Friday 1/31 Family Message

Happy Friday! 

Wow, we did it. We wrapped up the first semester of the school year on Tuesday. Students pushed through and took their finals like champs. I am proud of them for their effort and grit. Yet, some students may not have reached their academic goals this first semester and may need more time to show mastery. I encourage students who need more time to show mastery academically to make new goals for the upcoming second semester. What worked? What did not work first semester? What support is needed for success? I know that students must be in class, on-time to learn…learning happens when you are present and engaged. We have Mentorship Time every Wednesday at 12:05 – 1:05 pm at Nathan Hale with academic support time embedded to help students with their academics. Ask your student who their Mentorship teacher is at NHHS. This is a key person to help your student succeed. One issue we are having is some students try to skip Mentorship and never show up. Mentorship is not optional and students who fail to attend their Mentorship will not earn the Passing mark for credit and will not get the guidance staff are ready to give. Please look for your student’s semester 1 grades on the Source around February 15th. 

At Nathan Hale, we will continue to encourage students to use their self-advocacy skills to connect with staff to meet their goals. All students have a school counselor based on last name alpha: Mr. Max Guerrero–Tomoda (A-Gom), Ms. Kristie Thompson (Gon – N) and Ms. Kelly Creech (O-Z). We have two school administrators: for the upper house (11-12 grades), Mx. Zoba and for lower house (9-10 grades), Ms. Burrell. Our all-school Intervention specialist, Ms. Taylor Bosworth, is available to support all students 9-12. And we have many school support specialists and school partners on campus throughout the week. Please utilize our Nathan Hale school website staff directory to contact staff to best support your student. I, Principal Grimes, also send out this weekly Friday Message to celebrate NHHS and highlight upcoming activities and events at Nathan Hale. The purpose is to keep parents, guardians and families connected to what is happening at school. The daily school bulletin is also another resource available to stay connected and in the loop. Access to staff and resources can be found on our school website.  

This week I want to highlight the work conducted in our library with an update from our amazing librarian, Ms. Dana West. Here’s her Semester 1 Highlights: It’s been a busy first semester in the Hale library! This semester the library hosted 190 classes, checked out over 1,000 books, and added 318 new titles to the collection, including fiction, graphic novels, and Spanish-language titles. The library also welcomes an average of 85 students for lunch each day! Congratulations to the top readers: Phylle B. (12th grade), Friday S. (10th grade), Sasha R. (11th grade), Nemo T. (11th grade), and Hannah B. (11th grade). The library continues to collaborate with teachers across departments teaching research and information literacy and is looking forward to more exciting projects in Semester 2. 

Today in classrooms, I also had the opportunity to see students in our Horticulture 2 class get excited about the 1,248 herbal plants that arrived today that need a home. Students learn potting up techniques as they prepare for their Spring Plant Sale in May just before Mother’s Day. And I spent the afternoon today with our C89.5 Radio staff, discussing and talking about all the “soft skills” students learn in the Digital Media Intro 1 Radio classes. We discussed the importance of ensuring students have the skills to work intergenerationally and understand the importance communication plays in real life across interdisciplinary learning opportunities through the arts. I encourage you all to take a moment to listen to our C89.5/KNHC radio station.  

If you haven’t submitted your ballot yet, here’s more information about the levies up for renewal: Why do schools need levies? State, local, and federal dollars fund school districts. There continues to be a disparity between what the state funds for education and what it costs Seattle Public Schools (SPS) to serve our students. So, every three years, the district asks voters to consider renewing expiring levies.    

The district is asking voters to consider renewing two levies in the February 11th election.   

Prop. 1 – The Educational Programs & Operations (EP&O) Levy continues funding for areas like student transportation, support staff, meals, special education, and student opportunities like athletics, music and art.    

Prop. 2 – The Building Excellence VI (BEX VI) Levy focuses on maintaining and improving school facilities. It funds renovation, repair and replacement of schools, as well as repairs to roofs, HVAC systems, and playgrounds. The capital levy also funds 90 percent of the district’s technology budget.    

Specific to Nathan Hale, with the approval of the levies, we hope to get upgraded/improved building access controls including doorbells and security cameras in and around campus. In the spirit of keeping our SPS schools safe, I highly encourage families and the community to read and understand the importance of these levies and the impact they have on our schools. 

Ballots for the levy renewals are due to King County Elections by 8 p.m. on February 11th. Visit the SPS website to learn more about what the levies fund. 

In close, please remember the SPS Inclement Weather guidelines. We encourage students to take their devices home every night as weather can be unpredictable….Teachers have provided Teams Links to their classroom students to access learning in the event we are instructed to go to remote learning. 

Next week we are excited to kickoff Black History Month with Black Lives Matter At Schools Week of Action, February 3rd – 7th. Mid-week we look forward to our annual NHHS Unity in the Community, organized and planned by students. We also have our Nathan Hale Information Night for prospective families on Thursday, February 6th, starting at 6:00pm. This is a great opportunity for families considering Nathan Hale for the 2025-26 school year.  

Have a great weekend. Be safe.  

In partnership, 

Jolene Grimes 
Proud Principal 
Nathan Hale High School