Family Message

Happy Friday,

This was probably one of the hardest weeks for me as a high school principal. The devasting loss of one of our devoted and well-respected staff members, Mr. Adam Weybright, hit us hard and broke many hearts. It hurt my heart to see students in grief but made my heart happy to see how Nathan Hale staff and SPS coordinated health professionals stepped up, leaned in, and supported students and the school community. I always say, together we are better. Families, thank you for being amazing partners in helping your children. Many students said their parents/guardians talked with them prior to Monday returning to school. Thank you!

The Climate Day of Action on Wednesday was a success again this year! The Climate Justice Club students curated great workshops ranging from Reading on the Climate, Why Solar Power is Lit, Community Science with Birds Connect Seattle, Hands On Creek Restoration, Repair Café-Mending, Sewing, and Outdoor Gear Repair, etc. The essential message was: it all begins with you! Thank you to the student coordinators of this day as well as their advisor, Teacher Ted!

In classes this week Cookies -Did you know that bakers are mad scientists? Don’t let the apron fool you! Today, over 40 chemistry students submitted samples for the annual cookie contest. The culminating project for our chemical reactions unit was to bake the “perfect cookie” using science to alter a recipe. Students researched the science of baking and then applied their learning in the kitchen. The results were delicious and there was a line out the door to taste all of the creations. Sadly, I wasn’t able to sample these creations but I heard it was a success!

Thursday, I had the honor of traveling down to the Washington Athletic Club with Mr. Haskins, NHHS Athletic Director, for the 101 Scholar Athlete Awards to celebrate the following student athletes for their outstanding athletic performance and academic excellence in SPS and NHHS athletics:  Zia-Daye A., Hannah H., Kela N., Jack D., Camden K-N., and Nathan P. We appreciate all who support our athletic program and continue to encourage you to support all the teams at MetroLeague.

We had the Department of Technology Services in the building today with various models of student laptops, staff laptops, classroom PCs, monitors and docking stations that DoTS will be buying for the next few years. Staff and students had an opportunity to evaluate them and provide feedback via a survey. We are grateful we had this opportunity to provide input into this significant SPS purchase.

Wow, it is already time for Yankee Doodle Days. This is a special week at Hale where students and staff participate in fun, jam-packed, community building and spirit activities. I look forward to seeing everyone participate and having a great time. The dress up days are as noted below. For more info about YDD activities, please go to the NHHS website calendar entry for YDD.

• Monday – Meme Day
• Tuesday – Animal Print v. Camo
• Wednesday – Ages (Freshmen-babies, Sophomores-toddlers, Juniors-adults, Seniors-senior citizens. Teachers-teens.)
• Thursday – White Lie Thursday (Wear a white tee with a school appropriate lie written or pinned to it.)
• Friday – Class Colors (Freshmen-red, Sophomores-white, Juniors-blue, Seniors-togas or black & gold.)

We will observe a special schedule next Friday, May 1st, since we will have a spirit assembly that day. For the specific bells times, please go to the Special Schedule entry on our school website. There will also be a dance Friday evening, the Tolo, here at Nathan Hale from 7:00 to 9:30 p.m. Students can buy tickets next week during lunch. If your student doesn’t bring cash to school, you may buy their ticket through SchoolPay. Tickets will be sold at the door for $20. 

From NHCO: May 4 kicks off Teacher and Staff Appreciation Week. The Nathan Hale Community Organization needs your help to treat our amazing educators and staff to breakfast on Monday. Use this link to sign up to bring food items and/or volunteer to set up, serve and clean up NHCO: 5/4/26 Staff Appreciation Breakfast. Please address questions or comments to Sarah Heath at nhcoconnections@gmail.com or at 206-285-8482.

Another opportunity to be in community and support staff is the June 19th Hale Night at the Mariners game against the Boston Red Sox. This 7:10 p.m. night game will also be Fireworks Night! Tickets are available for $20 each for 300 level seats and $50 each for 100 level seats (in sections 110 and 111). Tickets can be ordered and paid for here: Hale Night Ticket Sale. Proceeds from the ticket sales will support Nathan Hale Baseball. Reach out with questions to nathanhale.baseball@gmail.com. If you are unable to go to the game but are interested in donating ticket(s) to support a Raider staff person or student who otherwise couldn’t afford to go to the game, that will be an option available as well. Kick-off your summer and celebrate Juneteenth with fellow Raiders!

In close, I appreciated all the support, calls and guidance from our school community this week. It means a lot to know we can hold each other up during hard times. I had the honor to visit Ms. Weybright and her children and wrap each of them in a Native blanket on behalf of our Nathan Hale community. It is important to me that we continue to check-in on each other. Please make sure your students are doing OK and getting the support they need. We have resources here in the building for students managing grief and challenging situations.

Have a great weekend. The sun is out! Be safe and see your students on Monday.

In Partnership,

Jolene Grimes
Proud Principal
Nathan Hale High School