Category: Head’s Corner

This week I had a most interesting conversation with the instructor of our enrichment chess activity. This is run by the Berkeley Chess School and they work with many schools in the Bay Area. The instructor, Victor, wanted to express to me how much he enjoyed working with the Saklan students and confided in me that of the many schools he has worked in, Saklan is one of only three or four that he would consider sending his own children to. He is getting married this summer and hopes to have a family soon. He went away with a school brochure and a promise to meet again in a couple of years.

The last few days have been very quiet with our eighth graders off in Washington for their annual trip to study the nation’s government and experience the feel and flavors of the capital city. A big thank you to Mr. Prestianni and Miss Parks, who have been running this trip over the years and give so much of their time and energy to make this happen for our students.

Overnight, multi-day field trips like this one, are a part of what makes the Saklan academic program so rich and engaging. Allowing our students to have hands-on and real-life experiences is a way that we broaden their understanding of the topics they study. We believe that these experiences are part of the curriculum, not add-ons, and as such, we build the cost of field trips right into the tuition. This is different from many other schools where overnight field trips are an additional expense. At Saklan everyone participates and field trips are part of the learning fabric. Other trips scheduled this year include the Grade 7 trip to Hawaii, the Grade 5 trip to the Marin Headlands, and the Grade 4 trip to Coloma. Throughout the school, overnight and local field trips enhance the learning experience of our students. The teachers at Saklan are to be commended for the extra effort it takes to make it all possible.

Lately, I have seen a variety of activities that have engaged some students or whole classes in community service or community support projects. Two students from Grade 6 (Isabel Darby and Abby Ruppert) promoted a collection of candy and tooth brushes for soldiers stationed abroad through Operation Gratitude. The Saklan Student Council is sponsoring a Holiday Toy Drive to benefit children who live in the Iron Triangle in Richmond, California. Our Grade 3 class did the Trick-or-Treat program for UNICEF and donated $180, and this morning the 3rd graders gave a presentation on activities they plan to do to make a difference. These included such things as bringing toys to a children’s hospital, sending goodies to soldiers, and even planting trees in Tilden Park to combat deforestation.

Another community based program that the Lower School classes will be supporting in the new year is the Lamorinda All-Access Playground Project benefiting all children of all abilities. This project is being promoted by the Moraga Rotary Club and supported by many Moraga community organizations and schools. This new playground will be built at Moraga Commons, a park that Saklan students are very familiar with. To support this project the Lower School classes will hold three bake sales in the new year and donate the earnings to the project. Look for more details in future blogs.

Have a great weekend!

Peter

Dear Saklan Community,

There was no lack of excitement for the 60 parents, students and staff that attended the annual The Saklan School Night at the Oracle Arena to watch the Golden State Warriors play the Atlanta Hawks. The evening started with 15 Saklan students going on the court with the players as their anthem buddies. The basketball game itself was very exciting with the score being very close for most of the game and ended with the Warriors winning by a few points. This is the fourth year that a Saklan group has had a great experience at the Oracle Arena and helped the team to victory. We all hope for another great season for the Warriors.

As of today, we have two weeks of school left before the winter break and the end of 2016.  These will be a busy time at Saklan with a couple of important events on the calendar. Next week, our 8^th grade students will spend a week in Washington, D.C. with Mr. Prestianni and Ms. Parks for their yearly field trip to study US government. On Friday, December 16^th our Grades 3-5 students will put on the musical “Seussical KIDS” at the Willow Spring Church. This will start at 10:30AM and is open to the entire community. I highly recommend that you come out to see our very talented students, who will certainly send us off to the holidays with good cheer.

We will start the new year with another event that I would like you to consider attending. In collaboration with the Parent Association, and on the occasion of the first Friday Parent Coffee, we will hold a round table discussion on “Envisioning the Future of Saklan.”  As we look ahead to envision the long-term future of the school, a number of core questions and areas for deep exploration and clarity have emerged. These include, but will certainly not be limited to, such questions as:

What is the optimal size of The Saklan School?

What academic and enrichment programs will be relevant and meaningful in the future?

How might the campus support the size and program Saklan wants to offer in the future?

This event will take place on Friday, January 6^th, starting right after Flag at the Willow Spring Church and will be led by Saklan Board of Trustees member Robert Miller and myself. I look forward to starting the new year with a meaningful and engaging discussion with you about the future of our school.

Have a good weekend,

Peter

Dear Saklan Community,

Today I had the pleasure of watching Saklan’s Fall Follies. This is a fantastic and fun event, and like every year, I was astounded by the students’ performances. Their singing, acting and performing was remarkable for their age, and their enthusiasm was infectious. Many of our students are truly in their element when on stage. It is impressive how each and every student was willing to take risks with their performance and showed their inner courage. I commend the students on their excellent performances and the audience on being supportive and compassionate. Mr. Prestianni has done another outstanding job organizing the show, auditioning the performers, and putting together the program. Hats off to Mr. P for putting together this stellar event for yet another year and providing our students with such an amazing learning opportunity.

Thanksgiving is on our doorsteps and this is naturally a time for gratitude. I would like to express my gratitude for the wonderful community that is our school and to the creative, courageous, and compassionate teachers, staff, parents and students that share and work towards our common goals. Please take a moment and think about what Saklan is doing for your children and, if you have not already done so, support our Annual Giving Fund.

Today we officially launch our new website.  Emoke Veres, our Communications Manager, and a team of staff, teachers and parents, have been busy during the last few months designing and putting together the website. Many thanks for all of the wonderful work and creative ideas that have gone into making this an effective and attractive tool for showcasing our school.  Click on www.saklan.org and have a look around.

Today is the last day of the first trimester and report cards for K-8 students will be sent home on the Friday after we return from the Thanksgiving break. Report cards are used to validate the growth and progress that each student has made on their educational journey. I encourage all parents to both celebrate the accomplishments that your children have made and reflect upon goals for the next trimester. This will also be a good time to plan to connect with teachers, to discuss any concerns or questions that may have come up as a result of the report cards. All K-8 reports will be mailed home.

Have a great Thanksgiving Holiday, and thank you for being a wonderful and supportive community!!!

Peter

Dear Saklan Community,

This has been a week of surprises. First of all, we had Nicholas Di Sessa (5th) winning the cross country meet at the Lafayette Reservoir, beating a field of about 40 students from four independent schools. Nick was one of the youngest contestants as this was mostly a middle school event. Standing at the finish line waiting for the runners to come around the 2.7 mile circuit, my jaw literally dropped when I saw Nick flying towards me with no other runner anywhere near him. Nick was hardly sweating!

Then there was the result of the presidential election. Another jaw-dropping moment. The months that have led up to the election and the final results have shaken many and have brought into question many core values. On Wednesday morning many faculty, staff and older students came to school distraught, confused and fearful for the future of the environment, a compassionate and inclusive society, and civil discourse to name a few.  Discussions have been happening both in and out of the classrooms and this is appropriate in light of such a historic moment. We must allow our students to speak their minds and at the same time assuage fears as much as possible, and ultimately reflect on the fact that we saw democracy in action. It is also important to revisit our mission as a school and to underline the core values, in particular respect and kindness, which we have been talking about since the start of school. No matter what our political affiliation may be, we know that as educators we have an important role to play in helping to make sense of what has happened, and to uphold our values and each other.

In order to start our Thanksgiving Holiday on a positive and happy note, we will be putting on our Fall Follies next Friday starting at 10:00AM at the Willow Springs auditorium. This is one of those Saklan not-to-be missed events. Next Friday will also be the last day of the first trimester. I am always amazed by how fast the school year moves along and how much we are able to pack into such a short time frame. Report cards come out on the Friday after the holiday. Different from past years, all report cards will go out in the mail.

Have a great long weekend!

