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Week of 1/20 Update
Saturday, Jan 25 DVC Spring Welcome Day for Seniors
Register here. Explore campus, meet instructors, attend workshops. Includes FREE lunch too!Tuesday, Jan 28 “How to Pay for College” Presentation from 6:30-7:30pm in the AHS Library
All grade level parents welcome! Come hear Tim Lenahan, CPA, discuss affording college including 529 Plans, loans, grants and scholarships. Sign up here.Scholarship Opportunity
Scholarships are posted on the board in the CCC so stop by and check for new information. Students with a minimum of a 3.3 GPA and maximum EFC (Estimated Family Contribution) of $20,000 can apply for the Rossmoor Scholarship, a $3,000 award. Applications due by Feb 4. Info available on the Rossmoor Scholarship Foundation Home Page.Seniors
Please update Naviance as you continue to hear results from your college applications. Stop by the CCC to share your successes and add a marble to the jar for each accepted application. When you have committed to your school, you can also make a flag for our board!Juniors
Sign up for academy to learn how to research colleges and start personal assessments. You must attend one academy before setting up a 1:1 appointment. Please stop by the CCC with any questions. -
Parent Ed: Let’s Go to the Movies! An Oscar After-party
Tuesday, Feb 11 Let’s Go to the Movies! An Oscar After-party from 7-8:30pm in the Small Theatre As Audrey Hepburn once said, “Everything I learned, I learned from the movies.” Join us for an enthralling conversation with NYU professor Harry Chotiner as he takes us on a deep dive into 2019 films such as Irishman, Marriage Story, Little Women, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and Parasite. Mr. Chotiner will also touch on how the Academy works, the winners and losers, diversity, movie theatre attendance in the U.S. and more! See you after the Oscars! The Small Theatre/Drama room is located on the Quad at Acalanes. Reserve your spot here.
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Parent Ed: Fostering Resilience in Complex Times
Thursday February 27 from 6:30-8pm in the Acalanes Library. Fostering Resilience in Complex Times with Dr. Dan Peters, Ph.D, Psychologist, Author and Executive Director of Summit Center, will share his wisdom at a presentation you don’t want to miss! The pressure to be successful, get good grades, be a good athlete and develop talents is growing for our children. With it comes the growing parenting pressure to raise children who can compete in the increasingly competitive world. Dr. Dan has devoted his career to the assessment and treatment of children, adolescents, and families in overcoming worry and fear, and learning differences. Reserve your spot here.
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School Nurse
Sleep: The Most Important Variable in Our Health
Periodically it’s important to remind families about the importance of sleep and what parents can do to help support healthy sleep for their children. Research is continually showing that sleep is the most important part of keepinging ourselves healthy on a daily basis and for long term health and wellness. Here are reminders for you to keep in mind:- Your student needs 8-10 hours of sleep per night. Your most important role as a parent is to HELP them with protecting those sleep hours in their daily schedule.*
- Keep technology out of the bedroom during sleep time. This is a really hard one that requires discipline and adjustment for many. But honestly, sleeping with technology is not going to result in restful, nourishing sleep.
*Even if you think that there is not enough time in the schedule for your student to get the sleep they need, take a hard look at how much they are doing and consider prioritizing their schedule, putting sleep at the top.
Adults may want to watch this TedEx talk Sleep Is Your Super Power by Matthew Walker.
Sick Students? Read this article to see the difference between a cold and the flu.
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Co-Associate Principals’ Message
Happy New Year and welcome back Dons!
We hope you had a wonderful and relaxing winter break with friends and families, especially with a true break from school this year. Reflecting on 1st semester successes and challenges has been a priority for us when we closed out the year. We are grateful for the hard work and dedication of our students and staff, as well as the support we have received from our parent community. We will continue to support and show up for our Dons as we are back refreshed and ready to dive into second semester.
The Dons look forward to cheering on our winter sports, our upcoming Breaking Down the Walls program for Sophomores and Juniors, and finishing off the month with Open House. We wish you all the best in 2020 and look forward to a great semester.
Associate Principals,
Andrea Powers & Mike Plant -
APC in Action
Make sure your interested student marks their calendar to join College & Career Advisor Wendy Reicher and Leadership Teacher Katherine Walton for a lunch-time discussion about how students can get involved in their community. Students learn how to apply for the President’s and Acalanes Volunteer Service Awards in the spring. More information can be found here, or email community service. Open to all grades, students bring lunch.
At lunch in the College and Career Office
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Friday, Jan 17: Dons Dialogue
Join us as we kick off 2020 with our first Dons Dialogue of the year. Topics include 2020-2021 course selection process, department updates from English, Social Science and World Language, and results from the English Language Arts Smarter Balance Assessment. As always, parking will be reserved and refreshments will be served. See you there.
From 8:45-10am in the Collaboration Center.
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**NEW** Acalanes Testing Center (ATC) funded by Acalanes Parents Club
A new resource is available on campus. Students may utilize the Acalanes Testing Center, located in the Peer Tutoring Office, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 7:30-8:30am to take missed tests from excused absences or finish an incomplete test. Students may ask their teacher whether or not the ATC is an option for their testing since teachers must pre-approve utilization of the resource. The center provides a valuable alternative to using the Academy period for test taking.
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Thursday, Jan 30: 2020-2021 Course Preview and Open House for Students and Parents
The night is a valuable resource for current Freshmen, Sophomores and Juniors who are mapping out their future courses, as well as an excellent way for incoming 9th grade students to experience all that Acalanes has to offer. It's also a great way to connect with fellow Acalanes parents. Mark your calendars to attend and stay tuned for details.
The schedule is as follows:
- 5:45pm Principal's Welcome for incoming 8th grade families.
- 6:15pm Acalanes Parents Club reception (we'll have refreshments!) in the quad adjacent to Large Gym.
- 6:30-8:00pm Course Preview
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Last Chance to Order Yearbooks!
January 17 is the last day to order yearbooks for the 2019-2020 school year. Go to the AHS web store (under Student Supplies) to place your order now!
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Sports
Here’s an easy way to support our Junior AND Sophomore AHS classes while cheering on our Dons: head to a Girls or Boys Varsity Basketball game and purchase a snack! Thanks to these classes, home basketball games for Girls (Juniors) and home league games for Boys (Sophomores) will feature light concessions where all sales go back to Juniors and Sophomores to help fund their Grad Nights. Head to the gym on Tuesday and Friday this week to watch the Lady Dons and buy a snack to support your AHS Juniors. Everybody wins!
Don’t forget to look at AHS’s January’s Dons Show Up calendar! You’ll find a link to the calendar on the home page of Acalanes High School’s website.
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Wellness Center
With the start of the second semester, we’ve introduced several new policies to support student well-being and engagement in classes as well as developing new support programming by Wellness staff to broaden our reach. The Wellness Center will focus on short-term therapy, meaning 3-5 visits unless there are extenuating circumstances. During each day we will have one period set aside for same-day or same-week appointments. We will also be closed for the first 10 minutes of every period so that students are accounted for during roll call. Students who are in crisis may still go to the counseling office should they have an immediate need. As always, students may be referred by parents, teachers, or peers via this link: wellness referral. We continue to enjoy supporting all the Dons we’ve met so far and look forward to getting to know even more this semester.
Allen Choi, Wellness Coordinator (ext. 7150)
Casey Sasner, Intake Specialist (ext. 7136)
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