Friday 9/6 Family Message

Happy Friday, Raiders!

The first three days of school were amazing. I am proud of ALL honorable, skillful, thinking, Nathan Hale students. This week we intentionally held grade level meetings in the Performance Arts Center (PAC) during Mentorship time to center our energy around clear expectations at NHHS and teach students their Rights and Responsibilities (R&R) as young adults.

We reviewed the importance of being at school on-time each day. School starts at 8:50 am and ends at 3:40 pm Monday – Friday except on Early Release Wednesday’s at 2:25 pm. Students who arrive on campus after 9:00 am when the exterior school doors lock must enter the school at the attendance entrance (the northwest doors on 110th Street) and get a pink slip from the attendance office before going to class. Please note, students may use their student ID card to ride Metro Transit FREE to and from school.

Here are some of the things that we discussed: The school dress code; hall passes; tardiness; bathroom usage expectations; fights v. assaults; attendance expectations; cell phones/personal electronic devices; zero tolerance for weapons, drugs or alcohol on campus; off-campus safety; Harassment, Intimidation, and Bullying (HIB); student ID-cards; and having a great school year. It is important that students know and understand their Rights and Responsibilities within the school and Seattle Public Schools. You can find the R&R and NHHS Student Handbook on our school website within the next week.

This week it was nice to see students use hallway passes when leaving their classroom during academic time. Academic Time (AT) is treasured time at Nathan Hale. Students may not use their cell phones during AT time. They are allowed to use them responsibly before school, during transitions between periods, lunchtime and after school. As a 1 on 1 device school district, students have laptops to use during academic time and no cell phone use is necessary or allowed. We encourage parents/families to support this important expectation and utilize the main or attendance office to contact and communicate with your student during school hours. The phone numbers are: 206-252-3680 (Main Office) or 206-252-3684 (Attendance). Thank you in advance for your partnership.

Teachers jumped right in and started establishing community within their classrooms. I enjoyed visiting an eleventh-grade ethnic studies class and hearing students discuss and reflect on their identity. This allowed me the opportunity to share my pride in being a proud member of the Makah Tribe. I also loved participating in a political science class and witnessing students share their political views on such topics as health care and defend their stance as young adults. Students showed their excitement for oceanography, horticulture, chemistry, physics, algebra, and many more courses offered at Nathan Hale. One request for parents/guardians: Please ask your student to share their goal(s) for the upcoming school year and the first quarter of high school. They can do it! Together we will work hard to help them succeed. We look forward to seeing parents/guardians at the Nathan Hale Curriculum Night on Thursday, October 17^th. We will have a meeting for Senior parents starting at 6:00 pm and Curriculum Night starting at 7:00 pm. Students will bring home a schedule for parents/guardians to follow. Be on the lookout.

Tonight, our Raider football team is at Foster HS. Kickoff is at 7:00 pm. Tomorrow, girls’ soccer heads to Fife HS. JV starts at 1:00 pm and varsity at 3:00 pm.

Next week we will have our first Early Release Wednesday at 2:25 pm. Please return your Start of School forms you hopefully received from your student this week in a manila envelope.

In closing, it was nice to have additional security present on campus to help monitor the perimeter of our campus. We are grateful the Seattle Public Schools are taking the necessary measures to help keep our campus safe. Currently, Nathan Hale has two amazing security officers in the building who work closely with staff and school administration. They are located in the Main Office. Please do not hesitate to contact school administration or security specialists if you have concerns or intel to keep the campus safe. If you see something, say something. Together we’re better!

Have a great weekend. Go Raiders!

In partnership,

Ms. Edwards (she/her)
Proud Principal
Nathan Hale High School