General Announcements

OUR AP STUDENTS NEED YOUR HELP!
We are searching for parents to help with Proctoring AP Exams two weeks of May. Exam dates are from May 5 – May 16. Exams start everyday at either 8am or 12pm. Students know to show up 30 minutes prior to start time for check in. Proctors for morning exams would be needed starting at 7:15am and afternoon exams starting at 11:15am. Exams can range from 2-6 hours, please plan to stay for the longest amount of time possible. Restrictions: Parents, you are NOT allowed to proctor an exam that your own child is taking.
 
We especially need help on these dates/times:

• Morning and noon exams on Wednesday, May 7
• Noon exams on Tuesday, May 13
• Morning exam of Wednesday, May 14
• Morning and noon exams on Thursday, May 15
• Noon exams on Friday, May 16

You can volunteer your time or receive pay.
 
If you are interested in learning more about proctoring AP exams, please contact the Acalanes Testing Coordinator, Jamielle McDonald at jmcdonald@auhsdschools.org

APC DONS DIALOGUE – Friday, Apr 18 at 8:45am in the Collaboration Center
Join us for our second-to-last Dons Dialogue of this school year. Come for the coffee and treats and stay for the discussion. Our April Dons Dialogue agenda includes;

• ACA Serves 
• End of year activities (including all senior events)
• Managing stress during the busy end of year 
• ASB structure and focus
• plus an open Q&A with Principal Shawn.

We hope to see you there!

If you missed our high energy March Dons Dialogue, please see links below for the video and slides. We had a great discussion led by Assistant Principals, Andrea Powers and Jeanne Johnson.
March Dons Dialogue Slides
March Dons Dialogue Video
 
2025-2026 ACALANES PARENTS CLUB BOARD SLATE
We are proud to announce our slate of nominees for the 2025-26 APC Board of Directors. A big thank you to this year’s Nominating Committee for their time and dedication in placing these amazing volunteers. The APC general membership will vote to approve the slate at the spring general meeting, immediately preceding Dons Dialogue on Friday, May 16 at 8:45am.
If you have any questions, please contact APC Parliamentarian, Sarah Cusumano.
 
2024-2025 Parents Club Board Nominees
Presidents: Jocelyn Birrell
VP Special Projects: Jennie Dobies
VP Communications: Kendra Uffelman
VP Community Partners: Lynna McPhatter-Harris
VP Fundraising: Jen Ruhl
VP Services: Ali Krick
Co-Head Liaisons: Sarah Cusumano & Amy Lewis
Secretary: Kimberly Grover
Treasurer: Rick Phillips
Assistant Treasurer: Sierra Culbertson
Auditor: Courtney Griffin
Past President/Parliamentarian: Michele Colaco & Andrea Hilsabeck
 

ACA SERVICE AWARDS DEADLINE: This Friday, April 18
Your student should check that their hours have been approved!!
If your student is working towards an AHS or Presidential Service Award, make sure their volunteer hours are entered and validated in Helper Helper by their supervisor by Friday, Apr 18!
 
To check supervisor validation of volunteer hours:

• Log into Helper Helper → “My Commitments” → “Past” → click an entry.
• If it says “Your attendance is pending approval”, their supervisor hasn’t validated it. Make sure your student follows up with their supervisor (and make sure the supervisor checks their spam folder for an email from Helper Helper).

To check final APC approval of volunteer hours:
Once validated, we review the hours to confirm they meet our guidelines. If approved, your student will see a blue star next to the entry under “Past Commitments.” If validated but not approved within a few days, please have your student check their AUHSD email (and spam) for an email from us. We likely have questions about their service. If we don’t hear back from them, their hours may be rejected.
Need help with your Helper Helper account, have questions about what qualifies as community service, or need info on additional requirements for a Presidential Service Award? Visit our volunteer website or email communityservice@acalanesparentsclub.com.

We are searching for parents to help with proctoring AP exams from May 5 – May 23. Exams start everyday at either 8am or 12pm. Students know to show up 30 minutes prior to start time for check in. Proctors for morning exams are needed starting at 7:15am and for afternoon exams starting at 11:15am. Exams can range from 2- 4 hours – please plan to stay for the longest amount of time possible. Restriction: Parents are NOT allowed to proctor an exam that their own child is taking.

If you are interested in learning more about proctoring AP exams, please contact the Acalanes Testing Coordinator, Jamielle McDonald.

ACA Service Awards Deadline: Apr 18 – Your student should check that their hours have been approved!!
If your student is working towards an AHS or Presidential Service Award, make sure their volunteer hours are entered and validated in Helper Helper by their supervisor by Apr 18! To check supervisor validation of volunteer hours:

• Log into Helper Helper → “My Commitments” → “Past” → click an entry.
• If it says “Your attendance is pending approval”, their supervisor hasn’t validated it. Make sure your student follows up with their supervisor (and make sure the supervisor checks their spam folder for an email from Helper Helper).

To check final APC approval of volunteer hours:
Once validated, we review the hours to confirm they meet our guidelines. If approved, your student will see a blue star next to the entry under “Past Commitments.” If validated but not approved within a few days, please have your student check their AUHSD email (and spam) for an email from us. We likely have questions about their service. If we don’t hear back from them, their hours may be rejected.
Need help with your Helper Helper account, have questions about what qualifies as community service, or need info on additional requirements for a Presidential Service Award? Visit our volunteer website or email communityservice@acalanesparentsclub.com.

MARCH DONS DIALOGUE – This Friday at 8:45am!
Join us on Friday, Mar 21 in the Collaboration Center for coffee, treats, great company and dialogue!  This month our agenda includes;

• College Acceptances with Debbie Levy
• Climate and Culture TOSA with Katherine Walton
• Math Intervention & Inclusion with Jennifer Gilson
• Updates from APs & End of Year with Andrea Powers & Jeanne Johnson
• Student Activities Report with Heloisa Mateus
• Q&A with APs and APC Board

Grab a friend and join us. We hope to see you there! 

