All Saklan students are invited to showcase their creativity by designing a cover for this year’s All-School Concert program. All covers are asked to incorporate the theme of garden, have a vertical orientation, and include the concert date “March, 21 2025.”
Program cover entries are asked to be turned into the main office by Wednesday, March 12th. If you have any questions about the Concert Cover Contest, please email Emily at ewilliamson@saklan.org.
As we look forward to the 2025-2026 school year, we want to share the important calendar dates so that you too can begin planning. Below are the dates for school breaks, noteworthy events, and early dismissal days for next year. A more detailed calendar will be shared over the summer.
2025-2026 IMPORTANT CALENDAR DATES
| Aug 8 | New Parent Orientation on Zoom at 9:00 AM |
| Aug 15 | Welcome Back BBQ & Middle School Orientation |
| Aug 19 | First Day of School for 6th – 8th Grade |
| Aug 19-21 | Middle School Advance for 6th – 8th Grade |
| Aug 20 | First Day of School for PS – 5th Grade |
| Aug 22 | Middle School Rest Day (NO SCHOOL for 6TH-8TH GRADE) |
| Sept 1 | Labor Day (NO SCHOOL) |
| Sept 15 – 19 | 6th Grade Field Experience |
| Oct 10 | Professional Development Day (NO SCHOOL) |
| Oct 13 | Indigenous Peoples’ Day (NO SCHOOL) |
| Oct 16 – 17 | Parent Teacher Conferences (NOON DISMISSAL) |
| Oct 31 | Halloween Parade at 8:35 AM (2PM DISMISSAL) |
| Nov 10 | Professional Development Day (NO SCHOOL) |
| Nov 11 | Veteran’s Day (NO SCHOOL) |
| Nov 24 – 28 | Thanksgiving Break (NO SCHOOL) |
| Dec 19 | Lower School Musical at 10:30 AM (NOON DISMISSAL, NO EXTENDED DAY) |
| Dec 22 – Jan 2 | Winter Break (NO SCHOOL) |
| Jan 5 | Professional Development Day (NO SCHOOL) |
| Jan 19 | MLK Jr. Day (NO SCHOOL) |
| Feb 13 – 16 | Presidents’ Day Weekend (NO SCHOOL) |
| Mar 5 – 6 | Parent Teacher Conferences (NOON DISMISSAL) |
| Mar 30 – Apr 3 | Spring Break (NO SCHOOL) |
| May 4 – 8 | Teacher Appreciation Week |
| May 8 | Teacher Appreciation Day (NO SCHOOL) |
| May 25 | Memorial Day (NO SCHOOL) |
| May 29 | Graduation, Last Day of School (NOON DISMISSAL, NO EXTENDED DAY) |
Saklan’s social-emotional learning topic for February is to be resilient. During the month, all Saklan students will discuss what resilience means and look for ways to show their resilience on campus and at home. At the end of the month, 1st – 8th graders will meet with their Family Groups to further discuss how to be resilient and participate in collaborative activities.
#SaklanSEL
Did you know that on Thursday, February 6th, Saklan students celebrated the 100th day of school?
The Owlets celebrated by making crowns and searching for 100 hidden pictures of themselves throughout the classroom.
The Hoot Owls celebrated by searching for 100 meteors around their classroom, making 100-day crowns, and counting to 100.
The Kindergartners celebrated by inviting 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, and 8th graders to their classroom to make crowns with 100 stickers on them, write about what they would do with $100 and what they can eat 100 of, dance for 100 seconds, and make necklaces with 100 fruit loops on them.
It was a great day of celebrating 100 days of learning so far this school year!
A summer of creative exploration awaits your child during Summer@Saklan! This summer, camp will run in one-week sessions from June 16th – August 1st, and is open to all children ages 3 – entering 3rd grade. Each session of camp consists of fun art and science-related activities including art, crafts, science experiments, games, and more. Additionally, Friday afternoons will feature fun activities including water play, a bounce house, and special guests such as a magician or puppeteer. Summer@Saklan is sure to be tons of fun!
To learn more about Summer@Saklan 2025, check out the summer camp webpage today!
We look forward to another amazing summer of hands-on learning, growing friendships and lots of fun!
