Parent Newsletter #9: 9/19/25

Website | Phone: (510) 594-2626

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

Parent Newsletter: Archives | Parent Club

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,

I am excited that we are on the eve of Spirit Week that kicks off next week. We invite our students to pick a day or partake every day in the daily theme leading up to the rally on Friday and subsequent game that evening. Next Saturday (9/27) will be the Homecoming Dance. More information is below.

We also have a lot of information in this newsletter so we invite our parents community to take a quick glance at all the items and then go deeper on articles that are more relevant. Enjoy the last few days of summer as we usher in fall this Monday.

Lastly, we have shared a calendar of important holidays and celebrations with staff. We invite our students or parents to reach out to their teacher if a major assignment or exam is scheduled on one of these days. While it may not always be possible to move the schedule for a whole class, we believe our teachers will work with families to ensure your child's success around these conflicts.

Warmly,

Dr. Yoshihara

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

September 22-26: Homecoming Week

September 26: Homecoming Rally (during Academy; special schedule adjacent)

October 4: PreACT at PHS

October 4: Oktoberfest (more info below)

October 5: PUSD Rainbow Connections (11-12:30pm, Piedmont Park)

October 8: Financial Aid Night (6-8pm, AHT)

October 18: PSAT at PHS

November 1: Day of the Dead Celebration (5-7pm, Student Center & Amphitheater)

At the school board meeting on September 10, the Piedmont Education Foundation (PEF) proudly presented a giant check for $4,116,427 to PUSD. This record-breaking grant represents a year of dedicated fundraising and highlights the incredible support from our community.

94% of this grant directly funds the people who make Piedmont schools exceptional: our classroom teachers, librarians, paraeducators, classroom aides, intervention specialists, technology coordinators, counselors, nurses, psychologists, athletics staff, and special education professionals.

This year’s Giving Campaign launched on Tuesday. PEF encourages everyone to keep the momentum going at PiedmontEdFoundation.org/donate.

We have confirmed with Berkeley City College our Dual Enrollment courses for Spring 26. We are excited to let you know that we have two courses that we are offering:

• Math 3E: Linear Algebra. In this course, students will study linear equations, vectors, matrices, and vector spaces, and their associated linear transformations.
• Instructor: Professor Parasiuk-Zasun (same as Mach 3C)
• Dates of Instruction: January 21-May 15
• Final Exams: Week of May 18-23
• Units: 3
• Meeting Times: W/F: 1:20-2:35 pm
• Pre/Co-requisite: AP Calculus AB, AP Calculus BC, Math 3E
• Instruction during breaks: TBD
• Business 45: Small Business Management. This course will provide an overview of the factors involved in starting or growing a business: Business plan development; marketing, sales, and promotional strategies; financial management and forecasting techniques; human resources management; and information systems management.
• Instructor: Professor Langford
• Dates of Instruction: January 20-May 14
• Final Exams: Week of May 18-23
• Units: 3
• Meeting Times: T/Th: 2:05-3:20 pm
• Pre/Co-requisite: Financial Literacy recommended
• During President’s week (2/16-20) and Piedmont’s Spring break (4/6-10) no in-person classes will be held, but students will be expected to complete work asynchronously. On March 24 and 31, class will run from 2:30-3:45 pm.
• During PCCD’s spring break (March 30-April 3) no in-person classes will be held, but students will be expected to complete work asynchronously.

Students should see their counselors to sign up for either/both of these courses. Please note that these are college-level courses, are all weighted, and do not apply against the credit limit defined in the Alt Credits Policy.

Homecoming dance tickets are now on sale for $10 in the IC school store. Tickets will be $15 if purchased at the door. The dance is from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm. Students will not be allowed to leave until 9:00 pm. Guest Dance passes are available in the front office. If students brings an outside guest, they must submit the form and pay for a ticket by Friday, 9/26. We still need a few parent volunteers! See messages from the parent club for how to sign-up.

The test orders have been placed! Students who have registered will receive direct emails next week with logistics and test set-up information. See Ms. Low or Mr. Marik with questions after you have received this email.

