From Head of School
Wishing You Peace, Joy, and Love
Dear Clairbourn Families,
Happy holidays to you all! I wish each Clairbourn family a time of peace, joy and love in whatever tradition is dear to your family. I look forward to seeing everyone in the new year, ready for a fresh start and new goals.
Amy Patzlaff, Ed.D.
Head of School
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Friday, December 19 from 10 - 11 a.m.
Clairbourn MPB
Parents are invited to attend the 2025 Clairbourn Winter Concert and see what our JPK through fifth grade students have prepared for us.
Students will wear their Centennial T-Shirts.
No uniforms, please.
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Sugar Plum Thanks You!
Dear Clairbourn Community,
Thank you to all our parents and families for attending our  Sugar Plum event. A special thank you to Shirley Zhang and all the volunteers who helped make this event possible. Your wonderful support truly made a difference. It was a great success.
We are grateful to be part of a Clairbourn community that always supports our school. Your presence truly made the event special.
With gratitude,
Leidy Nijjar, Vanessa Hernandez,
Maria Magdaleno and Diana Manwani
Sugar Plum Chairs
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Thank you for Supporting Operation Santa Paws!
Thank you for supporting our fifth grade Operation Santa Paws! Students collected bedding and blankets, dog and cat food, and various toys which were delivered to the shelters in the San Gabriel Valley. We appreciate the generosity of the Clairbourn community!
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Parent/Teacher Conference Day
Wednesday, January 14 is Parent/Teacher Conference Day for JPK through 5th grade
Follow this link to schedule a conference time with your child's teacher. Use event code: 4etyy. Follow the instructions on each page and schedule your in-person meeting. You will receive an email confirmation of your Conference Day booking. School Bookings will close on January 12 at 3 p.m., so please book your conference  time before then. It is vital that parents keep to this schedule and end their appointments in a timely manner. If you think you will need more time, please discuss this with your teacher during the appointment.
Middle school conferences on January 14 are by invitation only. As always, teachers are available any time to address any concerns you may have.
| Please note there is NO SCHOOL on Parent/Teacher Conference Day on Wednesday, January 14. |
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Clairbourn Life
You are all scholars and leaders who show heart every day!
Tomorrow is the last day of school in 2025. Middle School advisory classes welcomed second graders to East Hall for a buddy reading session to celebrate the winter holidays. Older and younger students read picture books and played classic games like I Spy and tic-tac-toe. Many thanks to Mrs. Ward  for curating a lovely selection of picture books from our library.
The air is filled with holiday joy and anticipation for the new challenges and adventures the coming year will bring. What a wonderful way to wrap up 2025 by spending time together as we begin this festive season. We are proud of the achievements and growth our students have made this year. Have a wonderful winter break, and we will see you in 2026!
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Clairbourn Insights
From hands-on models to real-world investigations, Middle School science classes are bringing big concepts to life in engaging and creative ways.
 In sixth grade, students are studying the rock cycle and discovered the perfect material to model geologic processes: Airheads candy. Using the colorful candy, they recreated weathering, compaction, and crystallization, transforming abstract Earth science concepts into a tactile, sweet-smelling experience. This hands-on modeling helps students understand large-scale processes in a manageable and memorable way.
Meanwhile, seventh graders have been studying how adaptations increase an organism’s chances of survival, particularly in changing ecosystems. Using the well-known example of peppered moths in England during the Industrial Revolution, students investigated the process often called  "survival of the fittest" by looking for paper moths of various colors on different backgrounds.
Building on this idea, each student was given a paper cutout of a marine animal to camouflage within the classroom. The animals could not be hidden, only colored to blend into their surroundings. Dr. Patzlaff, Mrs. Taylor, and Mrs. Messler visited to "hunt" for the animals, and in the end, Naveen N.'s camouflaged animal was the only one that survived. Through this activity, students gained a deeper understanding of the struggle for survival that drives natural selection.
 Students in eighth grade made good use of the tiled floor in the science classroom to create oversized distance-time graphs as part of their study of matter in motion. After reviewing essential graph labels, they constructed large-scale line graphs to represent constant speed, acceleration, and deceleration. Working on this expanded scale helped students clearly visualize the relationship between speed and the slope of distance-time graphs. Bravo, Clairbourn scientists!
