Spiritwear
Did you order a class shirt? We will be handing them out to students during lunch on Wednesday, Sep 4. Did you order spiritwear through our online spiritwear vendor Gryco? It will arrive in mid Sep and you will receive an email with pick-up instructions.
Homecoming 2024- Musicals Sep 15-21
The countdown is on and preparation is underway. Check out this homecoming overview document for everything you need to know about the week!
Sep 21 is our HOCO Night Out from 7-9:30pm. It is a campus wide event (1,100+ attended last year) and is a beloved night not to miss. Tickets are on sale via GoFan and are:
$30 with ASB
$55 without ASB
$75 for an outside guest
Outside guests need to fill out and return a guest contract by Sep 18 to the main office. Stay tuned for confirmed vendors, food, games, activities, and entertainment.
In order to ensure that HOCO Night Out is safe for all, we need parent chaperones. Please consider volunteering as we expect over 1100 students that evening.
2024-2025 Clubs
Our fall club day is Friday, Sep 6 during academy. The full list of clubs will be posted in the bulletin this week for students to check out ahead of time.
My goal is that every student at Acalanes is connected to one activity outside of class. I am always happy to meet with students and/or parents about on campus programming and opportunities. If I can help, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
Looking to stay informed? Follow us on Instagram for the latest on student activities and class happenings.
Katherine Walton, Activities Director
Student Activities
College & Career
Seniors: Please come by the College and Career Center during 6th, 7th, academy, lunch and/or brunch to work on your common application and UC application. Tips and strategies provided during all sessions. MaiaLearning tutorials are also provided at each visit. Great tips here!
Sports Recruiting Presentation: Acalanes is hosting a presentation for families of student athletes. This will be held on Monday, Sep 9 at 7pm in the PAC. Students and parents of all grades and sports are welcome to attend. For more information, click here.
Frosh, Sophomores, Juniors Out-of-State College Fair:
When: Thursday, Sep 5, 6-8pm
Where: Las Lomas Library
Join the Las Lomas College & Career Center for an out-of-state college fair on Sep 5 at 6pm. This is an excellent opportunity to meet public and private out-of-state college admissions officers. The program will include short presentations, including one on the Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE) scholarship program.
Please sign up for the fair HERE.
PRACTICE SAT/PSAT/ACT: Our testing partner, Revolution Prep, is offering a free PSAT practice test on Sep 7, SAT practice test on Sep 21 and ACT practice test on Sep 14. Click here to learn more and register.
Frosh students can join a free webinar led by Revolution Prep on 3 Essential Skills Your Student Needs to Kickstart their School Year on Sep 24 at 5pm.
Counseling
Counselor assignments are by student last name:
A-F Anne Schonauer
G-Ka Erika Vasquez
Ke-Re Marissa Meadows
Rh-Z Susan Martin
CLASS SCHEDULES Students can now only drop a class, they can’t add any new classes. Students can drop a 1st or last class of the day for an Off Campus, or they can drop a class and add a TA that period. The deadline to drop a class is the end of the first quarter, Friday, Oct 11. After this date, any class dropped will receive an automatic F grade.
CLASS VISITS Counselors will be visiting Chemistry classes this week to present to sophomores. We will provide them with a transcript, and walk them through some things they should be aware of as they start 10th grade!
INDIVIDUAL SENIOR APPOINTMENTS Counselors will start seeing seniors individually starting the week of Sep 9. During these appointments, we will look at Maia, talk about schools and deadlines, discuss documents needed, and come up with a to-do list for you/your student, if they need one.
SENIOR PARENT NIGHT
Thursday, Sep 5, from 6:30-7:30pm in the Acalanes Library.
Join us for important information about post high school planning with Counselor, Anne Schonauer and College & Career Center Advisor, Debbie Levy.
School Nurse
What’s new with COVID? Parents, we still want you to call the attendance office to report Covid, as we are still required to report cases. However, we are now considering Covid as any other respiratory illness: students and staff can come back if, for 24 hours, their symptoms are getting better overall and they have not had a fever (without taking fever-reducing medication). You can read these CDPH Guidelines: Considerations when a Child has Symptoms of Illness in Child Care or School.
