Campus Culture Committee
💙 Acalanes Parent Club – Campus Culture Committee (CCC) Update
March 2026
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🌟 Campus Culture Committee Highlights
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It has been a wonderful 2025–2026 school year with the Campus Culture Committee! There are no additional meetings scheduled for the remainder of this school year.
At our final meeting, we discussed plans for the 2026–2027 school year, including:
- Quarterly Meetings (August, November, February, May)
- Department updates
- Board reports
- Volunteer sign-ups
- May Meeting: Special team-building activity
- Monthly Engagement Between Meetings: Opportunities to volunteer at school events, such as:
- Back-to-School Night
- Hosting lunches for student clubs
- Donating supplies for events like Homecoming
🎲 "Lead the Way" Celebration
The “Lead the Way” Celebration at Acalanes High School was a joyful and successful multi-generational event that brought the community together for an afternoon of connection, inspiration, and fun. Attendees enjoyed lunch, engaging speakers, music, games, and activities while building relationships across generations. Rooted in the shared values of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging, the event created a welcoming space for meaningful conversation and community building. A highlight of the day was the recognition of Acalanes students whose leadership and contributions continue to make a positive impact, leaving attendees inspired to carry this important work forward.
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đź“… Upcoming Important Dates
- April – Autism Acceptance Month
- April – Arab American Heritage Month
- April 14 – Holocaust Remembrance Day
🧩 Autism Acceptance Month (April)
Autism Acceptance Month focuses on fostering understanding, inclusion, and celebration of autistic individuals.
Did you know?
- Approximately 1 in 36 children are diagnosed with autism.
Ways to Participate:
- Wear blue or gold to show support
- Share resources and stories from autistic voices
- Promote awareness and inclusion in your community
🌍 Arab American Heritage Month (April)
This month honors the rich culture, history, and contributions of over 4 million Arab Americans. It celebrates achievements across fields such as science, arts, and public service while promoting inclusivity and cultural appreciation.
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đź’š Wellness Center Reminder
If you are ever concerned about your student or one of their peers, please submit a Wellness Referral.
- Our team follows up within one week
- All services are confidential and voluntary
If your student experiences or witnesses bias or hate, please encourage them to report it using the  Bias Incident Reporting Tool (BIRT) available on the AHS website.
 Submit a BIRT Report Here »
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🤝 Stay Connected
We welcome all families to get involved!
📧 diversityandinclusion@acalanesparentsclub.com
We look forward to continuing this important work together in the 2026–2027 school year!
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
