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.

Puberty & Mental Health Parent Talk on Nov. 3rd

The Saklan PA is excited to host Dr. Megan Johnson, Clinical Psychologist and former Saklan parent, on Monday, November 3rd at 6:00 p.m. for a virtual talk on how puberty impacts kids’ emotions, stress, and mental health. While this stage often brings heightened sensitivity and increased risk for anxiety or depression, it also opens a unique window for growth, resilience, and recalibration. Parents will walk away with insight into what’s happening during puberty and practical strategies to support their children through these changes with confidence.

This talk will cover:

  • What puberty is – key physical, brain, and hormonal changes.
  • Why it matters for mental health – increased sensitivity to stress, social pressures, and risk for anxiety/depression.
  • Opportunities for resilience – how support from families, schools, and culture can recalibrate stress systems and foster positive development.
  • Practical strategies for parents – tools to guide kids through puberty with empathy, confidence, and connection.

This event is open to the greater Lamorinda community, so feel free to invite friends or family to join. 

RSVP to receive the Zoom Link Here!

Head’s Corner: Connection + Agency = Exceptional Academics

I have never been a fan of standardized testing, mostly because it is often used to focus on the wrong way to approach learning. Standardized testing is used to promote the lie that high achievement comes from drilling content or teaching to the test. Saklan presents a counterargument. Our approach of doing school differently produces exceptional results, not because we chase scores, but because we prioritize two powerful drivers of learning: connection and agency.

People learn best from those with whom they have a genuine connection. In an previous blog, I shared a quote from David Brooks’s, “Students learn from people they love.” At Saklan, “love in learning” comes first. Teachers know and care for their students deeply, not only as learners but as whole individuals. That trust provides the foundation for intellectual risk-taking, perseverance, and curiosity. Connection isn’t a “soft” factor—it’s an accelerator of academic achievement.

Equally important is student agency—the belief that students should have a meaningful voice and choice in their education. Agency shifts learning from something done “to” students to something done “with” them. When students are trusted as co-authors of their education, they engage more fully, reflect on their growth, and take pride in their accomplishments. In our classrooms, this takes the form of Project Based Learning, where student questions and curiosities drive inquiry, and ownership fuels motivation.

When connection and agency are at the center of a school’s culture, exceptional academic results follow naturally. Our MAP scores offer external validation of what we witness daily: students who are not only mastering content but also developing resilience, adaptability, and a lifelong love of learning. The data is proof of concept—showing that deep relationships and authentic student engagement are not at odds with academic rigor; they are the very things that create it.

Too often, schools measure success by numbers alone, forgetting the human conditions that allow those numbers to flourish. The lesson from Saklan’s experience is clear: emotional connection and student agency are not “nice to haves” but the key ingredients to a strong academic program.

#HeadsCorner

How Project Work Deepens Learning and Connection

Project work at Saklan drives strong academic outcomes through creating units where students feel represented and included. Building this deep sense of belonging begins with our specific Social Emotional Learning (SEL) programming, like family groups and Responsive Classroom, and is intentionally woven into our academic PBL units through the equity levers like knowledge of students. 

Knowledge of students means not only building relationships with students but also creating project work that can capture their interests, needs, and strengths. A wonderful example of a unit that is relevant to students’ lives, has meaningful context, and includes robust academic learning is our Kindergarten Names Unit. The driving question for this unit is, “How can we learn and share about our names to become better friends?”

This unit tackles academic standards such as letter and sound correspondence, formulating relevant questions, and listening to and remembering responses to communicate what they have learned with others. To achieve these learning goals, the Names unit maintains high authentic relevancy to honor students’ unique identities through sharing their name stories, which often connect to their family, ancestry, culture, or religious traditions. As they strengthen their classroom community through this work, there are also many authentic opportunities for learning in other content areas too. 

This week, while students focused on how to spell, read, and write each other’s names, they also began to sort their names in a variety of ways. They compared names by looking at letter shape (whether they are tall, short, or ascending), identified names with certain vowels and consonants, and ultimately arranged them by the number of letters each has in a class bar graph. Students eagerly engaged in rich math conversations all stemming from the authentic work of sharing about and reading each other’s names. 

