Parent Newsletter #38: 5/15/26

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

Nutrition Services Newsletter

2025-26 School Profile | Student Handbook

Principal: Dr. Yoshihara | Asst. Principal: Mr. Marik

Dear Highlander Families,

It is mid-May as we head into our last full week of the school year. Next week will start off very busy. Please know that we have many events, not only at PHS, but across the district on Monday.

The Open House is open to the community and starts at 6:45 pm. Students are not required to come (although we would love it if you do) and parents may attend with or without their child. This is an opportunity to see culminating student work and see the many exciting end-products our students have been working on.

Have a wonderful week, and we'll see everyone for our second-to-last Monday.

Warmly,

Dr. Yoshihara

May 17: Maker Faire (11-3 pm, PHS)

May 17: Advanced Robotics Open House (2 pm, Engineering Lab)

May 18: Minimum Day (Open House)

May 18: College Essay Workshop (1:30-4:30 pm, AHT)

May 18: Senior Awards (5-6:30 pm, AHT)

May 18: Open House (6:45-8:15 pm, PHS)

May 19: Signing Ceremony (Lunch, Amphitheater)

May 19: Student Panel - Looking Ahead: Advice from Graduating Seniors (7-8:30 pm, PMS MPR)

May 21: Band, Orchestra, & A Capella Concert (7 pm, AHT)

May 26: Athletics Incoming Freshman / New Student Info Night (7 pm, AHT)

May 27: Cap & Gown Day (Academy)

Our Open House event is scheduled for Monday evening. All current and prospective parents are invited to visit the school that evening. Food trucks will be available from the middle school for those who may come hungry. The location and activities of each department is listed below. Parking may be difficult so please plan ahead. We will not have any "bells" this evening so students and parents may move freely from one department/classroom to another.

• The English Department will be hosting their annual I-Search Night in the library during open House.
• The Social Studies Department will be in their rooms and displaying student work in various formats (slideshows, projects, etc.).
• The Math Department will be in room ST-304. They will have examples of student work, activities/puzzles for parents, and textbooks along with pathways info.
• The Science Department will be in the following rooms:
• 128 - Guitar engineering and anatomy demo
• 201 - APES tree demo, ornithology raptors (in the hallway), Forestry challenge, maybe geology
• 202 - biology
• 203 - AP biology demos
• 301 - Physics demo
• 302 - Chem lab demo
• The CS department will be presenting a looping slide deck with a combination of all CS classes in rooms (adjoining) ST-205 and ST-206. For anyone interested in next year's AP Business course, Mr. Christensen will also have a slide deck that he will share in ST-204.
• For VAPA
• PHS Art will be at the AP Art Reception in the Theater Foyer
• PHS Acting will be in the Drama Classroom (Room 212)
• PHS Dance will be in the PHS Dance Studio for Dance where a slide show and student work will be on display
• PHS Music will be in the band room
• The PE department will have a few students present. They will be given talking points to discuss. There may be a slide deck or poster board w/ pictures to accompany the presentation.
• Counselors will have a table in the breezeway for Open House
• Scope and sequence hand out
• 1 pager of the A-G CSU/ UC requirements
• Help them log into Naviance
• General graduation and post high school questions
• Special Education Staff Members will have an information table to inform about the four types of special education programming that we offer at PHS.

Parents and Students--Progress 3 is now available in Infinite Campus. Please check in your student and review the latest grade in Schoology if you have any specific questions. Also remind your student that we have a few more Academy days to connect with teachers if needed.

We also understand that these last few weeks of school can be stressful. We continue to ask students to take care of themselves and ask for help when needed, and come to see their counselor.

Today we held our final PHS Parents' Club meeting of the year, where we thanked outgoing board members and approved the new board roster. We gave a recap of the many highlights of the year that we were able to accomplish together and recognized all the hard work, talent, time, energy, generosity, and caring of our parent volunteers. We are sorry we missed many of you who could not attend, but please know that we are grateful for all that you have done this year.

Andrea Zambrana (previously the Parliamentarian) will be at the helm next year, and we look forward to her continued contributions and her new leadership role. She will be amazing, and we are so fortunate that she has agreed to guide the Parents' Club next year.

Thank you again for all your support and Happy Summer,

Sally Baack and Dana Lung

Co-Presidents, PHS Parents' Club 2025-2026

If you haven't purchased one, don’t miss out on the opportunity to buy this 340 page book of memories from your student’s year at PHS/MHS!

Please note, there are limited copies available and we are not ordering additional copies once we are sold out.

Please use this link to buy directly from Jostens: PHS Yearbook Purchase - Jostens

Any questions about yearbook stuff? Please email Melanie McCauley, PHS Yearbook Adviser at mmccauley@piedmont.k12.ca.us

Yes, it is about that time as we are 13 days from saying goodbye to our class of 2026. You may view the full Parking & Seating directions for graduation here. Infographics are below.

