Saklan’s 2007 Core Purposes Saklan Valley School is an inclusive and caring community which fosters engaging and rigorous, creative and analytic, intellectual development, and embodies respect, responsibility, and integrity, to prepare students for leadership in a complex, interdependent, and diverse world.

2. An outstanding graduating class; 100% Private High School Admissions
What a terrific group of graduates we have this year, eleven of them; Jared Madden distinguishes himself as a Kindergarten-8th grade “lifer.” This is a group that throughout their Saklan history has performed with fabulous academic achievement, and has offered this year outstanding student leadership in family groups and student council. As noted in the last Saklan monthly, all 9 of this 11 who applied to selective, private high schools were admitted to their first choice school, including Phillips Exeter Academy in NH, Athenian (5 admitted; 5 applied); Bentley (6 admitted ; 6 applied) and CPS in Oakland (3 admitted).

3. Excellent Flag Programs
Families new to Saklan will have had no way to notice, but those veterans among us certainly have taken note: Friday Flags are richer, more musical, more diverse, (and longer, even on the chilly mornings [!]) than ever before. Next year take time to enjoy this fun-filled show of student performance most Fridays at 8:30 (but be sure to bring a sweater!).

4. Mandarin Program Initiated

We piloted this school year a new foreign language initiative, teaching Mandarin twice a week to our youngest students in PreSchool, PreK, and Kindergarten. Ms. Diana Kong, also our ECE Director, and a native of Taiwan, has done a terrific job bringing song and movement to this program, and our children have been enjoying it greatly. One special moment was the day that our students sang at Flag a traditional beloved Chinese song, which happens to have been written some sixty years ago by the great-grandfather of Saklan student Victor Chen!

5. Annual Giving and Auction Success; F-A-N funding for new sports court and digital projectors

Our school’s philanthropic spirit soared again, with once again tremendous success for our Annual Giving campaign, chaired by Trustee Jennifer Griessel and zooming to a new record of more than $200,000; also achieving extraordinary success was our Annual Auction, co-chaired by Kathy Franklin, Michelle Thimesch, and Vicki Filter, which also achieved an astounding new record by crossing the $130K mark in net income! It is not possible to overstate how incredibly important and valuable these accomplishments are to the school’s development—Thank you! The Auction’s Fund-a-Need aspect brought in well over $20K, providing for the installation of both a brand new sports court surface (wait til Fall—it’ll look smart and feel great under our feet) and new digital projectors in many of our classrooms.

6. Excellent Administrative Appointments

A highlight of the year has been the exciting and successful development of our administration, including the appointment of a new Early Childhood Director, Diana Kong; the development of a revised administrative structure for K-8 creating a new Assistant Head position for K-8 program direction, and then, after a very thorough and inclusive process, the appointment of Dave Hague to fill this important new role at Saklan. Welcome Diana and Dave! At the same time as we welcome them, we offer our appreciation and commendation to Mrs. Carol Schofield for her leadership these past two years in the Elementary School, and to Mr. Chris LaBonte, who departs our middle schools after 4 years of strong leadership and program development to become the Founding High School Director of a new high school near Phoeniz.

7. Master Planning Launched; Campus Facilities Improved: Science Lab, Roofs, Doors, Library Shelving

When we purchased our long rented campus in 2003, we promised we’d invest in its development, and each year we keep upgrading our facilities. This year has seen the completion of the Science Lab renovation, a $25,000 upgrade made possible by 2006’s Auction Fund-A-Need; beautiful new doors in the Extended Day hallway; new roofs shading and rain protecting the middle school deck area; and the purchase/installation of new library shelving that makes that space more functional and attractive than ever. Coming Soon: A new, state of the art, sports court surface! More important than any of these, perhaps, is our signed engagement of an architectural firm, Ratcliff, to conduct a 3 month process to prepare a comprehensive campus master plan for phased-in improvements over the next 5-15 years. Look to learn much more about this process in the fall.

