Happy Friday,

This week has been exciting and eventful for our Raider Nation. Congratulations to our girl’s basketball team’s historic time at state! It was amazing to hear about so many people streaming the game at school, watching and supporting from afar. Visitors from Naha, our sister school, arrived on Monday morning to begin their two week stay with host student and families. Thank you to all the host families, students and staff who make their time in Seattle memorable and meaningful.

Monday, I started the week off with my first budget meeting after getting the staffing allocations for the upcoming 26-27 school year. We will have to make big decisions at Nathan Hale as SPS will see significant cuts to schools. I am working closely with school department leaders, school budget community, and the NH Senate to ensure that we get staffed the best we can. Although programs and courses may be impacted, decisions are made based on student registration and in collaboration with school staff. The district’s projections of Nathan Hale’s enrollment going down by about 100 students will have a huge impact on our school funding and resources.

The Naha Assembly was a strong display of our community and relationships formed over decades. This year marks the 51st year of our exchange with Naha High School in Okinawa, Japan. Two teachers and twelve students have flown in to spend the next two weeks in Seattle learning the ways of Nathan Hale High School and about American culture. We were also joined Yoko Sakamoto from the office of the Consulate-General of Japan. We enjoyed performances from the Nathan Hale Jazz band, our Native Education students, and the Naha High School students.

Spring sports started on Monday. Good luck to all our spring sport athletes. Cheer them on and see what is happening. Spring sports schedules can be found on the Nathan Hale Metro League webpage. There is still time to turn out for spring sports. Login to FinalForms to check out the sports still open for registration. Last call to turn in PE Waivers for athletes in grades 10-12 who participated in winter sports. They are due on Monday, March 9th, in the main office.

DECA students competed in the State Career Development Conference in Bellevue last week. We had 6 students go and 2 of them placed in the top 15 for their event! We had one student representative as our Diamond Ambassador, an internship role at the conference. Pretty great for their 1st time competing!

Seventeen HOSA (Future Health Professionals) students traveled to Spokane to attend the State Leadership Conference (SLC), proudly representing our school with professionalism, dedication, and pride. Two teams placed in the Top 10 in the state in the EMT Skills competition, and several students were recognized for their service project, PSA and HOSA Happenings events. Our chapter also earned recognition for its NMDP service project, placing 1st in the state and ranking among the top three chapters globally, securing the opportunity to represent Washington at the International Leadership Conference in June. Their achievements reflect our commitment to developing honorable, skillful, thinking, global citizens, ready to make a difference.

Nathan Hale stays busy. We look forward to seeing all our families at the Bite of Hale next week on Wednesday, March 11th. It runs from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. The Bite is our annual Hale event that showcases our community, cultures, and food. This fundraising event is open to the community and supports general ASB, including Hale sports, clubs, newspaper, and cheer. The Naha students will be performing a dance among other entertainment groups that evening. BUY bites for $3 (2 bites) or $16 (for 10 bites).

From NHCO (Nathan Hale parent organization): Please consider volunteering for the NHCO table at the Bite of Hale. The Italian sodas we are serving are very popular so it will be a fun and busy evening. We are looking for 10 people total to help with this effort. Sign up via the Sign-Up Genius link. Please address questions or comments to Sarah Heath at nhcoconnections@gmail.com or at 206-285-8482.

Do not miss Cabaret Night Saturday evening in our PAC. It starts at 7 p.m. Our Theatre program’s fundraiser is an evening of musical theatre favorites performed by staff, local artists, alumni and the NHHS cast of the musical, Legally Blonde. Tickets may be purchased at the door or at nathanhaletheatre.com. It is a fabulous night of entertainment for the whole family!

On Wednesday, April 1st during Mentorship (12:05 – 1:05 p.m.) there will be a Running Start 26-27 Info Session in our Library. The Info Session will provide needed info for prospective students interested in Running Start for next school year.

Senior Letters went out this week for Seniors in Jeopardy. If your student receives a letter, please make sure your student connects with their teachers, counselor, and mentorship teacher for support. We have Mentorship five days a week for students to get academic support. The 3rd Quarter ends on April 7th. I highly encourage all families to ask their student about their grades and academic progress to ensure they are passing at the end of the quarter.

Thank you for being awesome NH community members! If you are interested in meeting our new Superintendent, please join the northeast region listening session with Superintendent, Ben Shuldiner at Eckstein Middle School on Tuesday, March 17th from 7:30-8:30 p.m. There are other Superintendent Engagement meetings around the district as well.

Enjoy the weekend! Daylight Savings Time starts this weekend. 

In Partnership,

Ms. Jolene Grimes
Proud Principal