Parent Newsletter #15: 10/31/25

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,

It is All Hallow's Eve and we hope you have a safe evening. We also remind our families to roll their clocks back this Sunday, but it's okay if you don't--your child will just be super early on Monday!

We look forward to a productive November. We have two weeks left until PR3. We invite families to Community College Night on November 4 and remind all our eligible students to vote--at least to the Mock Elections on Tuesday at lunch.

Warmly,

Dr. Yoshihara

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

November 2: Daylight Savings Time ends

November 3: Lock Down Drill (Special Schedule)

November 3: Restorative Justice Training (6-8 pm, Havens Library)

November 4: Mock Elections (Quad at lunch)

November 4: Community College Night (6-8 pm, Library)

November 7: Regular deadline for AP Ordering (info below)

November 13: Boosters Meeting (7 pm, Student Center)

November 14: Parent's Club Meeting (9 am via Zoom only)

November 17: Additional College Admissions Workshop (6-8 pm, Library)

December 8: World Languages Singing Competition

December 8: Incoming 10th-12th Grade Course Selection Nigh (6:30 pm, AHT)

Dear PUSD Families: With the government shutdown continuing indefinitely, we are thoughtful about families in our community who are impacted by the loss of government benefits, including SNAP or TANF assistance for food and essential support.

In order to assist families who may have immediate need, we invite parents who would like to donate a grocery store gift card of any amount to the main office of their child’s school. Please place the gift card in an envelope labeled “government shutdown donation.” Our Principals will distribute the gift cards to families in need. We invite donations through November 21st, the Friday before the Thanksgiving week holiday.

We are grateful to the parents and our Board for this creative and real-time support idea. Let us come together during these difficult days to care for each other.

Every fall, Piedmont lawns bloom with purple “Proud Supporter of the Giving Campaign” signs — a visible show of community pride and support for local schools. Each sign represents a family’s contribution to the Piedmont Education Foundation’s Giving Campaign, which funds smaller class sizes, excellent teachers, and vital programs. The signs have become more than a thank-you — they’re a shared symbol of commitment to public education and the collective effort that keeps Piedmont’s schools strong. To join in and receive your lawn sign, make a donation at PiedmontEdFoundation.org/donate by November 2; signs will be delivered by November 14.

Based on your responses to our survey (see link below), we are adding the AP German and AP Psychology tests to our list of exams offered this Spring. If your student is interested in signing up, follow the 2-step process using the following Join Codes. German: YQEAYD Psychology: 47X269

The Deadline for ordering AP exams without incurring a late fee is Friday, November 7th

Ordering AP exams is a 2-step process. Tests will not be ordered unless both steps are completed.

STEP 1 - 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.

STEP 2 - Log-in to the Infinite Campus School Store and place an order for all exams your student plans to take. Note: Join Code no longer needed for this step.

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

We invite our community to the upcoming Restorative Justice (RJ) Training with our two RJ consultants on Monday, November 3rd, from 6:00–8:00 p.m. in the Havens Library.

This training is offered only once a year, and with the integration of RJ into our Student Behavior and Support Matrix. This session will provide practical guidance, language, and structure to support implementation across our schools. Students from the Affinity Mentorship Program will be in attendance to help support the evening.

Our next Parents' Club meeting will be on Friday, November 14, at 9:00am via Zoom only. The change in venue (from the Alan Harvey Theater lobby to Zoom) was in response to a request that some parents may not be able to attend physically on Friday mornings, but may have the flexibility to join remotely. Our featured guest speaker will be Officer Hugo Diaz from the Piedmont Police Department. In next week's bulletin, we will share the Zoom link and the agenda. We hope you will attend.

Happy Halloween and have a fun weekend,

Sally Baack and Dana Lung

Co-Presidents, PHS Parents' Club 2025-2026

Our Parent Club is seeking a few more 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.

We wanted to let families know that we have some Save-the-Dates for course registration for the coming year. Please mark your calendar for these important dates. Much more information is forthcoming as we finalize course catalogs, slide decks, etc.

• December 1: Incoming 9th Grade Orientation Night (Parents): 6:30-8:30 pm, AHT
• December 3: Incoming 9th Grade Course Selection (Students): Academy, AHT
• December 8: Incoming 10th-12th Grade Course Selection (Students & Parents): 6:30-7:30 pm, AHT
• December 8-January 6: Course Selection
• Midnight on January 6: Course Selection closes

Thank you all for supporting your students with being at school and focusing on their classes during the 1st quarter of the year. We are now in our 2nd window of determination which goes from 10/24/25 - 1/19/26. The next official date of determination is 1/12/26. Please note that eligibility for Winter Ball will be based on progress during this time frame. If you have any questions, please reach out to Mr. Marik.

In response to Board direction provided last school year, we are following up in regards to our newly implemented cell phone policy. We need to gather information from our different stakeholder groups (students, parents, and staff) to provide to the Board. This will allow them to give recommendations on future actions that may be warranted in relation to our cell phone policy.

You may get more information about this third-party survey here. We then ask that parents/guardians fill out the survey at the link below. I will also provide the student survey, which your children should fill out. That information was sent as a direct email to them earlier today. We would like all of these surveys to close on November 3. Please reach out if you have any questions.

