Parent Newsletter #17: 11/14/25

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,

Happy mid-November Friday. We invite all in our Highlander community to come watch Noises Off today, Saturday, and Sunday. In fact, come twice as they are running two full, separate casts. Make it a dinner and a show. You won't be disappointed!

PR3 concludes today as we head into the final marking period before the semester ends. We are also just a week away from the Thanksgiving break. We also have a great College Admissions Workshop starting a 6 pm in the AHT. We will have a panel discussion followed by breakout sessions.

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)

This week's report was run from 10/13-11/7 (4 weeks). 224 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 (11/5). On Thursday, our seniors had 0 tardies this time!

11/10: 24 tardies to period 1 (9/6/6/3)

11/12: 21 tardies to period 2 (7/6/5/3)

11/13: 49 tardies to period 1 (18/14/8/9)

11/14: 12 tardies to period 2 (4/4/2/2)

Okay, it is now time for our seniors to shine. Last week (11/6), our seniors received no unexcused tardies. As such, this coming Thursday (11/20), they will now receive a special treat at brunch with a special bagel and cream cheese! Congratulations seniors. I knew you could do it!

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.

Piedmont High School’s Advanced Acting class is thrilled to present the comedy Noises Off, by Michael Frayn.

Four-time nominee of best play, Noises Off is considered one of the best farces ever written. The shows are set for Thursday, November 13th through Sunday November 16th.

Noises Off is a hilarious backstage comedy about a small theater company struggling to put on a play. The chaotic play-within-a-play gives the audience a glimpse of what putting on a show is like, from a shaky tech rehearsal to performances on a tour that completely fall apart. Forgotten lines, misplaced props, slamming doors and messy relationships ultimately lead to total chaos.

Showtimes

*Sardines Cast Thursday, November 13th @ 7pm

**Doors Cast Friday, November 14th @ 7pm

*Sardines Cast Saturday, November 15th @ 7pm

**Doors Cast Sunday, November 16th @ 5:30pm

*Sardines Cast includes Ali Atanasio, Collin Cameron, Trenton Downing, Kirstin Fedor, Theo Ferguson, Dinar Kidane, Sparrow Lieu, Matias Seelenberger and Sadie Shoop.

**Doors Cast includes Amelia Addington, Chaz Amit-Guite, Sacha Andrews, Elisha Bell, Caleb Canada, Yiyou Fang, Declan Murphy, Lila Schwab, and Benjamin Wakefield.

All shows are at Alan Harvey Theatre at Piedmont High School, 800 Magnolia Avenue, Piedmont CA 94611

Tickets can be purchased at phsacting.ludus.com

($10 for Students & $18 for General Admission online.)

Noises Off contains humor about sexual innuendos, and is a slapstick comedy that would be most appropriate for ages 10 and up. For more information or questions about content, please contact director Kimberly Taylor at ktaylor@piedmont.k12.ca.us

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.

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.

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.

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:

The meeting originally scheduled for Thursday, November 20 has been rescheduled to 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 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:

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. Spinks and Ms. Famy for bringing us some warm butternut squash soup. It was a hit, especially as the cold weather sets in. Nice work!