Parent Newsletter #8: 9/12/25

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

2025-26 School Profile | Student Handbook

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

Dear Highlander Families,

What a week! I mean that in an awesome acknowledgement to all that is going on at the high school. From labs, to presentations, to debates, to literary analysis, we had something for everyone. Well, PR1 ends today and grades will be out next week. We encourage our students to stay focused and maintain a healthy balance between academics, activities, and mental breaks.

We have our first home football game tonight so I should be easy to spot in my red, white, and blue. I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend.

Warmly,

Dr. Yoshihara

September 12: PR1 Ends

September 15: School Site Council (3:40-4:40, ST 117)

September 16: Giving Campaign Launch Day (8:00-8:30, PHS)

September 17: AC Registrar of Voters (Lunch in main walkway)

September 19: New Student Lunch (Lunch, Rm 203-Ms. Seto)

September 19: Parent Club Meeting (9 am, AHT Lobby)

September 21: 27th Annual Harvest Festival (11-3 pm, Piedmont Park)

September 22-26: Homecoming Week

September 26: Homecoming Rally (during Academy)

October 4: PreACT at PHS

October 4: Oktoberfest (more info below)

October 18: PSAT at PHS

Next Tuesday, PEF will be having their launch day for The Giving Campaign. Please feel free to come on by, honk your horn, or just give a big "thumbs up" as you drive by our school that morning. As this is their 50h Anniversary, it will be very special.

Are you new to PHS and never attended a school in our district before? We would like to welcome you to our Highlander family and help you connect with friends, teachers, and all things great at our school. Please come next Friday (9/19) to Ms. Seto's room (203) at lunch for camaraderie, team building, food, and fun!

Please reach out to Grace or Dahlia for more information.

The next Parents' Club meeting will take place on Friday, September 19, at 9:00am in the Alan Harvey Theater lobby. We have a great lineup of guests: Superintendent Dr. Jennifer Hawn, Athletic Director Tyler Small, and English teacher and WASC coordinator Beth Black. We welcome all parents/guardians of PHS students to our meetings and hope you will attend. Here is the agenda:

PHS Parents' Club Meeting - September 19, 2025, 9:00-10:30am

Alan Harvey Theater Lobby

Agenda

III. Administrative Staff Reports

A. Dr. Yoshihara

B. Mr. Marik

IV. WASC Accreditation - Ms. Black

V. Topic of Interest: PUSD Outlook for 2025-2026 - Dr. Hawn

VI. Topic of Interest: Athletics - Mr. Small

VII. Budget: Revised Statement of Activities - Mr. Sidbury

VIII. Announcements/Reminders

A. Changes to October and November Meetings

B. Library Volunteers

C. 9/27 Homecoming Dance Volunteers

D. School Calendar Survey

E. Accepting Ideas for Reserve Spending

F. Arts Advocates

We look forward to seeing you next week!

Have a wonderful weekend,

Sally Baack and Dana Lung

Co-Presidents, PHS Parents' Club 2025-2026

We wanted to let our families know that Peer Tutoring is starting up again on Wednesday, September 17. This will take place on regular academy days.

• On Wednesdays, Academy will take place with Mr. Ortak in Rm 127
• On Fridays, Academy will take place with Ms. Branisa in the Library.

This program allows students to work with another student who is familiar with the subject matter. Please request the respective teacher if you want to take part in this opportunity. Please reach out to Mr. Marik if you have additional questions.

Spirit Week and Homecoming is just around the corner. We are soliciting our parents to help at this event. It is well attended (over 500 students last year) and is a lot of fun. The event will be held in the gym from 7-9 with shifts from:

• 6:30-7:30 pm: Volunteers for ticket table
• 7-8 pm: Chaperones Shift 1
• 8-9 pm: Chaperones Shift 2

Please sign up here. Thanks in advance.

The Wellness Center needs your help with donations of allergen free granola bars for students. These delicious goodies help make the Wellness Center a warm and welcoming place.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C044EA9AD2EA1FC1-57876095-wellness#/

You can drop the items off anytime during school hours of your selected week (preferably on Monday) 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.

Take care,

The Wellness Center Support Committee

I wanted to share that not only are our students great on the sportsfield and in the classroom, some are amazing performers on nationally recognized exams. In this case, we have 6 students who qualify as national merit semifinalists based on their PSAT performance in their junior year.

