Happy Friday,

Can you believe we just finished week 15 of the 25-26 school year? Winter break is 5 school days away. We will dismiss one hour early on Friday, December 19, 2025. My hope is that students, staff and families enjoy some well-deserved down time. During the break, the campus will be closed for business. Students should not hang out and around the school although the Meadowbrook Teen Center will be open their regular hours except for December 25 and January 1, and any other days as posted. Students participating in athletics should follow their coach’s schedule shared in FinalForms.

Remember that 1st semester ends on January 27th which is sixteen days after we return from winter break. I highly encourage students to connect with their teachers before the break if they have projects or assignments that could be completed during the break to ensure academic goals are being met. *** Academic Grades from 1st semester will be our freshmen’s first official high school grades that post on their high school transcript. Students who earn an “E” will not earn credit for the first semester and may have their graduation track impacted.

This week in classes it was nice to step into a business marketing class and see students learning about how buyers assuming a company conduct due diligence when purchasing a company and how closing conditions impact their final deal. I like how students are learning the art of business and the importance of understanding business terminology to grasp the business concepts. I also enjoyed stepping into most classes on Thursday and showing community members from Earth Creative community organization the awesome things students are doing in classes here at Nathan Hale High School. They saw students using their culinary skills working in Chef Pyles kitchen making jambalaya during culinary arts. They saw students working with clay and making holiday gifts for themselves and family members during mentorship time. They saw a local professional from Fred Hutchinson share her journey in the medical field in the systems medicine class. They saw students learning how to de-magnetize a nail using heat in physics. They saw students during mentorship time planning the Climate Action Day during their club time. They toured the radio station to learn about all the soft skills students may learn through radio courses to go right into industry beyond high school. They walked away so impressed and jazzed about all NHHS offers students and how staff welcome visitors into the classroom with open arms.

Every Friday in December the Nathan Hale Admin Team brings out the Raider Train filled with coffee, cider, tea, and goodies to show appreciation and celebrate staff. We enjoy acknowledging staff for their hard work and dedication to ensuring ALL students become honorable, skillful, thinking, global citizens. We look forward to celebrating them even more on Tuesday, December 16th when the NHCO (parent group) brings the coffee cart to Hale. Thank you in advance to ALL the families who support the Nathan Hale Foundation and NHCO organizations. If you are interested, we are looking for Board Members for the NH Foundation. We cannot do it without YOU. Please email info@nathanhalehsfoundation.org if interested. Lastly, it is not too late to donate before tax season to the NH Annual Campaign. All donations are greatly appreciated and used wisely.

Wednesday, we had our NH Winter Open House & Tours for future students and families. The slides presented by Principal Grimes that evening will be posted on our website before winter break.

Music Concert Tonight

Our concert choir, concert orchestra and vocal jazz will be performing this evening in our Performance Arts Center at 7:00pm. It’s free so please come enjoy an evening of music!

Winter Spirit Week – Next Week!

The student leadership has planned dress-up days for next week. These are just fun dress-up days for students to show their school spirit.

          Monday – Pajama Day
          Tuesday – Rhyme without Reason
          Wednesday – White Out Wednesday
          Thursday – Beach Day
          Friday – Stuff Day (bring your stuffed animal)

Athletics

Checkout the Metro League website for what is happening in sports. Go Raiders! Next week is the last chance for students to sign up for gymnastics, wrestling and boys swimming. Login to your FinalForms parent/guardian account and select one of these winter sports and be sure to complete the online forms.

Seniors Seniors Seniors

December 15th is the Deadline to order your cap & gown for graduation. Please use the link to submit your order for cap, gown, tassel and stole. HOT off the press, the Nathan Hale Class of 2026 graduation will be on Wednesday, June 10th at 7:30pm on Raider Field.  Please continue to check out and follow Senior Business on the NH Website.

Holiday Joy Extravaganza

As the holidays approach, we are hoping to spread some holiday joy! At your will, please consider donating gifts AND/OR gift cards (~$25 equivalent) donations. Any type of youth/teen-appropriate gifts AND gift cards are welcome. Students in need will receive an item on 12/18.

Please have items shipped/delivered to the Main Office at NHHS by WED, 12/17. Our social worker has created an Amazon wish list as a guide; if ordered from here, it should default shipping to NHHS.

If you have questions, or are interested in volunteering AND are a registered volunteer with Seattle Public schools, please contact lbjohnson1@seattleschools.org.

Have a great weekend.

In partnership,

Jolene Grimes
Proud Principal