Saklan Monthly - October 2007

Greetings to you from the first Saklan Monthly of school year: 2007-08. What a busy and productive calendar year 2007 has been already, and how very much we will have accomplished by the end of it!

Saklan’s Mission

Saklan Valley School is an inclusive and caring community which fosters engaging and rigorous, creative and analytical intellectual development, and embodies respect, responsibility, and integrity in preparation for a complex, diverse, interdependent world.

June, 2007

In June the board adopted a new mission for our school, built upon the new “core purposes” that we established last winter through a series of surveys and ongoing deliberation. Those core purposes of our school are threefold: Community, Intellectual Development, and Character. Each of the three has its elaborations: our community is to be inclusive and caring, supportive and encouraging. Our process of intellectual development is to be engaging and rigorous, and the types of intellect we most particularly seek to develop are analytical (including critical thinking) and creative and imaginative. Character we think is best illuminated by the values we hope and expect every student and indeed every community member will develop and embody: Respect, Responsibility, and Integrity.

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Immediately following our core purposes identification last winter, we launched into preparing a new 5-year Strategic Plan. A committee co-chaired by two longtime Saklan parents (since 1999) and trustees, Annie Barendregt and Betsy Hill, led a committee of 11, including our Board Chair Diane Wilcox, our Parent Association President Lisa Rokas, four teachers (Karen Catanzarite, Marianne Haesloop, Amy Sullivan, and Deborah Ellis), and two students, our student council co-presidents Jared Madden and Emily Thimesch. I also participated quite actively.

The 11 of us met five times over three months, for 2-3 hours each; we conducted surveys of students and parents; we held focus groups with Parent board members and trustees, and had individual interviews with each continuing Saklan faculty member. After much deliberation, our committee recommended the plan to the board by a unanimous vote; and after three hours of board deliberation and only a very small number of amendments, the plan was adopted by the board unanimously. The result: a new plan, to be published in an attractive format in the next few weeks.

What are its highlights? Here are a few teasers of the actions it calls upon us to carry forward:

1. To be and become over the next 5-10 years the best we can be as a single section PS-8 (two at PK) school here on this School Street campus.

2. To conduct campus architecture master planning imminently, to determine what we can do to make our campus better suited to our educational needs.

3. To initiate a school-wide capital campaign for funding these facility renovations in the next 1-3 years.

4. To move ahead vigorously with technology integration in our upper elementary and middle school grades, including experimenting with laptops in a 1:1 program.

5. To do more outreach, and provide more ongoing attention and support, for school community diversity.

6. To develop more environmental education, and to become a “greener” school!
And much, much, more! Look for it soon.

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Each fall we launch a new Annual Giving campaign to support our school—there is no way to overstate the importance of this campaign—which provides us 15 percent of the annual funds necessary to fund our programs and balance our budget. It is vital for us, and we depend on our families’ generosity—at the rate of an average of $1250 per student—but some we count on to do more because others cannot do that.

Annual Giving supports our annual operating budget, and so it is not strictly accurate to say that it funds particular or distinct items—it makes everything possible, in part.

That said, it can be said that Annual Giving success makes possible most particularly our new initiatives and developments each year—and this is another great year for forward progress.

What is new, you ask?

—New initiatives made possible (in part) by your Annual Giving Support! —

1. Mandarin, new in 2006-07, has now expanded to include first and second grades, so we now feature it from PreSchool through Second Grade, and students are enjoying it enormously.

2. A brand new and personal laptop for each and every fifth grader, and a teacher trained at the national institute specializing in laptop curriculum development.

3. Individual laptops in the fifth grade make the laptop cart more available for 4th and 3rd grades, who now enjoy time with laptops double or triple that of a year ago.

4. Reading Revolution in PK offers our PreKindergarten student a whole new play-based, song and movement oriented program that prepares our children in new and additional ways to recognize letters and associate letters with their sounds. Fun!

5. Electives in the middle school are brand new, each student having the chance to choose for each trimester a two-period option from among a range that will include Art, (2D and 3D), Music Ensemble, Basketball, Webdesign, Improv Theater, Ballroom Dance, Knitting, Sewing, and much more!

