reminders for important dates. Please reach out to APC here with any questions.

Acalanes Back to School Night (BTSN) is Thursday, August 28 from 5:15-8pm! Please plan to join at 5:15pm in the front quad for a Parent and Staff Reception hosted by the Acalanes Parents Club (APC). Principal Shawn will share some remarks around 5:30pm and classroom visits start at 6pm.
 
This evening is for us, the parents/caregivers, to experience what our students experience each and every school day – you don’t want to miss it!
 
A full program, including details about classroom sessions will be available in the APC newsletter next weekend.

See the APC in Action section below for more important dates.

Join us for the Dons Dialogue Friday, Aug 22 at 8:45am!
Acalanes Parents Club is pleased to invite you to our first Dons Dialogue of the 2025-2026 school year! Dons Dialogues are the best way to find out what’s going on at Acalanes!

These monthly forums provide parents with the opportunity to hear directly from Principal Eric Shawn and other AHS faculty regarding academics, student activities, department information, hot topics on campus, plus open Q&A. APC will provide coffee and treats. All parents/caregivers welcome. This month’s topics include:

• Welcome & New Admin Team
• ACA Strong Values
• Student Expectations Review
  • Cellphone & AI Expectations
  • New Email Protocols & Safety (Move to Personal Email)
  • Academic Honesty & Cheating
  • Academy Expectations
  • Campus Expectations
• Athletic PE Update
• BTSN Reminders
• Leadership Activities Update

Please reach out to APC here with any questions.
 
Thank you Dons Day Volunteers!
It was wonderful to see everyone at Dons Day this past Monday!  We want to give a HUGE thank you to our amazing Dons Day Planning Team: Amber Harley, Ashley Matter, Jess Phillips, Jill Sammons and Ali Krick for making it such an incredible day!!  And THANK YOU to all the parents and students who volunteered that day!  We could not have done it without all of you!  Go Dons!!
 

 
Thank you APC Staff Appreciation Team!
APC welcomed AHS staff back to school with coffee and bagels – with all the toppings – to kick off the school year. A huge shout out to Stacey Hastings and Dominique Mickelson, our Staff Appreciation Coordinators, for organizing such a great event for our staff! We also want to thank Jocelyn Werner for bringing in homemade muffins! There will be many more staff appreciation events throughout the year so look for ways you can help donate or bake. It is YOUR donations to APC that help make these staff appreciation events possible. Thank you!!!


 
Please Consider Volunteering!
If you are looking for fun, easy ways to support our Dons, APC has a wide variety of events throughout the calendar year. The snack shack during football games, community support at the Lafayette Food & Wine Fest and ResRun, passing out snacks during finals weeks, and new volunteer events geared for Dons Dads only are just a few APC volunteer opportunities. Please check out our full list and sign up today – and don’t forget to invite your friends to join you!
 
Stay Connected:  Follow the Acalanes Parents Club on Instagram to keep up to date on what’s happening at Acalanes and reminders for important dates. Please reach out to APC here with any questions.

First Week of School Schedule
We have an adjusted bell schedule for the first week of school. Please share with your students. Tuesday and Wednesday are Anchor Days (aka “see all days”), Thursday and Friday will follow the regular block schedule.

Student Parking Permits
The Acalanes Parking Pass is $85.00 per student for our 25-26 school year.  Payment is at checkout on the web store with your registration. permits are ONLY for current 11th & 12th grade students with a valid driver’s license. 

To Pick Up Your Pass At Dons Day:

1. Prior to Dons Day, please complete the Acalanes Parking Permit Google Form indicating you have read and agreed to AHS Parking Expectations.  Pay for your permit through the web store.
2. On Dons Day YOU MUST bring and show your  CURRENT AND VALID DRIVERS LICENSE.

See the APC in Action section below for more important dates.

Important reminders from APC to help make back to school time a success.

