Beloved Families,

I hope you are looking forward to Spring Break next week. When we return, we will have about 10 weeks of school remaining. During the break, encourage your student to get outside, avoid too much screen time, get good rest, and hopefully come back from break ready to finish the school year strong! The Nathan Hale High School Foundation’s annual HaleYes! event is less than a month away. The Foundation does amazing work providing support for our Hale community, learn more on the NH Foundation What We Fund webpage. Join us for this special 60th anniversary “Hale Through the Ages” celebration on Saturday, April 27th, buy your tickets on the HaleYes! 2024 webpage today!

As a reminder, there will be no school April 8th through April 12th for Spring Break. During the break, both the Teen Health Center and FamilyWorks will be closed. They will return to their regular hours starting Monday, April 15th.

Transgender Day Of Visibility, March 31st

This past Sunday, March 31st was Transgender Day of Visibility. This special day is in honor and dedication to transgender people and to raise awareness of the discrimination faced by transgender people worldwide, as well as a celebration of their contributions to society. The first International Transgender Day of Visibility was held on March 31, 2009. My apologies for missing this in the last Friday Message!

Senior Class Updates

Cap & Gown Distribution – We have two dates scheduled when National Achiever will be on site to hand out caps and gowns to those who ordered them. The two dates scheduled are April 29th and May 15th. The time has yet to be determined but will likely be towards the end of the day.

Buy SPREE Tickets Now! – From the SPREE Parent Committee: Parent donations raised enough money so tickets this year are just $145! Register for your ticket on the SPREE Ticket webpage. Seniors should contact their counselor for information about scholarships. Check out the SPREE webpage for more information.

Check Spelling of Name – When seniors return from spring break, they are encouraged to stop by the Main Office to check the spelling of their name for the graduation program and diploma.

Smarter Balance Assessment

The Smarter Balanced (SBA) English/Language Arts exam will be administered in the 10th grade LA/Social Studies classes the week of 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 or follow us on Instagram @nathan_hale_theatre. See you there! Purchase tickets through the Nathan Hale BookTix webpage.

School Safety

A reminder that Nathan Hale unequivocally denounces racism, discrimination, and religious bigotry. Antisemitic, Islamophobic, or anti-LGBTQ speech, acts, or symbols will never be tolerated in our school. I take my responsibility to create a welcoming and inclusive environment very seriously. We expect everyone to be treated positively, without fear of bullying or intimidation. As a school and district, we are dedicated to creating inclusive environments and reducing prejudice.

When we return from spring break, I will be meeting with several student groups to engage students who may have felt targeted by graffiti around our building. We will hold restorative circles with these students to give space with peers and caring adults for them to share their experience.

The Nathan Hale school leadership team is creating a plan to make this a teachable moment for our students. We will lead our students in a schoolwide discussion about the importance of building up our community as a place of inclusivity, respect, and equity.

I urge our community to recognize that students are in a crucial phase of development. Please engage with your student about the perpetuation of hate and racism. 

Families play an important role in discussing these issues with their students. Here are some resources for having these discussions with your students:

• Common Sense Media – How to Talk to Kids about Violence, Crime, and War
• American Psychological Association – Resilience in time of war
• Talking to Kids about Race and Racism
• The Anti-Defamation League resources

If your student is feeling anxious or would like to talk about this with a trusted adult at school prior to our school-wide discussion or at any time, please encourage them to reach out for support. Additionally, Crisis Connections provides a 24-hour crisis line at 866-427-4747 and students can also access Teen Link at 866-833-6546. 

If you or your student has any concerns regarding harassment, intimidation, and bullying, please share them with me or our school administration, so we can adequately support and ensure school safety. Concerns can also be sent to the Seattle Public Schools Office of Student Civil Rights at OSCR@seattleschools.org.

We hope you and your family have a safe, restful and renewing spring break. We will see your student back in school on Monday, April 15th.

Much love,

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