Weekly News & Announcements

Acalanes Community Always (ACA)

**EVENT FOR INCOMING FRESHMEN & THEIR FAMILIES** Tuesday, May 4 from 5:30-6:30pm Acalanes Athletics & Activities Night, Acalanes Main Quad
This is a “not to miss" event geared towards new Freshmen and their families highlighting ways to get involved at Acalanes. Incoming freshmen and their parents can meet coaches and athletes from all the 22 Acalanes sports, connect with student leaders, and learn more about the numerous clubs on campus. Last names A-L are scheduled from 5:30-6pm and M-Z from 6-6:30pm. Share this information with new ACA families! Questions? Email aca@acalanesparentsclub.com.

Thursday, April 22 from 3:30-5pm - “Dog Days are Over” Celebrate the last 25 Days of ACA
Our last ACA Day drive-through will be all about our ACA dogs! Get your students ready to dress up your family dog (or cat) in their best Don’s blue. There will be a series of awards and treats given out to dogs who join the drive-through and we’ll be posting pictures on our social channels. Start thinking of costumes for your pooch. More details to come regarding the 25 Days of ACA celebrating each day until the end of the school year. Let’s finish the year ACA Strong! 

Questions, comments, or feedback, email aca@acalanesparentsclub.com.

LPIE

Congratulations Lafayette Community! You Unlocked the $100K Match!Thank you to our community for donating $174,000 in March which unlocked a $100K matching gift from a group of generous donors. You read that right - this equals $274,000 raised in March for our students. Amazing! We received donations from over 120 families. Whether it was your first donation to LPIE this year, or your third, we are grateful for your participation to support our Lafayette students.Thank you for helping LPIE take a big step toward our goal of $4.3M.

Tired of Cooking? Dine & Donate to LPIE with two delicious opportunities.

Visit: www.lpie.org/dineanddonate to order. 

• Mark & Mike's NY Style Delicatessen - owned by a former Lafayette resident, father to First Grade Burton Valley Elementary Teacher, Leslie Hagel, and grandfather to two current Acalanes Dons!  
• Cuisine of Nepal

As parents, we all have questions about our children after graduation. Take a peek at how Acalanes High School is addressing those questions in Episode 10 of the LPIE Podcast series. Adam talks with Travis Bell, Anne Schonauer, and Wendy Reicher about Career Counseling at Acalanes, which is jointly funded by LPIE. Simple answer: it is a conversation that starts when the counselors meet their students in 8th Grade. This allows counselors the time to truly get to know students, better enabling them to offer choices and support the students’ social emotional development while at Acalanes. That common theme of fostering the whole child is an absolute goal here. An Acalanes graduate will have options. The Acalanes counselors make sure those options are the best ones for that student. Click here to hear more: 

Laura-Kate Rurka & Jennifer Palmer
Acalanes LPIE School Chairs

www.lpie.org

Follow us on Instagram

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI)

Continue Celebrating Diversity throughout the month of April! Our country and our world is filled with a rainbow of races, religions, and stories… This month, learn about Arab-American history, Scottish-American history, Passover, Easter, and Ramadan. We also recognize Autism Awareness month, and we focus on National Child Abuse Prevention month.

Try to take the time to involve yourself in culture, religion, language that you don’t usually hear about in your daily life. Get creative with food, watch a documentary or movie that you might know nothing about, listen to music you haven’t heard, hug your children and help them learn to not judge “otherness”. This is our work as people of this Earth. Did we mention that it’s Earth Month too?!

Volunteer opportunities for Acalanes DEI - get involved!
We are looking for new people to join our efforts and get in on the highly relevant work of DEI. Email us! If you believe in the need for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and enjoy writing, are a social media wizard or interested in web content creation, come join us! 

Parent Education

Tuesday, April 20 at 7pm - “Angst” Film Screening & Discussion INDIEFLIX Education has sparked a global conversation about anxiety through screenings of its documentary, “Angst: Raising Awareness Around Anxiety.” Join us on April 20 as Acalanes Parents Club and Campolindo Parents Club co-host a special screening of the 56-minute documentary followed by an informative panel discussion led by the Wellness Center Teams from both schools. Pre-register for this event here.

