Weekly News & Announcements

From the Activities Director

March Madness Activities - Return to Campus!

• Decorate your student’s home mailbox for the first day of Hybrid Learning
• Get your students ready to wear ACA STRONG shirts on Hybrid Day 1, March 16 and March 17. 
• TODAY from 1-2:30pm Senior & Junior Car Painting - Meet us in the Acalanes parking lot. We will provide the paint!
• Join the fun & 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. 

March is Women’s History Month!
Opt in to the various learning opportunities, dialogues & celebration.

• Check out Canvas for the daily spotlight of excellent women. It will run through the end of the month.
• Thursday, March 18 at 7pm Women in Leadership Series with our associate superintendent Aida Glimme. Aida Glimme is the Associate Superintendent of Educational Services and oversees all items related to curriculum development and instructional practices in the Acalanes Union High School District. This year, she has overseen the implementation of schedule and program changes due to the COVID pandemic, including the shift to distance learning and now to hybrid. Aida was a Principal of Acalanes High School and is a former science teacher. She is a war refugee and immigrated to the United States with some of her family members as a result of a civil war in former Yugoslavia. She started high school in San Mateo not speaking English and fought to learn English and the "American way." Aida currently resides in Danville, where she lives with her husband, daughter, and their 4-legged child, a Boxer named Cash. Register here to attend.

Deadline TODAY! Purchase Acalanes Spirit Wear
We have spirit wear available for the last time this school year! We added a couple new items including a tribute t-shirt to Mr. Huber with proceeds donated to the Parkinson’s Foundation in his name. Check out our spiritwear on the Acalanes webstore. Items can be either picked up at Acalanes or delivered to your home beginning April 6. 

Wednesday, March 24 - Equity Curriculum Site Meeting
Is your student interested in hearing updates and engaging in dialogue about Social Science and English curriculum with an equity focus? Encourage them to attend this lunchtime roundtable. More information will be sent via Canvas.

Monday, April 5 - Acalanes Leadership Applications Available
Is your 8th grader interested in joining student government at Acalanes? Applications will be available electronically beginning April 5th. 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.

Homecoming 2021 is happening at the end of April! Although it will look a bit different, we are excited to celebrate different decades with skits and hallway decorations; encourage your student to get involved. Skit information will go out through Canvas!

2020-2021 Clubs
Club meetings continue. Check out our 49 clubs! Clubs continue to be one of the best ways for students to connect. We will be pushing out more information about clubs at the end of the week. Please encourage your student to check out Canvas to learn more.

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

On Monday, we will be providing a workshop for teachers on creating an anxiety toolkit to benefit students as they transition to whatever learning module they are will be in for the remainder of the year. Please be sure to talk to your students about the transition ahead. It will take the community time and patience to adjust. 

And don’t forget: Alcohol, Cannabis & Prescription Drug Expert Panel, is scheduled for Tuesday, March 30 at 5:30 pm. This live webinar will focus on a panel of local adult and youth experts to discuss the impact of alcohol, cannabis, and prescription drugs on young people in our communities and share resources for youth and adults. You may register here. This will be simultaneously interpreted in Spanish. 

Allen Choi, Wellness Coordinator
Casey Sasner, Intake Specialist

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

College & Career

Seniors

• DVC Registration (for graduating students only) Enrollment presentations sign up
• This is a busy time for admissions decisions to roll out. Remember to check ALL emails from schools to make sure you don’t miss anything. If you have any questions about an admission decision or financial aid reach out directly to the university. 

• Congratulations to all seniors who have heard from schools already!!! These are such exciting times. It is very helpful for everyone to log into Naviance and update the decisions. 

• Scholarships - There are still scholarships available. Naviance has many listed under the colleges section. Some deadlines are quickly approaching. Some applications require essays, so students should plan ahead. Here are some links to other scholarship sites:
  • https://student.naviance.com/acalanes 
  • https://www.niche.com/colleges/scholarships/ 
  • https://www.fastweb.com/college-scholarships
  • https://www.scholarships.com/financial-aid/college-scholarships/scholarship-directory/school-year/high-school-senior
  • https://scholarships360.org/scholarships/top-scholarships-for-high-school-seniors/ 

Juniors

• Sunday, March 14 Virtual College Fair - St. Mary’s usually hosts a huge fair with over 100 colleges; this year it is virtual. This is a great time to connect with schools you want to get more information about and a great way to connect with admissions reps. 

• • https://www.strivescan.com/wacac/

Resources:

• CCC Website 
• How to request a transcript
• College 101
• Internships and Volunteering Ideas
• Scholarships

Resources:

• CCC Website 
• How to request a transcript
• College 101
• Internships and Volunteering Ideas
• Scholarships

Counseling

Friday, March 12 - Third Quarter Ended
Teachers have most of next week to update grades. The 3rd quarter progress report will be officially available in Aeries by Tuesday, March 23.  

June 7 through July 15 - AUHSD Summer School
Summer school is for students who need to repeat a required course after earning a D or F grade. Email your counselor for an application.   

Counselor Appointments
We love talking to our students! Email is the best way to reach us. Counselors have appointment slots for students and will email them a link for signing up.  Counselors will still be doing most of our appointments via Zoom when hybrid instruction begins. (Remember how small the offices are!)  

A- Ed  Anne Schonauer
Ee-Kr  Christine Todd
Ku-Ros  Marissa Meadows
Rot-Z  Susan Martin

Legislative News

Our school district has an agreement in place to re-open, but other school districts, especially the largest ones in the state, have not been able to achieve this. Now Governor Newsom and state legislators have reached a deal which should accelerate the process by providing hefty incentives to reopen and removing some of the obstacles about which school districts had complained. Meanwhile, the federal government has confirmed that standardized testing must resume this year, meaning students still in remote learning in California would be asked to take standardized tests at home. The state is applying for a waiver to give California some flexibility on how and when the tests are administered within the 2020-2021 school year.

Questions? Email our APC Legislative Representative.

School Nurse

• Please note the types of masks that are NOT acceptable.
• Make sure to wear a CLEAN mask every day.
• Please wear your mask so that the top covers the bridge of your nose and the bottom goes under your chin. If you are constantly readjusting, it does not fit properly.