PHS Arts is thrilled to partner with local Piedmont artist Will Mouat in support of our incredible student artists! From September 17 through October 5, when you make a $150 donation to the PHS Arts Materials Fund, you’ll receive an archival giclée print by Will Mouat — a beautiful piece of art and a meaningful way to support the next generation of Piedmont artists. Please visit this website for details and donation information.

The Piedmont community's support of the Visual Arts has always been strong, and we are deeply grateful for it. Your contribution helps ensure our students have access to the materials they need to learn, grow, and create. Our current kiln has served PHS Arts faithfully for over 9 years, but it's finally reached the end of the line, the cost to repair it now exceeds the cost to replace it. Our goal? To see 30 of Will’s beautiful, posters proudly displayed throughout Piedmont — each one supporting the future of visual arts at PHS. The first $3000 in donations will go toward buying a new PHS kiln, and any amount in addition to that will be shared by the arts departments at all grade levels.

Let’s kick off the school year together!

When: Thursday, October 16 · 6:30–8:30 pm

Where: 51st & Tel

5018 Telegraph Ave. @ 51st St.

Casual attire

The owners are happy for us to bring in food—you can order pizza from Pizzaiolo or delicious Ethiopian from next door. Beverages available for purchase.

Come out and join us - we hope to see you there!

Hosted by: Julia Ruthven, Amelie Kappes, Susan Fizzell & Ramya Srinivasen

AP Test Ordering will go live in the next two weeks. Students must indicate in their College Board profile if they are taking the test AND pay for the test through the IC store. More details to come.

Any student taking an AP exam or any of the SAT exams must create a College Board account. Directions can be found here. We encourage students to use a personal email address so they can access their account after graduating high school. If a student has already made an account with their school email, they should update the email address for their account. DO NOT make a second account. Students should see Mr. Marik if they have any questions or can call College Board directly.

College Board's Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) provides approved testing accommodations for the PSAT, SAT, and AP exams. Students work with their school's SSD coordinator to request accommodations through SSD Online, College Board's online management system. The process involves the school submitting the request with documentation of the student's disability and the need for accommodations. Once approved, the student can use these accommodations on College Board exams throughout high school.

How to Request Accommodations

1. Contact your school's SSD Coordinator:

   Each school has a designated SSD coordinator, such as a special education coordinator or guidance counselor, who serves as a liaison with College Board.

2. Submit the Request:

   The SSD coordinator uses the online system, SSD Online, to submit accommodation requests for the student.

3. Provide Documentation:

   The student's parents/guardians must consent to the request, and the school provides appropriate documentation of the student's disability and how it impacts their ability to take the test.

4. Track the Status:

   The SSD coordinator can use SSD Online to track the status of the accommodation request.

   
   

Please email Chris Hartford, if you want to request official accommodations on College Board exams. chartford@piedmont.k12.ca.us.

All student chromebooks feature a web content filter that works at school and at home. Unlike many student phones, the chromebooks run a CIPA (Children's Internet Protection Act) compliant filter that does a good job blocking students from inappropriate content, including pornography, obscenity, gambling and other types of undesirable content. Additionally our filter blocks access to many non-educational resources to help reinforce the devices' use as a tool for school. Of course, no filter is perfect, and interpretations of "appropriate" content differ, and the internet is an ever-growing landscape where new sites are created everyday.

In addition to the filter already at work on your child's school issued chromebook, we also have a tool that provides parents with more control over the school issued chromebook after school hours. The GoGuardian Parent App gives parents and guardians the ability to see their child's browsing history, turn off their child's internet access at any time after school hours, and/or block specific sites, among other things. Of course-- this only applies to activity on the school chromebook.

To access the app, please follow the below instructions:

1. Download the app

1. Download via Apple Store

2. Download via Google Play Store

2. After the app is successfully downloaded and installed, open it up and enter the email address you have provided to the school (the address that bulletins, etc. get sent to).

3. Login/Check Email: Check your email on your phone for a link to log in to the app. Tap the "Verify your email", and it will take you straight to the app. Note: If you don't have access to your email through the device you used to log in, tap on "Login with verification code", and copy and paste the verification code from the email into the app.

