Friday 12/13 Family Message

This week, I am sending out appreciation for the NHHS Foundation Annual Campaign donors who are making a visible difference throughout the school. At Nathan Hale, we are all about climate, culture, and teaching students to use their minds well. This critical work depends on support from the community I am grateful to be a part of as the proud principal of our school.  Celebrate what your funding has provided our students and staff by checking out What We Fund — Nathan Hale High School Foundation. 

Thank you for investing in the success of our school and community.  Donate — Nathan Hale High School Foundation 

Thursday night we had about 30 potential new families touring the school. Our NHHS leaders, some retired staff, and Hale admin and current staff did an excellent job in showcasing and celebrating Nathan Hale. I received a nice message from a family thanking NHHS for the opportunity to tour Nathan Hale, connect with staff and interact with our outstanding cohort of students … This made me proud as I know our student leaders take great pride in doing their job as leaders and celebrating our school programs and activities.  

Tonight at 7PM, the Winter- Vocal Concert is upon us and our young, singing Raiders are hoping to see you, your friends and family in the PAC for a celebration of sound.  This short performance will feature the Concert Choir and Vocal Jazz and has something for everyone. Our sets include tunes from musical sensations Pink Martini, Laufey, Fleet Foxes, Disney’s Frozen and so much more! Concert starts at 7 PM, it will be short and is FREE. Director, Milanese said, get your dancing shoes on and bring the kids. We always appreciate you supporting these young musicians! 

This week it was nice to see the following in classrooms: Students working amongst peers in US History studying the US-Mexico War. They focused on having productive dialogue with one another as they shared their knowledge of key historical figures, they researched who impacted the war. One student, claimed, “history is important and learning about wars and the impact of wars is helpful.” In one of our multilingual classrooms, it was awesome to see students utilizing learning tools, such as Google Translate to communicate effectively with peers and staff.  We currently have many languages spoken at Nathan Hale and value our diversity. It is always nice when barriers to learning can be broken down to allow for a leveled learning experience. Our EL staff, continue to find avenues to get students engaged in learning. I also enjoyed seeing students learn how to write a PSA script in their Intro to Media Arts class. Students had the opportunity to experience and utilize our C89.5 recording studios to engage in the project. One student shared, “the class allows them the creative freedom, which spurs their imagination, gives them the ability to output it into a product that they can see, listen, watch, and not just keep in their head.” I thought that was powerful and love how we are exposing students to our amazing radio station and giving them skills to use beyond high school in industry.    

Next week is a busy week for our ASB. They encourage all students and staff to participate in the Spirit Week activities: 

• Monday – Pajama day 
• Tuesday – Timber Tuesday (Wear Flannel, add a Beard, and No Axes!) 
• Wednesday – White Out Wednesday (Students wear White, Staff Wear Red) 
• Thursday – Jersey day (Wear a Jersey) 
• Friday – Four Seasons! (Freshmen=Fall, Sophomores=Winter, Juniors=Spring, and Senior=Summer (you can wear bathing suit’s ON TOP of clothes) 

They have the Holiday special on Wednesday the 18th from 6:30 to 7:30! The show is free to attend for students with ASB cards, $5 for everyone else. Make sure to bring your ID card to get free entrance with ASB! Get ready for an evening full of talent, laughter, and excitement! Can’t wait to see all our Hale families there! We are also looking for volunteers to bring snacks to sell outside the theatre if you can arrive early to drop off goods or stay through the event to sell them too!  

We also have the Winter Ball Dance coming up. Be part of the Glacier Gala! The Class of 2026 wants your help with the Winter Ball Dance on Saturday, January 11, 2025 at Shoreline Community College. We need 20 parent chaperones. If you are not yet an approved SPS volunteer, get started by completing the Volunteer Application. This process takes approximately two weeks (don’t delay). Email us at nhhsclass2026@gmail.com to sign up to volunteer.   

If you are looking for something to do this evening. We have gymnastics at Hale starting at 7PM. We have boys’ basketball headed to O’Dea 7:30 PM.  

May you have a nice weekend. We have 5 more days until the Winter Break 12/23-1/3. We have a one-hour early dismissal on Friday, December 20th.  

In Partnership,  
Jolene Grimes 
Proud Principal Nathan Hale