Thank You, Saklan!

A huge thank you to everyone who supported Saklan through financial gifts this year. As a community we have raised $167,716 of the $170,000 we hoped to raise for this year’s Annual Giving Fund (AGF). AGF gifts are tax-deductible donations that allow us to provide the many extras that make Saklan the incredible school that it is: personal attention from dedicated teachers, an engaging curriculum, arts, music, Spanish, STEM, and physical education at all grade levels.

If you haven’t made a gift yet, it’s not too late to contribute! Gifts towards this year’s AGF campaigns will be gratefully accepted through the end of June.

Thank you to everyone who gave so generously to this year’s auction. Our Fiesta raised over $63,700. We are especially grateful to our fund-a-need donors; together you gave:

  • $6,900 to Flexible/Collaborative Seating
  • $5,800 to the Summer Reflection Fund/Professional Development for Saklan Faculty & Staff
  • $15,000 to Media Arts Literacy
  • $1,500 to a Water Refill Station on the PS – Kindergarten Playground
  • $1,500 to an Indoor Vertical Garden for the Science Lab
  • $500 to an All-Weather Library Book Return Station

Your generosity will provide many exciting new opportunities for our students and teachers in the year ahead.

If you are interested in giving to these initiatives it isn’t too late. Fund-a-Need donations will be happily accepted through June 30th. Additionally, all Fund-a-Need gifts at the $100 level are eligible to be matched by the Moorhead Family (meaning your gift will go twice as far!).

On behalf of all of us at The Saklan School, thank you very much for your support.

Family Group Field Day

Saklan’s annual Family Group Field Day took place last Friday afternoon. In their family groups, the 1st to 8th grade students delivered fun and entertaining cheers to a panel of judges (faculty and staff) to start the festivities!

Following the cheers, the family groups faced off against each other as they rotated through the following activities:

  • Super Volleyball
  • Sponge Relay
  • Marbles, Marbles
  • Sack Relay
  • Charades

Next up was the water-balloon toss! 

Finally, the family groups ended the day on the sports court where the top 3 teams were announced and popsicles were enjoyed by all. It was a terrific day, filled with exemplary sportsmanship, great team spirit, and tons of fun. It was also a great final family group activity for the year, as students were able to showcase their understanding of all the Social Emotional Learning topics they learned this year:

  • Accepting
  • Growth Mindset
  • Compassionate
  • Self-disciplined
  • Fairness & Equality
  • Honest & Trustworthy
  • Curious
  • Resilient

#SaklanConnected #SaklanFamilyGroups

Arthropod Adoptions

The 7th grade has been learning about all the different kingdoms of life this spring. Currently, the 7th grade is in the middle of learning about animals, in particular invertebrates! They were excited to meet with guest experts from Nature.org, who brought some invertebrates that the students got to look at closely and touch. 

Afterwords, the students were asked to look at the Arthropod (jointed foot) Phyla and find an organism they found interesting and create a Bitmoji Adoption Ad for the Arthropod of their choice.

Students created themselves in Bitmoji form and shared why their invertebrate would be a great pet for your household!  Maybe you have been looking for the cutest caterpillar to be the envy of all your friends or a pistol shrimp that is so cute and cuddly but also breaks the sound barrier with its claw leaving you deaf. Another option is that if you are scared you will lose a small pet, a large Atlas Moth might be for you! Finally, you might even find a huge Robber Crab you might want to use to scare your children. There are many options to choose from for your next pet. Please find the arthropod of your dreams at the 7th Grade Arthropod Adoption event! Read some of their adoption posters below.

Castle Creation Challenge

After classifying and naming 3D figures by their names, faces, vertices, and edges, the fifth graders completed a “Castle Creation Challenge.” Making their castles was a creative and fun way to end their geometry unit. Students formed three teams to build Max’s Mansion, Kai’s Creation and Kylie’s Castle.  The construction teams had to follow local building ordinances:

  • Each castle had to include at least one of each given 3D shape.
  • A minimum of ten shapes had to be used. 
  • No outsourcing allowed.
  • Team members had to create their own 3-D shapes.
  • Acceptable building materials were only paper, tape, and gluesticks. 