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Celebration of Creativity
Exploring Color, Form, and Expression
New artwork is now on display in the Robert Nafie Administration Building. Kindergarteners explored watercolor as a background medium before drawing a three-dimensional bowl on top. By thoughtfully placing lines, students learned how to create the illusion of depth, seeing into a pot rather than viewing a flat image.
 Fourth graders finished multimedia Kandisnky inspired works of art. Wassily Kandinsky was an artist who had a condition called synesthesia, where he experienced cross-sensory perceptions, especially seeing colors when hearing music (chromesthesia). This profoundly shaped his abstract art, turning his paintings into "visual symphonies". Students used acrylic paint to create the base of their works of art and produced abstract Kandinsky-inspired designs which they filled with colored pencils.
Students in first grade learned about color mixing by using masking tape to split their papers into sections, then using a mixing palette to combine two or more colors together in order to create their own colors. After completing each section, the tape was removed and then designed with lines using black markers.
Bravo to our Clairbourn artists
for their creativity and exploration!
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Winter break is from December 22 to January 2. |
| Late start day — Monday 1/5. Students may not arrive before 9:30 a.m. School opens at 9:30 a.m., the doors open at 9:40 a.m., and school begins at 10:00 a.m. |
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Important Dates
12/18 KFC Lunch Day
12/19 Half Day (noon dismissal), Winter Concert, Centennial T-Shirt Day
12/22 - 1/2 Winter Break
1/5 Late Start
1/6 Pasta Lunch Day
1/8 Taco Lunch Day
1.9 Free Dress
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Save-the-date: Centennial Gala is on March 14, 2026.
We are seeking auction item donations—luxury goods, travel packages, event tickets, restaurant vouchers, spa treatments, memorabilia, or unique experiences. Every contribution supports our school and students. To donate, please complete the Auction Form or contact CFA for more information.
Please sign up to volunteer at the Centennial Benefit Auction & Gala. Your support is greatly appreciated!
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Counseling Services for Teachers and Parents
As you know, Clairbourn launched a new partnership with this year Counseling Partners of Los Angeles (CPLA). They are offering free teacher & parent counseling services. If you are interested, please click the links below:
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Sharing the Joy of Music
Bravo to the Middle School Band and Advanced Fifth Grade Wind musicians for sharing their talent with our community! The Winter Band Showcase highlighted the confidence and dedication of our musicians. A special thank you to Mrs. Kiertzner and Mr. Elmore for their outstanding performances.
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Clairbourn's Clarity Financial Aid application
for the 2026 / 2027 school year is now available.
 Clarity offers a streamlined and user-friendly application process and the application is available now. Please click here to review the details and follow instructions that fit your family's circumstances. Questions? Please contact Clarity support or call 206-210-3752. Feel free to reach out to Clairbourn Director of Business and Finance, Ms. Berge, at any time with questions. |
Holiday Young Alumni Party Highlight
Our Cougars came home for the holidays! Thank you to our young alumni who joined us for a festive afternoon of memories, laughter, and reconnection. We love seeing our grads return to the place where it all began. |
Join Cougar Corner!
Cougar Corner is open after school each Tuesday and Thursday. Students can pay with cash or charge it to their Cougar Corner accounts.
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Celebrating A Season of Festivities
At Clairbourn, we embrace the spirit of inclusivity by honoring all holidays and celebrating the diverse cultural traditions within our community. Whether it’s the joy of Christmas, the light of Hanukkah, the principles of Kwanzaa, or other cherished festivities, we recognize and respect the unique ways our families celebrate their heritage and beliefs.
Through school-wide events, classroom activities, and shared stories, we foster a sense of unity and appreciation for the rich cultures that make up our school. We wish all of our families a happy and restful winter break!
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Clairbourn Gift Policy
Gratitude is always welcome, but a gift is
never necessary. A kind note, a genuine thank you, or a word of gratitude is always meaningful.
Clairbourn has a stated gift policy for all employees:
• Employees may only accept gifts and/or gift cards that have a value of $100 or less.
• Employees may accept a gift and/or gift card of over $100 only if it is a collective gift and each individual’s contribution is $100 or less (i.e. the Scrip Gift at the holidays and end of the year).
Please help us by following this policy. If you feel you must do more than a note or word of thanks, please consider contributing to the group Scrip gifts at the holidays and at the end of the year. Please do not put any employees in an awkward situation by ignoring the policy.
If an employee receives something of higher value, it must be returned or given to the CFA for the auction. Thank you for your support! |
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