Graduation will be livestreamed again this year. Because of the technical setup, we can't provide a direct link ahead of time, but there are two options to view it:

1. Viewers will need to search for the title “2026 Piedmont High School Commencement Ceremony” once the event goes live.
2. Visit the PUSD video channel live page. https://www.youtube.com/@piedmontvideo6138/streams

For nostalgia, here is last year's graduation ceremonies. We will provide an archive for families after the ceremonies this year as well.

On Wednesday night the Board provided direction with regards to personal, internet-connected devices (cell phones, smartwatches, etc.). The direction is to become free of internet-connected devices for all schools during the instructional day (bell-to-bell). The policy related to this will come to a future board meeting, and we will update guidance for current and future students to align with this.

The Wellness Center needs your help with donations of allergen free granola bars, popcorn, oranges and string cheese.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C044EA9AD2EA1FC1-63542866-mental#/

You can drop the items off on or anytime before Tuesday, May 26 between 8:30am and 12pm at the Wellness Center, located in the Library/30s building at the high school. Marking donations with a note that says they are for Mental Health Awareness week is greatly appreciated and extremely helpful.

Thank you so much for supporting student mental health in our community.

Take care,

The Wellness Center Support Committee

We’re hosting a PHS/MHS Student Panel - Looking Ahead: Advice from Graduating Seniors to give 10th/11th grade families a real, unfiltered look at what’s ahead next year, directly from current seniors.

Event details:

• Date: May 19

• Time: 7:00-8:00 PM

• Location: PMS Multipurpose Room

You’ll hear from a small group of seniors with different experiences and post-graduation plans as they share:

• What actually matters in the college application process

• How senior year workload really feels

• What they wish they had done differently prior to graduating

• How parents can best support (and what doesn’t help)

There will also be time for Q&A. Both parents and students welcome.

Please RSVP here: https://forms.gle/uZSrqeqjZ87L74s67

You can view the original letter here. A big shout out to Parents' Club, students who participated, and all our amazing staff for their time and dedication. A special Thank You to Ms. Black for chairing the WASC process. We couldn't have done it without you!

We are very excited to see students connecting off of their devices and playing Hacky Sack! However, this should not happen during class time. Groups of students out of class are distracting to classes that are in session. Before/after school, passing periods, brunch, and lunch are all great times to play.

A warm thank you to everyone who helped make Prom such a special evening. Thank you to the Ferguson family for supporting the casino activities and to the Colberts for the photo booth — both adding so much fun to the night. Thank you to George White for the fantastic graphics and to Steven Thai for his beautiful watercolor sketches. We are grateful to Sabrina Casey, Frannie Cooley, Gisela Delventhal, Lara Dickinson, Venus French, James High, Catarina Rodrigues, Emily Shoop, and Pui-Wing Tam for their contributions, and to Arjan Flowers for the beautiful floral arrangement. We also extend our sincere appreciation to PEF, MHS, and PHS for their generous support — this evening would not have been possible without you. We truly appreciate the time, talent, and generosity of all involved.

2026 Senior Prom Committee -

Carrie Lee, Dawn Riordan, Melissa Wilk, Nadja Olson, Sacha Grippando

Please encourage your student to complete the pre-registration form for the May 18th Essay Workshop. It will start at 1:30pm and end at 4:30pm. This workshop will give rising seniors (current juniors) the opportunity to learn more about the Common App Essay and the Supplemental (Institutional) essays. There will be time for students to get started on these essays prior to the end of the school year. The workshop will be led by two RACC admission reps. Thank you in advance.

Parents of Rising Seniors,

Please check your email for a message about the UC ELC program and authorization form that was sent to all parents of Rising Seniors. Parent authorization is required in order for your child to be considered for the program. If you haven't already, the deadline to respond is Sunday, May 17th.

The UC Eligibility in the Local Context (ELC) program ensures that top-performing California students - drawn from the top 9% of each participating school - have the opportunity to attend a UC campus. ELC requires participating schools to submit student contact data and record information for the top 15% of rising seniors after final junior year grades are confirmed. We cannot release this information to UC without your permission.

For more information about the UC ELC program go to: UC ELC Program Information.

This week's report was run from 3/30-5/1 (4 weeks). 143 students had perfect attendance during this period. This includes:

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

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

I will stop reporting daily attendance for the reminder of the year. We have AP Testing which skews the data and then just a matter of days left after that. We will continue to work on tardies and absences next year as well.

Thank you to everyone who has attended our meetings this year - it has been such a wonderful space to share ideas and feel supported. We look forward to our final meetings in May!

12th Grade:

Last Meeting of the School Year: Tuesday, May 19: 7:30-9:00 pm

Facilitators: Sara Ironside, Jen Ferguson

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

10th Grade

Last Meeting of the School Year: Tuesday, May 26: 8:00-9:30 pm

Facilitators: Sarah Puckett, Maggie Mittan

RSVP: maggie.mittan@gmail.com for more information

9th Grade:

Last Meeting of the School Year: Tuesday, May 19: 7:00-8:30 pm

Facilitators: Judy Lin, Yoko Ichikawa, Anne Hawkins

• Very proud of our students (Olivia B, Diego B, Mina H, and Andson) who presented to the Piedmont City Council on May 4 about the harm of tobacco on youth and proposing a ban on tobacco sales.