If you have any questions, please reach out to asaville@piedmont.k12.ca.us.

More information about the service can be found here: GoGuardian Parent for Guardians.

Step by step instructions for setting up access can be found here: Getting Started with GoGuardian Parent.

Sun Oct 5, 11-12:30 pm. Join us for PUSD’s first LGBTQ+ Family & Staff Meet Up - Rainbow Connections. Come join us in Piedmont Park to meet and connect with other LGBTQ+ families in PUSD. This event is open to all parents/guardians and staff (and their kids!) within PUSD who identify as LGBTQ+.

Our families are fantastic, and I notice from time to time donations of items that may not be used anymore. I am reaching out to see if any of our families may have an extra keyboard or two that they would consider donating to a great cause. We have two distinct needs for keyboards:

1. Our World Languages program does a singing competition each year, twice a year. Our students often like to have music accompany their performance and a keyboard is a staple of this performance.
2. Our music program is growing and with multiple pianists in some of our classes, we could use an additional keyboard.

If this is something you may have or know someone who may be able to help, please reach out to me so I can verify if the item matches the need of our teachers. Thanks so much.

During Office Hours Academies, you can:

RECEIVE TUTORING SUPPORT

If you want peer support in IM1, IM2, IM3, biology or chemistry (more subjects coming soon) TAG Mr. Ortak for Wednesdays in Rm 127 and Ms. Branisa on Fridays in the library in Responsive Scheduler.

PROVIDE TUTORING SUPPORT

If you want to be a peer tutors in IM1, IM2, IM3, biology or chemistry (more subjects coming soon) and earn community service hours, send an email to peertutoring@piedmont.k12.ca.us for sign-up details AND tag Mr. Ortak for Wednesday in rm 127 and Ms. Branisa on Fridays in the library

IN RESPONSIVE SCHEDULER::

Scroll down to Peer Tutoring and tag the appropriate teacher and day.

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

I wanted to take a moment to share the Commended Students on the 2024 PSAT. This is the next 34,000 students and are also among the top scorers in the nations. Along with the above, they are in the top 50,000 overall student. This is a great accomplishment and I wanted to recognize each of them below. Congratulations to all of these scholars!

• Alex Chin
• Cassie Colby
• Audrey Dickinson
• Julian Gird
• Sam Huynh
• Kate Jumper
• Niko Kalamas
• Darcy McKee
• Nate McKenzie
• Petro Papahadjopoulos
• Luck Peterson
• Olive Reining
• Noah Sohn
• Kalyani Spieckerman
• Naomi Treichler
• Nate Welch
• Jerry Jialin Yu

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)

Thank you to everyone who attended our September PHS Parents' Club meeting this morning. We had a great turnout and had to add chairs and make extra copies of our handouts. Special thanks to PHS student Sydney Olsen (ASB Co-President), Dr. Hawn, Ms. Black, Dr. Yoshihara, and Mr. Small for joining us.

Some parents who attended the August Parents' Club meeting provided feedback that Friday mornings were not easy to attend. They asked us to consider nighttime and Zoom meetings. To be responsive, and to welcome and encourage greater participation and involvement from a wider group of parents/families, we are changing the October meeting to nighttime on Monday, October 20, 7:00-8:30pm, and the November 14 meeting to Zoom (still Friday morning). Please join us!

REVISED 2025-2026 Meeting Dates, 9:00-10:30am in the Alan Harvey Theater Lobby (unless specified below)

• August 15
• September 19
• October 20, 7:00-8:30 pm
• November 14, Zoom only
• December 12
• January 16
• February 13
• March 20
• April 17
• May 15

Have a lovely weekend,

Sally Baack and Dana Lung

Co-Presidents, PHS Parents' Club 2025-2026

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

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.

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:

Wednesday, October 15: 7:00-8:30 pm

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 .

• Kudos to our PEF reps at the kickoff last Tuesday: Charlotte, Cindy, Sara, Cortney, Dana, and Kim.