Parent Newsletter #18: 11/21/25

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,

The upcoming Thanksgiving break offers a wonderful opportunity for family gatherings and reflection. The choices we make as adults significantly influence our children's perceptions and habits. The holiday season, with its relaxed atmosphere and focus on celebration can sometimes blur our judgement.

We strive every day to ensure that Piedmont High School is a safe place, a place your child can come to for comfort, solace, and of course, learning. We will miss them this next week and offer some thoughts until December.

• Be the Example: Our children watch everything we do. The often will mimic what we do. We can use this to our advantage and model in ways the exemplify Achieving the Honorable.
• Be Alert: If your child is attending a party, be aware of the location and the supervising adults. Do not hesitate to call the host parent to confirm the supervision plan.
• Talk about Peer Pressure: Equip your teen with clear exit strategies and responses for when they encounter situations that make them uncomfortable.

We appreciate your commitment to considering these three thoughts. Working together we can help ensure that our students enjoy a healthy, safe, and appetite-filling holiday season. Just 15 school days until 2026!

Warmly,

Dr. Yoshihara

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

December 1: Incoming 9th Grade Orientation Night (6:30-8 pm, AHT)

December 3: Incoming 9th Grade Course Selection (Academy, AHT)

December 8: World Languages Singing Competition

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

December 12: Parent Club Meeting (9-10 am, AHT)

The Piedmont High School Dance Department presents its Winter Dance Concert on Friday, Dec. 5 at 7:00 p.m. “Once Upon a Magical Dance” features a range of dance styles from contemporary ballet to hip hop.

Mackenzie Seto-Nguyen (PHS, ’25), now studying dance at UC Santa Barbara, is a guest choreographer for the concert. Showcasing 47 dancers and their original choreography, the evening is a celebration of artistry and skill. The performance is appropriate for all ages. There will be one 15 minute intermission.

Get tickets HERE.

Thanks to everyone who attended the Zoom Parents' Club meeting last week. It was well attended and educational as we heard from Piedmont Police Officer Hugo Diaz. Thank you for your time and insight, Officer Diaz! The minutes of the meeting will be posted on the PHS PC webpage after they are approved in December.

The next Parents' Club meeting will be on Friday, December 12, from 9:00-10:30am in the Alan Harvey Theater lobby. We will have a lighter agenda and take some time to celebrate the holidays with one another. We will be having a potluck - please feel free to bring a breakfast treat if you like! No worries if you don't have time or can't bring anything - please come anyway.

Wishing all PHS families a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday and break. Thank you for all you do for our students and community.

See you in December,

Sally Baack and Dana Lung

Co-Presidents, PHS Parents' Club 2025-2026

Thank you to all our families who attended the college admissions workshop this past Monday. It was a great inaugural effort. A special Thank You to Ms. Stefanie Manalo-LeClair, the counseling team, and Mr. Marik. Also, we are most appreciative of Mr. Valdivieso (University of San Francisco) and Mr. Jerzy (UC Berkeley) for donating their time to us. Their insight and responses were most helpful and align with our work thus far at PHS.

For those that missed the presentation or just want to view it again, you may watch the video below. Thank you.

November 17 College App Workshop (large file, may require you to download it)

You may have noticed something different at the front of our school. Yes, it is the marquee. It is now operational, and we are getting training on its operation. We plan to test it next week and to use it to inform our community starting in December. We thank our community for their patience in making this a reality. Also, kudos to Mr. Palmer for helping this come to fruition.

Imagine 50+ teams, 100s of robot runs, 10s of presentations, 1 Champion. You can volunteer all day (9 hours) or part of the day (1, 2 or 4 hours). Join us and give back to local elementary and middle school students.

No experience necessary for any roles! We will provide all the skills and information you need to have a great day of volunteering.

• Saturday, December 6 - FLL Explore Expo - Signup

• Saturday, December 13 - FLL Challenge Community Tournament - Signup

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.

