Message to Families

Beloved Families,

I hope you had a great week and are excited as we have transitioned to November. As we transition, I wanted to first take the opportunity to highlight our learning and community growth through October.

This October, we had much to learn, teach, and celebrate. With Hispanic Heritage Month, Filipino American History Month, and Disability Awareness Month, we had a great series of celebrations, lessons, and learnings. We also held mentorship conversations focused on being a good upstander and bystander, along with racism, hatred, islamophobia, and its impacts on our students and educators. Our Jewish Student Union and Muslim Student Association will be connecting and bonding over the strategies we can use as a community to address the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

In our classrooms, teaching and learning through the month of October was strong around our community. Specifically, our classroom units have been in collective flow, and teachers are building strong learning environments while also bonding with students to create warm and welcoming learning environments for all. Expectations are high for all, and you will likely note a shift in grades as we get closer to the end of the first quarter. As a final note, our first quarter ends on Wednesday, November 8th. Now is a great time to review the Source with your students, and to also review the syllabus, question student work, and ponder what they see as success, and observe how their success metric is aligned to the teacher assignment, to ultimately identify how this learning connects to the learning happening in the classroom.

Reminder: Daylight Savings Time ends on Sunday, 11/5 at 2:00AM. Clocks turn back one hour. And next Friday, November 10th, there is no school in observance of Veterans Day.

From the Nathan Hale Office: WA State Principal of the Year!

We’re so proud to announce that Dr. Jackson was named 2024 Washington State Secondary Principal of the Year! Dr. Jackson will also be recognized nationally by the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP). He will be recognized and celebrated in Washington DC next year! To read more about his award, please go to the AWSP webpage. Congratulations Dr. Jackson! 

Native American Heritage Month

This commemorative month aims to provide a platform for Native people in the United States of America to share their culture, traditions, music, crafts, dance, and ways and concepts of life. This gives Native people the opportunity to express to their community, both city, county and state officials their concerns and solutions for building bridges of understanding and friendship in their local area. 

Clothing/Hygiene Drive, 11/6 – 9

Counselor Lex Puopolo is hosting a clothing and hygiene drive next week (November 6th – 9th)! Bring in new or gently used items such as shirts, sweaters, pants, shorts, shoes, jackets, dresses, business clothes, formal wear, Raider gear, non-piercing jewelry, and accessories to donate! We will also accept graduation cap and gowns. We can only accept the following items if they are NEW: socks, underwear, bras, and hygiene products. Please only bring CLEAN, DRY items; collection boxes are in the Career Center in the Attendance/Counseling Office. Styles of all genders are welcome.

Parents Coffee and Tea on Wed 11/8 and Gift Card Drive

Consider donating Fred Meyer/QFC gift cards or cash for our gift card program supporting Hale families in need. Volunteers will be collecting cards or cash outside the main office and parking lot entrances this Wednesday, November 8th from 8:30-9:00AM.  

In addition to card drop off, NHCO (Nathan Hale Community Organization, formerly PTSA) will have Coffee and Tea in the Activity Center until 10:00AM. Please enter the building through the Main Entry by the PAC and Staff/Visitor parking lot. This is a great opportunity to meet other parents and guardians. 

There will also be information from concerned parents/guardians on how you can volunteer to be extra eyes on our school campus to help our students, staff and community feel safer. Volunteer applications, sign ups, and more information will be available. See the Volunteer section below for links to complete, renew or update your volunteer application. All applications are online only.

Athletics Reminders and Accolades

A couple of reminders as we transition from Fall Sports to Winter Sports:

Fall Sports Dessert Banquet will be Wednesday, November 8th at 7:00PM in the Commons. PE waivers are available in the main office and need to be signed by your coach for this season before being turned in.

For Winter sports, which start on November 13th, now is the time to sign up in FinalForms and get your sports physical! Information about FinalForms and the link to FinalForms can be found on the Athletics webpage. Free sport physicals can be done at the Teen Health Center. Your student should stop by the THC to get the forms and to make an appointment. Or your student can call them at 206-302-1840 to make an appointment.

Kudos to these fall sports: Congratulations to the Hale girls soccer team for the 2nd year in a row as academic state champs out of 76 AAA schools across the state! The boys cross-country team is competing at state this weekend in Pasco. Boys ultimate competed in the semi-finals for state and ended up in the top 4 in state. The Hale girls swim team has 9 swimmers competing in districts which is the most we’ve had in 10 years!

Volunteering at Nathan Hale

If you would like to volunteer at Nathan Hale and have not completed the district volunteer application form and had your background check cleared, please complete the forms/process found on the district Volunteer – Apply or Renew webpage. 

If you are a returning volunteer (meaning you have filled out an online volunteer application in the past, and have a file created already) you would follow the steps available on the Renew or Update Your Volunteer Application webpage. 

If you are cleared at another school but didn’t indicate you would volunteer at Nathan Hale on your application, please go back into your application and select Nathan Hale as one of your schools so we can view your “Approved” status.

Finally, if you have any questions, please contact Rae Keyes at rkkeyes@seattleschools.org.

Black College Expo, Saturday, 11/4

The 6th Annual Seattle Black College Expo is Saturday, 11/4 from 10:00AM – 4:00PM. The event is FREE! Students can speak to HBCUs and get accepted on the spot if they bring their transcript and SAT/ACT scores. Application fees are waived, and they can get scholarships by attending! Expect seminars, workshops, entertainment, cash prizes, and meet college representatives. Find the HBCU of your dreams! Check out the details about the Black College Expo.

For other college visits and fair info, please check the Daily Bulletin. You can sign up to have the Daily Bulletin sent to your email inbox by sign up on the Hale Mail webpage.

School, Community, and District Safety

With heightened Seattle Police Department (SPD) presence around Seattle Public Schools (SPS), we have not heard of recent incidents of students being accosted or mugged while walking in the community. That said, we still encourage students and families to be aware of their surroundings when walking in the neighborhood and observe personal safety precautions noted below.

Below are some considerations that may be useful for conversations with your student. Additional resources were included in last week’s Friday message.

• If you see or experience a crime, call 911 immediately.
• Stay alert to your surroundings. Encourage students to plan their route, travel together on well-traveled roads and avoid low-traffic side streets when possible.
• Encourage students to put away their cell phones while walking. Electronics should be out of sight, and jewelry worn discreetly.
• Develop a plan before trouble occurs

We all play a role in our community and school campus safety. The SPD has requested anyone with information about SPD cases related to student safety in the community to please call the Violent Crimes Tip Line at 206-233-5000.

You can use the SPS Safe Schools Hotline at 206-252-0510 to report any threats to SPS campus. This phone number is managed year-round, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Last Flu & COVID Vaccine Clinic at NHHS

The last clinic at Nathan Hale is this coming Sunday, 11/5. Go to the district vaccine clinic webpage for times, to schedule an appointment, and see other locations where clinics are still offered.

Have a great weekend!

Much love,

William Jackson, Ed.D. (he,him)
Principal
Nathan Hale High School