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.

Summer@Saklan 2024

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

Session Dates & Hours

This summer, camp will run in one-week sessions from June 17th – August 2nd.

  • June 17th to 21st – Session 1
  • June 24th to 28th – Session 2
  • July 1st to 3rd – Session 3
  • July 8th to 12th – Session 4
  • July 15th to 19th -Session 5
  • July 22nd to 26th – Session 6
  • July 29th to Aug 2nd – Session 7

The camp day will begin with drop off from 8:15 – 8:30 a.m. and run until 2:30 p.m. Extended Day will be available until 4:30 p.m.

Ages of Campers

Students entering Preschool through 3rd Grade in the Fall are invited to join us for Summer@Saklan. Students will be divided into two age groups again this summer:

  • Mini Campers: Age 3 – Entering Kindergarten
  • Explorers: Entering 1st – 3rd Grade

Additional Information

Additional information on Summer@Saklan can be found on the summer webpage.

Please note, registration will open in early February. If you are interested in being notified when registration is open, please complete this form!

#Summer@Saklan

Joy & Optimism for the Year Ahead

Dear Saklan Community,

Happy 2024! Seeing the kids return from Winter Break always brings a sense of joy and optimism for the year ahead. 🙂 

January marks a winding down of admissions activity, as our application deadline for new students is Friday, January 26th. Thank you for continuing to share wonderful information about our school and our program to the broader community. Most of the inquiries I receive come from friends of yours with whom you have shared your positive experiences. I feel your support and your partnership.

Friday, January 26th is also our deadline for families to apply for Tuition Assistance.This year we have moved to Clarity, a new and more efficient application provider. We are confident that this will improve your application experience.

On Thursday, February 1st, current families will receive an offer to re-enroll for the 2024-25 school year. Signed contracts are due by Thursday, February 15th. Please understand that we can only guarantee your child’s spot if we have your signed contract by the deadline. 

Your children are the heartbeat of our school. Thank you for your support, your cooperation, your trust, and your presence. 

In gratitude,

Mel 🙂

Respectful Students

Saklan’s social-emotional learning emphasis for January is to be respectful. Throughout the month, all Saklan students will be learning what it means to be respectful and practicing strategies for showing respect both at school and at home.

On Friday, January 26th, the first – eighth graders will meet with their family groups and take part in cross-grade level discussions and activities to gain an even greater understanding of respect. We value these opportunities to help our students understand and integrate new SEL concepts each month. Thank you to our 8th graders for leading these opportunities for the 1st – 7th graders, and to our SEL coordinators Vickie Obenchain and Lisa Rokas for organizing such a unique program for our students.

#SaklanSEL

Parent Coffee Next Friday

Navigating the Complex Intersection of Well-Being, Social Media & Technology

The Saklan School has launched a partnership with The Social Institute (TSI), a national leader in curriculum designed to equip students to navigate the complex intersection of well-being, social media, and technology. 

Join us on Friday, January 12, after CLAS for Coffee and a Parent Presentation by Kim Parks about The Social Institute and How To Help Your Child(ren) Navigate The Complex Intersection of Well-Being, Social Media, and Technology in Positive, High-Character Ways.

At a time when students spend many hours a day on digital devices, and cyberbullying and reputation-damaging posts run rampant, TSI equips students to make positive, healthy, and high-character choices that fuel their health, happiness, and future success. Saklan is adopting TSI’s comprehensive program, called #WinAtSocial, which promotes character, empathy, teamwork, critical thinking, and other essential life skills. Join us for the Parent Coffee to learn more!

#SaklanParentEducation

Winter Enrichment Starts Jan. 22

The winter session of enrichment classes will begin the week of January
22nd. Many exciting classes are being offered this session, including
Lego Brick Building, Basketball, Soccer, Chess and The Intuitive Writing Project!

Class descriptions and registration are available on the Saklan Enrichment Webpage.

#SaklanWellRounded

Help Needed

Saklan’s 2024 Auction will be held on Friday, April 26th. This year’s event will be at The Garden in Walnut Creek, but we need your help to determine the theme.

The Auction Committee brainstormed several possibilities, and narrowed them down to three choices:

  • 1920s
  • Peace, Love, Saklan
  • James Bond
Vote for the 2024 Auction Theme here

Voting will close on Thursday, January 11th.

Don’t forget to save the date for this adults-only event! Saklan’s Annual Auction is a fun, community-building event where parents, grandparents, alumni, friends, faculty and staff come together in celebration of our wonderful school.

Proceeds from the auction are invested directly back into your children’s educational experiences, in and out of their classrooms.

Laying the Foundation

On September 20th, 2017, Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico with 155 mph winds and 40 inches of rainfall. The small community of Villa Del Rio was impacted like much of the island; houses blown off foundations, roofs torn off, down trees making roads impassable, and no running water or electricity for months. For Villa Del Rio, the worst thing may have been the isolation. For eight months, no one from the U.S. or Puerto Rican Government showed up to help. The community of Villa Del Rio was on its own. That meant rebuilding houses, fixing power lines, clearing roads, and sourcing clean water. It meant putting the community’s needs before the individual’s. 

There are so many things that we want our 8th graders to take away from their service learning field experience in Puerto Rico. The confidence from succeeding in an environment well outside their comfort zone. The reward of doing hard manual work, shoulder-to-shoulder with those rebuilding their lives. The understanding that even in a community that has lost so much, generosity, kindness, and warmth are still a key part of the social fabric. 

