Website: https://phs.piedmont.k12.ca.us/
Location: 800 Magnolia Ave, Piedmont, CA 94611
Phone: (510) 594-2626 | Instagram: @piedmonthigh

Parent Newsletter: Archives

2024-25 School Profile | Bell Schedule (Regular)

Road to Graduation | Yearbook Info

College & Career Newsletter | Athletic Newsletter

Principal: Dr. Yoshihara

Assistant Principal: Mr. Marik

Dear Highlander Families,

Well, it is time for Halloween and the welcome of November. I'm not sure I'm a fan of clocks turning back (11/3) and the cold weather, so I'm going to enjoy all the warmth in these last remaining days.

Halloween Movie Night will be on October 30 from 7-9 pm and is open to all students. Come join for spirit, camaraderie, and all things Highlander. Have a fantastic weekend.

Sincerely,

Dr. Yoshihara

October 26: PSAT (9am - 1pm)

October 30: ASB Halloween Movie Night (7-9 pm, Amphitheater)

October 31: Halloween Costume Contest at lunch

November 1: Dia de muertos gather at PHS Breezeway (5-7 pm)

November 4: Lockdown drill (special schedule)

November 5: Election Day--please vote!

November 8: Parent Club Meeting (9-10:30, Alan Harvey Theater)

November 11: Veteran's Day (no school)

Wednesday, 10/30 - Academic Support for all - students can tag their teacher for homework help, study support or assessment questions. Remind your child to tag a teacher in FlexiSched starting Tuesday morning at 8am.

Friday, 11/1 - Academic Support for grades 9, 11 and 12. 10th graders will participate in History of Piedmont Presentation in Alan Harvey Theater.

Hi Senior Families!

If you would like to place a Senior Recognition Ad honoring your senior, please find all the information you need on this flier: Senior Recognition Ad 2025

Discount pricing applies until 10/31/24.

If you have any questions, please email our Yearbook Advisor,

Melanie McCauley (mmccauley@piedmont.k12.ca.us)

The Wellness Center provides allergen free MadeGood granola bars, string cheese and fruit (Cuties are best) for students.

We could use your help with donations.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C044EA9AD2EA1FC1-50731393-wellness#/

You can drop the items off anytime during school hours of your selected week at the Wellness Center, located in the library/30s building at the high school.

Thank you so much for supporting student mental health in our community.

Wellness Center Support Committee

We are in the process of updating Honors Society Eligibility requirements. The requirements have not changed for students in the class of 2025, 2026, and 2027. All requirements are outlined on the website and can be found here.

Starting with the class of 2028, volunteer hour requirements will be as follows:

9th Grade: n/a

These adjustments are in line with hours requirements prior to the pandemic as well as requirements at peer schools. Please reach out to Mr. Marik if you have any questions. More formal details to come.

As marijuana use continues to grow with the presence of dispensaries and general public acceptance, we wanted our parent (and student) community to be aware of the potential harm in today's cannabis. We hope the attached article is a helpful read.

It is almost that time to enjoy our performing arts production. It is not to early to get your tickets now and secure your seat to one of three performance in about a month. We hope you can make it to see some great acting and support our burgeoning theater program! All shows start at 7 pm at the AHT.

Purchase Tickets Here

Please consider helping the PHS/MHS Library by:

Purchasing a book from our Amazon Wish List

OR

The student newsmagazine, TPH, does not have resources this school year to publish our print magazine. Due to a technical glitch in our learning management system at the start of the year with walk through registration, we were only able to sell 39 subscriptions.

Subscriptions to TPH are $60.

We invite our families to support TPH so we can continue this worthwhile experience, including printed publications for our student body, faculty, and greater community. The TPH product can be found under ASB in the school store.

Hello Seniors,

For those of you applying to colleges through the CommonApp, the counselors have an important question.

There is a report that we can upload called the "Optional Report".

This report is used if any of your colleges need to receive the senior year 1st quarter grades.

In order for us to submit this report, you must email your counselor asking us to do this.

If we don't hear from you, we will assume none of your colleges need to see the 1st quarter grades.

Please email us by November 1st.

Thank you so much!

The 3 counselors,

Ms. Carlson

Mr. Hartford

Ms. Hoang

With Halloween just a few weeks away, we wanted to provide some guidance on costumes. While we hope many of you may want to enjoy the spirit of the day, we also want people to feel safe and included. As such, the following is provided as guidance for Halloween at PHS this year:

• Costumes should not cover the face, beyond a typical face mask or hat
• No full face coverage
• Fake weapons of any type are not permitted
• Fake blood is not permitted
• Adult-oriented costumes and costumes that could be deemed offensive should be avoided
• Students showing up in these may be asked to change
• Inflatable costumes should be avoided

Based on responses received from the survey of Additional AP Tests Students Want, we have added the following exams:

• AP Psychology (3AQ444) Just added!
• AP English Language & Composition (M3Y2A3)
• AP Statistics (M9N36N)
• AP Physics C: Mechanics (YRD6LE)
• AP Physics 1: Algebra Based (XREV6E)

If your child wants to sign up for any of the above, follow the instructions provided in the AP Exam Ordering Section in the newsletter and use the Join Codes provided in parenthesis above.

