News & Announcements

LPIE

LPIE is excited to invite our entire Lafayette community to celebrate all we have done together to enrich our schools over the last 40 years, as well as the potential of what is to come!

Join us for a festive family night with games and activities for all ages.

Friday, February 10, 2023
4:30-7:30pm
Lafayette Park Plaza

Order dinner and drinks from nearby restaurants and food trucks. Enjoy performances by our local Lafayette students, live music from David Martin’s House Party, and hear from dedicated community advocates for our schools. We hope you and your family will join us for this special and significant event.
 
Entry is complimentary; purchase required for restaurants, food trucks, drinks.
 
RSVP here! Guests who register will automatically be entered into a drawing to receive a Valentine’s dinner for two! Must be present to win during the event on Feb 10.
 
Questions? Please contact Andrea Hilsabeck or MicheleColaco
Follow us on Instagram or visit www.lpie.org

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Acalanes Community Always (ACA)

Calling all Acalanes alumni! We have begun work to formalize an Acalanes network and we invite you to join on instagram, facebook or linked in. These will be places to connect, re-connect, hear life updates, share opportunities & learn more about class gatherings.

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Parent Ed

Please join us for the next event in our Wellness Parent Education Series. The Sports and Wellness Education Night will take place on Tuesday, Jan 24 from 6-7:30pm on Zoom with Dr. Doug Garner. You can register here.
 
Click here to review the full Wellness Parent Education Series for 2023.
 
Recordings of past Wellness Parent Ed events can be viewed on the AUHSD website here. Topics include Depression & Anxiety, The Fentanyl Epidemic, Connecting with Your Teen and more.

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Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DEI)

Lunar New Year, the Year of the Rabbit, begins today, Jan 22. Did you know that San Francisco has celebrated Lunar New Year in some form since the Gold Rush era of the 1860s? If you haven’t heard of Chunyun, you might want to stream “Last Train Home” by Lixin Fan, an astonishing documentary about this annual migration during Lunar New Year and its human scale.
 
Upcoming Events and Announcements

  • Asian/South-Asian/Asian-American Parents Happy Hour Jan 27, 5:30-8pm at Town Bakery & Cafe in Moraga: If you are a Walamorinda Asian, South Asian, or South/Asian-American identifying parent/guardian, please join us for an affinity space Happy Hour! Free light appetizers and drinks for purchase. Hope you can join us for this informal gathering (parents only event). Please RSVP here.
  • Attention Parents of Athletes in Female Sports: The Voice In Sport Foundation (VISF) has introduced The Fair Play for Women Act that will strengthen TITLE IX through better education, stronger enforcement and greater transparency in data and reporting. Student athletes can join the VIS Advocate Program to receive FREE advocacy training and contribute to gender equity at your school. All advocates gain access to the VOICEINSPORT platform where they can meet with experts in sports psychology, nutrition, and talk one on one with their favorite college and professional women athletes!
  • For Your Student: A Night in New Orleans Takes Over the Acalanes Gym

The district Black Student Unions (BSUs) are co-hosting a New Orleans-themed dance on Friday, Feb 3 at 7pm for all AUHSD students. More information is available in the Student Activities section below and will be available in the Daily Don. Tickets are $10 on GoFan.

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Student Activities

Student Government 2023-2024
Is your student interested in participating in student government next year? Applications are available beginning tomorrow and due Friday, Feb 3 for current 9th, 10th and 11th graders. A link to the application will be in the daily bulletin. There are elected and appointed positions and there is a spot for everyone! For the full list of committees, check out the descriptions. You/your student can also stop by at Open House to talk to current students in the program. If you have a current 8th grader, those apps will be available beginning Jan 30 and there will be an informational meeting at Stanley on Jan 31 during lunch.
 
A Night in New Orleans – An All-District Dance
On Friday, Feb 3 from 7-9pm, Acalanes will be hosting an all district dance. Tickets are $10 and available on Go Fan. Ticket prices include games, DJ, snacks & crafts. Sponsored by the Black Student Union.
 
Class Cup Begins this Week!
Encourage your student to come to the gym at lunch Wednesday, Thursday & Friday to cheer on and support their class in basketball. Basketball is the 1st of 3 class intramurals this spring.
 
Where will The Force be this week? We’ll be at boys basketball on Tuesday at 7pm at HOME vs. Campolindo in camo gear. The FORCE shirts will be for sale at the game along with Dons rally towels. Join us!
 
2022-2023 Clubs
We had an amazing spring club day and are so excited for the current 59 active clubs on campus! Encourage your student to check 1 or 2 out. You can view all clubs here.
 
Gratitude Grams
Want to show appreciation to friends, family and staff? Buy a gratitude gram on the webstore filled with fun toys and snacks. Embrace the attitude of gratitude.
 
A couple more dates to highlight:
Friday, Jan 27 at 7:30am: Senior Breakfast for the Class of 2023
Saturday, May 13 at City Hall: Junior & Senior Prom
 
Katherine Walton, Leadership Teacher

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College & Career

SENIORS
DVC Registration: Please tell your senior to join us during Academy on Wednesday, Feb 15 in the library for a DVC admissions’ presentation and registration details.
 
Acalanes College and Career Center Scholarship links. Diablo Valley AssistanceLeague, Rossmoor Scholarship Foundation, and AAUW are also available- large scholarships for students with financial limitations.
 
FAFSA: The Free Application for Federal Student Aid is available. The state is asking all seniors to fill out the FAFSA or to opt-out.
 
