Grandparents and Special Friends Day is coming up!
Friday, March 30, 10a.m. – noon
Invitations went out this week, but please remind your grandparents and special friends about this event so they join in on the fun!
Author: The Saklan School Friday Blog
The Saklan School is a private Pre-K through 8 school located in Moraga, CA. Our mission is to think creatively, act compassionately, and live courageously.
Head’s Corner
Dear Saklan Community,
This morning, the rain let up and the sun came out just in time for us to hold our first Flag of March. Presenting today, were our 3rd Grade class who shared information about their Native Americans projects. Next week’s Flag will be a special day for all math fans. Don’t miss this annual celebration of pi, with a special pi reciting competition, quadratic equations poems and a presentation of certificates of merit to our MATHCOUNTS Team. The Mathcounts team, coached by Mr. Zippin, participated in the regional chapter competition last weekend, and while we didn’t win any prizes, our students did a great job and are setting the stage for even better results in the future.
Today marks the end of our second trimester and report cards will be put in the mail next Friday. You will soon receive an email today inviting you to sign up for our Parent-Teacher Conferences which will be held on March 22 & 23. We will again be doing all of conference sign ups on line using Sign-Up Genius. This is a great time to get an update on your child’s academic progress as we move towards the end of the year.
Two exciting dates are on the calendar for March. Our annual concert at the Lesher Center is scheduled for March 15th and Grandparents and Special Friends Day is on March 30th. I look forward to big crowds on these important and fun events.
Have a great weekend!
Peter
MATHCOUNTS
Last year we started the first ever Saklan MATHCOUNTS competition team and it was back by popular demand this year! The MATHCOUNTS Competition Series is a national program that provides students the opportunity to compete in live, in-person contests against and alongside their peers. Created in 1983, it is the longest-running MATHCOUNTS program and is open to all sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade students.
The team is open to any middle school student who wants to work on interesting and challenging problems with other math-letes. Saklan’s team met every Monday and just finished the MATHCOUNTS Regional Competition last weekend!
For more information on MATHCOUNTS, please click here. We hope to continue to grow our team in the years to come!
Bake Sale Success
Thank you to everyone for contributing to the success of the Second Grade Bake Sale. I also want to take this opportunity to give a special thank you to Lori Anders who organized this event and to all the special second grade parent bakers and helpers. The second graders raised $343.00 for Guide Dogs for the Blind!
4th Grade Scientists
4th graders have been studying about electricity and currents in the Science Lab. In conclusion to that unit, the students got to work with our new STEM kits and collaborate to build their own inventions. They had a blast!
Way to go, Suns!
The Saklan Suns shined bright on a cloudy day! On Wednesday the Suns beat East Bay Waldorf School in two games of basketball. Junior Varsity 40 to 27, and Varsity 54 to 31.
Here is the schedule for their upcoming games:
Saklan vs. The Berkeley School Tuesday, March 6th @ 4:15pm (Berkeley)
Saklan vs. East Bay Waldorf rescheduled Tuesday, March 27th @ 4:15pm (El Sobrante)
Saklan vs. Pacific Boys Choir Thursday, March 29th @ 4:45pm (Home)
Come cheer them on – they are a dynamic team to watch!
News from Geometry
Curious about the height of the tallest redwoods on the turf? The meteor? Olivia used a clinometer to measure the angle from her eye to the top of each object. She also measured her distance from the object and the height of her eye. Using these measurements and her knowledge of trigonometry ratios, she was able to find the heights. The redwood was 42 feet tall, and the meteor was 13 feet tall. There are so many ways to use math to solve problems in the real world!
Green Eggs and Ham
In celebration of Dr. Seuss’ birthday, the Hoot Owls had green eggs and ham for snack today! Some of them even had seconds!
Save the Date!
Grandparents and Special Friends Day is coming up!
Friday, March 30, 10a.m. – noon
Invitations will go out next week, so please tell your grandparents and special friends about this event so they join in on the fun!
Head’s Corner
Dear Saklan Community,
This past weekend our Science/STEM teacher attended the Global Classrooms Symposium in Washington. As I mentioned e lassrooms Fellowship sponsored by the US Department of State, Bureau petitive with 76 teachers being chosen from over 1200 applications from across the United States. She was accompanied to Washington by our Middle School Dean, Kim Parks as a representative of the school administration. The TGC program is funded by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA), and all the costs of participation are covered by this organization. Vickie’s field experience will be in Senegal, where she will visit and teaching in classrooms from April 16 to May 2. Other countries that are part of this program include Indonesia, Morocco, India, Peru and Columbia.
The Global Classrooms Program (TGC) is based on 4 key components or pillars. These are: 1) investigate the world, 2) recognize multiple perspectives, 3) communicate ideas, and 4) take action. Vickie has created a video which outlines these concepts, which you can view here. The ultimate objective of the program is twofold. The short term goal is the implementation of Global Education in schools. The second, and long term goal, is to effect systematic change on a global plane for the betterment of all mankind.
Saklan already offers a rich program of global education. Our Spanish language program, which starts in PreK, naturally gives our students a different cultural perspective. Our Summer Camp program is focused on a variety of different languages and cultures. Our Summer travel program takes students to a different county each year. Our SEL program teaches empathy, tolerance, compassion and being open-minded, which are critical in global understanding. Many global concepts are infused in our curriculum at every grade level. To give just a few of the many examples of this, first Grade does a unit on shelters from around the world, second grade does a unit on heritage, third grade studies Native Americans, fourth grade looks at migrations and seventh grade, in their annual field trip to Hawaii, studies the impact of plastic trash in the oceans and around the world. Taking action is an important part of the learning experience, and Saklan students have engaged in a number of activities ranging from beach clean-ups to communicating with students in Japan. Looking at our reading program through the lens of global education, will be part of the task of our curriculum review committee when they review and evaluate this part of the school curriculum.
After Vickie’s travels to Senegal, we will be scheduling a series of workshops for both parents and faculty where Vickie can share her experiences and discuss how these can help the school in enhancing our program. This will take place in May with date announcement forthcoming.
Have a great weekend!
Peter
FRIDAY BLOG 
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