January 2026

Dear Sato Families,

Welcome back and Happy New Year! It has been wonderful to see the building filled with the energy and excitement of our students again. We have hit the ground running, and there is a fantastic buzz in the hallways as we kick off the second half of the school year.

Important Dates: No School Reminders

As we get settled into January, please mark your calendars for several upcoming days when school will not be in session:

• Monday, January 19: No School (Martin Luther King Jr. Day)

• Monday, January 26: No School (Grading Day)

• Tuesday, January 27: No School (District-wide Professional Development Day)

Spreading Kindness: January 28–30

Following our break, we are thrilled to jump right into Kindness Week from Wednesday, January 28, through Friday, January 30. We have some wonderful activities planned to celebrate our school culture of care and inclusion. See below in this newsletter for more specific details on how we will be celebrating!

Refreshing Our Routines for Success

The start of a new year is the perfect time for a "reset." To help our Raccoons feel grounded and ready to learn, we encourage you to revisit these routines at home:

• A Calm Start: Consistency is key. Regular sleep schedules and predictable bedtimes/mealtimes help children feel secure and focused.

• Nightly Check-ins: Help your student stay on top of materials by checking backpacks, folders, and planners together each evening.

• The Gift of Reading: We encourage reading every day—whether you are reading to your child, listening to them read, or reading together. Reading in your home language is highly encouraged! Bilingualism is a gift that builds incredible confidence and language skills.

• Celebrating Effort: We are continuing to foster a growth mindset. Remind your students that mistakes are simply a part of learning and that persistence is what truly matters!

Mark Your Calendars: SECO Events

We have some exciting community events on the horizon! We are looking forward to the upcoming SECO Glow Party—it is always a highlight for our students.

Also, a reminder that we have shifted our annual cultural celebration, now known as “We Are Sato Night,” to the end of February. We can’t wait to see our community come together to celebrate our wonderful diversity.

Safety & Weather Reminders

While we have been enjoying this unseasonably mild weather lately, the mornings remain quite dark. As you get back into the swing of your morning commute, please exercise extra caution when driving in and around the school. Visibility is low during drop-off hours, so please stay alert for students walking and biking.

Thank you for your continued partnership. Let’s make it a great second half of the school year!

Warmly,

Annie Pleau

Principal

January

1/19-Martin Luther King Jr. Day- No School

1/23- End of Semester

1/23- Glow Party (see below)

1/26- Grading Day- No School

1/27- Staff Development Day- No School

Kindness Week Spirit Week

1/28- Wonderful Wednesday: Wear something that expresses YOU

1/29-Thoughtful Thursday: Dress in Tie-Dye or any color of the rainbow

1/30- Friendship Friday: Dress in a Kindness T Shirt (January's Spirit Day!)

February

2/16- President's Day- No School

2/27- We Are Sato Night

March

3/2-3/6- Read Across America Week (more info to come)

3/13- Movie Night

3/23-3/27- Spring Break-No school

Parent-Teacher Conferences: Conference dates, including no school dates are not included on the District calendar as these dates vary by region. Please note the no school dates that are listed on our school calendar below.

• Spring Conference Dates: April 29 and 30 - (No School 4/30 or 5/1)

We are thrilled to announce that from January 28th to January 30th, our school will be participating in The Great Kindness Challenge, a global movement dedicated to creating a culture of kindness.

During these three days, our students will be focusing on how small, intentional actions can make a big difference in our community. We encourage you to talk with your children at home about how they can show kindness in little ways—whether it’s a high-five, a thank-you note, or helping a friend.

Daily Spirit Themes

To celebrate, we invite students to participate in our daily dress-up themes:

Wednesday, Jan 28- Wonderful Wednesday Wear something that expresses YOU!

Thursday, Jan 29- Thoughtful Thursday Wear Tie-Dye or any color of the Rainbow.

Friday, Jan 30- Friendship Friday Wear a Kindness T-shirt.

Kindness in Action

• The Kindness Checklist: Every student will receive a checklist of kind acts. We’ll be working on these in class, but students are welcome to keep the momentum going at home!