Just a reminder to make sure your student has healthy food/snacks and water with them to nourish and fuel them during the school day.
You can access the medical forms page HERE or use the QR code below.
My office hours are:
Tuesdays, Wednesdays and some* Thursdays
Tuesdays & Thursdays: 8am – 3:50pm
Wednesdays: 7:30am – 3:20pm
AHS School Nurse Calendar
See my website for more information.
Always Your School Nurse,
Dvora Citron, RN, MS
dcitron@auhsdschools.org, 925-280-2970 x7128
IG: acalanesschoolnurse, School Nurse Website
Performing & Visual Arts
Concert Wear Donations Needed
Are you ready to make a difference in the lives of our talented Acalanes musicians? We’re seeking donations of gently-used concert attire to ensure that every student can look their best for upcoming performances.
Our current inventory of loaner attire is running low, so if you have any of the following items that your student has outgrown or no longer wears, please consider donating them to our Instrumental Music Concert Attire Closet (website):
- Black concert dress (from the past 4-5 years)
- Black tuxedos/suits
- Black jackets
- Black dress pants, black skirts (below knee)
- White, black, french blue button-down dress shirts
- White, black, french blue sleeved blouses
- Black ties (bow or regular)
- Black dress shoes
Your generosity helps to ensure that every musician has the opportunity to shine on stage!
Please bring the clothes to the AHS music/band room. If you have any questions, please contact Andrea Christie or info@ahsperformingarts.org.
Acalanes Performing Arts Boosters Update
We hope you enjoyed the phenomenal Acalanes Jazz Ensemble and Acalanes Choir at the Back to School Night reception on Thursday. This was the kick-off for this year’s performances of our talented musicians, actors and choralists. The general performance calendar is here and the Instrumental Music calendar is here. Your donations support extracurricular performance programs — if you didn’t get a chance to donate, you still can here!
LPIE
26th Annual Lafayette Art and Wine Festival- join us on Saturday, Sep 21 from 10am-7pm and Sunday, Sep 22 from 10am-6pm
Did you know that the Art & Wine Festival is a fundraiser for the City of Lafayette and that LPIE is the largest beneficiary? Did you know that the people who work the ticket booth are volunteers? Come have some fun and help LPIE at the same time by staffing the festival ticket booth and/or the LPIE booth. Click HERE to sign and show your support for our schools!
Sports
*The game schedule below reflects dates and times as of last Friday. Games may change for several reasons, including weather. If you have questions or comments, please contact Acalanes Sports Boosters.
This week’s can’t miss events:
Girls volleyball
Tuesday, Sep 3 host Monte Vista HS. Frosh at 4:30pm, JV at 5:30pm and Varsity at 6:30pm.
Wednesday, Sep 4 at Moreau Catholic HS. Frosh at 4:30pm, JV at 5:30pm and Varsity at 6:30pm.
Saturday, Sep 7 Frosh Sonoma Valley tournament.
Girls golf
Tuesday, Sep 3 v. Las Lomas HS at 5:30pm.
Flag football
Wednesday, Sep 3 at San Marin HS at 5pm.
Saturday, Sep 7 Alameda HS and Heritage HS at Heritage HS at 9am.
Boys water polo
Wednesday, Sep 4 host El Cerrito HS. Varsity at 6pm and JV at 7pm.
Thursday, Sep 5 host Marin Catholic HS. JV at 4pm and Varsity at 5pm.
Girls water polo
Friday, Sep 6 and Saturday, Sep 7 Acalanes Invitational.
Football
Thursday, Sep 5 Frosh host Dublin HS at 5pm.
Friday, Sep 6 host Mt. Diablo HS. JV at 4:30pm and Varsity at 7pm.
Cross country
Saturday, Sep 7 St. Mary’s Invitational at St. Mary’s College.
You may view the full 2024-2025 Athletic Schedule by clicking HERE.
General Administration Announcements
Acalanes Back to School Night (BTSN) is this Thursday, Aug 29 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.
As mentioned above, 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!
Important Reminder: be sure to print the BTSN Program here and write down your student’s schedule and room numbers so you know where to go! Print and fold like a book.
Driver Etiquette at the New Raised Crosswalk on Stanley Boulevard
The City of Lafayette recently completed construction of the raised crosswalk on Stanley Boulevard near AHS. A raised crosswalk is a ramped speed table spanning the entire width of the roadway and acts as a traffic calming measure that allows pedestrians to cross at grade with the adjacent sidewalk. In addition, the new crosswalk includes flashing beacons that are activated by a push button to alert drivers of pedestrians crossing it.
This serves as a friendly reminder that drivers must yield to pedestrians and stop at the yield markings (sometimes called “shark teeth” markings) when pedestrians are crossing or preparing to cross. Drivers should not block the crosswalk when waiting for the traffic to move.
APC in Action
August APC Dons Dialogue – View the Slides!
Thank you to all who attended our first Dons Dialogue of the school year on Friday, Aug 23. We had a packed room. This month’s topics included an overview of new staff, Challenge Success results, technology, athletic PE and a student activities report. If you were not able to attend, here are the slides from the discussion.
*ATHLETIC PE: Please click here to download the Contract and Weekly Timecard discussed by Coach Ivankovich for Athletic PE.
Thank you to our APC Hospitality Co-Chairs, Mia Heglie and Monica Stassi, for providing the welcoming coffee and treats! The next Dons Dialogue will be on Friday, Sept 20. Click here for the full schedule of upcoming Dons Dialogues.
Peer Tutoring is Now Open!
We welcome Bill Powers as our new Co-Director, who joins Angela Ketcham, along with another outstanding Peer Tutoring staff!
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 every day after school for 1 hour after the last school bell rings.
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!
Thank you APC Volunteers!
APC welcomed AHS staff back to school with coffee and bagels to kick off the school year. A big shout out to Stacey Hastings and Dominique Mickelson, our Staff Appreciation Coordinators, for organizing such a fun event for our staff! Your donations to APC help make these staff appreciation events possible. Thank you!!!
Acalanes Community Always (ACA)
What is ACA You Ask?
Not only is “ACA” short for “Acalanes,” it is also the overarching, unifying theme that we at Acalanes High School represent on and off campus. Simply put, ACA (Acalanes Community Always) represents:
- Connectivity between Acalanes students, teachers, staff members, alumni and the greater Lafayette community
- Spirit and unity
These are characteristics that we all share as part of the Acalanes family, both during our time at Acalanes, and beyond as alumni. Our ACA spirit is on display daily in and outside of the classroom, and within our athletics, performing arts, student government, clubs, and Acalanes support organizations. We look forward to supporting ongoing programming that continues to build school spirit and supports our community and each other!
ACA Student Discounts!
As part of your student’s ASB card purchase, your student can get discounts or freebies at some favorite local business, such as
- Diablo Foods
- Johnny’s Donuts
- Local Kitchens
- Sideboard
- And more!
Your student just needs to show their ASB card at checkout. See the full list of discounts here! There is still time to purchase the ASB card in the Acalanes Webstore, this money drives student activities at Acalanes.
Lamorinda Back-2-School Promotion
Eat and shop locally this back-to-school season! In addition to the above Acalanes ASB program, the Lafayette Chamber has curated a list of fan-favorite spots all around Lamorinda offering discounts to students in the months of August and September. All your student has to do is show their student ID at checkout (or call for appointments) to receive the discounts. Click here to see all participating businesses.
*This is a separate program from our beloved ASB program above.
AHS Garden Update
The AHS garden is coming along! We met weekly over the summer to harvest tomatoes, peppers, squash, cucumbers – all that we planted last spring. We continue to harvest during our weekly garden club meetings and will soon start to plan our winter garden.
Thank you to our Lafayette Community Garden partners Janet Thomas, Jeannie Hill, and Pam Winther who made a special trip to weed and tidy up the meditation garden so it would be ready when students returned. Also thank you to APC for weeding during their clean up day. It really does take a village!
We have our first work day of the school year TODAY, Sunday Aug 25, until 2pm.
Thanks for all of your support! If you have any questions, please reach out.
Lori (Ms. Tewksbury)
LTewksbury@auhsdschools.org