8. Student Council Leadership and Donations

A call-out to our student council! This group has again demonstrated outstanding youth leadership. In the fall, our Co-Presidents presented a workshop on “large-event production” at a conference of East Bay middle school student council leaders; all year long we enjoyed seeing Jared and Emily make fine Flag speeches, and this spring they staged an awesome school Carnival. All-in-all they raised over $2000, and are donating it both to Saklan, for the painting of the Saklan Sun on the new Sportscourt, and also to Rise Elementary charter school in East Oakland, where they regularly visit their reading buddies. Excellent work.

9. Laptop Cart Implementation a Great Success

They are fast and wireless and our students love them. Computers are far from being new at Saklan, but the implementation and integration of the new laptop cart has changed our students’ educational experience. From watching speeches from the human rights movements’ era to exploring far away planets, these laptops give easy access to a world of knowledge that our teachers are keen to use. These machines also running Photoshop and Premiere gave our students the chance to explore the art of film making and photography. Education 2.0 for the 21st century!

10. Diversity Initiatives, International Day, and Mosaic!

Supporting the thoughtful development of our school’s commitment to respect and appreciation for diversity has long been a strategic goal of ours; this year witnessed strong progress in this development. A new parent-teacher Diversity Committee was launched; six of its members attended a three-day conference in Seattle, the NAIS People of Color Conference, and returned to do presentations at Flag and at the Parent Association; and Flag featured more programs intended to display the school’s diversity curriculum. International Day again shined—it was a fabulous day of learning about the Asian/Pacific Rim and a diverse array of its exquisite performing arts. Capping this off was the 5th grade’s phenomenal trip to Mosaic Project Camp in May—a week-long residential experience where our kids learned about diversity and respect alongside students from Oakland and San Francisco.

Honorable Mention:
• Parent Education Programs: Kent Grelling, Madeline Levine, and others
• Great Overnight Trips to Pioneer Camp, Coloma, Marin Headlands, the Advance,
---Yosemite, Quebec, and Washington D.C.
• Annual Concert at the Lesher: Le Cirque de Saklan
• Excellent School-wide ERB standardized test scores
• Magnificent Student Writing on Display in Every Classroom
• And many, many other great events this year.

Jonathan E. Martin
Head of School

Last night I had the privilege of attending the 8th grade graduation dinner.  As I sat and listened to the student’s speeches, I was in awe and had to keep reminding myself that this was a middle school graduation and not a high school graduation.  Before each graduate spoke, Mr. Prestianni would introduce them and read a sample of their writing.  One theme I kept hearing over and over was:  if you want to make a difference, then you need to get involved!   

We are so lucky here at Saklan because we have so many parents who do just that.  I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to many of the people who helped to make a difference this year.  First, I would like to thank my fellow Parent Association Board members:  Kim Trinkus, Gina Baker, Laury Macauley, Eva Stevenson, Darcy Cole, Angela Barattolo, Stephanie Brandt, Hillary Conlon, Angela Eckstein and Scott Beisner.  It has been such a pleasure working with each and every one of you.  Thank you for helping me with all of the parent association functions. But more importantly, thank you for all that you have done for the Saklan community this year! 

I would also like to acknowledge once again our magnificent auction team of Kathy Franklin, Michelle Thimesch and Vicki Filter.  Thank you for helping to make our dreams come true in such a big way for our small school!  And thanks also to all of the parents who helped to make our auction such a success: auction volunteers, donors, and bidders alike.  I would also like to mention that not only did Vicki Filter help to chair our auction, but she also put together our wonderful yearbooks yet again this year.  Thank you Vicki!  And finally, although he is not a parent, I cannot leave out Vincent Hermosilla whose efforts on both the auction and yearbook were immeasurable!  Vincent has been such a tremendous help to our parent association and will be truly missed next year.   

Another group of parents I would like to thank are our room parents.  Thank you for the many things you do whether its coordinating class parties, driving on field trips, making auction baskets, or any of your other myriad contributions.  And of course, THANK YOU to ALL of the parents who helped volunteer in so many different ways this year.  Your contributions are very much appreciated!  Our children have truly benefited thanks to you, and I’d like to think that all of us who have volunteered our time have benefited as well. 