Grounding academic content in what really matters to students allows them to learn at deep levels and feel part of our Saklan school community. 

Join us on October 21st for a Saklan Projects virtual event! We will talk about how teachers design and implement units like this one across all content areas in our Lower School and Middle School. This event is open to all!

Register Here for Saklan Projects!

#SaklanProjects

Democracy Thrives in Saklan Student Council

Another exciting Student Council election cycle has just come to an end here at Saklan! We all are once again reminded that democracy is still alive and well among our student body.

This year, sixteen out of forty Middle School students submitted their candidacies. A new Student Council office also has been created: Environmental Affairs Chair.

The Middle School Student Council officer candidates presented their lively and engaging speeches at CLAS last Friday. Balloting took place in Grades 1-8 classrooms afterwards, and the results of the Middle School election were announced just before the school day ended. 

Earning a seat as a Student Council officer involves more than simply winning the popular vote. Each candidate had to submit a Letter of Intent, make a campaign poster, sit for an interview conducted by Jennifer Lettieri and Kim Parks, and share slogans and stickers with the Lower School students during lunch recess. The speeches presented at CLAS were the culmination of their campaigning.

Candidates were awarded points for timeliness and quality when carrying out each of these tasks, and the candidates with the most points were the winners.

Lower School Student Council representatives were selected by their classmates and respective homeroom teachers in grades 1-5. 

Congratulations to our 2025-2026 Student Council members!

Middle School Officers

  • President – Skyler
  • Vice President – Haley
  • Activities Chair – Makena
  • Treasurer – Mae
  • Publicity Chair – Willow K.
  • Secretary – Corinne
  • Environmental Affairs Chair  – Aliya

Lower School Representatives

  • Grade 1 – Finley and Violet
  • Grade 2 – Amara and Alex
  • Grade 3 – Isla and Wren
  • Grade 4 – TBD
  • Grade 5 – Charlotte and Darcy

#SaklanStudentCouncil #SaklanLeadership

Kinder Korner: Building Connections Through Learning

Once a month, our Pre-Kindergarten Hoot Owls head over to the Kindergarten classroom for a special tradition: Kinder Korner. These gatherings give Kindergarteners the chance to step into leadership roles as they guide the Hoot Owls through fun, educational activities in math, reading, or science. For our youngest learners, it’s an exciting introduction to Kindergarten, while also fostering meaningful connections between students and teachers across the two grades.

The first Kinder Korner of the year took place on Tuesday, and it was a wonderful success! Together, the Hoot Owls and Kindergarteners created colorful bookmarks and participated in a fun “count the room” activity. Smiles, laughter, and new friendships filled the classroom.

Both groups of students are already looking forward to their next Kinder Korner—and all the opportunities it brings to learn, lead, and grow together.

#SaklanCommunity

October SEL Focus: Respectful

At Saklan, social-emotional learning is woven into every part of the student experience. Each month, we highlight a theme that helps our community grow stronger together. For October, our focus is on being respectful.

Throughout the month, students will be exploring what it means to be respectful and practicing strategies for showing respect both at school and at home. Respect isn’t just about good manners—it’s about recognizing the value in others and being intentional with our words and actions.

Here are some of the key ways our students are learning to practice respect:

  • Treat others the way they want to be treated.
  • Remember that all people are important.
  • Listen when others are talking.
  • Look for kind ways to say things.
  • Be aware of how your words and actions make others feel.

By focusing on these everyday actions, our students are building skills that strengthen relationships, foster empathy, and create a culture of kindness—both in the classroom and beyond.

#SaklanSEL

Fun Awaits at Saklan’s Fall Festival!

We hope you will join us this Sunday, September 28th, for Saklan’s Annual Fall Festival! The festivities will run from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at Hacienda de las Flores.