Finally, teams were awarded points for creativity!  Pencils and markers were allowed, to add color and flair to each creation. Results were terrific and teams are now available to hire for all your summer home remodel needs!

#SaklanCreative #SaklanHandsOn

Reptiles and More!

The Hoot Owls were so brave and curious when Owen, a guest expert from the East Bay Vivarium, came to Saklan to share his reptiles with them! During the visit, the students learned about snakes, turtles, tortoises, lizards, geckos, skinks, bearded dragons, legless lizards and a huge monitor lizard that Owen insisted was a “puppy” because it was cuddly.

Owen even surprised the class with some animals that were not reptiles, like a frog, a toad, a scorpion and a tarantula! Some Hoot Owls were extra brave and volunteered to hold a few of these animals.

A huge thank you to Owen and the East Bay Vivarium for sharing their animals and knowledge with the Hoot Owls!

Class of 2023 Graduation

You are Cordially Invited to Attend

Wednesday, June 7, 2023

10:00 AM on the Saklan Sports Court

We are excited to invite you to a graduation ceremony celebrating the Saklan Class of 2023! This year’s ceremony will be held on Wednesday, June 7th at 10:00 a.m. on the Saklan Sports Court. RSVP is requested for those who will be joining us.

Seating: Will begin at 9:45 a.m.

What to Bring: The event is being held outdoors and weather can vary this time of year. Please prepare for potential sun (hats/sunscreen/glasses/water bottle) or for breezier cool weather (sweaters/jackets).

RSVP: Please RSVP by June 1st, 2023.

RSVP for Graduation Here!

We look forward to celebrating the Class of 2023 with you!

#SaklanGraduation #Classof2023

Buddy Breakfast

Last week, the fifth grade students prepared a pancake breakfast for the Preschool – 5th grade students to enjoy with their learning buddies. This annual celebration took an unexpected turn when they tripped the power grid in the Pavilion! 

However, the 5th graders persisted, stepped up, and all pulled together to help each other when they ended up spread across the school mixing pancake batter, cooking pancakes, and getting them to the Pavilion for the buddies to enjoy. Together, the students ended up flipping over 150 pancakes!

The 5th graders were very excited to hang up their spatulas and share in the pancakes with their Preschool learning buddies at the end of the morning!

Thank you very much, fifth graders, for a wonderful breakfast! Your teamwork, creativity and persistence were very admirable to watch.

#SaklanLearningBuddies #SaklanService #SaklanConnected

Moving Up Day

On Wednesday morning, the Saklan Preschool – fifth grade students participated in Moving Up Day. The students and teachers alike were buzzing with excitement!

This annual tradition allows the students to get a snapshot of what next year will hold. The teachers planned special activities that highlighted their grade level and enjoyed getting to know their rising students a little better. Morning meeting activities, questions, stories, art activities, classroom scavenger hunts, and enthusiasm for next year filled the classrooms! If your child “moved up” on Wednesday, please ask them all about it. They will likely have something enthusiastic to share!

#SaklanConnected

Chicha Morada

The middle school students recently learned how to prepare Chicha Morada, an iconic Peruvian beverage, in Spanish class. The drink is made from dried purple corn, boiled together with pineapple, cinnamon stick, and cloves. It is the most popular drink in the Andean region. As part of their study of the culture of the Andean region, yellow block students created videos describing the ingredients and process of preparing the refreshing, delicious Chicha Morada!

Check out their videos below!

Bienvenidos a Perú, es una bebida saludable y deliciosa. 

#SaklanHandsOn

Last Call for Sneakers

As we shared at the beginning of the year, the sixth grade partnered with GotSneakers, an organization that helps keep sneakers out of landfills by recycling and reusing them. Each pair of shoes donated can earn their class money, which they are using to symbolically adopt a species affected by climate change as part of their way to give back.

To date, 12 bags of sneakers have been sent to GotSneakers. Thank you to everyone who helped support this initiative. Your donations have really helped the environment:

  • Shoes displaced from landfill: 206
  • Carbon Dioxide: 6180 Pounds Displaced
  • Water: 464,942 Gallons Saved

It isn’t too late to donate sneakers! The 6th graders will be collecting sneakers through Friday, June 2nd.

#SaklanServiceLearning

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