Top Ten List -- 2003-04

1. Re-Accreditation by CAIS and WASC!

Winning re-accreditation, with a maximum length of term and the assuredness that we will be accredited through 2010 (!), is a huge thing in itself.  But as great as it is, the greatest value came from the process.  We the Saklan community came together and invested our heart and soul in a review of our goals, programs, and plans, and as we did, we gathered up a great deal of pride in the excellence that is Saklan.  The rest of it, the dozen major commendations heaping high praised on our faculty and students and parent body, and the maximum length term, were just the icing on a truly terrific cake!  Great appreciation and kudos must go here to Mrs. Deborah Ellis, the faculty coordinator, and all the teachers and parents and trustees who worked so hard to make this happen!

2. Campus Improvements

As we conducted the Capital Campaign a year and a half ago, we told you that purchase of our property would result in greater attention to and investment in our campus.   Now that our school is truly Our School, that is swiftly coming true as a result of the leadership of outstanding parent supporters Marcela Salem and Dan Fahrner.  New sidewalks, blacktops, sports courts, fences, benches, landscaping, and even rain-gutters are heralding a new era of campus work where the best is yet to come!

3. Faculty Excellence and Continuity

The CAIS Report begins its long list of major commendations with a tribute to our faculty for “its commitment to implementing a program that is both intellectually challenging and personally supportive, thereby fulfilling the school’s mission of expanding the minds, hearts, and character of its students.”    We are immensely proud of the excellence of this faculty, and are delighted to report to that for the first time in many years, 100% of our faculty has signed on to return to their classrooms for next school year! We are delighted to see the continuation next year of the teaching excellence that is being provided by our 17 senior faculty members: Mr. Lederman, Mrs. Shiveley, Ms. Owens, Miss Amy, Ms. Mitchell, Mrs. Schofield, Mrs. Seeburger, Mrs. Haesloop, Mrs. Reichow, Mr. LaBonte, Mrs. Ellis, Ms. LaDuc, Mr. Prestianni, Madame Amy, M. Vincent, Mr. Joni, and Mr. T.

4. International Day

This year Saklan hosted our first-ever International Day, featuring fascinating speakers from six other countries.  These guests ran hands-on, thought provoking workshops for our students.  We followed this with a wonderful international feast for our students prepared by a group of terrific parents.  Madame Amy and Ms. LaDuc showed great leadership of this new initiative.

5. School Library and BookFair

Our school library continues to grow and to thrive, and has been marvelously supported this year by the annual book fair.  One of Saklan’s greatest parent supporters the past several years, and even more so this past year, has been Clare Barr, our trusted volunteer library collection coordinator.  Under her careful attention, the collection has been in good hands as it has transitioned to its new room this year.  To enhance the collection, Mrs. Barr and Mrs. Reichow have placed an order for 200 new titles, a purchase made possible by the successful Book Fair.  That great event, which raised nearly $2000 for the library, was staged again at the Walnut Creek Barnes and Noble in a terrific way by parent volunteer Abbey Cook.

6. Arts and Music Education Expansion

Another great year of progress occurred as we moved to fulfill the SVS Strategic Plan’s call to enhance the arts education at Saklan. We expanded the music program by doubling class time to two periods a week, and the students are enjoying immensely the dynamic music curriculum Mr. Joni is implementing.  Next year we will expand the music program further by extending Mr. Joni’s program to the Pre-Kindergarten classes as well.  Meanwhile, Ms. LaDuc has enriched students in grades 3-8 with her art specialist program, a program that she will pass to Kindergarten teacher Miss Amy next year, and which will expand to all of our students in grades K-8!   The additional time allotted for French in recent years has also allowed those classes to devote more time to music and art celebrating Francophone culture.

7. ERB Scores Up

Once again more than half of our students scored in the 97th percentile or above in at least one math or verbal section, qualifying them for participation in the Johns Hopkins national talent search.  Once again, our students’ average verbal median score was in the upper eighties; in the math areas, our overall average median ran again in the low nineties, a few points above the national independent school norms.  More importantly, when we compare each individual student’s results with the scores he or she earned the year before in the same section, we find that on average, Saklan students raised their individual performance overall by one and a half stanines (the more statistically significant category) in the independent school norms, the most discriminating norm group.  This is the most meaningful thing that can be drawn from a standardized test: on average, our students’ individual performances are rising relative to their independent school peers one year to the next!

8. New Saklan Look

In an exciting development marking a new era for the school, new logos have been developed for the school, bringing us a more contemporary and brighter look.  This is true for the school’s core logo and signature:

It is also being reflected in the color and design of our website.  Most exciting for our students perhaps is the awesomely re-designed Saklan sports mascot, the Sun. 

