Dear Miramonte Community,

Next week, our amazing Wellness Staff will be hosting their annual Social Media and Screen Time Awareness Week. This initiative encourages students to reflect on their social media habits, reduce screen time, and develop a responsible approach to technology and internet use. It’s a great opportunity to start conversations at home about online safety, responsibility, and respect. With young people using social media and cell phones at unprecedented rates—and the known impact on mental health—your ongoing discussions at home are more important than ever.

A quick update on our Cell Phone Policy: This year, we tightened our guidelines to boost classroom engagement and minimize distractions. According to our staff, these changes have been very effective, and we plan to build on them next year. Additionally, our teachers are exploring ways to reduce in-class laptop use to further enhance focus and deeper learning.



Have a great weekend and Go Mats!

Mr. Ben Campopiano

bcampopiano@auhsdschools.org

Happy Friday Miramonte Families,

As we begin planning for next school year, we are looking for parents to join the Miramonte Parent Club Board and Committees! This is a great way to get involved, connect with other parents, and make a meaningful impact on our school community.

We have a variety of roles available, including:

• President Chair– Lead Parent Club meetings, collaborate with school leadership, and oversee board activities and initiatives.
• Fundraising Co-Chair – Organize key fundraising efforts to support programs that benefit all students.
• Meet-A-Matador Liaison – Connect with Miramonte Teachers & Staff and share their story with families.
• Social Media/Graphics – Help our communications team with creative content.
• Communications/ Directory – Create the Miramonte Family Directory to keep families connected.
• Parent Education Liaison(s) – Plan and coordinate informative speaker events for families.
• Mats Day Chair(s) - Work with Administrators to Coordinate Welcome Back Day Volunteers and Activities
• Class of 2029 Parent Advisors – Work with student leadership to raise funds for class-specific activities and events.

If you are interested in learning more or hearing about additional opportunities available, please reach out to me or our amazing Parliamentarian, Amy Stuffmann. We’d love to have you involved and welcome all levels of experience!



Stay up to date with all Parents' Club activities by visiting our website. As always, please reach out with any questions or concerns. 

Warmly,

Christina Linezo

Chair MHS Parents' Club

February 28: Class of 2028 Parent Party; 6:00 p.m.

February 28: AUHSD Quad City Dance; 7:30 p.m.; Los Lomas

March 1: ESU Monologue Competition

March 1-2: Public Speaking - State Qualifying Tournaments

March 5: SAT Test

March 9: Public Speaking - National Qualifier for IE Speech

March 13: Class of 2027 Parent Social; 5:00 p.m.

March 14: Junior Prom Reveal; 12:50 p.m.

March 14-15: Public Speaking - National Qualifier for Congress & Debate

March 17: Staff Development Day; No School

March 18-28: CAASPP Testing

March 18-21: Short Play Festival; MHS Theater

March 18-21: Short Play Festival: Insult to Injury; 7:00 p.m.; MHS Theater (tickets)

March 28-30: State Latin Convention

March 31-April 4: Spring Break; No School

Model United Nations is one of the many academic clubs and programs on campus that receive supplemental funding from your donations to ONE-Miramonte. 

We asked 2024-25 Model UN President Komal Aujla why Model UN is important and she had this to say: 

Model UN is so critical when understanding how diplomacy and advocacy has the power to shape global laws and relationships between countries. The world is foreseeably changing, and being able to understand and evaluate these changes for ourselves has become more critical than ever. Model UN is an amazing way for students to expand their knowledge on global issues while using collaboration and teamwork to work with other students to achieve their goals. By representing different countries, students develop a sense of empathy and understanding of other cultures and perspectives, while also researching unique policies enacted by these countries in tackling broad topics such as addressing climate induced migration and displacement to regulating the ethics of cryptocurrencies and decentralized finance. At the IVYMun Conference this year, Miramonte Model UN tackled some of these issues by representing the country Nigeria in over 5 different committees. Out of over one hundred teams competing at the conference, Miramonte Model UN's success in achieving 'Best Delegate,' and 'Accommodation' awards led us to win Outstanding Small Delegation! 

Congratulations to Miramonte’s Model UN Team on their incredible success and teamwork at IVYMun! 

Because you give to ONE-Miramonte our students have incredible opportunities available to them, such as Model UN. Thank you, donors!

Questions about Miramonte fundraising? Please contact Jill Hughes, Parents' Club VP Fundraising, at VPFundraising@mhspc.org.

Why does the Parents' Club have to fundraise each year? Check this out to learn why.

ONE Orinda Annual Benefit

Save the date for the 3rd Annual ONE Orinda Benefit on Friday, April 11, 2025, 6:30 p.m.-9:00 p.m. at the Wilder Art and Garden Center. This event is open to everyone in our community - school families, community members, and local businesses. More details to come.

AUHSD Quad City Dance

Las Lomas is hosting this year's All District BSU Dance! Friday, February 28, at 7:30 p.m. in the Las Lomas big gym. Tickets are $10 on GoFan. Please donate food items or volunteer and support this fun community building event. Click here for more details!

Schedule Changes

• The deadline to drop a class without it appearing on the transcript is Friday, March 14.

Junior meetings are underway! Counselors will spend the next two months calling in all juniors for a check-in. This meeting typically lasts between 15-20 minutes as we go over senior year course requests and post-high school plans. Make sure your students come ready with their questions!

AUHSD Summer School: If your child earned a D or F in a high school graduation requirement course this year, they may be able to remediate the course during summer school. See a counselor for an application or visit the district website!