JUNIORS
Job Fair:  Walnut Creek Arts & Rec is hiring students aged 15+ for many summer jobs. They are hosting a job fair on Thursday, Feb 9 from 4:30-6:30pm at Shadelands Art Center Auditorium.
 
A Healthier Approach to College Admissions: Event sponsored by Challenge Success on Thursday, Mar 9 from 4-5:15pm.
 
SAT Practice Test: Revolution Prep is offering a practice SAT on Saturday, Jan 28, 9am-1pm. Live online! Register here
 
1:1 appointments: If you’d like your child to start exploring career interests and begin looking at Naviance, please have them schedule an appointment here.
 
SOPHOMORES/FROSH
Job Fair:  Walnut Creek Arts & Rec is hiring students aged 15+ for many summer jobs. They are hosting a job fair on Thursday, Feb 9 from 4:30-6:30pm at Shadelands Art Center Auditorium. Looking for counselors, coaches, lifeguards, and more!
 
Volunteer Ideas: Have your student come by the CCC so I can learn about their interests. Check out this website for ideas too! It’s best to set a search filter for teens.
 
Please visit our College & Career Counseling website any time for additional information and support.  

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Counseling

Counselor assignments are by last name:
A-Em Anne Schonauer  
En-Kr Christine Todd / Christina CastilloGallardo during Spring 2023
Ku-Rog Marissa Meadows 
Roh-Z Susan Martin
 
Late Sign Up for AP Exams: Late registration options are still available, but will incur a late fee. Please see here for more details.
 
Class Visits for Course Selection: This past Thursday, counselors started visiting all Living Earth, Chemistry/ESS, and USH classes to review the course selection process with students for the next school year. During these visits, students receive the form they will use, as well as instructions for how to enter requests in Aeries. We will finish visiting all classes this week on Wednesday, Jan 25 so students can attend the Open House on Thursday, Jan 26 to hear more about classes! 

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School Nurse

Getting Off to a Good Start in 2023
January is a great reason to use our energy towards setting intentions (vs resolutions). Goal-setting follows setting intentions. Focusing on intentions keeps us grounded and allows us to experiment and even fail (great value can be found in failing), and then return back to our intentions. 
 
Use January as a motivation, excuse, whatever reason to focus on BALANCE in your family and with/for your student. Balance and resilience go hand-in–hand. Students will manage stress better with balance in their lives. Prioritize sleep, healthy eating, regular physical movement, and connection, in addition to school and studying. Please consider that each of us only has a 24 hour day. For our teens, 8-10 of those hours should be devoted to sleep. You can do the rest of the math, but the point is to factor in time for taking care of ourselves and also making sure to buffer in time for the unexpected. It’s especially important not to over-schedule – this in and of itself sets up a baseline of unmanageable stress. Please let me know what works well to support balance and resilience for your students.
 
Not sure how to prevent drug or alcohol use? Or what to do if you suspect or havediscovered substance use?

  • Keep your home safe: Lock Your Meds
  • Have Family Dinner
  • Know where your kids are
  • Spend regular time together

What else would you like to see on my website?

Dvora Citron, RN, MS
dcitron@auhsdschools.org
925-280-2970 x7128
IG: acalanesschoolnurse

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Wellness Center

We are so excited to have students back to start the new year! It’s very common for people to use this time to set new goals for the upcoming year. Goal setting is a great way to set up yourself, and your student, for success. Discuss setting SMART goals with your student:

  • Specific– narrow goals are more efficient for planning and execution.
  • Measurable– how will you know that you are making progress toward reaching your goal?
  • Attainable– it’s important that goals are realistic and can actually be achieved.
  • Relevant– be sure that your goals align with what you find important in the short and long-term.
  • Time based– when setting an end date to assess whether you have met your goal, the date should be both motivating and achievable. 

Setting, working toward and achieving SMART goals is extremely beneficial to mental health. Everyone likes to feel capable and accomplished. This can help improve self esteem as well as fostering an internal locus of control.
 
Finally, the next AUHSD Wellness Parent Education opportunity is taking place via Zoom this week on Tuesday, Jan 24 from 6-7:30pm. While these webinars are free to attend, we do ask that you register here prior to attending.
 
Kiara Thomas- Wellness Intake Specialist

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Performing Arts

For an excellent overview of all VAPA classes, listen to the Dons Dialogue recording from Friday, Jan 20 (see link above)!

Band Student Recognition
We are very proud to recognize and honor our talented Acalanes musicians who were accepted into these distinguished ensembles this year!
 
Contra Costa County Honor Band
Serina Eun, Melina Galacatos, Miles Garcia, Zach Garcia, Zero Hill, Nathan Joseph, Monique Khouw, Sabrina Koo, Daichi Nannen, Cole Ruebner, Anthony Smario, Aya Watanabe, Koto Watanabe, Adelina Zheng
 
California All-State Jazz Ensemble
Spencer Tantameng
 
More details to follow on the exact times of their public performances later this year.
 
Upcoming Lafayette District Band Festival Events

  • District Band Festival 1: 

Monday, Jan 23 at 7pm in the Stanley Middle School Gym.
Springhill and Happy Valley Elementary, Stanley Symphonic and Silver Bands, and Acalanes Wind Ensemble will be performing.

  • District Band Festival 2: 

Tuesday, Jan 24 at 7pm in the Stanley Middle School Gym.
Lafayette and Burton Valley Elementary, Stanley Cadet band, and Acalanes Symphonic Band will be performing.

  • District Orchestra Festival:  

Wednesday, Jan 25 at 7pm in the Stanley Middle School Gym.
Combined Elementary Strings, Strings Intermezzo, Stanley String Orchestra, and Acalanes Orchestra will be performing.

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