There is still time ...

Interested in taking an exam for a course we don't offer? - Please fill out the survey here. We may offer additional exams if enough students sign-up.

If you have any questions, contact Darlene Low at dlow@piedmont.k12.ca.us or Joe Marik at jmarik@piedmont.k12.ca.us

Upcoming Grade Level Meetings:

9th/10th Grade: November 14, 7:00 - 8:30

Topic: Tech Follow UP

11th Grade: November 21, 7:30 - 9:00

Topic: TBD

12th Grade: November 13, 7:00 - 8:30

Topic: TBD

All parents are invited to join a meeting by contacting their Grade-Level PHS PPN Facilitators.

Rethinking Success: Parenting Teens in a High Pressure World

Tuesday, November 12 from 7:00-8:30pm, at the PHS Student Center

Presented by: Sarah Campbell, LMFT, and Jen Valera, LCSW.

Come listen to experienced therapists who have worked with Piedmont families, to discuss:

• How parents can help teens establish a solid foundation for adulthood
• Parenting adolescents: shifting from micromanager to guide
• How to address the toxic expectation problem some high school kids face

The presentation will be followed by a Q&A session

Jen Valera, LCSW is a psychotherapist who has worked with Piedmont families for over twenty years. She specializes in helping teens and their parents re-find trust and common ground. Her favorite clinical work is debunking toxic social expectations and harmful assumptions, sorting through outdated patterns, and supporting her clients to define for themselves what works best for them - in adolescence, adulthood, work-life, partnering, parenting and aging. In addition to psychotherapy, Jen provides clinical supervision and facilitates clinical consultation groups. For more information go to Piedmontpsychotherapy.com.

Sarah Campbell, LMFT is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with a private practice in Oakland. She has worked primarily with adolescents and families since her start as an Intern at the PHS Wellness Center in 2007-2008. Sarah is certified as a Yoga Instructor with a specialization in Restorative Yoga and completed the Bauman College Nutrition Consultant program in 2021. For more information go to www.sarahcampbellmft.com.

The presentation is being sponsored by the Piedmont Parents Network.

The intention of these presentations is to provide advice and guidance from local experts in adolescent development to parents and guardians so we have the tools we need to best support our children. Our second presentation will be in the spring. This session will focus on the high-school student experience, but everyone is welcome to attend this FREE event regardless of your child's age.

Please RSVP by accepting this Google calendar invite, or by responding to PPNPiedmont@gmail.com. Walk-ins are also welcome. We look forward to seeing you there, and encourage you to join PPN!

The Highlander of the Week is taking a pause as we get the next round of students to honor. Thanks for supporting this effort.

If your student is planning to take an AP exam this spring, please follow the two step ordering process below. The deadline for ordering exams is Friday, November 8th. Exams cost $130 which covers instructional materials, testing materials, proctors, and other costs. Orders placed after November 8th will incur a CollegeBoard imposed $40 late fee.

Step 1 - Log-in to the Infinite Campus School Store and place an order for all exams your student plans to take.

Step 2 - Your student should log-in to their College Board account and indicate which exams should be ordered. Instructions on how to do this can be found here. If you do not complete this step for each exam, an exam will not be ordered! All students should have access to their teacher's AP course page. If students have questions about this, they should contact their teacher.

If you have questions on payment or ordering, please contact our registrar Darlene Low (dlow@piedmont.k12.ca.us)

Interested in taking an exam for a course we don't offer? - Please fill out the survey here. We may offer additional exams if enough students sign-up.

• Kudos to Nick T. for always coming to school with a positive attitude. His fist bumps and spirit embody what it means to be a Highlander.
• Thank you to Juliette and Tyler D. for working the polls this November. Although not quite old enough to vote, they are participating in the political process.
• Shout outs to all those who helps with the board candidate forum on Wednesday
• Our MCs: Hunter, Meher, and Zoe S.
• Our Panelists: Friedje, Kalyani, Gen, Inaya, Stephanie, and Dahlia S.

Have someone you'd like to appreciate? Please use the form below. [late add on 10/25]

Thanks to all those that participated in the Highlander Trivia question last week.

The 2-part question: According to our records how many students took AP exams in 2024 (last school year)? 415 unique students took AP exams last year

According to our records how many AP exams were administered in 2024 (last school year)? 891 AP exams were administered last year.

Congratulations to Theo F. (wow--a repeat winner too!) with guesses of 479 and 986. His combined proximity (15% and 46%, respectively) to both answers was the lowest of the participants. Theo, please come to the office to claim your prize.