6. Mosaic Project in 5th Grade: This was a new program for us last May, and now in its second year, an absolutely stunning program wherein our 5th graders go with their teacher to the Napa Hills for 5 days and 4 nights to enjoy a team-building, character developing, conflict resolving, communication enhancing, leadership experiencing curriculum alongside and in close partnership with same-age students from 3 to 4 other, very, very different (socio-economically and racially-ethnically) schools from other parts of the Bay Area. It is really great.

[The following two made possible by Auction 2007’s Fund-A-Need!]

7. The new Sports court! If you haven’t seen it yourself already, be sure you take the time to see our new, vibrantly colored, snazzy and fresh, sports court surface. It is much easier on the joints, safer for falls, and inviting for play—it is a great enhancement for our sports program. Thanks, Auction Fund-a-Need!

8. Digital Projectors: New projectors now are installed in the 1st to 5th grade classrooms, and the Music/French classrooms; we are also working to make available classroom videos and other online digital video resources for display in classrooms. Ms. Weidman, for instance, uses her projector to display her class’s homework assignment for that evening. Thanks, Auction Fund-a-Need!

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Curriculum Posters: One of the final tasks on our 2001-2006 Strategic Plan “punchlist” was to publish our curriculum in an easy to read and comprehensive document: it is here now, published over the summer. It was masterminded last year by the indefatigable Vincent Hermosilla, and it is a two-sided grid that lays out the progression of our student learning year to year, over the course of 10 years, PreSchool through 8th grade.

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ERB 2007, Grades 3-8
Grade level Medians averages

SVS Independent Suburban
Math	91.0	88.9	85.5
Verbal	89.2	87.8	83.6

ERB scores, 2007! Every year, our students in grades two through eight take the national standardized test designed and especially for high achieving, academically excellent private/independent schools—and every year Saklan students do very well. The graph provided below compares our students with those of a national sampling, where you will find that the average Saklan student (calculated by averaging the median student performance in each grade, 3-8). On this graph, where the national student average is at the 50th percentile (by definition, as it were: that is how the graph is constructed), Saklan students track at or about the 90th percentile—in other words, the typical or average Saklan student is in the top ten percent of a national population. This tracks very consistently with private schools nationally; you can see where they compare to us, on the line marked “independent schools.” We also track the percentage of our students qualifying to partake of the Johns Hopkins University national talent search competition, which requires a 95th percentile score in one or more specifically designated sections: this year it was 59% of our student who did so qualify (disappointingly down a tad from last year’s 64%).

Let’s look at the percentage of our students who score at the 99th percentile, or the top one percent, of an national student sampling in one or both of the two Mathematics test sections; this year that number was 26%. In other words, more than a quarter of Saklan students have math skills that put them in the top one percent of the national student population! Finally, we also track same student, year to year, changes, and then aggregate that to learn how much value our teachers and curriculum are adding to students as they progress year to year. We note when dips or gaps occur and use this information to refine and enhance our program. This year, the aggregate same-student analysis shows an uptick of several points in math, and a small downtick in the writing concepts and skills section. This initiates a closer review by our teachers in those grades and some decisions to acquire and implement additional curricular tools for the teaching of those writing concepts.

Certainly at Saklan we do not over-emphasize test scores: they are a tool, and only one among many, for us to evaluate our effectiveness. That said, we treat them seriously; on October 25, Saklan will host the President of the ERB, the Educational Records Bureau, for a day-long training he will provide to administrators from nearly 100 Northern California CAIS member schools.

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Finally—a quick update on our June, 2007, Parent Survey. More than 100 parents participated, and gave us a lot of good feedback and input. I gave a comprehensive report on the Survey to the Parent Association meeting: highlights included that between 85 and 90% of our parents expressed agreement that Saklan achieves its core purposes: community, intellectual development, and character development, and 89% stated overall satisfaction with the school. Overall, the responses were good. When the numbers are less than great, we use them to give us further insights and inspiration to our program development. Two examples: Parents conveyed a wish for better administrative communications, and expressed some lack of complete understanding of our ECE language arts curriculum: both are areas we are working to strengthen. For our internal purposes, I have also broken out the survey results by sub-groups: ECE, Lower Elementary (K, 1, 2); upper elementary (3,4,5); and middle school (6,7,8). I am meeting with those sub-group faculties and reporting the results, which we are then using for goal-setting for the new year. We very much appreciate all the parents who gave us their valuable time to complete the survey!

