Parent Newsletter #1 August 2, 2024

Website: https://phs.piedmont.k12.ca.us/
Location: 800 Magnolia Ave, Piedmont, CA 94611
Phone: (510) 594-2626
Instagram: @piedmonthigh

Principal: Dr. Yoshihara

Assistant Principal: Mr. Marik

Administrative Assistant: Ms. Valkonen

Dear Highlander Families,

Welcome back to the 2024-25 school year! Our staff is truly energized and looks forward to seeing our students return in just a matter of days. As the new High School Principal, I am very excited about the opportunity to get to know our students, staff, families and community partners. I look forward to working with our various stakeholders to prepare our students for a fantastic and memorable year.

Expect regular communication from me and know that I want to work with all our families to improving the Highlander experience for our students. School spirit will be a goal for us, as we want this year to be not only memorable, but the best in your time at PHS! From music, to rallies, to Friday Night Lights, was have so much in store for our students and their families.

So if you see me around campus, feel free to say "hello"; share with me a favorite book you are reading, an amazing photo you took, or a song that is particularly meaningful to you. While I can't promise to know the names of all our students, I will certainly work at it.

Sincerely,

Dr. Yoshihara

Thursday, August 1: Annual Registration opens in Parent Portal on Infinite Campus

Thursday, August 8: Freshman Orientation (4-6 pm)

• Freshman, if you have not already done so, please fill out this RSVP/Survey as soon as possible.

Friday, August 9: Walkthrough Registration (12-6 pm)

• Before Walkthrough Registration or to be able to check your schedule on Infinite Campus, every student has to be registered through the Infinite Campus Parent Portal. Please make sure you complete the online registration ahead of time.
• Any fees, including overdue books, are due at this time. You may be sent to the office to address this issue.
• Students will be able to view their schedule in Infinite Campus.

Friday, August 9: New Parent Orientation (7-8 pm in the Alan Harvey Theatre)

Monday, August 12: First day of school! Bring your smiles and enthusiasm.

August 14: Witter Field Dedication (Starts at 5:15 pm). More information to follow.

August 16: Parent Club meeting (9-10:30 in the Alan Harvey Theatre). Come and join our highly supportive parents who make our school such a great place to be.

For the first week of school, we will have a modified schedule as follows:

August 12: Classes will be 40 minutes each and students will get out at 2:45 (not reflected below)

August 13 and 14: We will follow the Monday schedule below

August 15: We will follow the Thursday schedule

August 16: We will follow the Friday schedule. During Academy, we will also be holding an all-school assembly in the gym. We plan for this to be an opportunity for our students to see the "whole school". We will introduce new staff, go over some quick school announcements and ASB will present something fun.

We have a new library schedule for this year. Please note that the library will not be available during periods 5 and 7 as well as period 3 on Mondays.

We wanted to let families know that PHS will continue to offer a nutritious breakfast and lunch every day at no cost. If you'd like to have extra entrees and/or snacks, please click the link below for more information.

The Parent Club is also asking for some enthusiastic volunteers to help serve food to our students. You can sign up at the link here or click on the picture to the right. We thank you in advance for the generosity of your time and commitment to our school. We could not do this without you.

If you been by the high school this summer, you know there is a lot of construction happening on the Magnolia corridor, particularly adjacent to the office and theater. At this time, we do not anticipate they will be done by the start of school. We ask that families pack their patience and build in extra time to get to school, if they are driving. Walkers should be less impacted aside from some possible detours. We know when it is all complete, our students will have access to a beautiful aquatic facility.

Also as a reminder, the white curb near the school is for pickup and dropoff only. Please do not park there and be courteous to your fellow parents by moving along promptly so we can get all students dropped off and picked up as smoothly and safely as possible.

Did you know that attendance impacts student learning in so many ways? Our teachers deliver high quality primary instruction every day and when your child misses school, they risk falling behind. Also, when your child misses school entirely, we lose funding, which impacts our ability to operate the excellent schools. One day of absence at the high school level equates in a loss of just under $70. Just twenty absences in a day is $1400. Over the course of a year, that is a loss of a quarter million dollars. We ask that you consider donating to our school if your child is absent. This is already a (more) common practice at the middle and elementary schools. You can do that through the Stores in Infinite Campus.

I also wanted to clarify the types of absences.

• Excused absences are limited in scope. Some may require additional document for us to properly excuse them. These are outlined in the district's Board Policy & Administrative Regs. Please identify which reason your child is absent per this document.
• All other absences (aside from school-sanctioned events) may be considered unexcused.

• Teachers will be marking students tardy if they arrive to class after the bell rings.
• If they are more than 30 minutes late to class, without a proper reason, they will be marked as T>30.
• If they are late more than 30 minutes for three times, they will be considered truant.
• We plan to send out letters to notify you of this occurrence and may schedule a meeting to find out how to help your child get to class on time.

Attendance is audited annually so it is important that we maintain accurate records and maximize learning. Thank you for your support on this.

We had some late staffing changes resulting in some vacancies at the time of this newsletter. This is currently impacting counseling and special education. We have contingency plans in place as we continue to work diligently to fill the positions. We appreciate all our staff (teachers, counselors, custodial) for stepping up to do the best we can during these challenges.

We ask for your patience and understanding, particularly at the start of the school year.

A special shout out to Nairobi, Kim, Mary and all of our Parent Club members. They have been hard at work this summer making sure the new school year gets off to a fantastic start. From working with us on Walkthrough Day, to Freshman Orientation, to generous financial support; we could not do it without our parents and our Parent Club members. Thank you!

Much gratitude to Heather, Kim, Catie and all those at the Piedmont Education Foundation who spend so many tireless hours to support our schools. I know you have ambitious fundraising goals for this coming year, and we look forward to working with you to achieve it.

We are interested in maximizing the ability of families to be able to read the weekly Highlander news. Can you please do the one question poll below to help us consider any adjustment to the delivery of this communication to you. Thank you.