From the Activities Director

Here we go! Let’s make the most of April & May together-we are ACA Strong!

Thursday, April 15 and Friday, 16 at 7:30am - Senior Breakfast
A not to miss event for our seniors! Breakfast, music, raffles, pictures & the senior panoramic picture. 

April 25-30 Homecoming Week 2021 - Let’s enter the DECADES together! 

• Class of 2021-The 1980’s
• Class of 2022-The 1990’s
• Class of 2023- The 1970’s
• Class of 2024- The 2000’s

There will be many ways for students to get involved in Homecoming Week, both virtually and on campus. Here is the calendar of events! Mark your calendars! 

• Sunday, April 25 from 10am-4pm Hallway Decorating

Please encourage your student to sign up! Students will sign up to work shifts to decorate their class hallway. It is transformational, and our students have fun and do a wonderful job.

• Thursday, April 29 at 6pm Live-Streamed Virtual Rally

An event for the whole family! Complete with class skits, live performances by incredible students, and more. 

Encourage your student to participate! Let’s do the decades, Acalanes! 

Monday, April 19 from 6-8pm - Self Defense Class For Students and Adults
We are excited to offer this special opportunity for our student body! Join us to learn self-defense strategies in various situations. Students should sign up with a parent, guardian, or caring adult to participate in this training. It is limited to 20 pairs of students and adults, so sign up early! Sign-up link.

Thursday, April 22 from 3:30-5pm “Dog Days are Over” - Celebrate the last 25 Days of ACA
Our last ACA Day drive-through will be all about our ACA dogs! Get your students ready to dress up your family dog in their best Don’s blue. There will be a series of awards and treats given out to dogs who join the drive-through and we’ll be posting pictures on our social channels. Start thinking of costumes for your pooch. More details to come regarding the 25 Days of ACA celebrating each day until the end of the school year. Let’s finish the year ACA Strong!

Earth Week
The students have planned a robust Earth Week (two weeks actually!). Events that feature student clubs, local organizations and non-profits, dialogues and education. Please encourage your student to opt in! Calendar of events

Monday, April 5 - Acalanes Leadership Applications Available
Is your 8th grader interested in joining student government at Acalanes? Applications are now available and are due April 19th. If you have any questions don't hesitate to reach out to Katherine Walton.

Sunday, April 18 - Deadline To Order Frosh Spirit Packs!
Know an 8th grader? Frosh spirit packs are a great promotion gift and kick off to a career at Acalanes! Each pack is $53 and features a hooded sweatshirt, car magnet & cinch backpack. Proceeds go to the Class of 2025. Order deadline is April 18 and packs will be delivered to your house beginning May 7. Order here.

Monday, April 26 (morning) - District Diversity Summit
Know a student who is interested in equity work or already engaged in it? On April 26th the district will host the district diversity summit which is a chance to hear a keynote speaker and connect with other student leaders. Email Katherine Walton if interested in attending.

Join the fun and buy an ACA Parent/Sibling Strong Shirt.
This is a grey version of the student/staff ACA Strong shirt.  You can purchase now via the Acalanes webstore for $10 and pick up from Acalanes after you receive your confirmation email. 

2020-2021 Clubs
Club meetings continue. Check out our 49 clubs! Clubs continue to be one of the best ways for students to connect as we enter fourth quarter. 

If I can ever do anything to help you or your student, don’t hesitate to reach out!

Katherine Walton, Student Activities Director

Wellness Center

It’s been so rewarding to once again meet with students face to face (masked and distanced) and we continue to be available for students who are in full distance learning as well. We did an on campus meet and greet during lunch periods with all four grades and it was great to pass out treats and to hear how it is for them to be on campus. We hope you’ll join us on Tuesday, April 20 at 7pm for our “Angst” Film Screening & Discussion generously sponsored by Parents Club! INDIEFLIX Education has sparked a global conversation about anxiety through screenings of its documentary, “Angst: Raising Awareness Around Anxiety”. Acalanes and Campolindo High Schools will co-host this special screening of the 56-minute documentary followed by an informative panel discussion led by the Wellness Center Teams from both schools. Pre-register for this event here. 

Allen Choi, Wellness Coordinator
Casey Sasner, Intake Specialist

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