Hello Saklan Families,

Thank you to all of the parents who attended our first parent association meeting last month. It was nice to see many new faces and to catch up with old friends. Mr. Martin gave an update on important Saklan news such as ERB scores, new faculty, a new all-grade curriculum grid, parent survey results, and campus mater planning. If you were not able to attend the meeting and would like to read what was discussed, you can find the minutes from the meeting posted on our pa website: www.saklan.org/pa.

This is the time of year to sign-up or re-enroll in eScrip. Please 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. This program is such an easy way for all parents to help our school fundraising efforts. And if you are already a Saklan supporter with eScrip, please remember to go online and renew your Safeway card before Nov. 1st or your contributions will stop. I strongly encourage all parents to participate in this program. You could even 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.

Over the summer we began a uniform exchange program where parents were encouraged to donate uniforms (sweatshirts, shirts, pants, skirts) in good condition. These uniforms were then available to purchase at a bargain price of $3.00 per item of which the proceeds went back to the school. We would like to continue this program throughout the school year and have the uniforms available to purchase at our parent coffees on the first Friday of each month. Our next coffee will be on Friday, October 12th. If you have any uniforms you would like to donate, please contact me.

We hope you will join us for our next parent association meeting on Thursday, November 8th. In addition to important announcements about happenings at Saklan, we will also have a parent education speaker. Dr. Richard Freed will be speaking about providing a healthy media environment for your children. To find out more about Dr. Freed you can visit his website at www.mediasafeyourhome.org. The meeting will take place at the church next door at 8:30am, and as always delicious refreshments will be provided.

Fondly,
Lisa Rokas, PA President

Dave Hague, Assistant Head of School

As the summer draws to a close, middle school students begin to think about the first day of school, thoughts that can produce anxiety, stress, and several sleepless nights. A plethora of questions about teachers, course work, friends, and dress run through most middle school student minds as they prepare for the start of the school year. At Saklan the first days of schools are spent developing a sense of community. We feel that academic success in the pre-adolescent years is dependent upon relationships; positive relationships between students and with teachers and a sense of belonging are all crucial elements in the emotional lives of our students. Without these, it becomes much more difficult for the middle school student to focus on and strive toward what they ultimately are here to do . . . to learn.

At most schools, students arrive on the first day nattily attired carrying a backpack full of sharpened pencils, paper, new binders, and flash drives. Saklan Middle School students come to school dressed for the outdoors with a backpack filled with sleeping bags, hiking boots, and water bottles; ready for the Advance. What’s an Advance? It’s like a retreat, except the word “retreat” conjures up images of people pulling back from each other; we really want to “advance” the growth of our community. This year, the Middle School students and teachers loaded into a bus and set off for Camp Lodestar in Wilseyville, in the Sierra Nevada foothills to launch the school year.

The ride into the Sierras was full of spirited discussions about how summers were spent…family visits and trips, camps, and time to themselves. Upon arrival, we all pitched in to unload the bus into the two dorms: Toad Hall and I House. We then met the camp director, learned the camp rules, and reviewed Saklan behavior expectations. One of the outcomes of the Advance is to have the students know and understand the material in the Student Guide of Excellence (SGE). In the past, advisors would lecture and discuss the rules on the last day with the entire group. This year we assigned each advisory several parts of the SGE to “present” to the rest of the school. The presentations were due Friday morning. We met to assign SGE topics then off for a swim.

Advisory groups are mixed grade groups matched with a teacher who is focused on the academic, social, and emotional lives of those particular students. Advisory is a safe place for students to express their hopes, anxieties, struggles, and triumphs. A space for students to problem-solve with each other, dealing with many of the social and emotional situations that confront them at this age. It’s a place to find empathy and support, an environment in which you feel like you are a part of a group. The advisory activities on the Advance are designed to promote communication, establish trust, and celebrate the unique contributions that each student brings to the group.

