Weekly News & Announcements

School Nurse

Medical Documentation for Students
We still need updated medical documentation for your student, especially if they will be participating in the Hybrid Model. Does your student need medication available at school? Does  your student have updated medical issues/health issues? Do they have a new immunization record? Parents, please make sure you turn in any pertinent medical forms for your students for this school year, especially if your students will be in the Hybrid Model. See this page on my website and let me know if you have any questions.

PTG (Posttraumatic Growth): Using Challenge To Cultivate Resilience
During this pandemic, we are ALL experiencing trauma, grief, and loss, individually and collectively, and that cannot and should not be minimized in any way. This, undoubtedly, is going to be the hardest holiday season that most of us have ever experienced. But I want to encourage everyone to look for opportunities for growth and resilience. We can set an intention to practice anchoring ourselves in core values that support health and wellness, including gratitude, self-care, and generosity (to name a few). Try visualizing those values as “eyeglasses” that you put on (ex: now I am putting on my gratitude glasses. What does my perspective look like from here?).

In anticipation of the opportunity to return to our school sites to some degree in January, I implore you and your families to be vigilant about staying healthy and taking whatever precautions you can to prevent the spread of Covid in your households and families, and in our community. Our school district is working hard to create a protocol to promote safety and health on our school sites and in our school community. We need to be cohesive partners in working together to promote health and safety in our community.  Thank you for your commitment!

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

Improve Mental Health
Cook meals together as a family! It doesn’t have to be complicated; it can be as easy as arranging a fruit platter or putting a salad together.

This is a perfect opportunity with the upcoming holidays and our plans to STAY HOME. There are so many benefits!

Happy Healthy Holidays to all!
Dvora Citron, RN, MS

Acalanes School Nurse Google Site
dcitron@auhsdschools.org
IG:  acalanesschoolnurse

Performing & Visual Arts

ICYMI: Performing Arts Events
Visit the Performing Arts website to replay end-of-year winter events from Choral Music, Instrumental Bands and the DramaDons. Enjoy the shows!

General Announcements

APC Newsletter Schedule
This is the last issue of the year. Our next edition will publish on Sunday, January 3, just before students head back to class. Happy New Year!

Acalanes Community Always (ACA)

Shop Local For Take-Out/Delivery Meals & Gifts During the Holidays
Help our awesome Lafayette business community and restaurant owners during this challenging economic time by shopping local and getting take-out/delivery from Lafayette restaurants! Many of these businesses regularly give back to our ACA community! A bonus is that sales tax from your purchases will be funneled back into our local economy. Visit here for more ways to support Lafayette businesses.  

Questions, comments or feedback, email aca@acalanesparentsclub.com.

LPIE

As this challenging calendar year comes to a close, LPIE expresses our sincere gratitude to the valued Business Partners who have partnered with LPIE to support our local public schools in 2020. When businesses invest in schools, they are making a commitment to better the community for everyone. You have been our champion. For this - LPIE thanks you!

Special thanks to: Erin & Darrick Martin Martin Homes, Compass - Cobain Orthodontics - Dana Green Team, Compass - Dudum Real Estate Group: Julie Del Santo & Tina Frechman - Douglah Designs/Luxe Home - fLO Content Marketing - Koopah & Koopah, DDS - Lafayette Chamber of Commerce - Law Office of Daniel Horowitz - Lewis Asset Management - Minuteman Press - Nicole Tamayo Homes, Compass - Diablo Foods - Brydon & Ives Team, Compass - Matthew C. Keyser, DDS - Sue Layng & Ann Ward, Village Associates Real Estate - Village Associates Real Estate.

Tell them LPIE sent you! Shop Honey Bear Trees across from Acalanes if you are in the market for a Christmas tree and holiday decor! Bring this flyer, and Honey Bear will donate 20% of your purchase price back to LPIE.

Thanks to the generosity of two anonymous families, there is a dollar-for-dollar $60,000 match for all donations made in December. LPIE recognizes the sacrifices families are facing, and knows that the ask to donate is a big one. Therefore, we hope this matching gift opportunity encourages you to support at the level that is meaningful to you. Participate here.

Laura-Kate Rurka & Jennifer Palmer
Acalanes LPIE School Chairs

www.lpie.org

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI)

Week SIXTEEN in the Challenge to Build Habits Supporting Racial Equity
Lamorinda is once again reeling from the news of what appears to be a hate crime. On Monday, new Campolindo Associate Principal Vanessa Knight, who is African American, had her car tire slashed in the school parking lot while she worked on campus. Moraga police are investigating.

Ms. Knight spoke at the Moraga Town Council meeting last week after the incident. She recited an excerpt from a poem by Luís Valdez, which celebrates our collective human being:

IN LAK’ECH
Tú eres mi otro yo.
You are my other me.
Si te hago daño a ti,
If I do harm to you,
Me hago daño a mi mismo.
I do harm to myself.
Si te amo y respeto,
If I love and respect you,
Me amo y respeto yo.
I love and respect myself.

We ask you to take a moment of reflection and encourage you to decide what sort of positive anti-racist changes you can affect in all our lives.  

