Friday 4/19 Message to Families

Beloved Families,

I hope you had a great first week back from break! Thank you to our Nathan Hale Jewish families, Jewish Student Union, and JSU advisors who came this past week to Hale to share their experience with antisemitism, hatred, and discrimination at Nathan Hale and in our school community. In our meeting, I learned more about antisemitism, the history of antisemitism in our country and beyond, and the pervasive nature of hatred, discrimination, and antisemitism that shows up in our country and schools. Positively, our families shared this learning opportunity that several of our staff will be taking, which will ultimately be brought back to our mentorships and student experience, so we are best able to stop hatred in the form of antisemitism. Please see the antisemitism training that many of our educators will be taking.

In this above workshop, educators will better understand the lived realities, history, and challenges facing the Jewish people, and learn how contemporary antisemitism operates, what anti-Jewish motifs and dehumanizing rhetoric about Jews look like, and why it is spreading. This training will help participants spot harmful rhetoric and be an ally to the Jewish community while honoring the dignity of all.

As we look at our final 2 months of our school year, encourage your student to get outside when the weather is nice, avoid too much screen time, and keep strong study habits! Closing out a school year is one of the most challenging, yet rewarding, experiences for a student.

HaleYes! Annual Auction

Say HaleYes! Please join me and our beloved Hale Community for HaleYes! next Saturday, April 27th. Buy your tickets today and join us: Tickets (ejoinme.org)

Special offer: tickets are half-price between 5:00PM today (Friday, April 19th) and 5:00PM Monday, April 22nd. For 50% off, use code HaleYes50.

I appreciate the partnership with Nathan Hale HS Foundation and the impact they have supporting all students at Hale reach their potential. You can learn more here: What We Fund — Nathan Hale High School Foundation.  

This year’s event is a very special one, celebrating 60 years of Raider Excellence. I hope you can join us!

Happy Passover

Happy Passover to our Jewish students, educators, and families! Passover, in Judaism, is a holiday commemorating the Hebrews’ liberation from slavery in Egypt and the “passing over” of the forces of destruction, or the sparing of the firstborn of the Israelites. Passover begins on the evening of Monday, April 22nd and ends on Tuesday, April 30th.

Senior Class Updates

Check email daily – Parents, please encourage your seniors to check their email daily for updates and information that our staff will be sending out to your students. For example, our librarian, Ms. West, sends out an email every Monday to ALL our students reminding them of outstanding books and materials that are checked out to them. Now is the time to locate and return those materials or pay any fines to minimize end-of-year stress.

Prom Donations – From the Class of 2024: Calling all Nathan Hale community members! Let’s make the Class of 2024 Prom a “Royall Ball”! Your contribution will help us create an enchanting evening for our seniors! Please donate using the SchoolPay link for Senior Class Prom donations.

Cap & Gown Distribution – We have two dates scheduled (April 29th from 3:15 to 4:00PM and May 15th from 2:15 to 3:00PM) when National Achiever will be on site to hand out caps and gowns to those who ordered them. The distribution will happen in the Commons.

Buy SPREE Tickets Now! – From the SPREE Parent Committee: Parent donations raised enough money so tickets this year are just $145! Register for the after graduation senior spree party. Seniors should contact their counselor for information about scholarships. Senior SPREE Website.

Check Spelling of Name – Seniors should stop by the Main Office to check the spelling of their name for the graduation program and their diploma.

Smarter Balance Assessment 

The Smarter Balanced (SBA) English/Language Arts exam will be administered in the 10th grade LA/Social Studies classes this coming week, April 22nd – 26th. These state assessments measure students’ progress toward college and career readiness as well as the progress of our educational system as a whole. The SBA-ELA is a computer adaptive test. It presents an individually tailored set of questions to each student and is designed to accommodate all students including students with IEPs and English language learners. The Smarter Balanced tests can be used to meet a student’s graduation pathway. Most state universities and colleges will use the SBA scores for course-level placement.  

From the NH Community Organization

Mark your calendars for the next NHCO (Nathan Hale Community Organization) meet and greet Tuesday April 30th at 6:30PM.

Also, please consider signing up to help with the lunch for the guest speakers and other volunteers for Climate Day of Action April 24th. While you’ve got your calendars out, we also need help with Staff Appreciation events May 7th and 9th (how we show our teachers, administrators and building staff how much we love and value them!).  To all you non-senior families, consider helping plan and/or work the most anticipated event of the year…the graduation reception!  Email Katie Fleming nhcoconnections@gmail.com or text 206-354-5161 to hop on the end of the school year express!

Buy Your Tickets for Spring Musical – Cinderella

The clock has chimed 12 times and that means it’s time to buy tickets for Hale’s spring production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella! This iconic musical puts a new twist on the classic story of pumpkin carriages and glass slippers. Come see Cinderella in Hale’s Performing Arts Center at 7:00PM May 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 10th, and 11th. We also have a sensory friendly matinee Saturday May 11th. For more information check out the Nathan Hale Theatre website. follow us on Instagram @nathan_hale_theatre. See you there! Purchase tickets on the BookTix-Nathan Hale theatre webpage.

Spring/Summer Clothing Drive, 5/6-10

Counselor Lex is hosting a spring/summer clothing drive. Donations can be dropped off before or after school in the Main Office. All gender styles and sizes will be accepted! Only dry, clean clothes, please! A list of specific items is included in the Daily Bulletin under the Parents/Families section.

Assistance League of Seattle Summer Scholarships

The Assistance Leave of Seattle awards scholarships for students to attend summer programs. Their application deadline of May 15th is fast approaching. Here is some info including link to their application.

• Maximum scholarship awarded will be $500
• All camps/programs will be considered, with the exception of those with a religious affiliation
• Must currently be in grades 4 to 11
• Applications must be submitted by May 15, 2024
• Contact scholarships@alseattle.org with any questions
• You can find an application on the Assistance League-Seattle website

Student Email

Please encourage your student to regularly check their district email. This is one of the most important ways for us to distribute information to your student. Developing this habit during their early years in high school will help ensure that when your student is a senior, they will not miss out on important information that gets communicated out by the office, the librarian, our counselors, etc.

Enjoy the sunny weekend!

Much love,

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