Parent Newsletter #26: 2/14/25

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,

What a beautiful end to a mostly rainy week. As we head into the break, we hope our families can enjoy some rest and relaxation.

We have a lot of exciting events right after the break and then head into a long stretch in March. We welcome our community to the Young Professional panel discussion, which kicks off Career Day on 2/28. More information on these events is below.

The next parent newsletter will come out on the last day of February. We'll see everyone in a week.

Best,

Dr. Yoshihara

February 17-21: Mid-winter break

February 27: PHS/MHS Young Alumni Career Panel (7-9 pm, AHT)

February 28: Career Day (Academy, special schedule)

March 3: Reverse Lockdown Drill (special schedule)

March 4: Case Studies Night (Save the Date, details forthcoming)

March 7: Spring Rally (during Academy)

March 9: Daylight Savings Time starts

March 14: Non-student day

March 17: Non-student day

March 21: End of PR2, Semester 2

March 22: Underclassmen Dance (Save the Date, details forthcoming)

April 18: Bird Calling Contest (Save the Date, details forthcoming)

Wednesday will be Academic Support for all. Remember to tag a teacher!

Students will also be able to choose the sessions they wish to attend for Career Day on Friday.

Friday will be Career Day with a special schedule.

Link to FlexiSched: https://piedmont.flexisched.net/

Schedule for 2/28

Period 2 - 8:30 AM - 9:55 AM

Brunch - 9:55 AM - 10:00 AM

Academy - 10:10 AM - 11:10 AM

Period 4 - 11:20 AM - 12:45 PM

Lunch - 12:45 PM - 1:15 PM

Period 6 - 1:25 PM - 2:50 PM

Young Alumni Career Panel Discussion

Open to all students and families, on Thursday, February 27, 7:00-9:00 PM in Alan Harvey Theatre. Hear recent Piedmont graduates share their journeys from high school to the working world and gain insights into different post-graduation pathways. Networking reception with light refreshments to follow the panel discussion.

Career Presentations by Community Members

For PHS/MHS students only, on Friday, February 28 during Academy. Learn about various career paths from Piedmont community members who will come to campus to share information about their jobs and the industries they work in. Students will have an opportunity to select two career presentations to attend.

Resume Workshop with Pizza

For PHS/MHS students only on Friday, February 28 during lunchtime in Room 24. Led by Stefanie Manalo LeClair, Director of the PHS/MHS College and Career Center, students can come to learn about how to create their first resume, or bring a copy of their resume to get personalized, 1:1 feedback to make their resume job/internship-ready.

Students can RSVP and view more information, including a list of career presentations that will take place on campus, by visiting: https://forms.gle/ YW2hiw2AHycCQfkc7

We encourage you to discuss these opportunities with your friends! Reach out to Mr. Marik or Ms. M-L if you have any questions.

Thank you to those who joined us for our College and Career Open House event this week. The presentation can be found here and audio of the presentation here (sorry, the video didn't work!).

If you did attend, please fill out the survey below with feedback and suggestions.

College and Career Center Open House Survey

If you have any questions, please reach out to the College and Career Center Director, Ms. M-L. We look forward to supporting your student's post-high school plans!

Upcoming Grade Level Meeting:

• 11th Grade: Tuesday, February 25 from 7:30-9:00 pm
• Contact sarabironside@gmail.com or jen.c.ferg@gmail.com for details

To support PPN and help bring in more speakers and community events that support our parents - join HERE.

PHS is considering offering a new course for the 2025-26 school year. The course under consideration is AP Seminar. AP Seminar was first introduced in 2014 and is the fastest growing AP course with over 3,000 institutions now offering it.

About the Course:

Ever thought about how social media impacts teen mental health? Do you think rules around college sports should be changed? In AP Seminar, you choose what real-world or academic topics to investigate. AP Seminar teaches you how to find and use evidence from experts, and how to present the case from your own perspective effectively, both through writing and multimedia presentations. (From https://apstudents.collegeboard.org/courses/ap-seminar)

The long-term goal is that this course would then serve as a prerequisite for AP Research which forms the backbone of the AP Capstone Diploma.

Target grade levels: 10th and 11th

Prerequisite: None

We ask that you please fill out the survey below so that we can gauge overall interested in this future option for our students. Thank you in advance.

All PHS and MHS students (and all PUSD staff) have access to NY Times subscription paid for by DBFL. Students, go to https://nytimes.com/passes and sign in with Google.

This is a gentle reminder that personal laptops are not allowed at school. We cannot monitor nor manage student activity on personal laptops. If students' Chromebooks need servicing, email help@piedmont.k12.ca.us for prompt support OR come to the PHS library during lunch Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Parents of students found with their personal device without prior approval from Ms. Branisa (jbranisa@piedmont.k12.ca.us) will be contacted.

Are you interested in science? Like really interested in science? Applications are now open for the 2025 National Youth Science Camp (NYSC) for high-achieving, science-oriented students.

