Category: General

On Tuesday, Saklan’s 1st – 8th grade students gathered with their family groups to discuss how to be loving, the March social emotional learning focus. Together the groups shared actions to show love or care for others.

The family group leaders shared that the 1st and 8th graders have been learning about homes and what it is like to not have a home or not know where your next meal is coming from. The 1st graders shared reasons why people might need help or experience hunger. The 1st and 8th graders explained that there are many reasons why people might need help, including: because they lost their job, due to a natural disaster, due to extra expenses (like a broken down car or unexpected medical expenses).

After sharing the book, Saturday at the Food Pantry, the Family Group leaders explained that the day’s family group activity was to make bagged lunches for those who are food insecure in our community. Each group then worked together to make 20 bagged lunches, each containing a can of Vienna sausages, fruit cup, fruit squeeze, oatmeal, granola bar, peanut butter, crackers and tuna.

After school on Tuesday, the bagged lunches were transported to 10,000 Lunches, a local organization that distributes food to those who are food insecure in our bay area community.

#SaklanCompassionate #SaklanSEL

Spring has sprung and with that has come the time to plan ahead for the rest of the school year. Due to unforeseen circumstances, the Art Show has been rescheduled for Thursday, May 23rd from 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. This year’s event will again take place in the Holy Trinity Cultural Center.

Additional dates to note for the remainder of the year include:

April 1st – 5th	No School, Spring Break
April 8th	No School, Professional Development Day
April 26th	Peace, Love, Saklan Auction
May 6th – May 9th	Teacher Appreciation Week
May 10th	No School, Teacher Appreciation Day
May 16th	1 p.m. Middle School Musical Performance
May 17th	7 p.m. Middle School Musical Performance
May 23rd	Art Show
May 27th	No School, Memorial Day
June 4th	2 p.m. Dismissal for 6th – 8th Graders 8th Grade Graduation Dinner
June 6th	Last Day of School 10 a.m. 8th Grade Graduation Noon Dismissal
June 17th	Summer@Saklan Summer Camp Begins

Irresistible auction items make for a great auction! A huge THANK YOU to the following organizations and families for their in-kind donations received in support of Saklan’s upcoming Peace, Love, Saklan auction:

The Alatsis Family Aloha Pediatric Dentistry BarkBox Bay Area Ballplayers Bay Area Discovery Museum Benihana Blick Art Materials Buck Wild Brewing Cal Athletics California State Railroad Museum California’s Great America Canyon Club Brewery The Cappucci  Family Chabot Space & Science Center Chaminade Resort China Moon Restaurant Chipotle Concord Pavilion CuriOdyssey The Deguzman Family Emily Noonan Physical Therapy ESQUELETO Jewelry Exploratorium Faction Brewing Farm Fresh to You Gott’s Roadside Happy Hollow P​ark & Zoo Higher Ground Moraga Hiller Aviation Museum Hurricane Harbor Concord Isola Osteria The Jensen Family Joy in Motion K1 Speed The Karasakalidis Family

The Khalil Family Kleid Design Group The Koo Family The Lacrampe Family The Lawrence Hall of Science The Lawless Family The Lo Family Loard’s Ice Cream Locanda Positano The Lompa Family Mighty Pilates Nothing Bundt Cakes Oakland Zoo Orinda Theatre Pangloss Cellars Patino Orthodontics Pump It Up REVE Bistro The Salty Pearl San Francisco Zoo & Gardens ScanArt Printing Schumacher Photography SFMOMA Six Flags Discovery Kingdom St. Mary’s Athletics SusieCakes Tahoe Donner Tangelo Texture Wines Total Wine & More Tutu’s Food & Drinks UCSC Arboretum & Botanic Garden Urban Adventure Camps The Waitzman Family The Walt Disney Family Museum

Items from these donors, as well as uniquely Saklan experiences, will be open for bidding during our Peace, Love, Saklan auction on Friday, April 26th. This adults-only event is a fun way to celebrate our vibrant Saklan community and support the ongoing success of our school. Funds raised from the auction support the unique programs offered at Saklan, including: field experiences, family groups, guest experts, and project based learning.

