Category: General

Back by Popular Demand!

Every Saklan student knows how rewarding a snack can be at the end of a busy day of learning and having fun with one another here at school. Our dedicated and resourceful Student Council has been busy planning the return of Snack Shack this year!

Student Council officers and representatives in grades 1 through 8 decided on the final items for sale based on desirability, minimizing waste, and being able to set reasonable prices ranging from 50 cents to $2.00 per item. Yummy snacks for sale this year will include: goldfish, gummies, chips, Hello Panda, Pirate’s Booty, Rice Krispy treats, La Croix bubble water, Honest Juice, and Martinelli’s apple drink. 

Last year’s Student Council voted to spend some of the proceeds from Snack Shack for The Saklan School to participate in the Terracycle recycling program for markers, pens, glue sticks, and odd single-use products we use daily at school. Stay tuned for which charity or cause this year’s Student Council selects!

Snack Shack will open outside David’s office from 3:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. every Thursday starting on January 16th.  Saklan students are invited to come by and purchase a snack from our hardworking Student Council members. Cash only, please. 

Thank you, students and parents, for supporting our Student Council.

Snack on!

#SaklanStudentCouncil #SaklanLeadership

Portraits of Kindergarten

In art class, kindergartners recently worked on representing themselves through portraits. First, students observed well-known self-portraits by Vincent VanGogh and Frida Kahlo, and then used the art elements of line, shape, and color to create their own self-portrait drawings.

Next, the kindergartners observed the artwork of contemporary artist Cindy Sherman, who photographs herself dressed up as different imagined characters. In collaboration with their PBL unit exploring the driving question of “How can learning about each other’s names make us better friends?” students planned their own Cindy Sherman-inspired photoshoot that visualized the meaning and stories behind their names. Each student posed for photographs wearing costumes and props that not only represented their names but that superbly matched their unique personalities. Check out their photos below! 

#SaklanProjectBasedLearning

Winter 2025 Enrichment Classes

As the fall session of enrichment comes to an end, we are excited to share the classes that will be offered during the second half of the year! For the winter session the following classes will be available:

Check out the class descriptions here. Classes begin the week of January 27th, and have limited space available. Registration for winter enrichment classes is now available on the Saklan Enrichment Webpage.

Meeting with the Police Chief

The 8th-grade class recently finished reading the novel All American Boys. The story is told by two narrators, Rashad and Quinn, whose lives are forever changed by an act of police brutality.

The 8th graders were split into two groups to create character posters of each of the narrators, including a drawing of the character, a list of adjectives/phrases that describe the character, descriptions of how the character changes in the story, and relevant quotes from the character. The students reviewed their own annotations and quotes they had selected and analyzed throughout their reading of the novel, then discussed and decided what to include on their character poster.

The 8th graders explored some of the issues addressed in the novel from the police perspective when they met with Moraga Police Chief Jon King. Saklan parent Gary Hill arranged this meeting for the class and participated in the discussion.

Before the meeting, the 8th-grade students answered some questions about the Moraga Police Department website. They then prepared their own questions to ask the police chief, including:

  • What is your favorite/best part of your job?
  • What is the hardest part of your job?
  • What do you want to achieve as a police officer?
  • What is an average day like?
  • As a citizen, how do you think I can support my local police department?
  • What measures or training are in place to help prevent bias from impacting the work of members of the Moraga police force?

Meanwhile, Gary and Chief King prepared for the meeting by reading All American Boys.

Police Chief King shared his view that the police should be accessible and helpful partners in the community instead of playing the role of an intimidating presence wearing a uniform and driving around in a police car with closed windows. He explained that he wore his polo shirt instead of his full uniform so that he could be more approachable and send a friendlier message to the Saklan students.

In addition to sharing some of his own stories about the Moraga police department’s policies for fighting crime and addressing citizen complaints about police misconduct, Chief King explained how the conduct of some police officers like Paul in the novel results from a mix of knowledge and emotions. He spoke strongly about the contrast between officers’ behavior, like the fictional Paul, and the training his officers receive in Moraga. Chief King also shared the shocked and saddened reactions among the entire Moraga police force when they watched the news about the murder of George Floyd in 2020.

Gary shared his own stories about his encounters with the police. He encouraged the students to stand up to racial injustice with courage and compassion.

We extend our heartfelt thanks to Chief King and Gary Hill for sharing their time, wisdom, and personal stories with our 8th-grade class!

#SaklanCompassion #SaklanCourage

Lower School Musical

All Saklan community members are invited to join us for The Saklan School’s 3rd – 5th grade production of Disney’s The Aristocats KIDS on Friday, December 20th at 10:30 a.m. The show will take place in the Holy Trinity Cultural Center (next door to Saklan). Doors will open at 10:15 a.m.

If you will attend and haven’t already done so, please RSVP here. There is no cost to attend, but we want to ensure we have enough seats for all!

#SaklanCreative #SaklanCourage

Project Culminations at Saklan

A key element of Saklan Project Based Learning units is a public product. This looks different depending on the division and, hopefully, over the last month, you have had the opportunity to share in a culminating event on campus! 

In our Early Childhood Education program, our projects culminate with a public event where students share all the expertise they have gained over the course of the project. It’s a joyful time to celebrate their hard work with family, friends, and other students and staff. It is also a rich opportunity for them to be the experts in the room and develop their speaking and listening skills. Recently our Pre-K (Hoot Owl) class culminated their project unit on farmers’ markets. 

In our lower and middle school projects, products are created for an audience beyond the teacher and students in the classroom. One key aspect of a public product in these divisions is that it must raise the stakes of the work in a meaningful and authentic way. Students aren’t doing something just for the sake of doing it or solely regurgitating information learned from teacher-directed lessons.