• Dons Day is tomorrow, Monday, Aug 11 from 7:30-11:30am! Please complete your annual online registration in Aeries before coming to Dons Day. As a part of registration, please visit the Acalanes Web Store and check out how to support all Acalanes partners, such as APC. You can also purchase yearbooks, class activity funds, ASB card, apparel and more!
• If you are a 9th or 10th grade family and still need residency verification, please come to the collaboration center starting at 7:30am. Please bring all of thenecessary proof of residency documentation listed here. We recommend bringing copies to expedite the process.
• Frosh Orientation will be held from 12-1:30pm and meets in the Performing Arts Center (PAC).
• New Parent Orientation meets in the library from 12-1pm.
• Transfer students are invited to meet near the flagpole at 11:30am for an orientation and tour.
• Please remember there is an adjusted bell schedule for the first week of school. Tuesday and Wednesday are anchor days (aka “see all” days”). Thursday and Friday follow the regular block schedule.
• Volunteer opportunities: In case you missed it in the registration process, please complete this volunteer form so we know what you’re interested in helping with this year. There are plenty of parent volunteer opportunities, starting with Homecoming this fall!
• Hungry for fun this Dons Day? Swing by Ofie’s Kitchen between 9:30am and 1:00pm this Monday, Aug 11, and fuel your fun with their flavor-packed food truck! Treat yourself to delicious eats that are sure to hit the spot! 

Join us for the Dons Dialogue Friday, Aug 22 at 8:45am in the Collaboration Center:
Acalanes Parents Club is pleased to invite you to our first Dons Dialogue of the 2025-2026 school year! Dons Dialogues are the best way to find out what’s going on at Acalanes! These monthly forums provide parents with the opportunity to hear directly from Principal Eric Shawn and other AHS faculty regarding academics, student activities, department information, hot topics on campus, plus open Q&A. APC will provide coffee and treats. All parents/caregivers welcome. 

Please reach out to APC here with any questions.

Finals Schedule: May 27 – 30
Reminder that there is NO SCHOOL tomorrow, Monday, May 26, for Memorial Day. The finals schedule begins on Tuesday, May 27.


During finals, Peer Tutoring will be open Tuesday-Thursday from 12:55-3pm. The library will be open from 7:30am-3pm Tuesday and Thursday and from 7:30am-1pm Wednesday & Friday.

Our Inaugural Acalanes Senior Rally in the Park Was a Huge Success!
Over 700 seniors and their families gathered in downtown Lafayette to celebrate after the beloved Senior Memory Walks through our Lafayette elementary schools. The event was filled with joy, pride, and a lot of community spirit!
 
A heartfelt thank you to the City of Lafayette, Lafayette Police Department, and the Lafayette Chamber of Commerce for their tremendous support. We’re also incredibly grateful to Ford Andrews and his amazing team at Sideboard for providing fantastic food and drinks. We were thrilled to have live music by Acalanes junior Everett Shore and his band Andromeda—they brought incredible energy to the celebration. Huge thanks as well to Acalanes alumna Eden Hall for providing many of the fun and festive games that added to the lively atmosphere.
 
Special appreciation goes to Student Activities Director, Katherine Walton and APC Co-Head Liaisons, Sarah Cusumano and Heidi Keely, for bringing this memorable event to life. Also a big thank you to junior parent Tricia Copeland, along with all the dedicated parent and student volunteers, who helped decorate and clean up- your efforts made everything look amazing.
 
And finally, a big thank you to Raina Foster for her leadership in coordinating the Senior Memory Walks- a meaningful tradition that set the tone for a truly unforgettable day.
 
What a way to celebrate the Class of 2025!



AHS Community Service & Presidential Service Awards Pick-up
If your student received a service award but wasn’t able to pick it up yesterday, please have them stop by the College and Career Center and pick up their certificate from Ms. Levy before the end of the school year. Congratulations again to our award recipients – we are thankful for their service to our AHS and broader communities!!

Fall 2025 – 2026 School Photos Next Week
Attention current 9th, 10th, and 11th grade students! We will take fall 2025 – 2026 school photos next week on Wednesday, May 21 and Thursday, May 22 in students’ PE 9, HSD/Ethnic Studies and US History classes. These photos will be taken now as we do not do school photos during Dons Day. Please note: If students are absent next week, we will have make-up photos available during the first week of school in the fall.
 
Finals Schedule: May 27 – 30
Parents, please take note of the spring finals schedule. Monday, May 26 is a non school day for Memorial Day. The finals schedule begins on Tuesday, May 27. A great way to help support our students during finals is to help out with Finals Fuel (see below).