Last Call for Auction Items

Saklan’s Auction Committee is looking to acquire a few more irresistible auction items for our upcoming event! Here are a few specific things we are looking for, both to raise money and raise excitement in the room:

• Wine – Support this year’s Wine Raffle by donating a few bottles of your favorite Cab or Chardonnay.
• Vacation Homes – Do you have or know someone with a vacation property, timeshare or other access to destination properties? 
• Unique Experiences – Do you have a connection to something unavailable to the general public? Think Club 33, behind the Scenes tours, throwing out the first pitch, dinner with someone famous, or an opportunity to sit in an owner’s box.
• Event Tickets – Do you have season passes for the Giants, A’s, Warriors, theatre, symphony, or live music venues?
• Adventure Experiences – Hot Air Ballooning, Horseback Riding, and Cooking Classes are always popular items.
• Gift Cards – Your unused gift cards can enhance a basket of themed goods.

Please let us know if you have any other ideas for amazing auction items. As our mission says, think creatively! Click here to complete the online donor form, or email ewilliamson@saklan.org to share your ideas with the committee!

What a wonderful experience to gather together at the Lesher Center to watch our students shine and share Love! 

Thank you to all of the parents and guardians for making Tuesday’s logistics work in order to support the students and watch the performance. 

Thank you to the faculty and staff for all of the behind the scenes work to prepare for the concert, from your flexibility with the schedule to helping with rehearsals. Your support of your students and encouragement to take the stage is greatly appreciated!

Thank you to Lauren and Linda for working with the second grade students on the gorgeous backdrop that we got to see during the concert. Thank you for your continued PBL work, and for the passion you ignite in our students by elevating their voices and choices.

Thank you to Erin for preparing the Preschool and Pre-K students to share their songs with our community! The little ones were so excited and brave and shared their joy and love of music with the audience. 

Thank you to Isaac for continuing to share your knowledge of traditional Ghanaian drumming with our students. What a delight to see them drumming, singing and dancing together!

Thank you to Hector, Shay, Javi, and Isaac for sharing your musical talents and accompanying the students on piano, drums and guitar. Without you, the concert would have been a very different experience.

Thank you to Shay and Emily for behind the scenes work on the program, communication, transportation logistics, and filling in all the gaps where they were needed. We couldn’t have done it without you!

Thank you to Javier for helping set up for rehearsals, for moving instruments and artwork, transporting students, and for doing it all with laughter. 

Thank you to Grace for the vision of Love, for teaching with purpose and for knowing what songs and parts to choose for whom. You create magic on stage and allow students to shine bright. What you do is greatly appreciated. 

#SaklanWellRounded #SaklanCreative #SaklanCourageous

In early February, the seventh-grade class embarked on a field experience in Oahu, focusing on the island’s amazing plant and animal adaptations and evolutionary processes. However, amidst the natural beauty, the students encountered a sobering reality: human impact, particularly in the form of micro and nano plastic pollution. Rather than accepting this unsettling truth, the students began learning about the intricate ways plastic is found in our water systems. The eye-opening mockumentary “The Majestic Plastic Bag” helped students understand how one simple bag can travel so far. Now imagine millions of those bags in our oceans.

Following this eye-opening experience, the seventh graders delved deeper into the consequences of plastic waste on Hawaiian and global wildlife. Through a hands-on dissection of an albatross bolus—a mass of undigested materials regurgitated by the bird—students were confronted with an upsetting sight. Among the typical contents like squid beaks and small bones, they discovered man-made debris, including rope, fishing line, lures, toy tires, and plastic utensils. Witnessing firsthand the ingestion of our discarded plastics by wildlife left a profound impression on the seventh-grade class.

To expand their understanding, students explored various ecosystems and the impact of plastic waste on species such as sea turtles, albatrosses, and even bears in Utah. Then, they analyzed the prevalence of everyday single-use plastic items in their school environment, working collaboratively to gather data on usage and disposal. This information was translated into visual representations and graphs to highlight the scale of the problem. Afterward, students engaged in research and design efforts to devise innovative, environmentally friendly solutions.

Using the entrepreneurial format from the reality TV show Shark Tank, the students received support from Saklan’s panel of Sharks. Unlike their televised counterparts, Saklan Sharks provided constructive feedback and encouragement and asked clarifying questions as students pitched their environmentally conscious solutions. Some environmentally friendly products presented were edible spoons and forks, biodegradable shoe soles, and a refillable ink station for whiteboard markers. We are proud of the thoughtful and creative products each group presented. 

#SaklanCompassionate

Saklan’s annual hopscotch tournament will begin after Spring Break! The single-elimination tournament will continue for several weeks until there is a champion. The competition is open to Saklan students in 1^st– 8^th grades and faculty. Sign up are available in the pavilion and by the middle School drinking fountain.