• Summer school will be held this year in one, 5-week session.
• Classes begin Monday, June 9 and end Thursday, July 10, 2025. 
• Location: Las Lomas High School

College and Career Snacks

Every student who graduates from Miramonte will experience an amazing resource in the College and Career Center. From college rep visits to workshops on essay writing and the application process, the CCC is an invaluable resource with an amazing staff. So whether your student is a senior or a first year, please consider purchasing items from this wishlist to fuel our students while they are meeting with our College and Career Counselors this semester. Your child will benefit in their senior year from the generosity of our parent community.

Contact April Meagher with questions.

There has been so much in the news lately about the relationship between phone use, social media, and screen time in general, and the mental health of kids and teens. It is hard to determine a causal relationship but there is certainly a correlation. Depression symptoms have risen steadily and correlate with smartphone adoption year over year since 2007. In recent years, CDC data on Mental Health and Suicidality amongst our youth is especially alarming. 

So what can you do? Talk with your kids about the negative AND positive aspects of their phone use. Set limits, and let your kids help determine them. Remember- today’s teens didn’t create smartphones, Tiktok or Instagram; it isn’t their fault but it is a part of their world.

We will be focusing on these issues next week in Wellness! The ScreenTime Challenge will be March 3rd through the 7th and the Screen Time and Social Media Academy presentation will be on Friday.  We will also be tabling on the quad every day. On Friday, prizes will be awarded including a Loards' Ice Cream Cake, ShareTea and movie tickets. Please encourage your students to participate!

Short Play Festival: Insult to Injury - March 18-21, 7:00 p.m., in the MHS Theater

Experience an electrifying lineup of original short plays that are conceived, written, and directed by our Advanced Drama Senior Honors students as their capstone project. From suspenseful mysteries to thought-provoking dramas to outrageous comedies, Insult to Injury delivers an unforgettable night of theater. These performances are brought to life by our stagecraft students, who design and produce every aspect of the show.

Purchase your reserved tickets here.

Miramonte Music in the News!

The Orinda News recently featured Miramonte’s Digital Music Production class and how it’s fostering creativity for students. Read the full article here. 

Looking For a Videographer

We’re looking for a videographer to capture our musical performance on either April 18, 19, or 24. If you’re a videographer or know someone who is, please email Heather Cousins. Your help will ensure our students have a high-quality recording of their performance to cherish. A small stipend is available.

Class of 2025

2025 SENIOR BALL

A Night of Pure Imagination! Saturday, March 22

Here are all the details & links for tickets, permission forms, bus signups, rules/guidelines, volunteering, donating, and more.

2025 GRAD YARD SIGNS

Celebrate your soon-to-be graduate with a yard sign! Order now and pick up in the April timeframe.

Questions? Contact the Class of 2025 Parent Advisors

Class of 2026

Save the Date! The Junior Class Auction is scheduled for March 7-24. We have some amazing items up for auction this year! All funds raised will go directly to the Class of 2026 Activity Fund. Be sure to share - anyone at Miramonte or our outside community may participate and bid - GO MATS! 

Questions? Contact the Class of 2026 Parent Advisors

Class of 2027

So much fun is happening this Spring!

Join us Thursday, March 13, for the Class of 2027 Spring Fling Parent Social. We’ll have food & beverages and an awesome raffle item. Click here to purchase your tickets. And if you can’t join, you can donate. 

Surprise your kids with St Patrick’s Day Candy Grams! (1) for $4 or (3) for $10. Available to order now through Friday, March 7. We will deliver on Friday, March 14. Here is the link to place your order!

And we’ll have another dine-out on the town fundraiser on Monday, April 9. Treat your family to Local Kitchens for dinner and help raise funds for our class. More details to follow. 

Questions? Contact the Class of 2027 Parent Advisors

Class of 2028

Class of 2028 Parent Party Friday February 28, 6:00 - 9:00 p.m. We look forward to seeing everyone who purchased tickets to attend.

Questions? Contact the Class of 2028 Parent Advisors

Spring Sports Are Here!

Don’t miss out—join the Miramonte Boosters today! Membership includes free entrance to games so that you can cheer on your Mats all season long.

Mats Spirit Wear

Show your Mats pride and purchase spirit wear HERE Go Mats! Miramonte Mats spirit wear will be available for purchase at upcoming home basketball games. Feel free to reach out to Lee O'Haver with any questions. 

Follow us!

Parents and students can follow the Athletic Boosters @miramonteathletics

Local Parcel Tax Funding

AUHSD Governing Board recently approved a parcel tax measure on the May 6, 2025 special election ballot. For more information, please visit the district website

Next AUHSD Board Meeting

The next AUHSD Board Meeting is on Wednesday, March 5. The agenda will be posted here on Sunday, March 2. The meeting is held at the district office, with the public portion beginning at 7:00 p.m. You may also watch the live broadcast here.

The upcoming board meetings for 2025 are on the following Wednesdays: March 5, March 19, April 16, May 7, May 21, and June 4.

AUHSD Special Education Department

Is your AUHSD student ages 16-22 and on an IEP? Learn how Work Ability and Department of Rehabilitation (DOR) services can help them gain job skills, explore careers, and prepare for success after high school. This information session will be held on Wednesday, March 12, 6:00 -7:00 p.m. at the Del Valle Campus, Room 400, Walnut Creek.

Please contact Leigh Gregory, Executive Director, Special Education with any questions.

Connect with the Parents' Club: