Month: May 2022

Head’s Corner: What a Special Place

Dear Saklan Community,

I’m enjoying being Head of School today! After CLAS, I walked all around the campus asking students and teachers what they love about Saklan. Almost everyone in every class had something to share with me, which was so cool for me to see. A lot of people said they loved the teachers, the specials, and their friends. They also said they loved the small classrooms so they could get more attention from their teachers. Here are some other quotes from this morning:

“Everyone is always kind, caring, and helpful in this community.”

“Everyone gets to know each other at Saklan.”

“I love the field experiences, whether it’s Moraga Commons or far away.”

“I love that it’s safe here and there’s no stealing.”

“The students make this place brighter.”

“Everyone is there for you.”

“Everyone has the ability to be themselves.”

“I love the family feel of Saklan.”

“I love my colleagues and my community.”

“I love the playground, the redwood trees, and the beautiful campus.”

“Saklan has the best students!”

“The teachers listen to your feelings.”

“All the teachers and students connect with each other.”

“Family Group leaders take care of you and are always helpful and caring.”

This was a great reminder of what a special place this is to me and why I love to come to school. I am grateful to have teachers and friends that are always caring and kind. I loved being Head of School for a day, and I hope I get to do it again someday!

Happy Friday!

Love,

Kingsley 

#SaklanConfident #SaklanConnected #HeadsCorner

Creative Saklan Students

Thank you to everyone who joined us for the Art Show! It was a fantastic event, showcasing the creativity and hard work of all Saklan students.

Thank you to Ms. Lauren for making the Art Show a reality. Her expert guidance of the students through the art making process, helping them to explore their creativity and express themselves, was evident in the art. We also appreciate the time she took to organize the art, determine the placement on the boards, create the scavenger hunts for the students, and take care of all the other details that made the event a success!

Thank you to the volunteers who helped set up and prepare for the event. Amy Schofield, Saphierrina Sutherland, Elizabeth Stoltzfus, Lucy Luo, Amy Perkins, and Bob McClain, thank you for sharing your time and energy to bring the Art Show to life.

Thank you to the Saklan teachers and staff for their help in getting ready for the Art Show, guiding their students through the event, and helping with clean up at the end of the day.

Thank you to the Saklan students for sharing their work with us. The time and detail that went into each of the pieces was evident, as well as their propensity to think creatively!

#SaklanCreativity

Thank You, Saklan Families

Thank you, Saklan families, for a wonderful Teacher Appreciation Week! It was a week full of warm messages, Saklan swag, and delicious food. You definitely made all of the Saklan teachers and staff feel like stars!

We enjoyed tasting your family recipes! Each day of the week featured at least 14 appetizers, main courses and desserts. From ‘Crockpot Cookout’, ‘Holiday Faves in May’ to ‘Special Family Recipes’ there wasn’t a day when any of us left feeling hungry!

The messages the students left for all of us on the Kudoboards were so heartfelt and made us feel seen and appreciated. Thank you to all the parents who worked with your kiddos to help share their thoughts and for sharing your own words of thanks.

From our own Walk of Fame, red carpet and stars hanging in the entryway, to swag bags and our own step and repeat screen, it was certainly a week full of star-studded activities!

THANK YOU to all of you for making us feel so special!

#SaklanTeacherAppreciationWeek

Homes Around the World

The first grade class has been learning about the importance of shelter and what homes look like around the world. To begin the unit, the students wrote down questions they had related to homes. Culture, climate, and materials that are used to build homes were all part of the questions that were then posted on their Wonder Wall. Next, the students set out to learn the answers to their essential questions using a variety of resources.

One resource that the first graders were able to learn from was the 8th graders! Having recently returned from their Puerto Rican field experience, where they helped rebuild houses destroyed by Hurricane Maria, the eighth graders were now well versed in the building materials used and the ways homes are constructed in Puerto Rico. The eighth graders shared a presentation with the first graders about the climate and impact of hurricanes in Puerto Rico. They then shared how the houses are now being constructed to withstand the hurricane winds and water.

The first graders joined the eighth graders and Mr. Javier to get a hands-on demonstration of the home building process in Puerto Rico. The first graders helped mix cement, adding in extra rocks and sand to make it even stronger. The group then filled a preformed column, which Mr. Javier had already inserted rebar reinforcements into, with the cement.

A big thank you to the eighth graders for teaching the first graders about homes in Puerto Rico. This was a great hands-on learning experience for first grade.