I hope that you all have a wonderful summer with your families!  And I hope that when you look over your summer packet you are inspired to find an area or activity that you would like to be involved in next year. 

Fondly,
Lisa Rokas
Parent Association President

board corner

Dear Saklan Parents and Community Members:

Astonishingly, the school year is coming to an end.  What a year for our students!  I find the Graduation Dinner to be one of the most powerful reflections of the years our children have at Saklan.  Each eighth grade student speaks to his or her experiences at our school, and the life lessons they will take away.  Intellectual and emotional growth are equally highlighted.  Teachers from all grade levels at Saklan are recognized for their incredible contribution to the growth of these students, and for the joy they’ve brought to their lives.  For the audience, this year the students’ speeches brought laughs, tears and admiration for these exceptional children.  I hope you will all have a chance to attend this extraordinary event in the future. 

From a Board perspective, the Graduation Dinner is one of the intangible measures of the success of our school.  Additionally, on Trustee Visiting Day, we have a chance to see every classroom, and speak with our exceptional faculty about their program.  It is incredibly heartwarming to hear preschoolers show-off the butterflies they’ve watched develop from caterpillars.  In every classroom, teachers are creating a rich environment in which our children thrive.  It is inspiring to see the transformation and growth of our students through their years here. 

Our Board’s work is focused on the seemingly more mundane infrastructure that allows the administration and faculty to perform their magic.  This year we have completed our goals for the year including revising our Mission Statement by first defining our Core Purposes; engaging master site planners; revising financial reporting; and revising our strategic plan.  We are pleased with our accomplishments this year, and are looking forward to the year ahead, and the new challenges it brings. 

The revised strategic plan is important as we prioritize our work ahead.  It defines our vision for Saklan in 2012 as fully-enrolled with one class per grade-level, still located on School Street, with our facility enhanced through the vision of our master site plan.  The program will continue to provide educational excellence, while emphasizing the importance of community, character and a global perspective. 

The Board is currently defining our goals for 2007-08.  Two driving factors in our work ahead are optimizing our site and achieving full enrollment.  Our Buildings and Grounds Committee will work with master site plan consultants to define the best strategy to develop our campus.  The Administration is launching a marketing task force to work toward full enrollment; the Board will have a representative on that committee and will support recommendations from the committee wherever needed.  There are many challenges ahead.  We are committed to the mission of our school, and look forward to meeting those challenges.

The board is sad to say goodbye this year to John Macauley and Ruth Bailey.  Both John and Ruth have served the board with distinction throughout their terms.  John has served on the board for three years and as Finance Chair this past year.  He was instrumental in revising our financial reporting systems, and directing financial discourse in a very thoughtful way.  Ruth has served on the board for nine years, four as Board Co-Chair, and also as Chair of the Trustee Committee and as Treasurer for many of those years.  Ruth help shepherd Saklan through some of its most challenging years, and was instrumental in helping orchestrate the strong financial platform we enjoy today.  Our profound thanks go out to both John and Ruth. 

Even as we honor the contributions of their predecessors, we feel very fortunate to have these open board positions filled by two very capable individuals.  Marty Beard and Eliza Kirkpatrick have both accepted our invitation to join the board.  Marty has a child in first grade at Saklan and is an executive with Sybase.  His experience in strategic planning and marketing will be a valuable addition to the board.  Eliza has had two sons who have graduated from Saklan. Her extensive experience as a board trustee and as a nurse will be valuable to the board in issues of school safety and accreditation.   

The Board would like to thank the Faculty, Administration, Parent Community and Students for their incredible support of the school this year.  We look forward to working with you on the exciting challenges ahead.  Enjoy the summer; we’ll see you in the fall!

Your board of trustees,

Diane Wilcox, Chair
Annie Barendregt, Vice-Chair
Paul Felton
Stephanie Brandt
Kate Dey
Jennifer Griessel
Marc Gordon
John Macauley
Betsy Hill
Lisa Rokas
Marcela Salem
Bill Vaughn
Joan Jump
Ruth Bailey
Jonathan Martin, Head of School