Month: April 2025

Cheers to 70 Years!

We are very excited for Saklan’s 70th Anniversary Gala & Auction, and hope you will join us on Saturday, April 26th, from 6:00 – 11:00 PM at Lafayette Park Hotel. This swanky, adults-only event will feature a cocktail reception, seated dinner, live auction, fund-a-need paddle raise, live music and dancing, and loads of fun! 

Wondering why you should attend?

  1. To support a great cause! Proceeds from the auction support the unique programs offered at Saklan, including: field experiences, guest experts, Project Based Learning, family groups, and professional development opportunities for our amazing teachers.
  2. To hang out with old friends and make new ones! Many Saklan parents, teachers and staff members will be in attendance. This is an opportunity to get to know fellow parents and Saklan teachers better!
  3. To bid on fantastic auction items! This year’s live auction is full of must-have items:
  4. To dress up and have an adults-only night out! Dust off your flapper dresses, fedoras, and spats, or cocktail attire from the decade of your choice, and join us for a night of fun! Signature cocktails, jazzy tunes, and a massive game of rock, paper, scissors await you!

Ticket sales close on Sunday, so don’t delay – get your tickets today!

Check out the pictures below from last year’s auction to get an idea of the fun to be had!

Summer Camp Filling Up

A summer of creative exploration awaits your child this summer during Summer@Saklan! This summer, camp will run in one-week sessions and focus on art and science, offering children the chance to have fun and learn while creating art masterpieces, engaging in exciting science experiments, playing fun games, meeting special guests, and more!

Camps are available on a first-come, first-served basis, and some sessions currently have very limited space left. Don’t delay in registering; use the button below to register your camper today!

Summer@Saklan 2025 Registration

#SummerCamp

Head’s Corner: Playgrounds that Inspire

The Evolution of Play Structures – This Year’s Fund-A-Need

As a child, my memory of play structures at school is pretty vivid. We can start with the color—predominantly metal gray. Much of the parts looked like they were taken from the hardware store plumbing aisle. During the winter, they were cold to the touch; in the heat of summer—untouchable. How many of you have a memory—seared into your bottom—of speeding down the shiny metal slide on a hot July day?

Most of all, though, they lacked space for imagination.

Play structures have undergone a significant transformation over the decades, reflecting our evolving understanding of child development. It wasn’t until the past 20 years or so that play structures moved from being prescriptive in how children were meant to use them to designs open to a child’s imagination—a place where children could direct their own experiences.

Well-designed equipment becomes a canvas for inventive play, changing its purpose to match the day’s adventure. These structures support not just physical development but also cognitive growth, social skills, and emotional resilience—all through the power of self-directed play.

This evolution reflects a broader shift in how we view childhood—moving from seeing children as passive recipients of instruction to recognizing them as active constructors of their own understanding. Today’s most innovative play structures (and educational approaches) reflect a deep respect for children’s capabilities.

Sound familiar? It should; students’ “meaning making” of what they learn is a foundational tenet of authentic Project-Based Learning.

This year’s Fund-a-Need is more than just playground equipment—it’s an investment in the kind of education we believe in. Your contribution will directly impact how our students play, learn, and grow every day at Saklan. When we give our children thoughtfully designed spaces to play, we give them the tools to become the innovative thinkers our world needs through the simple but profound act of play.

Join us in bringing this vision to life! Your support for this year’s Fund-a-Need will help create dynamic play spaces that foster creativity, collaboration, and exploration—just as we do in the classroom. Every contribution, big or small, makes a lasting impact on our students’ daily experiences. Let’s build playgrounds that inspire the next generation of innovators and problem-solvers. Donate today and be a part of shaping the future of play at Saklan!

Developing a Community of PBL Practitioners

Just like our students engage in productive struggle during Project Based Learning units, Saklan teachers improve our project curriculum through collaboration and reflection. Sometimes, this happens through informal conversations—while waiting at the copy machine or stopping by a colleague’s classroom during a prep period. At other times, our educators come together in more structured settings such as full faculty training sessions, tuning and reflection protocols for project units, and small-group Professional Learning Communities (PLCs). Below are reflections from staff on how these collaborative practices support them in developing strong, impactful PBL units for Saklan students.