This event will be held in West Virginia and DC from July 10 to August 2, 2025. This is open to junior and graduating seniors. You may get more information about this opportunity here.

The purpose of this survey is to obtain parent perceptions about the school. Your participation is voluntary. It is also very important. The information you provide will help guide district and school efforts to promote safety, enhance learning supports, and improve student achievement.

• This is an anonymous survey. It is designed so that no one can be identified from the data.
• You do not have to respond to any questions that you feel could be used to identify you. Simply skip any such questions
• All questions apply to this school only.
• The results are for the use of your district. The California Department of Education and WestEd will preserve data confidentiality and refer any data requests to the district.

If you have any questions about this survey, contact Stephanie Griffin, sgriffin@piedmont.k12.ca.us.

https://wested.ugam-apps.com/wested/ts/g7oe

Save the date for the 11th annual Piedmont School Maker Faire at the Piedmont High School campus on Sunday, May 18 11am - 3pm! Come celebrate K-12 Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts & Math (S.T.E.A.M.) education for the Piedmont community & beyond.

Our “Call for Makers” is now OPEN. Students & the community can show off your creativity – drones, cosplay, puppets, kites, virtual reality, Legos, music – or check out our project ideas page for inspiration. When ready, submit your project by April 30th.

This week's student is Kate Jumper. We start off by having staff share some thoughts on Kate.

1. What quality(ies) best describes this student? Respectful, responsible, positive attitude and outstanding in my AP Spanish class.
2. How long have you known the student? I have known her since August 2024.
3. What is the most memorable event you have of this student? I called her during last summer to ask her if she would like to be in AP Spanish without taking the Spanish Honors class. She couldn’t believe it, but she was so excited to be recommended by her previous Spanish 3 teacher to skip a level. Then she agreed to prepare herself throughout the summer to be up to level in grammar contents. Now I can tell that she did a great job.
4. How does this student Achieve the Honorable? She always does more than is expected in AP Spanish with an impeccable driven motivation to succeed in constantly improving her Spanish skills.
5. If there was one word to describe this student, what would it be? Magnificent!

And from Kate herself:

1. So far this year, what has been your most memorable experience? So far this year, my most memorable experience has been playing in the NCS tennis individuals tournament with my teammate and friend Arianna. Despite the late nights, playing in the dark, and the immense school work we needed to make up, it was a super fun and rewarding experience!
2. If you were to describe PHS to someone who is thinking about coming, what would you say to them? If I were to describe Piedmont to someone thinking about coming, I would tell them that PHS is a rigorous school but the amazing teachers we have and the interesting classes make any stress worthwhile. PHS is a school that immensely prepares students for the next step of their lives, whatever it may be. If given the opportunity to go make and change the past, I would do nothing different in terms of my school decisions.
3. If you were in charge at PHS, what is one action you might take to make it better? If I were in charge at PHS, I would allow more student voices be heard when making decisions. No one is more in tune with the school and education than the student themselves, and their perspective is inviolable.
4. If you could share one sentence with your parents/guardians, what would you say? To my parents, thank you for supporting my brash and crazy ideas and for always supporting me. Your love is irreplaceable. Thanks for laughing at my jokes and humoring my bad humor!
   
5. What is your favorite word? MI would have to say my favorite word is either trowel, kombucha, or lanuginous (don’t ask). Something about the way they roll off the tongue.
   
6. What is your favorite song? My favorite song is “We’re Going to Be Friends” by The White Stripes. This was the first song I sang in front of a crowd and I hold it dear to my heart.
7. What is your favorite food? My favorite food is either my moms lasagna or snow cones (because they are just fabulous)
8. Can you share a photo of something from your summer and why it is special to you? Below is a photo of my dog Cal! This photo is special to me because my dog is my ride or die, and I love him to bits! He is a 7 year old Australian Labradoodle and he’s all bark no bite! I know it’s a weird photo, but it makes me laugh!

• Much thanks to all wonderful counseling staff for hosting a successful College & Career Open House this past Tuesday--Ms. ML, Ms. Huang, Mr. Hartford, and Ms. Carlson--we couldn't do it without you.
• Kudos also to Linda Wendel and Mary Wells in helping to get the C&C Open House off the ground. There was a lot of lifting and Linda played a key role in all of it.
• A shout out to Ms. Porreca and Ms. ML for coming to support our Lady Highlanders Basketball as they took on Alameda on Wednesday night.
• Much appreciation to Linda and Kim for all the behind-the-scenes work for the Young Alumni Career panel slated or 2/27.

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

The questions was: What is the farthest Mr. Marik has been from Piedmont High School? Round answer to the nearest mile and assume direct air travel, if applicable. The correct answer to this is 5,814 miles. Mr. Marik has been to Prague and as such, we estimate that is over 5,800 miles away!

Our participants actually all did quite well once again. Congratulations to Dennis Sidbury who got the closest with his answer of 6,200 miles. Please come to the main office at your convenience to claim your prize.