With a Perspective: Hanukkah is Here!
For many Jewish American families, Hanukkah has taken on the gift-giving phenomenon associated with Christmas. Jewish leaders have often expressed that the commercialization of Hanukkah is missing the relevance of the holiday. There is irony in the fact that Hanukkah teaches about the Jewish people standing up in the face of oppression and refusing to assimilate, yet recent traditions of gift-giving has assimilated the surrounding Christian culture into Jewish rituals. Of course no one denies the fun and excitement of gift-giving and receiving, and the power of celebrating light in the darkness! Read more of this perspective from an AHS parent.

Thursday, Feb 4 at 6:30pm District Book Club
Consider buying, gifting and reading “Between the World and Me” by Ta-Nehisi Coates over winter break. This is the selection for the next district-wide book group discussion. Order your copy from Orinda Books. A brilliant and moving adaptation is available on HBO until Sunday Dec 27. Sign up to attend book club here! 

Email us your traditional holiday recipes so we can share with this group! 

More information or questions?
Email us! Stay current by visiting our webpage, and follow us on Facebook and Instagram. 

Membership & Fundraising

Acalanes Flags
‘Tis the season for giving - and receiving - the perfect gift: Acalanes Flags! Flags are available in two sizes on the Acalanes webstore. Get yours today and share your school spirit. Go Dons!

If you have any questions, please contact VP Fundraising Kelly Daggs.

From the Activities Director

Dec 17 and 18 Spirit Wear Pick-Up
If you ordered spirit wear in November, we will have pick up days on December 17th from 2:30-3:30p and December 18th from 7:30-8:45a in the front of school.

Adopt-a-Family Thank You!
Another thank you to Acalanes families and our community for supporting 26 adopted families this holiday season! We appreciate your support of this program.

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

Thank You
We will be taking a much needed and deserved break but will be back to gear up for January 2021 and beyond. I would be remiss if I didn’t publicly thank all of the resilient and determined student leaders who worked tirelessly to re-envision student programming this first semester. Each one of them (and there are SO MANY) remained hopeful, supportive, and determined to show up for one another and for our community. I am grateful and inspired by every single one of them and am so lucky to work alongside them. I also know our amazing community is supported by our incredible parents. Thank you for your unwavering support of student activities! See you in 2021!

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

This week, we’d like to share a story about a recent meeting we had with a student who was working with an extremely common problem in adolescence. The student was frustrated by what they called “mood swings.” Nothing radical, just feeling down when they felt they should be feeling “up;” feeling exhausted when they wanted to be energized, etc. We asked about how sleep factored into the mood picture. The student laughed and said, “I have no idea!” We talked about sleep tracking and the student took the ball and ran with it, returning for check-in three weeks later with their sleep “diary.” They reported that sleep deficit nights were followed by low-to-dysregulated mood days. This was a big aha exercise for the student. While a sleep diary is hard to initiate during finals week, it is exactly the right time to share with your student this anecdote. Best of luck to your students on final and we hope you have a peaceful and sweet break. 

Allen Choi, Wellness Coordinator
Casey Sasner, Intake Specialist

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

College & Career

Monday, Dec 14 from 7-8pm - Sophomore Student/Parent College Check-in
Join Acalanes College & Career Advisor Wendy Reicher for an informal check-in regarding college planning for sophomores. Learn about summer opportunities, Naviance overview, College & Career website resources, and more! 

• Register for the meeting using this NEW link. Log in via your student’s AUHSD email account. The meeting will not be recorded but the materials will be available for anyone who can’t make it.

For Juniors: Upcoming College Planning Academy Sessions
Students use Ms. Reicher’s Zoom link to attend. 

• Wednesday, Jan 13: Things to Do
• Wednesday, Jan 20: About Me/Personal Assessments
• Wednesday, Jan 27: Building Your List

Assistance League of Diablo Valley Scholarships
This philanthropic program of Assistance League Diablo Valley aids students with college expenses based upon their need, school/community activities, and grade point average. Applicants must be residents of Contra Costa County, California.

AAUW Scholarship Application Opportunity
$2000 awarded to a Senior woman who demonstrates a sustained commitment to community service as well as a grade point average of at least 3.0. Apply now!

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:

• Career Exploration
• Alternatives after High School
• Fall CCC Newsletter for updates!

Freshman College Planning
Sophomore College Planning
Junior College Planning
Senior Checklist

• CCC Website 
• Follow us on Instagram: @acalanesccc
• Facebook Page for Students Have your senior or junior join the College and Career Student FB page 

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

Counseling

Senior Transcripts
Seniors who need official transcripts for college apps due Jan 1 should order them on the webstore before winter break. Documents will be sent electronically through Naviance whenever possible. Please contact Mrs. Finn with questions. Students can review unofficial transcripts in Aeries.

Friday, Dec 18 End of First Semester
Official transcripts will not be updated until after the winter break. Mid-year reports (transcripts) with first semester grades will be available the second week of January.

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

While our school district moves ahead with comprehensive plans for a return to in-person instruction using a hybrid learning model, other districts around the state have not been able to agree to do so. Now a group of state legislators, including Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, D-Orinda, have proposed a bill requiring every school district to physically return to school in stages once that district has returned to the red tier. The bill is particularly focused on the huge numbers of English learners and low-income, foster, and homeless students who have fallen behind during distance learning. California Assembly leaders press for all districts to resume in-school teaching in the spring