Peter

Dear Saklan Community,

The big event of this week was undoubtedly the Halloween and Harvest Festival on Monday. This is the first time that we have put on this event and it was tremendously successful by all accounts. This event was sponsored by our Student Council and our students played a big role in running many of the activities. A big thank you to Kim Parks, who is our Student Council Advisor, to Hoot Owl parent Sarah Gray, who helped organize and marshal the efforts of our parents, and to all of the faculty, staff and parent volunteers who helped in many ways. Of the many activities that were organized, the haunted house was as big a hit as ever. The costume parade and competition was fun and colorful and our students enjoyed dressing up in unique and creative costumes.

Our Lower School students had fun going to the Aegis and Moraga Royale assisted living homes and singing their Halloween songs. And finally, the middle school deck was turned into a spooky disco which attracted students of all ages and parents as well. Here is what some of our students liked about the Harvest Festival:

Milo (Grade 3) – I liked the haunted house because it was scary and I got candy.

Natalie (Hoot Owl) – I liked the Frankenstein Bat in the Cave game.

Brooke (Grade 4) – I liked the dance party because the music was loud.

Sophia (Grade 5) – I liked the Harvest Festival because it wasn’t too chaotic.

Skyler (Hoot Owl) – I liked making the cookies.

Ysa (Grade 6) – I liked the freedom to go where you wanted, and the games were fun and creative.

Ruby (Grade 2) – I liked the mummy race because they wrapped me up in streamers.

Abby (Grade 6) – I liked the costume contest.

Chloe (Grade 3) – I liked the scary bowling because I like bowling.

Meera (Grade 5) – I liked everything because it was awesome.

In two weeks we will have our Fall Follies. It will be held at the Willow Springs auditorium and will start at 10:00. In the occasion of the Fall Follies, we will also launch our new website. I look forward to a big crowd on November 18 to experience this fun showcase of Saklan talent.

Have a great weekend!

Peter

Dear Saklan Community,

Today we are launching the new version of the Friday Blog. Congratulations to our Communications Manager, Emoke V, who has been working on a number of important projects lately, one of which is creating a new look and feel for our Friday Blog. Even more exciting will be the launch of our new website on November 18^th. To celebrate the conclusion of this major project, we will officially launch our new Saklan website at the Fall Follies. This is another reason to not miss this fun event.

Starting next week, the first Friday of each month will be Spirit Day. All Saklan students can wear any of their Saklan t-shirts instead of the normal uniform top. New Saklan t-shirts were given out for the Walnut Creek parade and will be available for purchase shortly.

At this morning’s flag, which was unfortunately rained out, we had planned to present a total of 241 iKind pledges to Mr. Wendell Baker of the Moraga iKind Committee. Hopefully, we will be able to make this presentation at the next Flag. All Saklan students, staff, faculty, and some parents made a pledge earlier this year to promote and value kindness, treat all people with respect, show compassion and honesty, and demonstrate courage to be kind to each other. The Moraga iKind project was a perfect match for our own Social Emotional Learning program and we focused on Kindness as our first theme and family Group session. I was also pleased to learn that the Moraga iKind Project is offering the community a free showing of the movie “Screenagers” on Tuesday, November 1^st at 7 PM at Campolindo High School. The Saklan faculty has recently seen this movie and we highly recommend it to all parents and students in grades 5 and up. The movie addresses many issues that have a great impact on school and learning. Here is a summary of what the movie deals with:

SCREENAGERS probes into the vulnerable corners of family life to explore struggles over social media, video games, academics and internet addiction. Through poignant, and unexpectedly funny stories, along with surprising insights from authors, psychologists, and brain scientists, SCREENAGERS reveals how tech time impacts kids’ development and offers solutions on how adults can empower kids to best navigate the digital world and find balance.

Yesterday we sent out a note about our lost and found situation which is becoming critical. Following some good suggestions, and the fact that Flag was cancelled today, we will put all of the lost and found articles out on Monday in front of the school when we have the Harvest Festival. Please come and search for any lost clothing. We will also put them out at next Friday’s Flag.

Finally, I have noticed a trend lately of cars parking at the side of the drive-through lane. This is impacting the flow of traffic and also presents a safety concern. I would kindly ask that parents waiting for students park on the road or in the parking lot across the street which is available for the use of the school.

Have a great weekend!

Peter