Parent Newsletter #32: 3/27/26

Website | Phone: (510) 594-2626

Location: 800 Magnolia Ave, Piedmont, CA 94611
Instagram: @piedmonthigh

Bell Schedule (Regular) | Library Schedule

Road to Graduation | Athletic Newsletter

College & Career Newsletter | Yearbook Info

Nutrition Services Newsletter

2025-26 School Profile | Student Handbook

Principal: Dr. Yoshihara | Asst. Principal: Mr. Marik

Dear Highlander Families,

Well, that's a wrap for March. We are just a few days from spring break and then it will really get crazy busy. We have two more days of state testing on Tuesday/Wednesday with a similar special schedule. After the break, we'll be just a few weeks from AP testing and then all the end-of-year events will begin. I can't believe it!

Today was Career Day and it went very smoothly. Thanks to Ms. ML and Mr. Marik for their leadership in this space. We had a wider range of speakers and preliminary feedback from the event was very positive. Have a great weekend!

Warmly,

Dr. Yoshihara

March 31: Planning for Career After High School (7-8:30 pm, AHT)

March 31-April 1: State Testing (Special Schedule)

April 17: Cap & Gown Distribution (Brunch and Lunch)

April 20: State Test (Special Schedule)

April 25: Senior Prom (6-11 pm, TBD)

Are you interested in advocating locally, supporting public education in Piedmont, and earning a special award to help your college applications?

Then this is an exciting opportunity for you and your friends.

Mr. D, Assistant Superintendent, is coordinating local advocacy in support of Measure H to support Piedmont Schools. Measure H is on the Piedmont ballot in June and it is critical to support our amazing schools.

Student participants of any high school grade will earn the PUSD State Seal of Civic Engagement for transcript and diploma purposes. Students will also receive a special recognition award at the May 20th Piedmont Board meeting.

Get in on the opportunity. Meet with Mr. D and local leaders during lunch next Tuesday, March 31st at 1:30pm in the Alan Harvey lobby. Lunch will be provided to all attendees.

More information about Measure H can be found HERE.

Senior Prom is on Saturday April 25th from 6-11. This year’s theme is Casino Royale - there will be dinner (with gluten-free and vegetarian options), dancing, casino games (obv.) and other fun activities. Transportation is included. Formal attire or theme-related.

Tickets are $250 per person and are available for purchase at the Piedmont Store.

Our goal is 100% class participation. Full and partial scholarships available for ALL events. Please note that scholarships are for PHS/MHS students only. Scholarships are not available for event guests.

To request a scholarship, please fill out this form. If you have any questions, please contact PHS Vice Principal Joe Marik at jmarik@piedmont.k12.ca.us. All requests are confidential.

The Prom Committee,

Sacha Grippando, Carrie Lee, Nadja Olsen, Dawn Riordan, Melissa Wilk & George White

Please join us for the next Parents' Club meeting on Friday, April 17, at 9:00 am in the Alan Harvey Theater lobby. The topic of interest will be the PUSD Wellness Center and our featured guest will be Clinical Supervisor Alisa Crovetti.

Also, we are recruiting for next year's Parents' Club board and need both new and experienced parent volunteers to lead. Please contact us if you are interested.

Have a lovely weekend,

Sally Baack and Dana Lung

Co-Presidents, PHS Parents' Club 2025-2026

A shout out to our 9th graders and their Academy and CS teachers, who worked on an AI literacy project as part of our "Month of AI" programming. The challenge, to design an 11"x17" poster that uncovers the "hidden" AI in a technology we use, often every day. The poster had to identify the tech, its purpose, and - most importantly - the potential benefits and challenges the AI brings to our lives. All students who submitted a poster will be entered into a raffle for a gift card to Mulberry's or Piedmont Avenue's Bubble Tea. Posters are displayed throughout the first and second floors of the STEAM Building. Check them out!

The Month of AI at PHS also included AI-centered educational newsletters emailed to students, staff and families by Stephanie Griffin, Director of Educational Technology. The included articles, videos and resources on the state of AI, as well as links to online AI Literacy activities and mini-courses. Links to all of these resources are available to students in their ALL Student Schoology course.

