Friday 4/21 Message to Families

Beloved Families, 

The safety and security of our school community is always foremost in our minds. The wellbeing of students and staff is my top priority as principal of Nathan Hale High School. As a follow up to my safety and security message yesterday, I want to share essential elements of how we keep our students safe. Our safety systems are strong and deep. Seattle Police Department (SPD), Seattle Public Schools (SPS) and individual buildings work closely together to address concerns and threats when they arise. At Nathan Hale, we have an excellent working relationship with SPD, and a very effective administrative and security team partnership.

My commitment is to be transparent and timely in sharing of information pertaining to the safety and security of our community. It is also to work together with students and staff to maintain an environment where reporting of information is valued as one of the most effective ways to keep our school safe. At the foundation of that partnership is trust and respect. Last fall, our students shared their observations that students may not know who to report concerns to, what should be reported and how to go about reporting. We saw this as a student-centered opportunity to build trust within our community through transparency and education. A team of students have been working on a NHHS safety and security video from the student point of view that will be shared with all students and staff in mentorship. They have interviewed administration, security specialists, counselors and other key staff in making the video. We are looking forward to adding the video to the tools we have for keeping our community safe.

We encourage families to talk to your students about the importance of reporting any threats or concerns they hear or see. They are encouraged to share concerns with administration, security or any staff member they trust. Often, students or families grapple with a concern and are not sure if they should report or not. Please report. We would far rather err on the side of caution than miss a critical piece of information that might make a difference in our ability to keep our school safe. Please remember, you can use the SPS Safe Schools Hotline 206-252-0510 to report any threats to SPS schools. This phone number is managed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

While it saddens me the information I have shared is in the scope of what we all have to be aware of now, I am heartened that Nathan Hale is a community where we focus on working together to make our school safe.

I’m closing here with love to our families and community. Please see our other school notices below my signature.

With love,

William Jackson, Ed.D. (he, him)
Principal

Smarter Balance Assessment

The Smarter Balanced (SBA) English/Language Arts exam will be administered in the 10th grade humanities classes next week from April 24th – 28th. 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.  

Hello, Dolly! from Nathan Hale Theatre

Greetings Nathan Hale theatre enthusiasts and friends!  We are thrilled to invite you to see our spring musical Hello, Dolly! It’s a joyful, musical celebration of life and an invitation to join the parade — say “hello” to love, to friendship, to adventure! Buy tickets or for more info about Hello, Dolly! visit the Nathan Hale Theatre.

Performances are May 4, 5, 6 and 12, 13 at 7pm, and a matinee May 13 at 2pm. (The matinee will be a sensory-friendly performance, designed for people for whom theatre is not typically accessible.) 

Chaperones Needed for Spring Fling Dance

The sophomore class is looking for at least 20 chaperones for the upcoming Spring Fling Dance next Friday, April 28th from 7:30-9:30pm. Volunteers should arrive at 7:15pm. Chaperones will fill different roles and will be stationed around the cafeteria; it may involve distributing snacks, managing coat check or hallway supervision. If you’re interested in chaperoning, please email Rae Keyes at rkkeyes@seattleschools.org once you have filled out and submitted the online SPS Volunteer application. The links for volunteering at Hale are below:

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 this page.

If you are new to volunteering with SPS and have never completed a volunteer application, we would need for you to complete the forms/process.

SPS Skills Center

Students- are you interested in Automotive technology?  Construction? Nursing? Video game animation? Fire Fighting and Emergency Medical Services? Would you like to jump in and explore a career field by trying your hand at learning some of the skills? The Seattle Skills Center offers these courses and more! Earn high school credit while learning introductory practical skills. Summer classes are also available. They are fun and, you get high school credit! Get more information about Skills Center and register.

Class of 2023

We are two months away from graduation! We will have an updated Senior Countdown Calendar out next week for families of the Class of 2023. Upcoming distribution dates are:

  April 26th, Wednesday, 2:30pm   Jostens announcements and grad bling

  May 17th, Wednesday, 2:30pm    Senior Signs (for lawns and windows)

  June 7th, Wednesday, 2:30pm     Caps & Gowns

All senior distributions will take place in the Activity Center.