Dan Pink says that while it is ESSENTIAL to master core intellectual skills—mathematics, science, computer technology, core communication skills or reading and writing; it is also CRITICAL to build skills that draw on other parts of the brain — design and aesthetics, empathy and compassion, playfulness and philosophy.

The book is wonderful; I highly recommend it. The author includes a “portfolio” of activities intended to help strengthen our “conceptual” minds: one is to create your own caption for a New Yorker cartoon.

Expect to hear more from us about our continued consideration of the Dan Pink book, and how Saklan will continue to enhance our preparation of students for both the information and the conceptual age.

It is the season of Annual Giving, allow me take a minute to remind you of all the ways in which your support, via Annual Giving (and additionally the Auction), have made a tangible, concrete difference at our school in just the last year:

1. We constructed the new structure next to the elementary building, and outfitted it with heat lamps, to provide our students a delightful outdoor space, protected from sun and rain, for eating lunch and for other arts and crafts activities. This was made possible in part by the 2005 Auction Fund a Need, and in larger part by the school’s general fund; it would have been impossible without strong Annual Giving.

2. The new Laptop Cart purchased over the summer and presently being used nearly every hour of the week—read more about it in this issue’s “student scoop.”

3. The dramatically renovated Science Lab—again, the Auction Fund A Need provided the critical funding foundation to launch this project, but its completion drew upon the school’s general fund, again made possible only by Annual Giving.

4. In the past year we have installed six new doors and dozens of new locks, allowing for a teacher or student to immediately lock a door from inside a classroom, a large step toward campus safety.

5. In the past year we have continued to expand specialist education in the areas of Science, Music, and now Mandarin.

6. Teacher salaries and benefits have again been stepped up—much of that support comes from tuition increases, but it is still fair to say we could not do it without the critical element of Annual Giving support.

These are a list of the tangible enhancements — but it is essential to remember that the school depends on your voluntary support for all the things that happen. Therefore, it is true to say that your generous contributions made possible the small classes (smallest of any accredited independent school in our region), made possible the excellence of teaching (and they are tremendous, your child’s teachers), and made possible the extraordinary academic achievement of your children. Without outstanding philanthropic support, we could not balance our budget, cuts would have to be made — and what would you cut?

At the September Parent Association meeting, we asked each table to identify Saklan’s Core Purposes. Two themes emerged. Unsurprisingly, educational excellence led the list, sometimes stated by that term itself, sometimes by terms like “developing critical thinkers” and “”Creativity and Depth of Education.” But it is remarkable how strongly came across another theme: “Family and Community,” “creating familial community,” and “Parent Involvement.” These are very strong currents at our school, which define it and make it strong. We are not part of someone else’s large bureaucratic organization, there is not a HQ somewhere that funds and directs us, we are not a remote site here to fulfill some distant mandate—we are our own school. We are here for the children and the families at your behest; when you give to Saklan Valley School, you are not giving your money away, you are investing it in something that it indeed a part of yourself. Contrast that to giving to Stanford or some other distant institution. And a Saklan donation is a tax deductible one: instead of loading the additional $1500-2000 above tuition it costs us to educate each and every student, we set up our finances to generate that via tax deductible vehicles such as the auction and the Annual Giving.

* * *

Recently I spent some time talking to some of our new students, asking them to describe what is different about Saklan difference between their old school and their new. This is what they told me: “the kids are nicer here.” “The teachers are into teaching, they like teaching, they are really encouraging — at the old school teachers didn’t really care, they told you a C- was good enough, but here they really help you understand make sure you understand.” “More hands-on learning.” “Teachers are definitely more attuned to you here, they work with you and your issues; at the other school they didn’t have time for you.” “The teachers are smarter and know much more.” “The teachers are so responsive — lightning fast.” One boy said to me, “Let me count the ways,” and proceeded to itemize a list of 8 points — including that the teachers are better and that “the principal is nicer!” One pair of parents told me this “is a community, not just a school — a caring environment with total family involvement.” A mother who had transferred her daughter to our elementary division from a Lamorinda public school said that the difference is stark: “Students at Saklan are engaged and start learning from the very first moment of the day; there is so much more warmth and welcoming and caring from each and every teacher, but there is also so much more challenge, and much higher standards and expectations. The very first day she started at Saklan, her handwriting improved dramatically—her teacher knew she could do better, and she responded in kind.”