The game of hopscotch dates back to at least the 17th century, and different variations are played worldwide. For our tournament, we will use a nine-square layout and players are encouraged to make their own markers. Two players will “duel.” Both markers are placed on the first square, and the players rock, paper, scissors to determine who goes first. A player must hop over the marked square and complete the pattern without touching a line. When they return they must retrieve their marker without losing balance and clear the opponents marker. Once back to the beginning, the player tosses the marker to the next square and repeats the sequence. If a player makes a mistake or misses the toss, they lose the turn and it is the opponent’s turn to complete the layout. The first player to complete nine tosses and retrievals wins.

Hopscotch is a fun game that all ages can play against each other. The skills come down to an accurate toss of the marker, agility hopping on the squares, and balance and flexibility in retrieving a marker. The activity seems simple, but is deceptively hard.

Get your markers ready and start hopping!

Saklan’s All-School Concert is this Tuesday, March 19th, at 4:30 p.m. Students will be dismissed at noon from the Lesher Center and asked to return at 4:00 p.m. in preparation for the performance.

Please note the following details for the day:

• All Saklan students need to be at the Lesher Center at 8:45 a.m. on the morning of the 19th. Parents are asked to park and walk their child directly to their teacher at the backstage entrance on Locust Street.
• Normal Saklan Bus & Van service will NOT be operating that day. 
• Students will be Dismissed at Noon from the Lesher Center.
• Extended Day will be available until 3:00, but it is recommended that students go home at noon to have some down time before the concert. Reserve your child’s spot in Extended here.
• All students are asked to report back to the Lesher Center at 4:00 p.m. dressed in all black clothing, with an accessory of red. 

The Concert will begin at 4:30 p.m. Feel free to invite extended family and friends to join us!

Thank you to everyone who helped with our accreditation visit this week. Below are remarks shared by the committee chair, Brad Weaver, during the team’s final presentation on Wednesday afternoon.

On behalf of your Visiting Committee, the California Association of Independent Schools, and the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, I would like to thank all of you for your hospitality, openness, transparency, and support during our visit. You welcomed us into your classrooms, offices, meetings, interactions, and your inner hopes and dreams about the future of The Saklan School. You approached our conversations with honesty and frankness about your school’s strengths and your areas of opportunity and vulnerability. This is a very special and sacred thing, and it was truly an honor for our team to get to know all of you and your school at this deep and meaningful level. Your commitment to learning and growing as an organization is clear, and your earnestness about working with us as your Visiting Committee to use this as an opportunity to improve made our work so much easier. Thank you!

We would like to especially thank Kim and Shay who have been a tremendous support to us during our time here. We have been well fed and well cared for. We thank you, all. Thanks, too, to everyone who gave up their working spaces, especially Melissa, Kim, and Emily, those of you who gave so freely of their time and thoughts during our visit. We appreciate your flexibility in hosting us and providing us the space we needed to hold our deliberations. 

I also would like to acknowledge and thank the members of your Visiting Committee. This team was specifically recruited to work with The Saklan School, and we won’t serve together as a group again. They left their own schools and families behind this week to focus on your community and your journey of reflection and improvement. Join me in thanking Neely, Maria, and Simona!

Reflection, review, and improvement is a continual journey. Today represents one point in time on that journey and our understanding of the Saklan School community represents that. It is our sincere hope that we have served the purpose of being critical friends and a mirror back to you about how you live out your mission, vision, and values, how you integrate the standards of the California Association of Independent Schools and accepted best practices of independent schools into your work, and the degree to which you are committed to improving your school, and ultimately the experience and lives of the children whose care and healthy development their parents have entrusted you.

Foremost, the Visiting Committee agreed that our interactions with you as members of the Saklan community were highly authentic, and we witnessed real days in the life of your school. Each of you, trustees, students, faculty, staff, and administration, live out your mission, vision, and values. Your mission is bold, clear, and compelling: “to challenge students to think creatively, act compassionately, and live courageously.” Your belief about the convergence of time honored progressive philosophy and emerging research into how children learn being a source of joy and engagement is powerful and unique even in a field that has as a source of pride the uniqueness and independence of our schools. Some things we heard loud and clear are your fidelity to your project based learning approach, your commitment to belonging within your community, and your collective willingness to lean in and dig into hard work together. We applaud your intentionality and your attention to these sacred aspects of your school. You won’t lose what you hold dearest and keep closest to your hearts. 