Reflection protocols at the end of a unit are a great way to consider how to make a PBL unit better with help from others. They give teachers a chance to step back to look again with objectivity, just like we ask our students to do. The surprising result for me is how excited and motivated I am by this style of reflection. This collaborative approach is really motivating because it is something I could not do on my own.

– Yette Prizeman, 2nd Grade Teacher

I love the tuning protocols because having other people’s ideas helps me improve my projects immensely. Even if I feel like I have a good handle on the driving question, learning goals, project path, and products, during the discussion, things always come up that I didn’t think of. It really proves that more minds in the room means better outcomes. The process also feels very supportive and validating.

– Riva Zippin, Kindergarten Teacher

Taking part in a Professional Learning Community practice this year has made me focus on how to make group work more equitable and how to have the students own their project time. It has given me more tools to help show the students skills to help them work on their own time management. Additionally, I have enjoyed working alongside my coworkers and learning from them. Being in such a small school, it’s hard to find time for these meaningful conversations, and the PLC format allowed time for this discussion. 

– Vickie Obenchain, Science Specialist

In the ECE we work closely together on our units but not usually with Lower School or Middle School staff as much. The PLC groups help paint a clearer picture of what is happening in other classrooms and share ideas.

– Erin DeMoss, ECE Teacher

Working in a cross-divisional PLC small group focused on rubrics allowed us to imagine ways we can align rubrics across grade levels. Each year, the students can focus more on the content and less on the format of a rubric, which increases student independence and self-monitoring of learning. A format to share resources and talk together as teachers about ways to improve our assessment is door-opening. Discussions with colleagues open a new realm of understanding the experiences, successes, and hurdles of different teachers across divisions.

– Lauren Haberly, Art Specialist

These reflections highlight how a culture of collaboration and continuous improvement not only strengthens our PBL curriculum but also builds a vibrant professional community—one where educators grow together to create meaningful, student-centered learning experiences.

#SaklanPBL

Alumni Corner: Harrison Leenhouts

Harrison Leenhouts, a member of the Saklan Class of 2019, is currently a sophomore at Colby College, double majoring in Philosophy and Economics with a concentration in financial markets. He shared that he continues to rely on the core values he learned at Saklan—curiosity, courage, and community—principles that have shaped both his academic and personal growth.

At Colby, Harrison balances his studies with athletics as a recruited member of the varsity men’s lacrosse team while also staying active with the club climbing team. His interest in finance has led him to join two student-run investment clubs, where he has gained valuable real-world investing experience. Beyond academics and sports, he enjoys rock climbing, spinning pottery, and teaching himself Dari—a language he has been fascinated by for some time.

Recently, Harrison accepted an offer to join Goldman Sachs’ growth equity team in New York as a summer intern for 2026. This achievement marks the culmination of years of hard work, perseverance, and dedication, and he is thrilled for the opportunities ahead.

Reflecting on his journey, Harrison credits Saklan with helping him develop the ability to work collaboratively, stay adaptable, and push through challenges—skills that continue to serve him well today. He is grateful for the strong foundation Saklan provided and looks forward to the next chapter in his career.

We are incredibly proud of Harrison and celebrate his accomplishments, knowing he will continue to make a meaningful impact in all he pursues!

Saklan loves staying connected with our alumni and celebrating their journeys! If you or a Saklan alum in your family have an update to share, we’d love to hear it! Keep us posted on your adventures, achievements, and milestones—we’re always proud to see where life takes our graduates!

Taking on Invasive Species

As part of the sixth-grade earth science curriculum, the students learned about how pests and invasive species can affect an ecosystem. One species they focused on was the Crown of Thorns (COT) sea star. They learned how the sea star’s fast reproduction and limited predators on the Great Barrier Reef are creating quite a problem for that precious ecosystem. The COTs eat the algae in the coral, which is causing the coral to die at rapid rates. Students then learned how scientists are using Remote Operated Vehicles (ROVs) to learn to identify and inject vinegar into the COTs. The vinegar dissolves them from the inside out. These ROVs can work 24 hours a day in all kinds of weather conditions. 

Ms. O had the 6th-grade students team up to create their own ROVs. With a grant from National Geographic Education, the students were able to use SeaMate Angelfish ROVs to simulate the work of the scientists out on the reef. The students had to design a frame, add motors, learn how to work their control box, and decorate their ROV.