Test takers who score in the top 1% of the PSAT become Semifinalists, a significant accomplishment. Each year the NMSC awards semifinalist status to around 16,000 high school students.

Here are our National Merit Semi-Finalists who may go on to compete for the scholarship and become a National Merit Finalist.

• Milo Bakshi
• Miles Kim
• Athena Li
• Maddox Ma
• Aidan Patty
• Nathan Tuan

The Harvest Festival is one of Piedmont’s most anticipated events of the year…and it simply wouldn’t be possible without the help of our volunteers. Help out on our “Green Team”, the Edibles Contest, Watermelon Eating Contest or the general event. Morning and afternoon shifts are available.

Contact Recreation Supervisor Eva Phalen to volunteer at the event.

Do you have these PUSD Google Calendars ADDED to your PUSD Google Calendars?

1. PHS Events Calendar - Click ADD Google Calendar in bottom left corner
2. PHS/MHS Bell Schedule - Click ADD Google Calendar in bottom left corner
3. PHS/MHS Academy Schedule -- Click ADD Google Calendar in bottom left corner

OR ADD ALL THREE CALENDARS from the PHS website Calendar page
----> Click the "+" at the bottom right of the embedded Google Calendar.

Forty year veteran Acalanes High School teacher and nine year Mock Trial Coach Larry Freeman will take the stand as PHS Mock Trial Coach for the 2026-7 season.

Freeman, a Rhetoric Major at UC Berkeley and informal pre-law student with his sights set on becoming a prosecuting attorney, ultimately answered a deep seated calling to teaching which ultimately led him to attend Cal's School of Education.

The Cal Bear who graduated with High Honors, holds three secondary teaching credentials in Social Studies, English enhanced by professional Journalism experience.

Freeman takes the gavel from past PHS Mock Trial Coach, Hillary Freeman, his daughter, now in her sixth year as a Highlander Social Studies teacher.

"PHS Mock Trial has a powerful, inspirational ethos of student leadership from veteran members, and I am excited to help channel that energy and esprit de corps to carry on a program designed to let the kids have fun in a powerful immersion learning environment," said Freeman.

"We want to get as large a group of student members as possible to be a part of this special program, including ninth graders. I am looking towards the PHS parent community to also become active and engaged team supporters and fans," he added.

"To be honest, watching a Mock Trial in action in a County Courthouse setting rivals or surpasses conventional student drama or sporting events. You have to see one to believe it, and it's amazing how kids can internalize the learning and literally take it to court.

It is a high impact character and critical thinking skills builder. Plus, it's like living in a mystery story where we get to develop our own plot lines and twists," he said.

Tryouts start soon. Please reach out to Heiko for more information.

Well, our first orders have arrived, and we are delivering them to our students and families. With sports well underway and Spirit Week fast approaching, this may be a great time to consider PHS Spirit Wear. You can purchase a variety of items in the IC Store. You can wear these on Friday or any day you like.

Dear PHS Families,

By now you should all have access to our Learning Management System, Schoology. If you had logged in to a parent account in Schoology prior to this year, you will be able to access Schoology the same way you have in the past. If you are a new parent to PHS or have not accessed Schoology in the past, this week you should have received an email from Schoology with information that includes your username and temporary password, as well as a link that will bring you where you need to go to access Schoology. If you have questions about accessing your account on Schoology, please reach out to Adam Saville (asaville@piedmont.k12.ca.us).

Once you have logged into Schoology, click on your name in the top right hand corner. You should get a drop-down menu that includes your child's name. When you click on their name, you'll then get access to their class information in Schoology, including updates, assignments, and grades. Our school uses Schoology to provide a central location for homework assignments (and digital submissions), grades, class activities, interactive discussions, announcements, and more. The flexible system provides one place for all students, teachers and parents to go for day-to-day classroom information. For more on what you can access when viewing your child's activity in Schoology, click HERE

We wanted to thank all our families for supporting our teachers on BTSN yesterday. We had great attendance and so many great questions.

I also wanted to do a shout out to our counseling team, Chris Hartford, Amanda Carlson, and Michelle Huang; for their willingness to share important information with our new families at the start of the night.

For families who were not able to make it and would like to review the presentations, you may do so at the link below. Thanks again for a great school-wide event!