This week's report was run from 10/20-11/14 (4 weeks). 208 students had perfect attendance during this period. This includes:

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

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

11/17: 25 tardies to period 1 (10/4/6/5)

11/18: 19 tardies to period 1 (7/3/3/6)

11/19: 14 tardies to period 2 (2/5/7/0)

11/20: 17 tardies to period 1 (2/3/4/8)

11/21: 12 tardies to period 1 (4/4/2/2)

Our seniors have done it again. On Wednesday, our seniors received no unexcused tardies for a second time. As such, on Wednesday (12/3), they will be able to have "open campus"! As a reminder, they shouldn't be on their phone, and they don't want to be tardy coming back, but we will allow them to leave campus. Congratulations seniors. I knew you could do it!

Non-seniors who are confirmed to have left campus may receive a cut for doing so.

We just passed the $3,000,000 mark - an incredible show of community support. Thank you to everyone who has already joined the team!

Why Your Participation Matters

In uncertain times, we take care of each other. Our contributions make it possible to:
• Retain and support our amazing teachers
• Strengthen and expand exceptional curriculum
• Offer meaningful choices and opportunities for all students

With two months to go, we’re working together to raise the next $2 million. When we show up as a community, we show our students that this is a place where people invest in one another.

Already given? Thank you! You’re part of the team that keeps PUSD strong.

Help us grow the team by sharing why the Giving Campaign matters to you.

Donate Today → PiedmontEdFoundation.org/donate

As we start a new sports season, I would like to do another round of Spirit Wear orders. It is always fun to come in your purple--be it Fridays, game day, or any day. We have hoodies, beanies, and polos to choose from. They make great holiday gifts too. Please place your order on the Infinite Campus (IC) store so I can get them to you before the break.

Missing your 7th-grade year? Want the year your parents or even grandparents were at PMS? We might have that yearbook! The yearbook staff is selling past yearbooks at a discounted price.

Our current inventory list is linked here. If you are interested in purchasing one of these, please email pmsyearbook@piedmont.k12.ca.us

Our students continue to amaze. PHS and our district continues to rank among the top in the state in standardized testing. I would like us to continue to climb to the top. We are very close. I also want to congratulate a number of our students who achieve perfect scores in their junior year in the respective areas:

English Language Arts (Scaled Score = 2900)

• Alexander Chin
• Athena Li
• Kalyani Spieckerman

Mathematics (Scaled Score = 2900)

• Milo Bakshi
• Alexander Chin
• Audrey Dickinson
• Julian Gard
• Sam Huynh
• Niko Kalamas
• Miles Kim
• Adrian Kondakov
• Athena Li
• Elias Reed-Miguel
• Nate Welch
• Rachel Young

Science (Scaled Score = 650)

• Nico French
• Niko Kalamas
• Petro Papahadjopoulos
• Rachel Young

All students on this list are eligible for a Crumbl cookie of your choice. Please email the principal your selection, and I will personally deliver it to your class, usually before lunch.

The SAT will be held on campus on Monday, March 16th during the spring school-based testing window. Sign-up and exam ordering will take place through Infinite Campus, not through College Board. More details to come.

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:

Next Meeting: Tuesday, December 16: 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:

• Thursday, January 22: 7:30-9:00 pm

• Tuesday, February 24: 7:30-9:00 pm

• Tuesday, March 24: 7:30-9:00 pm

• Thursday, April 23: 7:30-9:00 pm

• Tuesday, May 19: 7:30-9:00 pm

11th Grade:

Next Meeting: Thursday, December 4 from 7:00-8:30 pm. We are still looking for a host!

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: 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:

Tuesday, December 9: 7:00-8:30 pm

Facilitators: Judy Lin, Yoko Ichikawa, Anne Hawkins

RSVP: hawkins42@gmail.com for location information

Upcoming Meetings:

• Thursday, January 29: 7:00-8:30 pm

• Friday, February 27: 8:45-10:15 am

• Thursday, March 19: 7:00-8:30 pm

• Friday, April 24: 8:45-10:15 am

• Thursday, May 21: 7:00-8:30 pm

• Kudos to Ms. ML, our counseling team (Mr. Hartford, Ms. Carlson, and Ms. Hoang), and Mr. Marik for a great College Admissions Workshop this past Monday. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive.