board of trustees

Letter from the Board

On behalf of the Board of Trustees, I’d like to welcome our new families to the Saklan community, and to thank our “old” families for the wonderful way you foster and sustain our community.

At school, fall is the time of new beginnings. Sharp pencils, a new grade, getting to know your teacher, looking ahead at all the great things you will learn during the year. There is intense anticipation on the eve of the first day of school.

Your board is also filled with the anticipation of our goals for the year ahead. Our role is to ensure adequate resources for the school to provide excellent education to our students, and to students that will be here far into the future. This year, we are specifically working to refine Saklan’s core purposes, revise our strategic plan, create a master site plan, and enhance management reporting.

At the September Parent’s Association meeting, many of you participated in a brainstorming session to help us in the process of defining our core purposes. Core purposes are three or four statements which succinctly capture and express what Saklan Valley School is here to provide, promote and achieve. We will incorporate your ideas in refining the core purposes. We greatly appreciate your candor and thoughtfulness.

Our other annual goals reflect our forward looking imperative. Our strategic plan will formalize both our vision for the school and our “to-do” list to guide us toward that vision.

The master site plan will be a specific concept of how we can improve our campus through a series of capital projects over the next five to ten years. Improving management reporting will be important in helping with operational efficiency, and to critically analyze financial data.

There is one job the board does which doesn’t appear on our list of annual goals, because it is one of the core purposes of a board. We are the cheerleaders for the charitable contributions that allow Saklan to be the wonderful school it is. Tuition covers about 85% of the cost of your child’s education here. The balance is paid for through fund raising, the most important of which is our Annual Giving campaign.
You have received our request for your participation in this very important program. We ask that you thoughtfully consider Saklan as one of your most important philanthropic choices. The need is great, and the dollars you provide are critical to the success of this important institution. Thank you for your help!

Your board of trustees,

Annie Barendregt
Parent, Former Counselor
Year Elected: 2002
Board Vice Chair, Trustee Committee Chair

Stephanie Brandt
Parent, Former Insurance Executive
Year Elected: 2006
Finance, Master Planning 

Chris Crespi
Parent, Former Finacial Analyst
Year Elected: 2008

Kate Dey
Parent, College Career Counselor
Year Elected: 2004
Board Secretary, Development Committee

Paul Felton
Parent, Venture Capitalist
Year Elected: 2002
Past Board Chair, Development Committee

Jennifer Griessel
Parent, Realtor
Year Elected: 2003
Development Committee Chair

Marc Gordon
Parent, Retail Senior Executive
Year Elected: 2006
Buildings and Grounds, Master Planning

Betsy Hill
Parent, Former Physical Therapist
Year Elected: 2001
Master Planning Co-Chair

Eliza Kirkpatrick
Past Parent of two Saklan Graduates
Year Elected: 2007

Lisa Rokas
Parent, Former Teacher
Year Elected: 2006
Parent Association President

Marcela Salem
Parent, Former Computer Systems Consultant
Year Elected: 2002
Master Planning Co-Chair, Buildings and Grounds

Paula Shadle
Past Parent, Biochemist, Pharmaceutical Consultant
Year Elected: 2008

Bill Vaughn
Parent, Finance, Former Mayor of Moraga
Year Elected: 2006
Finance, Master Planning

Diane Wilcox
Parent, Former CFO
Year Elected: 2003
Board Chair

Joan Jump
Parent, Former Nurse
Year Elected: 2005
Buildings and Grounds Committee Chair

Jonathan Martin
Parent, Head of School
Year Elected: 1999
School Head and Parent

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