With the ROVs completed, the students were given the challenge of collecting COT’s from the local MCC Augusta Pool. Students had to figure out how to maneuver their ROV and remove the imitation COTs from the pool.

It was amazing to see the engineering and design process happening while the students took the role of scientists. 

#SaklanHandsOn

April SEL: Adventurous

At Saklan, we encourage our students—and ourselves—to approach each day with an adventurous spirit. The willingness to embrace the unknown and step outside our comfort zones can lead to some of the most rewarding experiences. To help us all practice taking on adventure, during April, our social-emotional learning focus is on being adventurous!

Ritzy Auction Items!

Ritzy auction items make for a hotsy-totsy auction! A huge THANK YOU to the following organizations and families for their in-kind donations received in support of Saklan’s upcoming 70th Anniversary Gala & Auction:

A Higher Perspective
Aloha Pediatric Dentistry
The Altman Family
Balletto Vineyards
Bay Area Discovery Museum
Blackhawk Museum
Blick Art Materials
The BroBasket
Cal Athletics
Canyon Club Brewery
Charles M. Schulz Museum
Cheese Board Collective
Children’s Museum of Sonoma County
Crocker Art Museum
CryoBahr
CuriOdyssey
The Dodd Family
Europa Hofbrau
Exploratorium
Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa
Five Little Monkeys
Gardens of Golden Gate Park
GoldenBug
GourmetGiftsBaskets.Com
Marge and Steve Graham
Joanne Haukland
The Hill Family
Hiller Aviation Museum
In-N-Out Burger
Iron Hub Winery
Joy in Motion
The Kufluk Family
La Note Restaurant
The Lacrampe Family
Lafayette Park Hotel
Lamorinda Music
The Lawrence Hall of Science
Lindsay Wildlife Experience		Loard’s Ice Cream
Darla Lovrin
Museum of Craft & Design
Niku Steakhouse
Nothing Bundt Cakes
Oakland Ballers
Oakland Zoo
OMCA
Orchard Nursery
Oriental Trading Company
The Osborn Family
Ben & Ronnie Patterson
Pump It Up
Raising Cane’s
Rebel Art School
RÊVE Bistro
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
San Francisco Zoo
Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History
Schumacher Photography
Si Si Caffe
Six Flags Discovery Kingdom
Six Flags Hurricane Harbor
Soulful Photography
The Spicer-Youakim Family
SusieCakes
Tahoe Donner
Thrive Market
Tipsy Putt
Total Wine & More
Urban Adventure Camps
Urban Air
VJB Cellars
Walt Disney Family Museum
Wellington Cellars
The Woodward Family
Yoga with Amy

Items from these donors, as well as uniquely Saklan experiences, will be open for bidding during Saklan’s 70th Anniversary Gala & Auction on Saturday, April 26th. This adults-only shindig is a roaring good time to toast our vibrant Saklan community while throwing some clams behind its ongoing success. Funds raised from the event support our top-notch programs like field experiences, guest experts, Project Based Learning, family groups, and primo training for our wonderful teachers.

Get Your Auction Tickets Today!

Last Call for Auction Items

Saklan’s Auction Committee is on the hunt for a few more razzle-dazzle auction items to make this year’s auction the real McCoy! Here’s the skinny on what we need to bring the excitement and rake in the dough:

  • Vacation Homes – Do you have or know someone with a vacation property, timeshare or other access to destination properties?
  • Unique Experiences – Do you have a connection to something unavailable to the general public? Think Club 33, behind-the-scenes tours, throwing out the first pitch, dinner with someone famous, or an opportunity to sit in an owner’s box.
  • Event Tickets – Do you have season passes for the Giants, Warriors, theatre, symphony, or live music venues?
  • Luxury Items – Artwork, handbags, jewelry, etc.
  • Adventure Experiences – Hot air ballooning, horseback riding, and cooking classes are always popular items.
  • Wine – Do you belong to a winery and have a few extra bottles of your favorite Cab you would be willing to part with for a good cause?
  • Gift Cards – Your unused gift cards can enhance a basket of themed goods.

Got a genius idea for a show-stopping auction item? Don’t be shy—lay it on us! As our mission says, think creatively! Hit the button below to fill out the online donor form, or drop a line to ewilliamson@saklan.org to share your brilliant ideas with the committee. Let’s make this auction the cat’s pajamas!

Auction Donation Form