#Summer@Saklan
On Thursday morning, all Saklan students participated in Moving Up Day. Preschool – 5th graders had the opportunity to move up to the classroom of their rising grade and spend time with the teacher, learning about what the next year holds and getting to know the teacher better. The 6th, 7th, and 8th-grade students helped host 5th graders on the middle school side of campus and show them what a day in the life of a middle schooler is like. The students and teachers alike were buzzing with excitement!
This annual tradition allows the students to get a snapshot of what next year will hold. The teachers planned special activities that highlighted their grade level and enjoyed getting to know their rising students a little better. Morning meeting activities, awkward games, questions, book readings, optical illusions, classroom scavenger hunts, and enthusiasm for next year filled the classrooms! If you know a child who “moved up” on Thursday, please ask them all about it. They will likely have something enthusiastic to share!
Saklan students celebrated Lunar New Year with some special activities on Wednesday. Lunar New Year, which celebrates the start of the lunisolar Chinese calendar, is celebrated in China, Vietnam, Korea, Malaysia, and Singapore, among other countries.
Preschool students welcomed two guest experts to share about Lunar New Year. Samantha, an Owlet parent, read a book to the class and shared red envelopes with them. Sharon, an Owlet grandparent, shared Lunar New Year traditions that take place in China, told the story of The Great Race, and shared tangerines with the students. The Owlets also enjoyed making snake paper lanterns, Lunar New Year yoga, and listening to traditional Chinese music.
Pre-K students celebrated by welcoming Heidi, a Hoot Owl mom, into their class. Heidi shared that Lunar New Year is based on the Moon instead of the sun and talked about the Chinese word for fortune, 福, and its importance. Heidi shared pictures of her children wearing special Lunar New Year outfits and then treated the class to some bao filled with custard.
Maggie also taught the Hoot Owls about her family’s Lunar New Year traditions, including cleaning their homes and putting up Chinese sayings with good wishes for the new year. The Pre-K students enjoyed watching a video of a lion dance, as well as talking about and receiving red envelopes.
To help with the campus celebrations, the 5th graders put together a dragon which Peta hung on the pergola to welcome students to campus on Wednesday. The fifth graders also made lanterns and dragon drawings.
In humanities class, Christina shared some of her family traditions with the 6th graders, including the tradition of eating tangerines, which are believed to bring good fortune, and of giving red envelopes with money in them as a symbol of good luck. She also shared the proper etiquette for giving and receiving the red envelopes to show respect. The 6th graders also talked about the importance of the Chinese word for fortune and then learned how to write it.
The 6th graders then took their newly acquired skills over to the Hoot Owl classroom, where they taught the Hoot Owls how to write the word for fortune with brushes and ink.
May the Year of the Snake be prosperous for all!
#SaklanCommunity
On Monday, Saklan’s 1st – 8th graders gathered in Family Groups to discuss January’s SEL focus: growth mindset. The students shared what growth mindset means to them and then shared ways they have applied a growth mindset in their own lives. Then the groups enjoyed a digital escape room, where they had to work together and use a growth mindset until the end to be successful.
The groups then brainstormed a list of reasons it is good to have a growth mindset, and then wrote reasons on brain-shaped puzzle pieces. Check them out below!
The groups also participated in some challenges with a hula hoop. These challenges helped the family groups further bond as they collaborated to prevail.
#SaklanFamilyGroups
Our lower school students were recently thrilled to welcome author Traci Huahn to Saklan for an inspiring visit centered around her book, Mamie Tape Fights to Go to School. During the 45-minute session, students enjoyed a captivating read-aloud of the book, learned about the historical significance of Mamie Tape’s fight for school desegregation during the era of the Chinese Exclusion Act, and explored how this moment in history connects to the broader civil rights movement.
Ms. Huahn also shared her journey as an author, offering an inside look at the research, writing, revising, and publishing process. Students were delighted by a special video message from the book’s illustrator, Michelle Jing Chan, who revealed her creative process and behind-the-scenes details.
The visit sparked engaging discussions about bravery, standing up for your rights, and the power of storytelling. Students asked thoughtful questions during the Q&A, deepening their understanding of the themes and lessons in the book.
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 science experiments, playing fun games, meeting special guests, and more!
This summer, camp will run in one-week sessions from June 16th – August 1st.
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.
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:
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
FRIDAY BLOG 
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