• From the Activities Director

    November 13, 2020

    This week: Equity Week is fully programmed and put on by our students. It provides multiple entry points for dialogue around various issues of equity and is a wonderful opportunity for students to educate themselves, engage in important conversations and show up for their peers. Please encourage your student to attend! All event Zoom links will be sent via Canvas on Monday morning.

    MONDAY, NOVEMBER 16

    • Cohort: Equity workshop on identity and intersectionality & practice of mindful inquiry
    • Lunch: Queer Straight Alliance Kahoot Event

    TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 17

    • Lunch: Black Student Union Event

    WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 18

    • Lunch: Girl Up! 
    • 7pm: Lori Hayes “How to be an Upstander, not a Bystander” She is not to be missed-she is real, brilliant, dynamic & engaging Register here!

    THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 19

    • Lunch: Jewish Club
    • 6pm: Latinos Unidos Movie Night

    FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20

    • Academy: Asian American Club
    • Lunch: Erasure Dialogue 

    New spiritwear available now!
    We have added some new spiritwear to the     webstore. Perfect opportunity for holiday gifts or winter gear. Last day to place your order is November 29. Items will be available for pick-up on December 17. 

    Don’t Miss Out! Encourage your senior student to attend Tuesday’s Senior “Friendsgiving”
    Senior students can sign up here 

    Adopt-a-Family
    Acalanes Community Outreach is pleased to announce that we will be commencing our annual Adopt-a-Family program in partnership with Families First, a Concord-based organization. All are invited to sign up to adopt individuals and provide wishlist items to make their holiday’s special. You sign up to adopt an individual, shop for them based on their wishlist items and then drop the wrapped presents off at Acalanes on December 11. This is an amazing opportunity for the Acalanes community and an exciting philanthropic partnership. Sign up here

    2020-2021 Clubs
    Club meetings continue. Check out our 45 clubs!

    Save the Date: Wednesday, Dec 2 at 7pm - Women in Leadership #2 with Contra Costa County Deputy Attorney
    Mark your calendar!

    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

    November 13, 2020

    With the end of the semester on the horizon, we want to share a treasure of a worksheet you can use in supporting your student with “decatastrophizing.” This is one of the many types of cognitive distortions adolescents can have that can create overwhelm and inertia. An example of this would be, “I’m so far behind, I’m going to fail all of my classes!” While understandable, this is not a supportive or motivating statement. This worksheet helps enlist logic, reasoning and perspective-taking so that students can move out of their emotional brain and into problem-solving mode. You can print this out, or better yet, incorporate it into a script that you use in navigating the conversation with your student. And remember that oftentimes, these types of, albeit irrational, thoughts sometimes need to be voiced. What’s not helpful is when we as parents meet these comments with our own negative emotions. We hope you find this helpful!

    Don’t forget: Thursday, Nov 19 at 5:30p “Caring for Oneself & Others”
    Brought to you by the Contra Costa Crisis Center, and CourAge Youth Health Coalition. Register here to attend online.

    Allen Choi    , Wellness Coordinator
    Casey Sasner, Intake Specialist

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

  • College & Career

    November 13, 2020

    Monday, Nov 16 at 5:50p - US Air Force Info Night
    Learn about scholarships, career and internship opportunities, admission requirements and the application process. Register here and check out this flyer for more details.

    Tuesday, Nov 17 from 7-8pm - Junior Parent Naviance Workshop
    Please log in to Wendy Reicher’s Zoom account using your student’s AUHSD Zoom account. Learn about the tools we use to guide your student through the college application process. CODE: 651 363 0875; Password: DONS2021.

    One-on-one Appointments
    Students can book an individual meeting with Ms. Reicher here. Please encourage your student to take advantage regardless of where they are in the process.

    Helpful Links:

    Freshman College Planning
    Sophomore College Planning
    Junior College Planning
    Senior Checklist

    Keep up the good work! 
    Wendy Reicher/College and Career Advisor: wreicher@auhsdschools.org

  • Counseling

    November 13, 2020

    Seniors
    Many seniors have still not ordered official transcripts for college apps or updated their Naviance accounts. Students pay the $5 fee for official transcripts on the webstore. Mrs. Finn, the registrar, will process requests. Documents will be sent electronically through Naviance whenever possible. Please contact Mrs. Finn with questions. Students can review unofficial transcripts in Aeries.

    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. We are trying to reserve the limited slots outside of class time for students. Parents can schedule a time when students are in class. 

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

  • Legislative News

    November 13, 2020

    In case you missed it in the flood of election news, here are the latest results on the three propositions which had a connection to education issues: Live election results for Propositions 15, 16 and 18.

  • School Nurse

    November 13, 2020

    Is your student interested in a health science career? Tell them to come to the Acalanes Health & Medicine Student Club meeting next week at lunch on Tuesday, when they’ll hear from a Bay Area Doctor in Residency.

    (Fore)HEADS-UP! Part of our “new normal” needs to be checking our temperature each morning, especially if you are leaving your house to be in any public/social environment. That means if you don’t already have a thermometer, this is a good time to get one!

    Be Covid Proactive! See update on my google site. Stay healthy by keeping this symptom checklist in mind.

    Here’s a great one-pager on SLEEP to remind you why it’s so good for us.

    Dvora Citron    , RN, MS
    Acalanes School Nurse Google Site
    dcitron@auhsdschools.org
    IG:  acalanesschoolnurse