* * *

Every fall I report on Saklan’s standardized testing results in the ERB test. We track our progress in several ways; in one, we compare our students’ (grades 3-8) average grade level median score to that of students at private/independent schools nationally who take this same test, and to that of public school students in the high achieving suburban districts who take this test. This is reported on a nationally normed percentile graph, where for each test section (Reading Comprehension, Math, etc), the median performance of all students nationally (in a statistical sampling) is, then, by definition, at the fiftieth percentile.

Once again, our students performed marvelously; the general trend has continued, whereby our students outperform the private school averages in the verbal areas by a point or two, and in the math areas by several points. A graph below displays these results in each of seven test areas.

Saklan 2006 ERB Scores
Grades 3-8 Medians Averaged

Grades 3 - 8	Saklan	Independent	Suburbian
Math Average	91.6	88.6	86.4
Verbal Average	89.7	87.8	84.0

A second tracking device for us has been qualification by our students for application to the Johns Hopkins national academic talent search. Qualification is established by students’ scoring at the 95th percentile or higher in particular sections (Verbal Reasoning, Math, Reading Comprehension, Quantitative Reasoning). On the 2005 test, 61% of our students qualified; on the 2006 test, this most recent one, 65% did. In other words, very nearly two thirds of our students, grades 2-8, scored in the top five percent of US students in one or more section of the test.

Thank you for your support of Saklan Valley School.

Jonathan E. Martin
Head of School

student scoop

New laptops on Campus
for Twenty First Century Students

by Vincent Hermosilla, Computers Teacher

“What is this big grey metal box you’re rolling around Mr. Vincent?” said an intrigued fourth grader. “These are the new laptops,” I answered proudly. “Wooow, coooooool!” she exclaimed, and the list of adjectives goes on, from fast to awesome; our students could not contain their excitement.

It is certainly surreal to see these wireless battery powered laptops: no cables, no wires, with no danger to trip on anything. These new computers interact wirelessly with our secured network to allow our students to save and print files from anywhere on campus. We can thank last year’s student council who voted to purchase the two Cisco wireless access points that brought Saklan to the wireless age! They can be proud of themselves for working hard and raising money not only for the carnival, but also for their school. “Our students understand what it means to be part of this school. They have a sense of community and I commend them for that” explains Chris LaBonte, Middle School Director.

It is a joy to use these laptops. Students from third grade and up have them in their classroom half a day a week and during their weekly computer class. Students always use the same laptop. Walker Franklin, a third grader, was proud to announce at home that he now has his very own laptop… until his brothers told him that they are actually shared! It is wonderful that students feel like the laptops belong to them. It gives them a sense of ownership and responsibility. They like them, and they care for them.

And what a great tool they are! It was amazing to witness the seventh graders learning how to do video editing. They used a short clip from the John Baker (Pre-K and Third grade parent) interview that Mr. Prestianni’s class featured a couple weeks ago. It was quite funny to see Hank Brobeck slow the clip speed and hear the audio all distorted. The elementary grades are also hard at work. In third grade, students learned how to use Wikipedia.org to find relevant information about Winn Dixie. In fourth, students were simply typing stories using Word, while in fifth grade Ms. McMahon had them work online on an educational website that helps students identify states involved in the Civil War. These are just a few examples of how laptops enrich and deepen our curriculum.