PEER TUTORING: Spring Self-Talk Seminar
If you are currently playing a spring sport or are a student who wants to improve strategies to use your thinking as an ally rather than a foe, Peer Tutoring will be sponsoring a seminar to improve one’s self-talk. Boys’ basketball coach Joey Hewitt will be conducting the seminar during Academy on Wednesday, Mar 19 at 10:10am in room 107. (NOTE: If the RSVP’s warrant a room change, we will notify teams/students.) Coach Hewitt currently works with pro athletes, college and high school teams and players, and middle school athletes. Some areas that will be covered are:

• Developing next-play speed and mentality
• Identifying triggers
• Staying present rather than past and future

If your student will attend, please RSVP bpowers@auhsdschools.org. We are excited about this opportunity for our Dons!
 
Bill Powers & Angela Ketcham
Peer Tutoring Co Directors

Our AP students need YOUR help!
We are searching for parents to help with proctoring AP exams from May 5 – May 23. Exams start everyday at either 8am or 12pm. Students know to show up 30 minutes prior to start time for check in. Proctors for morning exams are needed starting at 7:15am and afternoon exams starting at 11:15am. Exams can range from 2- 4 hours – please plan to stay for the longest amount of time possible. Restriction: Parents are NOT allowed to proctor an exam that their own child is taking.
 
If you are interested in learning more about proctoring AP exams, please contact the Acalanes Testing Coordinator, Jamielle McDonald at jmcdonald@auhsdschools.org
 
STATE TESTING IS COMING!
CAASPP testing will begin tomorrow, Monday, Mar 10 and all juniors will take the English, math, and science tests over the three weeks prior to spring break.
 
Our school has outstanding achievement, and these test scores are critical as a public measurement of our students’ progress. Assessments are part of the state-mandated accountability system and are presented to the public via the California School Dashboard. When all students try their best on CAASPP, AUHSD schools will be able to present accurate academic performance data.  Students will also receive their score reports, which are included in their academic file.  CAASPP scores are also used at colleges for course placement.
 
We greatly appreciate our parents and community’s encouragement of our students to do their absolute best, participate, and show up for our school in taking these tests seriously. Don’t stress, but please do your best!

We are still looking for parents, alumni, and community members to join us for our highly anticipated Career Fair on Wednesday, Mar 12 at 10am. This is an important event for our students to learn more about career options. We’d love to have you join us!  Please contact Debbie Levy at dlevy@auhsdschools.org if you are available.


Our AP students need YOUR help!
We are searching for parents to help with proctoring AP exams from May 5 – May 23. Exams start everyday at either 8am or 12pm. Students know to show up 30 minutes prior to start time for check in. Proctors for morning exams are needed starting at 7:15am and afternoon exams starting at 11:15am. Exams can range from 2-4 hours – please plan to stay for the longest amount of time possible. Restriction: Parents are NOT allowed to proctor an exam that their own child is taking.
 
If you are interested in learning more about proctoring AP exams, please contact the Acalanes Testing Coordinator, Jamielle McDonald at jmcdonald@auhsdschools.org
 
STATE TESTING IS COMING!
CAASPP testing will begin on Monday, Mar10 and all juniors will take the English, math, and science tests over the three weeks prior to spring break.
 
To prepare and fire up our students, Principal Shawn is visiting all junior classes to talk about the importance of this test. Our school has outstanding achievement, and these test scores are critical as a public measurement of our students’ progress. Assessments are part of the state-mandated accountability system and are presented to the public via the California School Dashboard. When all students try their best on CAASPP, AUHSD schools will be able to present accurate academic performance data.  Students will also receive their score reports, which are included in their academic file.  CAASPP scores are also used at colleges for course placement.
 
We greatly appreciate our parents and community’s encouragement of our students to do their absolute best, participate, and show up for our school in taking these tests seriously. Don’t stress, but please do your best!

DON’T MISS THE COLOR RUN!
Acalanes High School is having its Annual Color Run on Sunday, Mar 16 at 9 am. This is a super fun 1 or 2 mile run around the Acalanes campus with stations of different colored powders scattered throughout the course.
 
This event is inspired by the traditions of Holi, the Hindu Festival of Color. Holi celebrates the arrival of spring and its beautiful harvests and colors with festivals involving colored powder.
 
The Color Run is a community wide event and we want to encourage you to run or walk! You can purchase your registration on Go Fan which includes a t-shirt, raffle and more!.
 
We encourage people of all ages to come run! Hope to see you there!
 

Acalanes Student Community Service Awards: Deadline Friday, Apr 18
The Acalanes community service awards program year is in full swing so please make sure your students are logging those hours! It’s a great opportunity for students to give back AND be recognized for their service. Students who volunteer at least 30 qualifying hours by Apr 18 will get an Acalanes Service Award and there is an opportunity to receive a Presidential Service Award with additional levels of service hours. For more information on how to create a Helper Helper account, what qualifies as community service, and the additional requirements for a Presidential Service Award, please check out our volunteer website or email communityservice@acalanesparentsclub.com with any questions. Please remember that your student’s hours must be entered AND validated by their supervisor by the deadline.
 
Follow Acalanes Parents Club on Instagram. Please reach out to APC here with any questions.

We are still looking for parents, alumni, and community members to join us for our highly anticipated Career Fair on Wednesday, Mar 12 at 10am. This is an important event for our students to learn more about career options. We’d love to have you join us!  Please contact Debbie Levy at dlevy@auhsdschools.org if you are available.