#SaklanCrossGradeLearning #SaklanHandsOn

Biologists

At the end of April, the Owlets watched this video to learn that biologists are scientists who study animals, plants, and other kinds of life. During the month of May, the Owlets have had many opportunities to be biologists. Recently, they talked about characteristics of different animal classes, including reptiles, mammals, fish, and birds.

Last week, a guest expert, Ms. Emily from Wildcare, visited the Owlets and Hoot Owls to teach them all about mammals! The students enjoyed seeing the real taxidermy animals she brought, as well as a real whale tooth and some deer antlers!

#SaklanGuestExpert #SaklanHandsOn

Hawaii: A Cultural & Biological Experience

Last week, Saklan’s seventh graders traveled to the Hawaiian Island of Oahu. During their time in the globally recognized destination, the students distinguished themselves from the multitude of travelers by their mission: to learn about the cultural and biological evolution of the Hawaiian Islands. In Waimea Falls, the staff that handed the students their lifejackets were impressed to hear about the class itinerary and what they had already learned about the beautiful island of Oahu. One lifelong Hawaiian was particularly impressed that the students were visiting the Iolani Palace, as he had never visited himself. The 7th graders snorkeled among hundreds of brightly colored fish that call Hanuma Bay home while watching their adaptations at work for their survival.

The students spent a long and interactive afternoon at the Polynesian Cultural Center, where they learned how the Polynesian people valued the natural world and how they used the resources around them.

The students enjoyed themselves so much that they would like to open a sister school in Hawaii to continue their education!

#SaklanFieldExperience 

Menús

Two true tests of learning are the ability to apply what has been learned in a new way, and to use learning to serve others. Over the last three weeks, the fifth grade students have done both in Spanish class with Maestra Padilla.

The fifth graders created cafe menus, complete with items written in Spanish and priced in the currency of a Spanish-speaking country (such as pesos), and then set up a cafe scene to serve “customers.” Although they were not really served the menu items they ordered, students served each other, nonetheless, each playing a part for a friend’s video by ordering in Spanish, paying, etc.

Students recorded their cafe scenes on flipgrid.  Maestra shared one of her favorites for you to enjoy; click here to see it!

Chemical Reactions

The Owlets became scientists in April! The class visited Ms. O in her lab every Thursday during the month. The Owlets learned words like observation and hypothesis. Ms. O let the Owlets experiment with mixing different liquids to cause chemical reactions, like color changes, temperature changes, and state changes.

After learning about chemical reactions, Ms. Jessica led the Owlets and Hoot Owls in a classic experiment mixing Mentos candy with soda. Many of the students predicted what would happen, and many of them wanted to try mixing the candy with other liquids too!

The Owlets asked lots of great questions and came up with many ideas for more science experiments!

#SaklanHandsOn

Final Days in Puerto Rico

In March, Saklan’s eighth grade students took part in a service-learning field experience in Puerto Rico in which they helped rebuild homes destroyed by Hurricane Maria. Check out the student blog post from the final two days of the trip below.

March 28 & 29, 2022

We’ve never had an experience like we had in Puerto Rico. To start off the day yesterday, we woke up to a delicious breakfast of pancakes and sausage. We then hiked to a river in a luscious rainforest called Vereda Angelito, where we swam and jumped between rocks watching the water flow between our feet. After that, we went to an amazing shopping center where we dined on fish, chicken, and plantains. The class also shopped for small treats and souvenirs in that area. After shopping, we arrived at the beautiful hotel we would be staying at for the last day in Puerto Rico. At the end of the day, we kayaked at night through the stunning Bahia Bioluminiscente Las Croabas Fajardo bay. The bay is covered with bioluminescent plankton. This means if you stick your hand in the water, it will light up. Navigating a kayak in the dark was hard. There were some bumps and shenanigans that happened while kayaking, but overall, the eighth grade class did really well. Today we’re leaving Puerto Rico, and I can definitely say it was worth it.

-Ari and Milo

Thank you, Ari and Milo, for sharing your experience with us.

#SaklanFieldExperience

Saklan Book Fair

Saklan’s Book Fair is coming back LIVE! All Saklan families are invited to shop the book fair after school next week on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, May 11-13th. 

Pick up your child and some amazing reading material at the same time! Stop by the music tent in front of the school to purchase wonderful titles for children and adults of all ages.

The Saklan teachers have created wish lists – books they would love to have in their classroom for use by your children. Many of those books will be available for purchase too and any wish list book purchased will be donated to the teachers at the end of the fair. A portion of all proceeds goes to Saklan in the form of credit so that Saklan teachers and staff can continue to fill their shelves with in demand titles. All forms of payment accepted!

Can’t shop in person? No problem! We will have an online option too; more info to be shared next week.