• Parent Cell Phone Survey
• Student Cell Phone Survey (this was directly emailed to students earlier today)

Restorative Justice (RJ) focuses on building relationships, fostering community, and repairing harm through dialogue rather than punishment. In schools, RJ Circles create safe spaces for students and staff to share, listen, and strengthen trust and belonging. Circle training offers parents the opportunity to learn about circles and become Circle Keepers by exploring the structure and purpose of community-building circles that foster connection and belonging among families.

Join Circle experts Ina Bendich and Cory Wechsler for a Circle Keeper Training & Refresher on Monday, November 3, from 6:00-8:00pm in the Havens Library. Together, we’ll learn simple, meaningful ways to lead circles that build community. Come as you are and leave ready to create spaces where everyone feels seen and heard.

Please RSVP here and see the flyer.

As we continue to monitor attendance, we want to share updates throughout the year as we monitor the impact of our policies and accountability structures. Below find some data for overall attendance from the start of the year until Friday 10/10 and a comparison to the same timeframe last school year. We are particularly happy to see a 2% increase in attendance for our seniors! Thank you to all who are supporting our students to be at school. Higher average daily attendance leads to more time with teachers and more funding for the school.

I have decided to change the way I will calculate the weekly "attendance" winner. I will review all students that have "perfect" attendance over the past 4 weeks. For example, this week, the report was run from 9/29-10/24 (4 weeks). 196 students had perfect attendance during this period. This includes:

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

I then put it through a randomizer, and a winner is selected. The winner will be announced in the newsletter and then emailed directly for their selection of a Crumbl cookie!

I am pretty excited about this past week. While we didn't get a single day with zero tardies, we got very close on Wednesday (10/29). In fact, on that day, our juniors had 0 tardies. I am working on a possible reward for the Class of '27 and will email the students and post on Instagram once it is finalized.

10/31: 29 tardies to period 2 (6/13/9/1)

10/30: 24 tardies to period 1 (9/2/6/7)

10/29: 8 tardies to period 2 (2/5/0/1)

10/28: 24 tardies to period 1 (6/4/6/8)

10/27: 30 tardies to period 1 (5/10/2/13)

Do you enjoy new adventures? Do you like dancing and interacting with others, particularly young children? If so, we have the gig for you!

We are seeking potential students who would like to be the new mascot, Harvie/Harvey The Highlander. You need to be at least 5'8" (to fit into the costume) and available in the evenings as many of the events that are applicable to a mascot take place at events occuring at night.

If you are up for this, or would just like more information, reach out to the principal.

This is just a reminder that if students are interested in dual enrollment in the spring semester, please reach out to your counselor to verify eligibility and get you enrolled in the course. We have two courses that are available only for our students:

• Linear Algebra (3 units on W/F)
• Small Business Management (3 units on T/Th)

These courses do receive the extra grade point for GPA calculation purposes. The college must make a determination in the coming month if the numbers justify running the course. Low enrollment will likely result in cancellation of the course. Please email the principal if you have any questions.

Dear Students/Families and teachers,

I’m excited to announce that we are opening registration for the Spring 2026 China Trip (previously limited to Chinese Program students) to all current Piedmont High School students, their parents/legal guardians, and teachers in PUSD!

The trip will be organized by IPERC, the nonprofit student exchange organization that coordinated last year’s China trip. This spring’s trip will take place over 10 days (April 3–12 or April 4–13, exact dates TBA) and will be a private trip exclusively for Piedmont students, their parents/guardians, and teachers.You can find detailed trip information, including the itinerary, cost, and inclusions, in the attached brochure. (Please see the flyer and the detailed slides)

Please reach out to Ms. Xia for more information.

What is PPN?

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 All parents of students at PHS/PMS/MHS are welcome - there are no membership dues - RSVP and show up!

When are the next meetings?

12th Grade:

Wednesday, November 19: 7:30-9:00 pm

Facilitators: Sara Ironside, Jen Ferguson

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

Meetings for the remainder of the year:

• Wednesday, December 17: TBD (tentative date)

• Thursday, January 22: 7:30-9:00 pm

• Wednesday, February 25: 7:30-9:00 pm

• Wednesday, March 25: 7:30-9:00 pm

• Thursday, April 23: 7:30-9:00 pm

• Tuesday, May 19: 7:30-9:00 pm

11th Grade:

Thursday, November 20: 7:00-8:30 pm

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

Facilitator: Kristen Brett

RSVP: kbrett@srvusd.net

Meetings for the remainder of the year:

• Thursday, January 22: 7:00-8:30 pm

• Wednesday, February 25: 7:00-8:30 pm

• Thursday, March 26: 7:00-8:30 pm

• Thursday, April 23: 7:00-8:30 pm

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, November 13: 8:45-10:00 am.

Facilitators: Judy Lin, Yoko Ichikawa, Anne Hawkins

RSVP: hawkins42@gmail.com for location information

Upcoming Meetings:

• Tuesday, December 9: 7:00-8:30 pm

• Kudos to Ms. Taylor and all her amazing students for putting on the Consent Assembly this past Wednesday. The students did an amazing job keeping the student body riveted and fully attentive.