Coho Connection 08/12/25

Dear Sakai Families,

I am so excited to welcome you and your child to the 2025-26 school year! I hope you are enjoying a relaxing and joy-filled summer. For those of you returning to us, welcome back! For those of you new to our school, I know you will find Sakai an extraordinary place for your child to learn and grow. 

I am fortunate to know many of our families, but for those I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting, let me take this opportunity to introduce myself. My name is Drew Crandall, and this is my sixth year as principal at Sakai. I feel very lucky to be working with such thoughtful, caring, and supportive staff, families, and students. I have been in education for 23 years as a principal, assistant principal, instructional coach, and teacher. My wife and I are originally from Michigan and moved to Bainbridge Island twelve years ago after living in Seattle. We have two children in the Bainbridge Island School District, Porter who will be a 9th-grader this year and Olive who will be a 5th-grader. As a family we enjoy camping, skiing, playing pickleball, cheering for the Sounders, and walking our dog, Juno. 

This is the first Coho Connection newsletter of the 25-26 school year and you can expect to receive one each Tuesday. Please take a moment to read these as they will have important information on the week ahead and future events.

With every start to the school year, there comes a wide range of emotions from nervousness to excitement. Sakai has always had a focus on the unique social-emotional needs of students at this age, and I assure you this year will be no different. Our most important goal is to create a positive school environment in which students have a strong sense of belonging, connecting with school and one another. To that end, we will be continuing with dedicated time for social-emotional lessons during our Monday COHO lessons. These whole school lessons will be from 8:55-9:35 and primarily use the research-based curriculum, CharacterStrong. You will hear more about this curriculum from me in upcoming newsletters.

Below are some important calendar items to note as we get started. Look for our Coho Connection next week, which will contain the Sakai Family Handbook and answer questions regarding arrival and dismissal schedule, lunch plans, and specialist rotation. As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to reach out.

We are so excited for this upcoming school year. It’s going to be a great year!

Drew Crandall

Principal

August 22: Class placement will be open for families on Skyward at 4:00 pm (supply lists are already on our website).

August 28: Ice Cream Social! Stop by anytime between 12:30-2:00 to see the school, find your classroom and meet your teachers. Note: students will meet their teachers outside on our playground and be able to tour the school, but won’t be entering classrooms.

September 2: First day of school! Please note that Sakai's hours are 8:55 am to 3:25 pm Tuesday through Friday and 8:55 am to 1:55 pm on Monday.

September 16: 5th-grade Parent/Guardian Night from 5:15 to 6:30 pm.

September 17: 6th-grade Parent/Guardian Night from 5:15 to 6:15 pm.

September 23: School photos during the school day 

The Annual Back-to-school Check-in (ABC) process has been completed for 70% of students. This annual process lets us know that your student(s) are returning to our schools for 2025-26 and allows parents/guardians to review annual information. 

The ABCs must be completed for all students attending BISD schools in 2025-26, including both new and returning students. Access the ABCs by logging into your Family Access account. It should take about 15 minutes (or less!) to complete. 

If you need assistance with the ABC process (such as translation, accessing technology, or other questions), please get in touch with the office manager at your student's school. 

NOT RETURNING? If your K-11th grade student is not returning to BISD schools this fall, please inform your school's office manager.