It was our observation that Saklan students are curious, engaged, and active in their learning, as well as respectful, responsible, caring, resilient, collaborative, and reflective. Students who greeted us as we passed by and welcomed us warmly when we visited classes. We loved seeing the evidence of their work and listening to their inquiry. The third grade presentation was a highlight and we wish we could have seen a CLAS, which parents spoke about with such love. There were countless examples of students throughout our visit endeavoring to courageously do the right thing and striving to be creative with their learning and compassionate with their interpersonal interactions.

Parents who we met spoke passionately about your mission and values and the unique and special heart of Saklan being instrumental in their decision to enroll their children, to remain here, and even to return after making the mistake of departing. One said, and this sentiment was echoed in other meetings we had, that the problem with visiting the school as a prospective parent was after they couldn’t see them anywhere else. That is an admirable position to be in, especially for a school that has undergone a lot of change and faced a lot of challenges over the years. 

Your campus is small but mighty: a beautiful setting for learning, with ample opportunities for academic, athletic, artistic, outdoor and extracurricular pursuits. You aspire to make this setting even better for your students and their learning. However, there also exist limited endowments and cash reserves. You have a special opportunity ahead for galvanizing your extended community to make a difference in your future. Make the most of it.

We also heard the beginnings of plans to enhance diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging within your community, practices, and policies. Our Visiting Committee applauds your intentions and encourages careful and thoughtful planning to focus your efforts. You have a diverse student body, providing them with the opportunity to see themselves and their experiences reflected in the curriculum and resources and even in the adults in the community is a vital part of helping them feel that they truly belong. You join an ever growing community of independent schools that share this focus and the commitment to remaining relevant and meaningful in delivering their missions to the broadest community possible. CAIS is here to support you in your efforts and know that they have made it a priority in their revised accreditation protocols.

Enrollment has been and remains a challenge. You have a respite for the time being with strong budgets, use the time wisely to devise aggressive plans to market the school and promote your incredible offerings. You have so much to offer and we want you to be successful in having the broadest reach possible in delivering your mission.

I will close my introduction with a special acknowledgement of your Head of School David O’Connell. He has seemingly limitless energy and enthusiasm for learning and a passion for the mission of the school. What you have already accomplished since his hire six years ago is remarkable. The parents who spoke with us yesterday agreed the school wouldn’t be here without him. Retention of a school leader requires care and thought. Pay close attention to supporting him in the years to come and making sure he is able to focus on leading the school.

As I mentioned throughout our visit, we will not share today a recommendation regarding your status of accreditation. We next submit our report to CAIS. Everything is carefully reviewed by the Elementary Board of Standards for both CAIS and WASC, as well as by CAIS staff. The Board of Standards then makes a recommendation to the CAIS Board of Directors who reviews it and votes at their annual meeting on your school’s status of accreditation. The Saklan School, and even us as the Visiting Committee, will find out the official results at that time. 

What’s next after that? As I mentioned earlier, today is just a point on a journey of continual reflection, review, and improvement upon which the Saklan community has already embarked. You will receive instructions about preparing and submitting your Future Planning Document which will incorporate the major recommendations we made today and any other recommendation you find helpful in the planning for your future, as well as your aspirations for the years ahead and our recommendations as a Visiting Team. You have already shared that you are considering priorities for your next strategic framework and intend. Use this visit as a launching point and the recommendations we make. 

We thank you again for hosting us and for your commitment to being the best school you can be. All the best to you as you continue on your journey. 

Brad Weaver

Saklan has much to be proud of, and we thank you for your trust and collaboration as we work together to inspire students to think creatively, act compassionately, and live courageously.

#SaklanThinkActLive

Saklan’s All-School Concert is Tuesday, March 19th at 4:30 p.m. Students will be dismissed at noon from the Lesher Center and asked to return at 4:00 p.m. in preparation for the performance.

Please note the following details for the day:

• All Saklan students need to be at the Lesher Center at 8:45 a.m. on the morning of the 19th. We ask all parents to park and walk their child directly to their teacher at the backstage entrance on Locust Street. Normal Saklan Bus & Van service will not be operating that day. 
• Students will be Dismissed at Noon from the Lesher Center.
• Extended Day will be available until 3:00, but it is recommended that students go home at noon to have some down time before the concert. Reserve your child’s spot in Extended here.
• All students are asked to report back to the Lesher Center at 4:00 p.m. dressed in all black clothing, with an accessory of red. 

The Concert will begin at 4:30 p.m. Feel free to invite extended family and friends to join us!