Campus Culture Committee
The Acalanes Parent Club Campus Culture Committee (CCC) is looking forward to another year of helping ensure that all students, staff, and families feel seen, heard, valued, supported, and that they belong each and every time they step onto our campus.
Our CCC works alongside students, staff, families, and school leadership to promote diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging, and a positive school culture throughout the Acalanes community.,
This year, we are excited to expand that sense of community beyond our individual campuses! Culture and Climate parent groups from high schools across AUHSD are planning more opportunities to collaborate, participate in cross-campus activities, share resources, and support students, parents, and guardians throughout our entire district.
🗓️ Join Us for Our First CCC Meeting!
**NOTE MEETING DATE CHANGE IN OBSERVATION YOM KIPPUR**
Tuesday September 22 | 6:30–7:30pm | Acalanes High School Library
We hope you will join us for our 2026–2027 CCC Kickoff Meeting!
This year, we are excited to put even more of our energy into action and connection. In addition to coming together as parents and caregivers, CCC members will have opportunities to provide volunteer time and supply/material support to our student clubs and special school events throughout the year.
And because building a community also includes taking care of and connecting with one another, we are planning some special opportunities just for our parents and caregivers!
Whether you have been involved with CCC for years or this is your first time learning about us, there is a place for you. We hope you will join us!
📅 2026–2027 CCC Meeting Schedule | 6:30–7:30
• September 22 – CCC Kickoff Meeting | In Person
• December 14 – Wellness Workshop with Patrick Turner | In Person
• January 11 – CCC Meeting | Virtual
• May – CCC Year-End Retreat | In Person, Date TBD
📅 September Dates & Observances
September 15–October 15 – National Hispanic Heritage Month
National Hispanic Heritage Month celebrates the histories, cultures, achievements, and contributions of Americans whose heritage traces to Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central and South America. The September 15 start date is significant because it coincides with the independence anniversaries of several Latin American countries.
🏫 AUHSD: Ongoing Supports & Opportunities
Several districtwide programs and activities are continuing this year to support students and create opportunities for connection, leadership, academic success, and belonging.
🖤 Black Student Union (BSU)
BSU students will have several opportunities to connect, learn, celebrate, and build community throughout the year, including:
• October 19 – BSU Summit
• November 18-21 – State BSU Conference
• February – Districtwide BSU Dance/Social
🏳️🌈 LGBTQ Council
The District's LGBTQ Council will continue to meet quarterly with students, advisors, and district staff to collaborate on activities, identify needs, and create opportunities that support LGBTQ+ students throughout AUHSD.
♿ Special Education Parent Advisory Committee
The Special Education Parent Advisory Committee meets monthly and provides families with an opportunity to connect, share information, identify needs, and support the experiences and academic success of students receiving special education services.
🌎 DELAC – District English Learner Advisory Committee
The District English Learner Advisory Committee (DELAC) provides families of English Learner students with an important opportunity to participate in district conversations and provide input regarding programs and services. Meetings are held at Las Lomas High School (LLHS).
🤝 How Parents Can Help
As opportunities arise, parents and caregivers will receive information about ways to support districtwide student activities, including needs such as food donations, transportation, supplies, and other volunteer support.
District leadership will also work with teachers and school staff to increase awareness of the importance of these student opportunities and help ensure students feel supported when participation requires them to miss class.
🤝 Our First Cross-Campus Opportunity!
Connecting Families Across AUHSD
We are excited to begin creating more opportunities for parents and caregivers from across our district to connect, learn from one another, build relationships, and support students across school communities.
To kick off this effort, the Campolindo DEIB Parents invite parents and guardians from all AUHSD schools to an evening of connection and community.
📅 Wednesday, September 30, 2026
⏰ 6:00–8:00 PM
📍 Campolindo High School Library
All AUHSD parents and guardians are welcome!
This is just the beginning of what we hope will be more cross-campus opportunities throughout the year. By connecting families and parent groups across our schools, we can share resources, learn from one another, strengthen our collective efforts, and work together to support all students and families throughout AUHSD.
We hope to see our Acalanes families there! 💙
💙 Have Something You'd Like Us to Bring Forward?
Districtwide parent meetings provide an important opportunity for Acalanes families to have their voices represented at the district level.
If there is a topic, concern, student need, or idea related to school culture, climate, inclusion, belonging, academic support, or student well-being that you would like us to bring forward, please reach out:
📧 diversityandinclusion@acalanesparentsclub.com
Acalanes is a No Hate Zone
At Acalanes, we are committed to maintaining a campus where every student feels safe, respected, and valued. If your student experiences or witnesses an incident involving hate or bias, please encourage them to use the Bias Incident Reporting Tool (BIRT) BiasIncident Reporting Tool (BIRT) available on the Acalanes High School website. Reporting helps our school respond appropriately and continue fostering a culture of belonging for all.
You Are Influential to Your Children and Your Community – Stand Up to Hate
In addition to producing events that help us connect, learn and grow, the DEI committee is also here to support parents. As we head into United Against Hate Week across Lamorinda, it feels like a good time to take a pause from our regular style of communication and acknowledge that the work is heavy and sometimes slow to yield results. We encourage you to keep going and to reach out if you need support. Try to approach equity work in a way that brings results, such as opening up a discussion with your kid(s). Our parent community is making a difference and our work is valuable.
Hate crimes occur right out in the open. Over the last few years, violent Anti-Asian hate crimes have been on the rise here and nationwide. Last month, Ye issued strong anti-seminitic statements that were intended to be divisive and harmful. These are just a few examples of hate speech and hate crimes taking place in our nation. In order to effectively fight structural racism and discrimination we have to have purposeful conversations with our communities and with our children. Did your family talk about what Ye said or discuss increased assaults on Asian Americans in our area? Perhaps your family talked about how those behaviors circulated on social media and maybe even how it showed up in your daily lives?
While often difficult to corral your kid for another “important” discussion (yep, we get the teen eye rolls, too) we feel it is vital that you make time to talk about discrimination and acts of hate this week. An easy way to open up a conversation might be to simply ask if your student knows that the City of Lafayette observes a United Against Hate Week. You don’t need to supply all the content – it isn’t a lecture, just start the discussion. Our kids are intelligent and thoughtful. You can be honest that you find these conversations challenging, deep, difficult, confusing, frustrating and fill in the blank. It is tough but ok to be in discomfort for a few minutes. Those sticky, tricky moments are where people may find the most growth.
We encourage you to keep building community and celebrating our individuality. Our diversity is one of our greatest strengths.
About Campus Cultural Committee
The APC is committed to working with our Acalanes parent and student community as well as our staff and our school and district administration to promote a positive school climate at Acalanes that encourages a culture of inclusivity and belonging for all. It is not enough to denounce acts of racism, we must also work to challenge ourselves and our students to be anti-racist every day. The scope of this committee will encompass the full spectrum of diversity including gender and gender identity, sexual orientation, race/ethnicity, and mental and physical ability.
OUR VISION
Our vision is a positive school climate in which all members of our school community feel welcome regardless of their differences and in which students feel empowered to enter the world as engaged and active global citizens.
OUR MISSION
We are dedicated to identifying, implementing, and supporting a strategic approach to building an empowered school community that celebrates diversity and actively opposes discrimination of race, gender, class, religion, sexual orientation, or any other aspect of one’s identity.
OUR GOALS
- Create a safe and healing space for our school community to communicate with one another within the scope of DEI (social issues, identity, current events, school culture)
- Facilitate parent educational opportunities for DEI
- Support and promote cultural events organized by Acalanes and its students
- Partner with Acalanes and District Administration to support and advance school and district efforts
