Piedmont Pulse

April 14, 2025

Dear PUSD Staff & Families:

And, we are back! I hope your week off was restful, and we are now in the final stretch before summer break, which will be here before we know it. Coming up, we still have several community meetings in April and May where you can engage, with details included below. We also have important presentations coming up at our next several Board meetings. Elementary program offerings will be presented for Board approval at the April 23rd Board meeting. A team of teachers are working on the design of grades 4 and 5, which will be presented to the Board. We will also present 7th grade World language for formal Board approval at this meeting, along with an update about our DEIB work this year. In May, we will present a first reading of the cell phone Board policy, the Art Hecht Volunteer Award recipient, recognition of our retirees for this year, and more. We look forward to engaging with you on these and so many important matters for our District.

In Community,

Jennifer Hawn, Ed.D.

Superintendent

2025-26 Student Board Member Applications Due 4/24/25 - Superintendent's Office

For the 2025-26 school year, the four eligible students (two from Millennium High School and two from Piedmont High School) will be chosen to serve on the Piedmont Unified Board of Education to share a one-year term. The student board members will function as a preferential voting member of the Board. This information linked HERE explains the application and selection process, and contains a copy of the application.

Thanks to Hillary Freeman and Janine Sohn for their fine work with our seniors on their annual urban planning presentations. The PHS Economics classes will be conducting our Urban Plan "City Council" presentations at Piedmont City Hall the week before spring vacation.

According to Hillary and Janine, "the students worked on their presentations for over 5 weeks to build their redevelopment plan and prepare for the final presentation. About Urban Plan: Urban Plan is a curriculum that was developed at UC Berkeley by ULI. In this hands-on, interactive, collaborative project, students work in a team to redevelop a fictitious city neighborhood. Each team creates a detailed proposal for the neighborhood, including a vision statement, site plan, financial model, target tenants and EcoDistrict priorities. In the final phase of the project, students pitch their plan to a "city council", composed of volunteer, industry experts. In this project, students must work as a team, put economic concepts into practice and grapple with real-world issues. Piedmont High School has been implementing this curriculum for over 10 years."

The Highlander Chapter of the Société Honoraire de Français, the national honor society for high school students of French, held its 4th annual Induction Ceremony, on April 3rd, 2025, in the Alan Harvey Theater. A representative from the Consulate General of France in San Francisco, student speeches, and performances by the PHS Orchestra made it a wonderful celebration. Congratulations to our students, and thank you to French teacher, Bryan Smith for launching this honor society.

Our Highlander Robotics team crushed it again at the East Bay Regionals, making it all the way to the finals. The team had to do a re-design at the last minute, and the results paid off. Now, onto to Houston for the world competition. It was great to watch the competitions in person, but you can also watch online, livestream. More information linked HERE. Go Team 4033. Go Highlanders Robotics!

We have such beautiful campuses, and a big part of it is our lovely grounds. With spring upon us, our landscaping/grounds team (Carlos Dominguez pictured here at Havens, and Carlos Gudino) are always hard at work clearing our grounds at all of our campuses.

Thank you to our landscaping/grounds team for your amazing work!

I do love the Class of 2025 Instagram feed that announces where our seniors are headed for college.

Check it out at @piedmontseniors2025 where you can see which colleges and universities our students have committed to. Regardless of your choice, congratulations to our seniors and thank you to all the parents, teachers, counselors and the "village" who helped them get there.

Please be on the lookout for Infinite Campus messages with sign-up links for the following community meetings:

Special Education Advisory Committee: April 23, 2025 at 4PM - District Office

Director of Special Education, Jean Fagin, will provide an update on our Special Education program.

Superintendent's Advisory Committee (SAC) Meeting - April 30, 2025 at 4:30PM - District Office

Topic TBA. Sign up for in person or online HERE.

LCAP Meeting - May 1, 2025 at 4PM - Havens Library

Assistant Superintendent, Ariel Dolowich will present an update on our LCAP goals and actions.

April Adventures

Thank you to teachers Alaleh Ford and Claire Breen, along with Coordinator Erin Rivera for offering April Adventures during spring vacation last week. I dropped in on Friday and happened upon a reptile presentation. Our kids were mesmerized! We have launched registration for Summer Adventures below, with many enrichment opportunities we know students will enjoy.

Spring Break is Over… Let the Summer Planning Begin!
Now that spring break is behind us, it’s the perfect time to look ahead to a season of sunshine, creativity, and fun! Our Summer Adventures program is the perfect blend of school and camp—designed to help children explore new interests, keep learning, and have a blast along the way.