BTSN Video (Large file--2.97 GB, may need to be downloaded)

We are pleased to announce that the PHS Parents' Club website has been redesigned and revamped, and now resides within the Piedmont High School website for your convenience and easy access. Check out the recently updated pages with dynamic info on meeting resources (dates, agendas and minutes), how to get involved (signups for food service and library), and the programs/activities that we support. Huge kudos and thanks to Parents' Club Communications lead Nicki Gilbert for directing and coordinating this effort with PHS staff technology coordinator Jana Branisa.

Our next Parents' Club meeting will be on Friday, September 19, at 9:00am in the Alan Harvey Theater lobby. Please join us!

Have a great weekend,

Sally Baack and Dana Lung

Co-Presidents, PHS Parents' Club 2025-2026

Class of 2027, your peers need to hear from you. Please take a few moments to complete this Junior Class Survey. Make an impact, use your voice and vote! Thanks from your class reps!

Mehrad Malekpour, Junior Class Vice President

Colin Amen, Junior Class President

Junior Class Survey

All PHS and MHS students are invited to audition for the musical “Grease”. The audition window closes on September 15.

Auditions are open to all students enrolled in Piedmont High School or Millennium High School. Online audition submissions are due on Tuesday, September 15 by 10:00 p.m., with callbacks scheduled for Thursday, September 18 at 4:00 p.m.

See the GREASE Audition Info Packet for full info.

Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey wrote the book, music and lyrics for this rollicking musical evoking the look and sound of the 1950s. Famous songs include “Summer Nights,” “Greased Lightnin',”and “Shakin’ at the High School Hop”.

Mark your calendar for “Grease” performances Thursday, January 29, 7:00 p.m., Friday, January. 30, 7:00 p.m., Saturday, January. 31, 7:00 p.m., and Sunday, February. 1, 4:00 p.m.

Contact amoorhead@piedmont.k12.ca.us for more information.

Many of you have already completed this required task. Well done! About 152 of you still need to take the digital citizenship quiz. You will find the quiz link in your All Student Schoology Course. You must score 80% or better to pass. You can retake the quiz until you pass. You have until Sunday, September 14th to pass it. You will receive a reminder email if you have not taken or passed the quiz. If you have questions, email jbranisa@piedmont.k12.ca.us

We would like to announce a "Save the Date" for the 57th Annual Bird Calling Contest for March 20, 2026 [date corrected]. Ms. Sally Baack has graciously agreed to host this event again. Now that she has done it once and has a head start, we know this year's event will be even more amazing. Stay tuned for more information in the months ahead.

We've updated the PHS website for this year and added some NEW pages too.

1. Fall 2025 Master Schedule
2. The 25-26 Student Handbook - as a searchable Google Doc
3. PHS Parents' Club page - NEW and improved - and hosted on the PHS website
4. New Community Service Tracker - How to Log into the NEW MobileServe tracker
5. Updated Concurrent Enrollment - requirements and application
6. C&CC Current Newsletter - AND link to archived newsletters at the bottom of the web page
7. PUSD Wellness Center - staff bios and appointment request forms
8. Individual staff emails updated in department pages under "Academics & Programs"

Questions can be directs to Jana Branisa.

Calling all teens and their parents! Get your volunteer hours in at PEF’s Harvest Festival Carnival on 9/21 by signing up for a 2-hour slot below.

The 27th Annual Harvest Festival is around the corner and the Piedmont Education Foundation (PEF) is looking for lots of hands to help run the carnival at the Harvest Festival on 9/21 in Piedmont Park. The Carnival is not only a fun, community building way to spend a Sunday – it’s also one of the critical ways the Piedmont Education Foundation (PEF) raises funds for the elementary schools. Last year’s carnival and scarecrow silent auction raised $28K to help fund theater, music, and counseling programs at Beach, Wildwood, and Havens. Be a part of the magic of giving back to our amazing elementary schools!

• ADULT Carnival Volunteers click here

• TEEN Carnival Volunteers click here

Our Parent Club is seeking volunteers for our library. This will allow our students a safe space to stay during the day, primarily when they have open periods.

1. Please sign up here to indicate your availability.
2. Volunteers need to be fingerprinted via Livescan. The attachment is below. We cannot reimburse for the cost which is estimated to be between $70 and $100.
3. Your general role is to supervise students ensuring they are not disruptive and following library rules (e.g. no eating).
4. Please reach out to Karen (karenabird@gmail.com) if you have any questions.