Students worked alongside Angel and William, our GlobalWorks locals who live in the community of Villa Del Rio and also were affected by the hurricane, to help build the foundation of a home for a man named Felix. Felix lost his home to Maria. After the hurricane, he picked up any scraps he could to build a makeshift house to live in. He has been very grateful for the one-room home he created and has lived in for the last few years, but now looks to secure a hurricane-proof home for his family. Our students were the first step in that process.

Our students spent their days learning about the history and culture of Puerto Rico by getting a tour of San Juan, seeing the street art murals in Santurce, learning to dance Salsa, and interviewing native Puerto Ricans about their experience during Hurricane Maria.

The students learned about the stories of the locals and what it takes to build a structure that can withstand a hurricane by working to build a foundation for a home by:

  • Securing rebar beams
  • Shoveling rocks, sand and cement
  • Passing cement to create beams
  • Cleaning up the bottom foundation of the home

The students also witnessed the beauty of Puerto Rico by playing in the Atlantic Ocean every day, talking with locals, hiking through a muddy El Yunque Rainforest, swimming in the cool river water, and kayaking through the most fascinating bioluminescent bay ever. 

During their stay in Puerto Rico, the students wrote reflections about the work they were doing and the community they were working with. Here are some of their responses: 

Today we worked with rebar on the worksite. We accomplished our whole task of making 8 beams for the foundation. I had a hard time with the wire at first but was really happy when I finally got it.

Kori

Working with the community has made me feel great. I love manual labor, it is fun and a workout. I also loved seeing such a welcoming community. They made me feel like family.

Astro

I loved helping the community and loved shoveling concrete and getting dirty.  I feel like I helped a family in need and am proud of myself.

Yiannis

Working with the community made me feel grateful and humbled me. I got to help and support people in need but also learned how they suffered, too. When I get home I will miss helping them and I will be more grateful. 

Mars

I think working with the community made me appreciate how hard it is to build a house in the heat. These people must be so dedicated to the cause to do this almost every day. It really makes you see what good people they are and how kind and generous their community is.

Eleanor


My perspective throughout the week has significantly changed. When we first came here I was surprised by how rundown and below average the homes were compared to mainland U.S. As the week went on I got more and more used to Puerto Rican conditions, and as we reach the end of our trip I feel incredibly grateful for this experience and I am glad we came.

Oliver

Working with the community changed my perspective on hard work because they showed me that hard work makes you stronger physically and mentally. It also made me sad for the community because they lost everything. When I get home I will feel sad that I won’t be able to keep helping, but will be happy to get away from all the mosquitos.

Sam

To learn more about the students’ experiences in Puerto Rico and their takeaways from the trip, join us at CLAS on Friday, January 26th.

#SaklanServiceLearning

30 Minutes to Launch

The fifth grade students recently wrapped up their hands-on space unit, taught by Ms. O, with a STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math) challenge to design and build a rocket. When students work in teams, they learn and practice desirable “soft skills” such as active listening, clear communication, cooperation, and flexibility, whilst also learning the “hard-skill” academics – both are valuable for life, hence rockets were designed and built in partner-teams.  Each team had access to a soda bottle, lightweight card, tape in many colors, markers, and scissors.  They also had two constraints: time and weight, and had to make decisions around those factors, while building a launchable rocket in under 30 minutes.

Check out the teams, rockets, and smiles following successful launches here at the Saklan Space Station in the images below!

#SaklanHandsOn

Construction Culmination

The Owlets held their Construction Project Culmination on Wednesday morning, celebrating all the hard work and learning they have done over the last two months. Thank you to everyone who stopped by to view their work!

In addition to the activities we shared last week, the Owlets engaged in other enjoyable building exercises during their Construction Unit. With Ms. Erin, they constructed and painted a birdhouse and a bug abode to hang on their playground yard. Ms. Erin demonstrated the proper technique for handling a hammer safely while they practiced using it on the bird house. The students decided to gather some moss and leaves outside for the bird house after one student mentioned that she had previously created a birdhouse and had added fake grass to it to make the birds feel more at ease. The Owlets also noticed that the birdhouse was quite tiny, and considered the various kinds of birds that might be interested in using it.

For the past few weeks, Ms. Linda has been really busy with rolling up newspapers, and the Owlets were quite interested in seeing what she was up to! The students were very excited to use the rolled-up newspapers to build! Ms. Linda and the Owlets came up with a variety of unique buildings and participated in creating many collaborative structures.

The Owlets welcomed a guest expert, Jordan, to teach them how to build a picnic table. Jordan brought some very interesting tools to share with the Owlets, including a special screwdriver that had eleven different parts! Jordan also showed the students two different drills and a sander. The Owlets took turns twisting screws into the wood, and together they built a picnic table for their classroom! Once the table was built the wood was sanded to prevent splinters.

#SaklanProjectWork

Navigating the Complex Intersection of Well-Being, Social Media & Technology

We are excited to announce that The Saklan School has launched a partnership with The Social Institute (TSI), a national leader in curriculum designed to equip students to navigate the complex intersection of well-being, social media, and technology. 

At a time when students spend many hours a day on digital devices, and cyberbullying and reputation-damaging posts run rampant, TSI equips students to make positive, healthy, and high-character choices that fuel their health, happiness, and future success. Our school will adopt TSI’s comprehensive program, called #WinAtSocial, which promotes character, empathy, teamwork, critical thinking, and other essential life skills. 

Join us on Friday, January 12, after CLAS for Coffee and a Parent Presentation by Kim Parks about The Social Institute and How To Help Your Child(ren) Navigate The Complex Intersection of Well-Being, Social Media, and Technology in Positive, High-Character Ways.

#SaklanParentEducation