All classes are thoughtfully created and taught by our talented PUSD staff, bringing their passion, creativity, and care to every session.

This summer’s lineup includes exciting classes like Gardening, Junior Journalists, Games Galore, Masterpieces in the Making: Art Class, Readers are Leaders, and Cooking—where kids can whip up tasty treats while building confidence in the kitchen.

We’re also offering special sessions to help ease important transitions: Welcome to Kindergarten and Welcome to 6th Grade—designed to help students build confidence, make friends, and get excited for what’s ahead.

Afternoon sessions keep the fun going with Makers, Schoolyard Games, walking field trips to local parks, and classic camp-style activities your kids will love. It’s a summer full of discovery, adventure, and joyful learning—right here in our community!

Session Dates

• Session 1: June 10–20 (No program on June 19)

• Session 2: June 23–July 3

Program Hours

• Half Day: 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM

• Full Day: 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM

• Extended Care Available (8:00-9:00am/3-5pm)
  
  

Visit the Summer Programs page to register! Summer Adventures 2025

Our resident priority enrollment period began on January 15th. If your child will be 4 years old by 9/1/2025, enroll in TK now. If you child will be 5 years old by 9/1/2025, enroll in Kindergarten now. Enrollment takes place online linked HERE. In order to place students at each school, it is important for residents to enroll immediately.

More information about resident enrollment can be found HERE, and we look forward to seeing you this fall!

Is your child a professional athlete? In the entertainment industry? Or, of need of an online independent study program?

This year PUSD launched an Independent Study Program (ISP) for qualifying students in grades 9-12. Independent Study is a hybrid program that allows qualifying students to complete their high school requirements, with most of the work completed online and on-campus meetings at least once a week.

Key Features:

• Uses the Accelerate Education platform, with students completing ~5 hours of independent work daily.
• Weekly 1-hour individual meetings with an ISP teacher for mentoring, tutoring, and organization.
• Optional daily virtual synchronous sessions for core subjects.
• In-person attendance required for PSAT/SAT, state testing, and specific college/career events.

Application Process:

1. Submit the PUSD electronic application linked HERE, including a student-written letter.
2. Attend a Student Success Team (SST) meeting with stakeholders.
3. Receive acceptance and next steps upon qualifying.

Program Highlights:

• Students remain enrolled in their current high school (PHS or MHS).
• ISP provides a flexible, alternative instructional strategy aligned with district curriculum and graduation requirements.
• Access to A–G approved courses and equivalent standards-aligned content.

More information is linked HERE. For additional questions, please contact Principal Irma Muñoz Daniels at imunozdaniels@piedmont.k12.ca.us

Spring Fling - April 25th. Get ready for Spring Fling, the only annual fundraiser for Piedmont’s elementary schools. This year's theme is Piedmont Palm Royale, with fun for all. Tickets available HERE.

Women's History Month - The California Department of Education and PUSD recognize March as Women's History Month. To our students, staff, and families who are women, we celebrate you now and ALWAYS!

Support TPH - In order to continue to publish the Piedmont Highlander, we need your help. The Infinite Campus portal is now working to accept donations, which was previously not working. Students and families can subscribe to TPH through the Infinite Campus portal now. Interested community members can also support student journalism by making donations directly to the program by check or through the link PHS The Piedmont Highlander (TPH)

Piedmont Portal - For all of the latest school and community events, please visit the Piedmont Portal linked HERE

Millennium High School is open for enrollment. If you have questions, please feel free to contact Principal Irma Muñoz Daniels directly at (510) 594-2703 or imunozdaniels@piedmont.k12.ca.us, or see more information linked HERE

Piedmont Alumni Network: Last spring, we launched the Piedmont Alumni Network! Linked HERE is a page on our PUSD website to invite alumni of PHS and MHS to sign up. Whether you graduated many years ago, or recently, we would love to have you sign up HERE.

Community Pool Construction Update - Safety measures around the Community Pool Project construction site on Magnolia Avenue across from PHS/MHS are currently in effect. Magnolia Avenue is open to traffic during school hours; however, we recommend avoiding the area when possible due to heavy truck traffic due to construction. Visit the City of Piedmont's website for details.

Follow PUSD - Please read our school newsletters sent out weekly for update to date information. The District Facebook (@piedmontunified) and Instagram (@piedmontusd)

Email: communication@piedmont.k12.ca.us
Website: www.piedmont.k12.ca.us
Location: 760 Magnolia Avenue, Piedmont, CA, USA
Phone: 510-594-2600