As cool as they are, computers will certainly never replace our caring and dedicated teachers. They are just another tool for teaching and discovering knowledge that would otherwise be hard to access. Nothing will ever replace Ms. Moebius’ funny voice when she reads a story, or one of Ms. Eidbo’s funny jokes that set the right tone for a lesson. They do however, allow teachers to bring another perspective to a lesson. From the Java Applets in Math and Science to the visual quality of a PowerPoint presentation, these computers will be another means for our students to use their boundless creativity.

What is also important with computers and technology is to teach our students how to use them appropriately. I like to remind them of the great Spiderman quote: “…with great power comes great responsibility.” Students have the opportunity to use the Internet, but how are they going to use it? Where is the line between fun which is appropriate and educational and that which is violent and disrespectful? In order to address these issues, I decided to add to the Computers curriculum the i-SAFE program (isafe.org). As their website explains:

Founded in 1998 and endorsed by the U.S. Congress, i-SAFE is a non-profit foundation dedicated to protecting the online experiences of youth everywhere. i-SAFE incorporates classroom curriculum with dynamic community outreach to empower students, teachers, parents, law enforcement, and concerned adults to make the Internet a safer place.

I-SAFE allows students to understand the dangers of the Internet. It deals with online predators, identity theft, and personal information. It reminds students that the online world, like the real world, has many areas where caution needs to be exercised. At Saklan the rules are clear: computers are used for educational purposes only. Teachers supervise students using the Internet at all times, and no student may use the Internet at school unsupervised. No chat room or My Space type websites are allowed. I will not restate here the whole page from the Middle School Guide to Excellence, but students know the rules. In many ways, the i-SAFE curriculum goes beyond school usage and helps students be aware of the dangers of the Internet. I feel strongly that our students will benefit from this new addition that will start this winter. It’s not as intriguing as Photoshop, but it certainly is important in the new millennium.

I end this note by thanking the Saklan community for your commitment to educational excellence. Your contributions to the Annual Giving and Auction are inspiring. Without you, it would not be possible. Merci mille fois!

parent corner

Thank you to all of the parents who attended our first parent association meeting of the year. We had a wonderful mix of both new parents and Saklan veterans! We began our meeting with group discussions about Saklan’s core purposes, and the energy and enthusiasm in the room was exciting! If you were unable to attend the meeting and are interested in reading the minutes, they are posted on our parent association website.

One of the main functions of the parent association is to provide our parents with interesting and enlightening parent education. We have two outstanding speakers lined up for this fall. We hope that you will mark your calendars and join us for these upcoming events.

Coming up this month on Wednesday, October 18th we will have Dr. Elson Haas speaking on “Staying Healthy with Nutrition: Feeding Families Healthfully”. Dr. Haas is a practicing physician of integrated medicine, and is the founder and medical director of the Preventive Medical Center of Marin in San Rafael. This will be an evening meeting taking place at Oakwood Athletic Club in Lafayette beginning at 7:00pm. This free event is open to the public, so please invite your friends. You can RSVP for this meeting on our parent association website or at saklan.org. (See Flyer on page 5)

At our parent association meeting in November we will have Dr. Kent Grelling, a child psychologist, speaking about “No Simple Gifts: Addressing the Needs of High Achieving Students”. This meeting will take place on Thursday, November 9th in the morning after drop off at Holy Trinity (the church next door).

Another important function of the parent association is to help with school fundraising. One easy way that every parent can help in this effort is to sign up for eScrip. Just go online to www.escrip.com, and register your Safeway club card, Macy’s card, credit and/or debit cards. Then every time you shop at a participating vendor, our school benefits. And, if you are a retuning Saklan family, please remember to renew your Safeway card with eScrip before Nov. 1st or your contributions will stop. You could also ask grandparents, neighbors and friends to sign up and support Saklan as well. If you have any questions regarding eScrip, please feel free to contact me.

We look forward to seeing you at our next meeting on October 18th. Thank you all for your support of the parent association. Our year is off to a great start!

Fondly,
Lisa Rokas, Parent Association President

board corner

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,

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