After dinner, Mrs. Ellis facilitated the sharing of student’s personal object. We asked students to bring an item to Advance which represented an activity or event that occurred over the summer or something that was important to them. After sharing these items during Advisory, students then presented them to the entire middle school. Each student had the chance over the course of the Advance to present his or her personal item. We spent the remainder of the evening challenging the group with a cooperation game then off to Advisory to work on presentations. We ended the day with Epilogue, a time for each student to share their feelings about the day.

On Thursday we worked together on various cooperative games, solved challenges on the low ropes course, learned an Advisory song, and played a great game of Capture the Flag and night basketball. We worked on the advisory presentations, strengthened friendships, and developed relationships. Thursday night’s campfire allowed students to share the day’s events with each other, sing their Advisory song, and eat s’mores. Mr. Martin made the long drive to join us for the afternoon and evening activities. We ended the day with journal writing and some time to reflect.

On the last day, we gathered together for the Advisory presentations. Using humor, creativity, and wit, the students demonstrated and explained the rules and expectations of the middle school community. Their skits were outstanding. The presentations accurately portrayed the rules outlined in the SGE; however, they also reflected the unique perspective of a middle school student and their often irreverent sense of humor. It was an amazing up-beat way to end the Advance. Old and new students alike left with a clear understanding of how to be a positive member of the community so that a strong learning environment may be established.

I would like to thank Ms. Wegner, Mr. Benin, Ms. Sullivan, Mrs. Ellis, Mr. O’Kelley, and Ms. Obenchain for their hard work, time, and energy to make this such a successful event.

As we worked last year to define the core values that make Saklan what it is, “Community” was a recurring and important theme we used to define both our school and our mission. Our community is one remarkable dimension of our school which sets us apart from many other schools. The inclusive spirit of students, faculty and parents is very special indeed. The board hopes to never lose sight of this, nor to take it for granted.

On behalf of the Board of Trustees, I’d like to welcome our new families to the Saklan community, and to acknowledge the community itself. It is with conscious effort that we all sustain this very special place, and the sometimes ephemeral thing which is community.

The three synthesized core purposes for the school are Community, Intellectual Development, and Respect & Responsibility. The board uses these core purposes to frame our discussions and decisions.
The board is comprised of fourteen voting members, as well as the Head of School. There is broad professional experience represented on the board, including finance, venture capital, banking, insurance, nursing, teaching, real estate, retail, technology, and career counseling. Twelve board members currently have children at Saklan, as does our Head of School.

Our responsibility is to ensure the infrastructure is in place for the faculty and administration to provide excellent education to our students which will foster intellectual development, respect and responsibility. We ask the question of sustainability. How do we ensure that our actions today support the continuation of our school into the future?

The board works primarily through committees which include Finance, Development, Buildings and Grounds, Trustee, Head Evaluation, and Campus Master Plan. This year several board members are also participating on the administration’s Marketing Task Force. The committees work with the administration in these seven areas. The board does not manage or administer the school. Our responsibility is for governance. This includes defining mission, strategic planning, financial monitoring, budgeting, setting tuition, strengthening finances through fundraising and development, and supervising and holding accountable the Head of School. The Head of School reports to the Board of Trustees.

This year, the board’s major project will be the completion of the Campus Master Plan. The architectural firm of Ratcliff, based in Emeryville, was selected from a field of candidates who were requested to submit proposals. Currently, our Master Plan Committee is working with Ratcliff to understand how our school works and to generate ideas that would help our campus function even better.

I think I speak for the whole board when I say, we serve on the board because of our commitment to Saklan Valley School. It is a very special place where our community supports and applauds the faculty and administration in maintaining a place of learning where our children can grow intellectually and socially in the very best way.

We have wonderful opportunities ahead of us this year. I wish us all bon année.

Diane Trygstad Wilcox
Chair, Board of Trustees