Our appreciation goes to Saklan Trustee Ed Rice, who has managed the development of these new Saklan signatures

9. Electronic Media Excellence

Another key thrust of our 2001 published Strategic Plan called us to upgrade our electronic communications, and we are quite proud of the progress made here.  The website continues to astound visitors with its ongoing improvement carried great lengths this year by M. Vincent, (and there is more improvement to come!).   Parents are also receiving this week a special two SVS DVD yearbook set, produced by M. Vincent, another wonderful addition to our electronic media.   The students too are making great strides in their mastery of this material, doing ever more powerpoint presentations, website design, and digital film editing in their computer classes.

10. Student Council and Family Group Leadership

It has been a banner year for student leadership at Saklan.  The faculty, led here by Mrs. Schofield and Ms. Mitchell, revamped and refreshed the family groups program, and better attention was devoted by our students to in-depth examinations of the core values we wish to impart: effort, kindness, honesty, and many others.  Meanwhile, the student council enjoyed excellent leadership from President Paula Yamomoto and Vice President Alison Tokar, and successfully staged its Car Wash, Bazaar, and Carnival, earning a profit of $2000 which they will now donate to the school’s middle school facility.   Certainly their faculty advisers Mr. LaBonte, M. Vincent, and Mrs. Seeburger deserve also kudos for their support of student council.

11. Auction

Yes, once again I am unable to contain this list to solely ten items.  Mention must be made of our outstanding and terrifically enjoyable Annual Auction: Ohana Means Family.  The hospitality of the Orinda Country Club, the amazing decorations, and delightful entertainment made it the social event of the season, and on top of that, $60,000 was raised for the education of our children here at Saklan.  Bravo to the Hula Honeys, Kate Dey, Katie Fahrner, and Caren Rice!

Paul Nathan, Chair

Paul Felton, Vice Chair

Ed Rice

Betsy Hill

Marcela Salem

Ruth Bailey

Bett Tokar

Annie Barendregt

Jennifer Griessel

Dan Dahlen

Andy Firstenberg

Maureen Gibeson

Jonathan Martin, Head of School

Thank You’s, 2003-04

In a school community as supportive as the Saklan one, it is always a daunting project to prepare a thank you list; there are so many who should be thanked, and it is so hard to list some without listing you all.  We should never forget how rare it is for a school to receive such outstanding support: as the CAIS visiting team said, “We Commend the parent body for being such an enthusiastic and integral part of the school community through activities such as fundraising, new family orientation, and social activities, and through their support of school and classroom activities.” So our thanks go to everyone who assisted Saklan this school year, in particular the following:

Annie Barendregt, upon the conclusion of her two year term as Saklan PA President.  You have shown tremendous leadership in the way you fostered a team of board members, organized the room parents, stepped in to fill gaps whenever necessary, and staged nearly a dozen major family events such as the Auction, Back to School BBQ, the Family Fun Night, and the Carnival.  All the while, you showed terrific emotional intelligence, never once breaking your friendly and supportive smiling presence!

Paul Nathan, upon the conclusion of his two year term as Chair of Saklan’s Board of Trustees, in which time he has displayed outstanding generosity to the school and excellent judgment in managing the board with a steady hand and a deep dedication to the school.

The Hula Honeys for the absolutely fabulous Auction.The Saklan “Handy Dad’s Club,” headed up by

Dan Fahrner for all the excellent campus improvements you have worked so hard to make happen.Clare Barr for her awesome dedication to our school Library.

The Room Parents for everything they did to keep the classroom special events running smoothly, the field trips transported, and the class parties delightful, and the full Board of Officers of the Parent Association for their excellent work organizing parents this year.

Abbey Cook for running a terrific book fair!The Teacher Appreciation Week Coordinators, Laura Forlin and Cora Davidson, for organizing a wonderful week of appreciation.  Thanks go to Cora also for assisting greatly with our Admissions Assessments this year!

Elena Toohey for her support of many of our fundraisers, and leadership of the Fall Gift Wrap fundraisers.The many parents who assisted our student recruitment by making “Champion” phone calls, and who spread the word by passing along the good news about Saklan’s quality.

The Roberts family for their great assistance with and donations to our computer programs,.

The Lumleys for their generous donation of technology materials.

The Lucas family for their donation of our the new blacktop in back!

The Hula Honks

New Fence

New Sport Court!!

Thanks to Clare Barr for her awesome work in the library.