Instead, the work students engage in mirrors what adults do in their various career pursuits. After student-led inquiry and teacher guidance to address the content standards, students make or do something that serves some purpose in the Saklan or broader community. Students are creating, educating, or advocating beyond the context of our classrooms. Some examples of recent products that answer the driving question and serve an authentic public purpose are below:

GradeDriving QuestionPublic Product
2ndCan animals survive in any habitat?Lunch table mini posters advocating for food swaps that help avoid palm oil. 
2ndHow can we use color to communicate feelings?Design and creation of the concert backdrop for our Spring Concert at the Lesher Center
3rdHow can we show respect to the people whose ancestral land our school is on?Research, design, and creation of the hopscotch and four square murals on the sports court to reflect the Saklan Bay Miwok culture.
6thWho do artifacts really belong to?Public art graffiti stencils to share options on repatriation of artifacts with the community. 

The final products differ but all include authentic sharing and action beyond our classrooms. At Saklan, students feel a sense of purpose that is hard to replicate in other styles of teaching and learning. This brings the work alive and prepares them for the critical thinking challenges, complex communication needs, and creative problem-solving they will encounter in high school, college, and beyond.

If you’d like to dive deeper into the various design elements of a Project Based Learning (PBL) unit, check out the recording of our October 22nd Saklan Projects! virtual event. And we hope you can join us at our culminating events next week.

Upcoming Project Culminations

  • Preschool (Owlets)- Nocturnal Animals Culmination Celebration at 8:35 a.m. on December 12th
  • Kindergarten- Names Unit Culmination at 8:45 a.m. on Thursday, December 12th

#SaklanProjects

Tremendous Support

Thank you, Saklan, for your tremendous support of this year’s Annual Giving Fund (AGF) campaign.

Our goals for this year’s campaign are to raise $200,000 and have 100% participation from the Saklan community. To date, we have raised over $187,000 with participation from 89% of our community (a record for this time of the year at Saklan). The chart below shows you where each class is towards reaching the 100% participation goal.

The outpouring of support from the Saklan community this year is humbling and will make a powerful impact on our ability to continue challenging students to think creatively, act compassionately, and live courageously.

If you haven’t had the chance to donate to our AGF campaign, it’s not too late! You can make an AGF gift via the following methods:

  • DONATE ONLINE through our secure site; or
  • Write your check made out to The Saklan School with “Annual Giving Fund” written on the Memo line and deliver it to our office.

If you would like to discuss your gift further, please contact Emily at ewilliamson@saklan.org.

On behalf of all of us at The Saklan School, thank you very much for your support.

#SaklanCompassionate #SaklanAGF

Inner Courage

On the Friday before Thanksgiving Break, Saklan students took the stage to showcase their talents during Fall Follies. This is a fantastic and fun event, and like every year, we were astounded by the students’ performances. Their singing, acting, and performing were remarkable and their enthusiasm was infectious. Many of our students are truly in their element when on stage! It is impressive how each of the performers was willing to take risks with their performance and showed their inner courage. We commend the students on their excellent performances and the audience on being supportive and compassionate. Check out images from the event below!

A big thank you to Saul, Lauren, Dianne, Yette, and Maria for working with the performers, moving props, and organizing a wonderful show!

#SaklanCreative #SaklanCourage

70th Anniversary Auction Gala

Save the date for Saklan’s 70th Anniversary Auction Gala! This adults-only event will be held on Saturday, April 26th at Lafayette Park Hotel.

The Saklan School’s Annual Auction is always a great community-building event. Saklan faculty, staff, families, and friends attend, and proceeds from the auction are invested directly back into your children’s educational experiences, in and out of the classrooms. Book your babysitter today, you won’t want to miss this event!

Auction Planning Meeting

All Saklan community members are invited to join us for an Auction Planning Meeting on Monday, December 16th at 8:35 a.m. in the Pavilion. We want this year’s event to be a great celebration of Saklan and would love your time, energy, and ideas to make it the best auction yet!

Can’t make the meeting but want to help? Check out the volunteer roles available here.

#SaklanAuction

Head’s Corner: Fifty Years of Lessons & Love

Some 50 years ago, my Grandpa Schulte taught me how to throw a baseball and took me to Tiger games. The seats were as lousy as the Tigers, and I never did become Aurelio Rodriguez. My Grandpa O’Connell let me drive his rusty red tractor around the farm and taught me how to play poker—much to my mother’s chagrin. Today, there isn’t a single living plant in my house, and I gave up on the idea of making a profit from poker when I was ten.

What stands out, though, isn’t the skills my grandparents tried to teach me but the unique love and support they gave along the way. Grandparents have an unparalleled ability to validate feelings, offer patience, and bring a sense of calm when life gets tough. But most of all, like a good teacher, they connect with you and let you know you matter. 

This brings me to Grandfriends’ Day.  At its heart, this day reflects a core value of our school: the power of connection. Hand in hand, they stepped into classrooms to see a kind of education vastly different from what they experienced as a child. An educational approach that leverages relationships and real-world experiences. They joined morning meetings that emphasized cross-generational understanding and emotional connection. They engaged in conversations about projects and fieldwork, gaining a deeper appreciation for the world our students navigate each day.

But the real magic of Grandfriends’ Day lies beyond the activities. It’s in the opportunity it gives our students to share their world with someone special. Grandfriends listened, learned, and bonded more deeply with the young people in their lives. For both child and adult, it was a moment of validation, a chance to say, “What matters to you matters to me.”

To those of you who shared your grandfriends with us today, thank you. These moments of connection remind us about the importance of connection.

With gratitude,
David