FRiday Note - september-25-2009

The 2009-2010 Annual Giving Fund campaign

kicks off today!

Your brochure and pledge card will be arriving in your mailbox over the next few days. Please join in and support the wonderful educational programs that Saklan provides for our students every day! If you have any questions, feel free to contact Kate Dey, Annual Giving Fund Chair at kate@deynet.com.

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Board's Corner

The Saklan Valley Board of Trustees has been working hard on a number of new initiatives for the 2009-10 school year. First, we will be refining our school’s mission statement so that it can be clearly understood by all parts of our school community as well as prospective families. This will be a multi-stage process in which all school constituencies will involved at various points. Second, we will be working with Dave Hague and Debbie Parish to create new marketing strategies for the school. A third Board commitment is to improve environmental sustainability. The Green Task Force, chaired by Hillary Conlon, is a combined effort of teachers, parents, staff, and trustees to search for ways the school can conserve natural resources and be better stewards of the environment. A fourth Board goal has been to work with Dave Hague to review and update school policies. Joanie Jump, has volunteered to chair the Policy Committee.

As always, one of the Board’s most important responsibilities is serving as fiduciary of the school. Our Finance Committee, chaired by our Treasurer, Diane Wilcox, works to manage the school’s financial assets. The Building and Grounds Committee, co-chaired by Hilary Conlon and Pat Lawicki, oversees the school’s physical assets. The Development Committee, chaired by Kate Dey, is organizing the Annual Giving campaign which is so critical to providing our children with the superior education they receive at Saklan.

Other Board committees include the Trustee Committee, chaired by Joanie Jump, and the Head Support and Evaluation Committee.

I the few months that I have served as Board Chair, I have been continually impressed and inspired by the hard work and dedication of the Saklan Trustees. They have given enthusiastically of their time, talent, and resources to benefit our children.

They truly love Saklan.

Eliza Kirkpatrick

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Annual Auction Kick-Off Party

SAVE THE DATE: Friday, November 13 WHAT: Saklan's Auction Kick-Off Party! NOTE: All parents are invited!

If you are able to attend, please sign up on the form in the office or send an email to Carol Goldman, Auction Co-Chair, at regclg86@gmail.com

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Open House

SAVE THE DATE: Sunday, November 15th, 2:00 – 4:00 pm WHAT: Saklan Open House WHERE: Saklan Valley School

Explore Saklan! Open House is an all-campus event and everyone in the community is encouraged to attend! Presentations, tours and information tables will be available for all audiences: current students, prospective students, and parents! Open House is a great opportunity to come together as a community, visit in your child’s classroom, and take time to learn about the next grade level. Mark your calendars now. Remember – our best form of advertising is word of mouth.

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SPEAKER EVENT

SAVE THE DATE: Thursday, November 5th 7:00 - 8:00pm WHAT: “What Parents can do to Ensure Student Success”               by Dr. Pedro Noguera WHERE: First Congregational Church of Oakland               2501 Harrison Street, Oakland

As a member of EBISA, the East Bay Independent School Association, Saklan is one of the sponsors of the upcoming EBISA Speaker Event. All parents/guardians, educators and students are welcome to attend. Dr. Pedro Noguera is a professor in the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development at New York University. There is a suggested donation of $5.00 per person, no RSVP necessary.  

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DR. RENWEB - RECENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS with ANSWERS!

If you have a question about RenWeb, please email Dr. RenWeb, abica@saklan.org and we will post your reply to share with the community.

Q? What information will I find on RenWeb?

Answer: In the Parents Web portion of RenWeb, you will find specific documents available for you to view all year. The yearly calendar, the Middle School Guide to Excellence, and the Family Handbook will always be available for you to download.  If you check in daily, you will see the current days events listed under the tab “Today’s Items”.  During the year, more and more information will be shown in Parents Web so please, take the time to familiarize yourself with this great tool.

Q? Where can I find an email list for teachers?

Answer: RenWeb. We encourage you to go directly into RenWeb to access teacher emails and phone numbers. It’s simple to do. Log into your account. Once you are in, look at the column on the left under the heading School Information. Click on the Directory tab. A School Directory will pop up with 2 tabs, one for Family and one for School Staff. Click on School Staff and you will see an alphabetical listing of all staff and teachers. If you click on a specific name, a box will pop up with that person’s information. Each name is hyperlinked so that you can start an email.

Q? Where can I find an email list for my child’s class?

Answer:  RenWeb. Log into your account and look at the column on the left under the heading School Information. Click on the Directory tab. A School Directory will pop up with 2 tabs, one for Family and one for School Staff. It will open up each time on the Family tab. You can use the Search function by typing in a student’s name and then click the Submit button. You will be taken directly to their information. You can also use the filter functions and search by grade level. If you select your child’s grade and click the Submit button, you will see the entire class. You can also print you’re the class directory to keep at home. The directory lists student name, grade, parent’s names, home phone numbers and addresses. If you click a specific name, a box will pop up with the family details and you can look at more information for each parent which will include cell phones, work phone numbers and emails. If a parent has opted to not show specific information in the directory, it will be blank.

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Parent Association Update: escrip

Dear Saklan Parents,

Did you know that you can help raise funds for Saklan by simply shopping for your groceries, clothing or dining out? If you register with eScrip, then every time you shop with an eScrip registered card (ie: Safeway club card, Macys card or credit card) at a participating eScrip merchant, Saklan will earn a percentage of your purchase. And best of all, it costs you absolutely nothing extra! Its like free money for our school!

As your eScrip coordinator for Saklan, I want to encourage you to take a few moments now to register with eScrip. Just follow these easy steps:

1. Go to www.escrip.com
2. Click on sign-up
3. Choose Saklan Valley School, group id#136952748
4. Register your Safeway Club Card
5. You can also register your credit cards and Macys cards if you wish. The more cards you register, the more we can earn for Saklan!

There are many local merchants that participate in the eScrip program such as: Safeway, Macys, Lunardis, Diablo Foods and Claim Jumper to name a few. Many more can be found on the website.

We would like you to encourage your friends and family to sign up their cards also. Ask grandparents, aunts and uncles, neighbors and co-workers. Please help us to meet our goal of signing up 100 new eScrip supporters for Saklan!

In addition, if you shop at Safeway, you may have noticed the 10% Back to School promotion (with the yellow bus logo). This promotion has ended and for three weeks starting today (9/18) a redemption code will be printed at the bottom of your receipt. Please bring in the bottom of this receipt to the main office before October 13th so that these contributions can go to Saklan. (If you are already registered with eScrip, your contribution will automatically be donated to Saklan)

If you have any questions about eScrip, please feel free to contact me (glrokas@pacbell.net).

Thank you in advance for your support of this program and our school!

Warm regards,

Lisa Rokas

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Moraga-Orinda Fire District open house

The Moraga-Orinda Fire District would like to invite you to attend the Open House event and join in recognizing Fire Prevention Week.

Saturday, October 10, 2009
10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Fire Station 41
1280 Moraga Way, Moraga

Please see the Open House Flyer for additional information.

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