Category: Middle School

Identity Circles

In humanities class, the Middle School students have been creating identity circles. These circles allow the students to convey aspects of their identity that they might not otherwise get a chance to share with their classmates. The circles also allow the students to see identity traits they share with others. In addition to the personal identity circles, the middle schoolers are also creating class identity circles to post in the language arts/humanities classroom. The goal of the whole class posters is for all middle school students to see the identities of peers in other grades, who they may not have class with on a daily basis. 

#SaklanCommunity

Enrichment Classes

We are thrilled to announce that The Saklan School will be bringing back after school enrichment classes for the 21-22 school year. For the fall session the following classes will be available:

Classes begin the week of September 13th, and have limited space available. If you are interested in signing your child up for one of the above classes, please click on the class name for additional information about the class and sign up options.

Saklan will also have enrichment opportunities for our Preschool and Pre-K friends that will be announced in the coming weeks. Our youngest students take a little more time to settle into the routines of coming to school, so we want to give them additional time before we introduce new classes into their day.

#SaklanHandsOn

Saklan has CLAS

Students share appreciations during the first CLAS

Last year gave us time to think about some of the things we have done for years and how to do them better. One of those things is Friday Flag- a long tradition that we have held out in front of School every Friday morning. After conversations with parents, teachers and students, we will be moving to a new Friday morning assembly called CLAS (Community, Learning, Appreciation, and Sharing). 

The impetus to move to CLAS was to emphasize the aspects of Saklan we sincerely appreciate: our community, that love of learning is central to everything we do, that gratitude and appreciation is our lifeblood, and that sharing is how we all grow as individuals. 

CLAS will be held on the Saklan Sports Court every other week. This allows each division to meet on the off weeks and hold assemblies that bring them together as a smaller group; the Saklan Sports Court provides a more protected gathering space. 

Parents are invited to join us for CLAS by entering campus through the fire lane near the church right at 8:30 a.m.

Thank you to everyone who joined us this morning for our first CLAS! It was so wonderful to see our entire community in the same space and to hear the words of wisdom and appreciations that the students shared with us. Check out pictures from today’s gathering below.

#SaklanCLAS #SaklanCommunity

Ending the Year on a High Note…Literally

The return of school musicals to end the year has all of Saklan ready to break out in song! After so many months of uncertainty, Ms. Chaffey went above and beyond to make sure that musicals could happen in some form this year, and we’re so grateful for her creative thinking.

To start off, today the fourth and fifth grade classes performed Seussical KIDS, leaving all their hard work on the outdoor stage. Students, teachers, and the performers’ parents were treated to a spectacular display of singing and dancing, featuring favorite characters such as Horton, the Cat in the Hat, and the Sour Kangaroos.

Next week, the seventh and eighth grade students will have their chance to put their talents on display! Their film version of Into the Woods will be screened on campus for the rest of Saklan to enjoy. Stayed turned for more details on how the rest of the Saklan community can view this film as well.

Congratulations to all of our Saklan performers, and another huge round of applause for Ms. Chaffey for making this happen and to the entire Saklan faculty and staff for their support.

The show really must go on!

#SaklanMusicals

Eighth Grade Goes for a Ride

Last Friday, the eighth grade class headed out for a field experience to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, where they put their physics knowledge to the test by riding roller coasters and other amusement rides.

While they were there to have fun, they were also there to determine speed, acceleration, and which forces were acting on them throughout the different rides.

Students applied Newton’s Three Laws of Motion to see how physics plays a key role in the design, fun, and safety of roller roasters. They timed the rides, wore accelerometers to test the amount of g-force the ride exerted on their body, and filled out a packet to record all of their physics observations.

It was a fun day for everyone, and a special final field experience for the eighth grade class.

#SaklanFieldExperience

Piñata Fun

As the academic demands of a challenging year begin to wind down, there is an opportunity to invite additional fun into classroom learning. For some lucky Saklan students, that meant exploring piñatas in Spanish class with Maestra Padilla!

Middle School students spent time making piñatas as part of their hands-on learning about Spanish culture. They used colorful crepe paper to cover piñatas made to represent familiar shapes and characters.

The fourth and fifth graders also got hands-on piñata fun! To end the day on Thursday, each student took a turn hitting the piñata in an attempt to get it to break and spill its treasures–snacks, beaded necklaces, and more–onto the turf.

While each student gave it a valiant effort–even breaking off the top completely– in the end, Mr. Crabtree had to step in to really break the piñata open!

#SaklanHandsOn

Ending the Year with Roller Coasters

It has certainly been a roller coaster of a year, so it only makes sense that the eighth grader’s final physics project would be to build roller coasters of their own.

Students were tasked with designing and creating a roller coaster for a marble that: utilized the forces learned about in class, had enough momentum to fulfill a loop, and had a slow down stop. The groups of students had to use their creativity, math skills, and the scientific method in order to design, evaluate, start over, redesign, and eventually finalize their coasters.

Before getting started, students found inspiration for their designs from informational video clips, where they learned the need for gravitational pull to power the coasters, centripetal force and air resistance to provide thrills, and of course friction to stop safely!

This project has its challenges, including aligning creatively with your design partners, troubleshooting problems with limited time, and getting the proper speed for the coaster to work.

We are extremely impressed the effort and enthusiasm the eighth graders put into this project, and are excited to see them using the skills they’ve learned at Saklan, which will serve them well as they head off to highschool!

#SaklanAcademic

A Month of Poetry

Once a week, middle school students were assigned a poetry assignment that they would add to their Google Slide of Poems. Mrs. Cashen usually gave them a poem format that she wanted them to write in; and then two topics with a random fun one like Reese’s pencil, pigs, green Covid testing tent, etc. and then a more of a teacher topic like Spring.

Some of the formats were easy and some were far more challenging as time progressed. One of the most challenging formats was the ABAB CDCD EFEF GG, where lines A rhymed with lines A and so forth. Students were feeling like poetry should just flow out of their pencil or fingers from the first touch, but they were beginning to learn to erase/delete, and go back and revise their work. They were learning to write with a central topic and with meaning whether it be with emotion or a topic. 

#SaklanAcademics

Learning Expedition of the Bay

This past Tuesday, the 5th and 6th grade students joined the Marine Science Institute for a four-hour expedition of the San Francisco Bay aboard a 90-foot research vessel, the R.V. Robert G. Brownlee. The students discovered what lives in the estuary and how we are connected to it. They rotated through three stations using scientific methods and equipment to examine different types of life.

First, they went to hydrology to understand the water quality, and then performed a plankton tow to see the basis of the food chain. After, they used a mud grab to collect a benthic mud sample to look for invertebrates. And lastly, they worked together to deploy a 16-foot trawl net to bring fishes on board. In small groups, they studied the fishes using dichotomous keys. Students were inspired to observe and touch the live animals that they collected. Between sharks, crabs, halibut and sting rays, they saw a bunch of cool marine life!

#SaklanFieldExperience

Sea Star Dissection

As part of the 7th grade biology unit on animals, the class looked at different phylum found within a particular kingdom. The students talked with Ms. O about the different characteristics and important adaptations each animal has for survival.

As part of the lesson, students take part in multiple dissections in order to learn and compare the anatomies of common organisms. So far in their study of invertebrates, the class has dissected a squid (part of the mollusk phylum), a worm (the annelid phylum) and, this week, a sea start (a member of the echinoderm phylum).

Each organism has a different circulatory system, number of hearts, different sequence of body parts, and some have no brain at all! These dissections are a hands-on way students have been able to see the diversity of all life!

#SaklanAcademic