Happy Friday,

Tonight is a good night to get out and come checkout the Battle of the Bands at Nathan Hale. This student-led event starts at 7:00pm in our Commons.

This week I enjoyed getting outside and watching some Raider athletics. Our boys soccer team got the W over SAAS on Monday. I enjoyed seeing our boys team battle and make goals to be victorious. I do not know much about soccer, but I sure enjoyed watching them compete. On Tuesday our girls fastpitch was at it again battling Lincoln. One of the greatest joys I have as principal is spending time outside the school walls watching students compete and show Raider Pride through extra-curricular activities. It is never too late to order your NH Spirit Gear.

I would also like to share that our Hale Gx ultimate frisbee team had an amazing performance at last weekend’s Seattle Invite, attended by many of the best teams in the country. They played with heart, character and resilience, finishing at the top of all Seattle teams, launching them to a NATIONAL ranking of 6th. (This is especially impressive as there are no divisions in ultimate, meaning they are matched against schools twice the size of Hale.) This should make all of us all proud.

Tuesday, we had an Earthquake Drill. During this kind of drill staff and students practice the stop-drop-hold protocol. We expect students and staff to know how to protect themselves during instances of shaking. We continue to have monthly drills to support student learning around emergency preparedness. As spring approaches, we will conduct more evacuations and students will practice leaving the building quickly and meeting at their mentorship location on the football field. Consider asking your student where their mentorship location is located.

With spring being in full swing, we have increased the level of attention and support to ensuring students stay in class. Each week, we are tracking when students leave class without permission and/or use the hall pass for unintended purposes—such as very lengthy breaks walking the halls. Teachers are instructed to use an attendance code “LU”–which means, “left early—unexcused.” We pull the data at the end of each week, and we are implementing tiered interventions to support students who have at least one “LU” for the week. Our first layer of intervention is just to learn why they are making that choice and be clear about the rules.

The end of the quarter is Tuesday, April 7th. My hope is that all students finish the quarter strong and made it to the end feeling good about their efforts and academic performance. Our young people continuously need our support and guidance to help them make good choices as they navigate an ever-changing world filled with so much choice and social media influence. Former Seattle SuperSonic, the late Lenny Wilkens, once said, “A community becomes better through mutual support and by taking the time to recognize each other. Supporting one another and helping each other strengthens the community.” Each week at Nathan Hale we work hard to do better, be better, and grow together to help ALL students become honorable, skillful, thinking, global, citizens. As we enter the last quarter of the school year let’s all work together to ensure students do the following:

1. Get to school on time and stay in class during academic time. School starts at 8:50 a.m. Please use the NH Bell Schedule as a resource.
2. Engage and participate in the academic time in each class. Academic time is the full period from the start to the end time of each class period.
3. Complete all school assignments and projects. Keep track and monitor schoolwork and work closely with each teacher for success. Student advocacy is important.
4. Mentorship: Use mentorship/support time to get help from a staff member or trusted adult. Ask for help before it is too late. Utilize this time daily.
5. Attendance: Be in school. Make sure students communicate with the attendance office when they are away from school. Use the halehs.attendance@seattleschools.org email address to report absences or late arrivals/early releases.

NH Athletics: The next spring sport grade check is happening this weekend. Sports Eligibility will be determined by final 3rd quarter grades. Student athletes must be passing at least 5 classes with a minimum 2.0 GPA. Please look over Source grades with your student. You’ll find the spring sports schedule on the Nathan Hale Metro page.

Wednesday, we had our 26-27 Running Start information session in the library. It was well attended: 65 interested rising juniors and seniors. Our school counselors did a great job in partnering with North Seattle to ensure students have the appropriate information about Running Start. As a current parent of a part-time running start student, who takes two classes at Hale (AP Environmental Science and PreCalc and has a Mentorship class) and two Running Start classes I asked students to make a promise. They promise to involve their parents/families as partners to help them navigate Running Start. To keep their parents/families in the loop and ensure they make sure to stay organized, check school and Running Start emails daily, work collaboratively with both teachers at Hale and North Seattle, and work directly with both school counselors and North Seattle counselors for success. I highly encourage parents/families to look at the Running Start information slides shared at the information session that will be posted on your student’s Schoology page. Running Start is a great opportunity for students who are ready to brave the college experience responsibly. For parents who wish to attend an information session, North Seattle is offering additional sessions throughout the month. Please use the North Seattle Running Start Info Session link for more information.

SPS Device Collection (End of Year Info):

I am sharing key information regarding fines and fees for SPS devices so parents/families can start looking for equipment before the end of the school year collection dates and protocol are released. All devices and accessories not returned by a school’s collection deadline will be marked lost in the Destiny system, and fines will be applied to student accounts in accordance with district policy.

Fines for unreturned items include:

• Laptop: $350
• Laptop charger: $48
• WiFi hotspot: $50

Next week is AP Appreciation Week. We will celebrate our two amazing Assistant Principals: Ms. Burrell (Lower House 9-10) and Mx. Zoba (Upper House 11-12). We appreciate everything they do for us at Nathan Hale! Send them a note and celebrate their hard work.

Have a nice weekend. Enjoy the good weather and time with family.

In Partnership,

Jolene Grimes
Proud Principal
Nathan Hale High School