Love Instagram, TikTok, or making content? Want to build your résumé and support Piedmont schools? This could be for you.

✨ What you’ll do:

• Create posts & short videos for IG, TikTok, and FB

• Cover school & community events

• Track what’s working (hello, analytics 📊)

• Help grow PEF’s reach while repping our mission
  
  

✨ Why apply?

• Only 2-3 hours per week (flexible around school)

• Résumé builder from real-world experience in marketing & communications

• Learn how nonprofit organizations connect communities

• Build your creative portfolio with posts, stories, and videos you can show off

• Gain mentorship in branding, analytics, and strategy with the PEF staff

• Be part of a mission that matters

✨ What we’re looking for:

• Current PUSD student in 11th or 12th grade

• Creative, reliable, outgoing, and interested

• Photography, video, and Canva skills (or other editing platforms)

• Knowledgeable about Piedmont schools
  
  

📩 Apply by September 12: Email info@piedmontedfoundation.org with your résumé, social media post examples, and a “video cover letter” telling us about yourself and what you think you can do for PEF.

Help us tell the story of Piedmont schools 💜

Class of 2029! We will be meeting with all 9th graders from Tuesday 9/02/2025-Friday 9/19/25 for an introduction meeting with your counselor. During this meeting, we will introduce ourselves, explain our role as their counselor, and begin to get to know your student. We will share with them school resources and provide information about aspects of high school life. Students may need to miss part of a class and will be responsible for any missed content.

Parents and guardians who don't want to miss out on that information can hear it during our Back to School Night! We will be holding a presentation for parents in the Theater from 6:00-6:30. Hope to see you there!

Community members are invited to a Technology Advisory meeting on Monday, September 8th at 3:45pm. The focus this year will be developing a new Technology Plan for the district.

Please let us know you are coming on the registration form so we can plan for in-person and remote participants.

What: District Technology Advisory meeting

When: 9/8/25, 3:45-5:00pm

Where: Havens Library or via Google Meet

What is PPN?

The Piedmont Parents Network (PPN) is a parent-run organization that holds monthly meetings to provide parents with the opportunity to meet, connect and discuss issues affecting their child, the school, and our community. Parents participate in monthly discussions that are facilitated by trained parent volunteers who help ensure that conversations are held with mutual respect and discretion. There are PPN groups for 6th to 12th grade, and all parents of students at PHS/PMS/MHS are welcome - there are no membership dues - just RSVP and show up!

When are the next meetings?

12th Grade:

Tuesday, September 23: 7:30-9:00 pm

Facilitators: Sara Ironside, Jen Ferguson

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

11th Grade:

Thursday, September 25: 7:00-8:30 pm

Facilitator: Kristen Brett

RSVP: kbrett@srvusd.net - also let us know if you are open to hosting!

10th Grade

Next Meeting Date: Coming Soon!

Facilitators: Sarah Puckett, Maggie Mittan

RSVP: sarahbeamish@hotmail.com or maggie.mittan@gmail.com to be added to the 10th grade PPN email list.

9th Grade:

Thursday, September 18: 8:45-10:15 am

Facilitators: Judy Lin, Yoko Ichikawa, Anne Hawkins

RSVP: hawkins42@gmail.com for location information

Looking forward to seeing you!

Coffee, Cars & Cops is back! Please join the Piedmont Police Department for this exciting annual event on Saturday, September 20th, 2025, from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM in front of the Piedmont Police Department. Please bring your family, friends, and anyone with an incredible exotic or classic vehicle. The community loves to see them on display!

To participate or show a vehicle, sign up with Ofc. Tyler Petit at coffeecarscops@piedmont.ca.gov and provide your vehicle make/model/year/color.

I’m looking forward to another amazing event with the community! See you there!

Thank you!!

Officer T. Petit #116

Piedmont Police Department

Boosters largest fundraiser Oktoberfest is set for Saturday October 4, 4-9PM at the Community Hall (same setup as last year). Tickets can be purchased at PiedmontOktoberfest.com .

• Huge Thank You's to Makers for their generation donation of $5K to our AP Physics program for lab equipment!
• Shout Out to Peter W for joining the "lunch" team at PHS. While not as regular as Dennis, he is quickly becoming a familiar face and building great connects with our students!