For all out Bird Calling enthusiasts, the video came out well. It is a large file (>5GB) so it may ask for you to download it. Otherwise, another huge thanks to Sally Baack for keeping this tradition alive. Onto next year's planning, I'm sure.

57th Annual Bird Calling Video: Recorded on 3/20/26

The Bridging the Bay club hosted the French exchange students during lunch on 3/20. Students sat in groups and compared life in France with life here in Piedmont. It was a great event!

Our 10th and 12th grade students will be taking a state survey on Tobacco awareness and use. More information on the survey can be found here. If after reviewing the information you do not want your student to complete the survey, please email Mr. Mark directly.

We are close to finalizing the master schedule which will then move to departments to determine specific teacher assignments. At this stage, counselors will be making adjustments as follows:

• For classes that we do not plan to offer or that over-requested, we will review the alternates that have been listed. If we plan to offer the alternate course, we will make that change for your child. If no alternates are listed or are available, our counselors will be calling in your child to discuss options.
• Seniors will have priority in courses where enrollment is limited. Freshmen will have the lowest priority.
• Our priority is core classes (graduation requirements) and keeping class sizes small.
• As such, students may not get their first (or second) elective choice.

1th Grade State Testing

11th grade students will be completing required state testing on the following dates:

ELA CAASPP - 3/24 and 3/25

Math CAASPP - 3/31 and 4/1

Science CAST - 4/20

Students will need to use their school issued Chromebook for these exams and should plan to bring their charger as well. Students should also bring a pair of plug-in headphones. An email with testing room locations and other test logistics will be sent directly to students.

Our students are well prepared for these exams and 100% of our students taking the test is incredibly important for state accountability and school rating purposes. Please support your student to complete these exams!

9th, 10th, 12th Activities During Testing Days

All other students will be engaging in differentiated activities based on grade.

Adjusted Testing Schedule

The WASC Visiting Committee visited out campus on March 2-4. I have included their final report for your leisure reading. A special Thank You to Beth for yeoman's work over the last several years. We also appreciate all our students and parents who participated in this process. We will not get the term-determination for a few months. I will share that once it is known.

LOCATION: Ellen Driscoll - Havens Elementary

DATE: March 31, 2026

TIME: 7-8:30 PM

This is an invitation to the broader Piedmont community to join award-winning New York Times bestseller Kate Schatz for an engaging Q&A session illuminating her experience as an author, educator, and activist. Through this Q&A we want our community to engage with Kate's story, listen to her perspective, and come to understand that making a difference in the world can look like writing a book, telling a story, or educating others.

Copies of "RAD WOMEN" book series and "DO THE WORK!" will be available for purchase at the event.

Although this event is free, it would help us with planning if you could RSVP using PIEDMONT STORE LINK. We look forward to seeing you there!

Co-sponsored by the Piedmont Affinity Mentors and Trischool DEIB Committees.

Jerry Yu represented the United States at the International Artificial Intelligence Olympiad (IAIO), held in Ljubljana , Slovenia from February 23–27. He was one of only four students selected nationwide to compete as part of Team USA at this prestigious global competition and earned an Honorable Mention for his outstanding performance.

The family would like to express their deep appreciation to all the teachers and counselors at Piedmont High School for giving him the strong academic foundation and tremendous support along the way! Jerry wouldn't have a chance to stand on the stage without the help of his amazing teachers!

At the closing ceremony, John D. Stubbs from the US Embassy in Slovenia attended to support and congratulate Team USA. It is pretty amazing when a student of ours can represent PHS on the world stage. Way to go Jerry!

Did you know that we serve soup at lunch everyday for students. They can get this along with their lunch entree. This along with the salad bar makes for a complete lunch offering for all students. We also have a new fruit in our rotation--Cara Cara Oranges. Lastly, Nutrition Services will try some scratch cooking on March 10th. Come check out their delicious offerings each day. I have included a permanent link in the header of the newsletter as well. It will be updated each month.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is already a quiet part of our daily lives, shaping everything from Siri’s answers to the recommendations we see on Netflix. On March 27th, we joined schools across the country for National AI Literacy Day. This is a nationwide day of action focused on two vital questions: “What is AI?” and “How do we prepare our students to thrive in an AI-enabled world?”