This year, we’re bringing back all the fun you love, including face painting, fall crafts, and the always-entertaining whipped cream pie challenge. To make this year even better, we’re serving up a complete taco feast for everyone to enjoy. Plus, you can strike a pose in our photo booth and enjoy some great live music while you eat. It’s the perfect way to celebrate the start of fall with your friends and community.

#SaklanCommunity #SaklanFallFestival

Growing Together in Family Groups

This week, Saklan Family Groups kicked off with a special focus on inclusivity—what it means, why it matters, and how we can practice it together. Family Groups, which bring Kindergarten – 8th grade students together, are designed to build connection, community, and a sense of belonging.

The group time began with a warm welcome as students gathered in their designated Family Group rooms—spaces they will return to throughout the year. Each student introduced themselves by sharing their name, grade, and a favorite thing, before jumping into fun icebreakers like the Stuffed Animal Name Game Toss. Laughter and teamwork quickly arose.

From there, the groups turned their attention to the heart of the lesson: inclusion. Students talked about what it means to be inclusive—welcoming others, working with new partners, showing kindness—and why it’s important at Saklan. Together, they brainstormed ways inclusivity creates a comfortable, supportive environment where friendships can grow.

One highlight was the “Flamingo Mingle” activity, where students paired up to ask and answer fun questions. This gave everyone the chance to discover new things about one another and helped spark connections across grade levels.

To close, students reflected on times they felt included at Saklan—whether being invited to join a game, sitting with someone new at lunch, or being encouraged to share about themselves. These examples were captured on a community poster, alongside a colorful “flock” of decorated flamingos. Each student designed their flamingo to represent their unique personality and interests, celebrating both individuality and belonging.

By the end of the session, each Family Group had chosen a name, crafted their inclusive flock poster, and most importantly, taken steps toward building a caring, connected community. It was a joyful reminder that when we celebrate both who we are as individuals and who we are together, we make Saklan stronger.

#SaklanSEL

Second Graders Launch “Welcome to Saklan!”

Second graders have kicked off an exciting new Project Based Learning (PBL) unit called “Welcome to Saklan!” Over the coming weeks, students will work together to create a newcomer’s guide that highlights important places and people in the Saklan community. The finished guide will serve as a warm welcome for new students and families, helping them feel at home from the very beginning.

As part of the project, students are learning about maps—how they are used, the symbols they contain, and the language associated with giving directions. Each student will choose a special place on campus to feature, create an illustration of it, and write a short description for the guide. Together, these pieces will be combined into a collaborative map of the Saklan campus.

To spark their curiosity, the second graders explored a variety of maps. With notebooks in hand, they made observations and took notes about what they noticed. Next, they practiced using directional words to describe hidden objects, saying things like “between my desk and your desk” or “next to a bookshelf and under a clock.” Using a compass, they also discovered which sides of their classroom face north, south, east, and west.

The unit isn’t only about geography—it’s also about empathy. Students spent time discussing what it feels like to be new somewhere and brainstormed ways they can support others who are new to Saklan. Their thoughtful ideas and excitement show that this project will not only build academic skills but also strengthen their sense of community and compassion.

#SaklanPBL #SaklanSEL

Adventures in the Redwoods

Last Friday, Saklan’s sixth graders returned from an unforgettable week at Westminster Woods, an environmental education and character development program nestled within 200 acres of redwood forest in Sonoma County.

Over the course of five days, students immersed themselves in both the natural world and in experiences that challenged them to grow as individuals and as a community. They explored the delicate ecosystems around them—hiking through towering redwoods, scouring Dutch Bill Creek for signs of life, and gaining a deeper appreciation for the interconnection of nature.

Beyond the science and discovery, the trip was also about personal growth. Students tackled team-building challenges, discovered new strengths, and learned the power of relying on one another. The adventures at Westminster Woods encouraged perseverance, cooperation, and courage—skills that will support them throughout middle school and beyond.

The lessons learned during this trip will stay with students for years to come, serving as a foundation for continued growth, resilience, and a lasting connection to the natural world.