• The Heart Tracker: Each classroom will have a large red heart to tally every act of kindness performed. Our school-wide total will be displayed in the hallway so students can see our collective impact grow!

School-Wide Goals & Rewards

We’ve set some exciting milestones for our students to reach together:

• 1,000 Acts of Kindness: Every student receives heart stickers.

• 1,750 Acts of Kindness: A school-wide movie during lunch!

• 2,500 Acts of Kindness: A school-wide, 5-minute dance party! The classroom with the most recorded acts of kindness will get to choose the song.

Thank you for partnering with us to make Sato a kinder, more inclusive place for every student. We can't wait to see the "Great Kindness" our students bring to life!

Dear Sato Families,

Thank you to everyone who participated in our recent survey regarding We Are Sato Night. Your feedback is invaluable as we plan this celebration of our school community. Here is a brief summary of what we learned from your input:

Survey Highlights:

• High Enthusiasm: Over 90% of responding families expressed a strong interest in attending the event.

• Positive Atmosphere: Families overwhelmingly shared that they value the event as a way to celebrate student identity, build community connections, and experience the joy of our diverse cultures.

• Flexible Participation: You expressed a desire for various ways to be involved, from hosting booths to simply attending and observing, which we are working to accommodate.

Safety and Event Security Based on your feedback regarding the importance of clear safety communication, we want to share a few reminders about our event protocols. Please note that our evening events are closed to the general public and are only advertised specifically to the Sato community. To ensure a safe and welcoming environment for our families, staff members will be monitoring the doors with increased diligence throughout the evening. Our goal is to maintain a secure space where everyone can feel comfortable and focused on the celebration.

A Note on Cultural Representation We noticed some comments in the survey expressing that some families did not feel their specific culture was represented. We want to emphasize that We Are Sato Night is a community-driven event.

Sato is an incredibly diverse school; our recent records show that we have 34 different languages spoken in our homes, and our Asian community represents 59% of our student body. Given these demographics, it would make sense for us to have robust representation from our Indian and East Asian communities. However, every culture within our school is valid and vital to our community. If you do not see your community represented, we invite you to please step up and share your culture with us. We would love to showcase the full diversity of our school, but we need the community to help make that possible.

Please note that there will be no food for sale at this year’s event. This decision was made to assist with spacing and crowd control to ensure a comfortable experience for everyone. Please plan your evening accordingly.

We look forward to celebrating with you!

Author visit coming January 22!

Monday, January 19 is the deadline to order your autographed copy of Leslie Barnard Booth’s newest book, I Am We: How Crows Come Together to Survive. Leslie Barnard Booth writes lyrical picture books about science and nature. I Am We: How Crows Come Together to Survive explores the social lives of crows and is a metaphor for the importance of cooperation and community in our own lives- a value that seems extra relevant in these times.

Leslie Barnard Booth is donating her time and talent to make this author visit free to Sato third, fourth, and fifth graders. Please show your support and appreciation by ordering a copy today!

Order HERE

We placed 2 garbage cans in the center of the play space. The bottom can was upside down, top can was on top of it, right side up. 5 kids, each received a pool noodle, and they were the guards. The rest of the kids were outside of the outer circle, surrounding the defenders and garbage cans. Each player had a ball and attempted to toss their ball into the garbage can. The defenders used their pool noodles to try and block the balls from going into the cans. Once all the balls ended up in the can, we chose 5 new defenders and started a new round. A lot of fun competition, throwing, teamwork and strategizing.

Click on the link above and be sure to sign up to volunteer! It can take up to 10 days (or more!) to approve a volunteer application. The sooner you get the application completed, the better. Stay tuned for more information from SECO, our community organization.

We get a tremendous amount of missing items in our lost and found each year and when they are not claimed, we donate it to the BSD Clothes for Kids program. Please label all things brought to school with a first name and last initial so we can get it back to the rightful owner! Thank you!

If you'd like to know a little more about the Administration at Sato please check out the Meet the Principal Page on our website, linked at the button below!