Our Partnership with You: During March we sent out two "AI at Home" emails to parents and two "Student AI Literacy Newsletters" as well, designed to spark curiosity and conversation at your dinner table in the lead up to today's National AI Literacy Day. We hope they supported you and your child in navigating AI safely, ethically, and effectively.

AI at Home Newsletter #1

AI at Home Newsletter #2

The 12th annual Piedmont School Maker Faire on the Piedmont High School campus on Sunday, May 17th at 11am - 3pm! Come celebrate K-12 STEAM education in our community.

Students, parents, teachers, makers of all ages! Our "Call for Makers" is officially open. This event wouldn't be possible without you sharing your projects! Whether you've built a flying robot, crocheted a plushie, created a cardboard arcade game, illustrated a comic, coded an interactive story, grown a hydroponic garden, or your latest experiment or creation, we want to see it. Come share your work or lead a maker activity and inspire our community.

Submissions are due April 30th → Submit your project here

Need a spark? Our website has a bunch of project ideas to get you started. But honestly, the best projects are the ones you're already excited about.

This week's report was run from 2/9-3/13 (4 weeks). 160 students had perfect attendance during this period. This includes:

• No tardies (of any type)
• No absences (of any type)

Congratulations to Declan for such great attendance. Please email the Principal with your Crumbl cookie choice, and I'll personally deliver it to your class.

3/23: 19 tardies to period 1 (2/4/4/9)

3/24: 30 tardies to period 1 (7/5/8/10)

3/25: 16 tardies to period 2 (5/3/4/4)

3/26: 13 tardies to period 1 (5/3/3/2)

3/27: 19 tardies to period 2 (3/6/6/4)

Overall, the daily tardy count was low, although no grade level reached the goal of zero tardies. Let's see if next week proves to be the winning one for one of our grade levels1

We hope you will join us on Tuesday, March 31 for our panel discussion on Planning Your Career After High School. The event will be in the Alan Harvey Theater from 7:00-8:30 pm and will explore which majors matter, the core skills that set students up for success, and how AI is reshaping the job landscape. Here are the dates for our upcoming grade-level meetings:

12th Grade:

Next Meeting: Thursday, April 3: 7:30-9:00 pm

Facilitators: Sara Ironside, Jen Ferguson

RSVP: jen.c.ferg@gmail.com for more information

Upcoming Meetings:

• Tuesday, May 19: 7:30-9:00 pm

11th Grade:

Next Meeting: Thursday, April 23: 7:00-8:30 pm

Please email if you are willing to host.

If you have thoughts, please fill out this form: Google Form for 11 Grade

Facilitator: Kristen Brett

RSVP: kbrett@srvusd.net

10th Grade:

Next Meeting: Tuesday, April 28, 8:00-9:30 pm

Facilitators: Sarah Puckett, Maggie Mittan

RSVP: maggie.mittan@gmail.com for more information

Upcoming Meetings:

• Tuesday, May 26: 8-9:30 pm

9th Grade:

Next Meeting: Friday, April 24: 8:45-10:15 am

Facilitators: Judy Lin, Yoko Ichikawa, Anne Hawkins

RSVP: hawkins42@gmail.com for location information

Upcoming Meetings:

• Thursday, May 21: 7:00-8:30 pm

• A Shout Out to Rachel Y. for sharing her skills (baked treats) with staff. We'll miss you when you graduate!
• Kudos to Abigail J. for being a mentor to our younger students. Your leadership at our school is most appreciated.
• A huge Thank You to Meher and Elena for their contributions at the Climate Literacy presentation on Wednesday. They were amazing!
• Much appreciation to Charli and Alli for representing PHS at the recent SAC meeting. Your collective input was most insightful!
• We couldn't have done it without Judy Lin and Kim Hunter for today's Career Exploration Day. It was so smooth, which is a testament to all the support needed to pull this off for our students. It is getting better each year.