Message to Families

Beloved Families, 

I hope you had a great final week of the school year. Congratulations to the Class of 2023! Tuesday evening, we celebrated our commencement ceremony at Nathan Hale. The celebration was exciting and powerful. As our seniors walked across the stage on Raider Field in caps and gowns with educators and families present, we reflected on how their four years of high school was like no other. They triumphed over the challenges, and we congratulate them.

As we close out the school year, we would like to share our gratitude and appreciation for all of the ways our families have supported our students and school throughout the year. To our Music, Theater and Sports Boosters who have worked at concessions and held bake sales to raise funds for their programs. To our Nathan Hale Community Organization for staff appreciation, lunches for Climate Action Day and Unity in the Community panelists and more. To the Nathan Hale Foundation for the fundraising done on behalf of the whole school. To the Senior SPREE committee who pulled a SPREE together and fundraised for scholarships. To the parents and guardians who have chaperoned dances and field trips, participated in classroom activities as panelists or workshop leaders and helped at school events. The strength of our school is in the partnerships between our families and staff. We appreciate you!

Nathan Hale families and loved ones, have a great summer! For those returning next school year, expect a message from me in August welcoming you back to our 2023-2024 school year.

For Class of 2032 Families

Grades and Transcripts – Due to our late start of the school year last fall, grades will not be finalized in the system until the week of July 17th.  You have a short window of time to access report cards and transcripts before PowerSchool shuts down on July 19th. It will not reopen again until August 7th. Seniors, please note that Naviance closes on July 25th and reopens August 1st. When it reopens on August 1st, because it will rollover to the next school year, any new requests must be made as an alum. Instructions were sent in a previous email from Ms. Takahashi to all seniors on June 16th, with the subject line, “Senior Check out and Request Transcripts.”

Donating Caps and Gowns – Families who would like to donate their graduate’s cap and gown may bring them in to the main office from 8:30am to 3:00pm on Mon 7/3, Thur & Fri 7/6 & 7 or on Mon 7/10. Due to the holiday, the building will be closed Tues & Wed 7/4 & 5. We collect caps and gowns for families who would like to donate so that future graduates may borrow them.

Student Lockers – Bring Items Home!

Please remind your students that their lockers should have been cleared out today, the last day of school. Custodians clear out all the lockers over the summer and reset combinations in preparation for the next school year. Any items left behind in the lockers will be thrown away. Students returning next year will be re-assigned a new locker at the start of the school year.

Free Meals All Summer

For all kids and teens 18 years old and younger! Grab a free meal at one of Hunger Intervention Program’s meal sites. All sites also serve free meals for parents, and have healthy HIP Packs available on Fridays with shelf-stable food for weekends. The program runs from June 28th through August 28th, Monday through Friday unless otherwise noted. No meals served on July 4th. For the most up-to-date information and to view their activity calendar, visit: Learn more about Hunger Intervention Summer Eats. Locations throughout North and Northeast Seattle. Flyers in Amharic, Arabic, Mandarin, Somali, Spanish and Tigrinya are also available on their website.

Meadowbrook Teen Life Center Free Summer Programs

The Meadowbrook Teen Center is operated by Seattle Parks and Rec and offers free activities for youth ages 11 through 17 this summer. Field trips, fitness training, swimming, outdoor activities, arts and crafts, social-emotional recreation, and more! They are open Tuesday through Thursday, 1:00 – 6:00pm and Fridays 3:30 – 8:00pm from July 11 through August 25th. The Meadowbrook Teen Life Center is located on the Nathan Hale campus and can be accessed from the South (or student) parking lot. There are steps to their entry just before (or, west of) the footbridge that leads to the track and football field. Call 206-684-7523 for more information.

Teen Health Center and FamilyWorks Family Support

Now that summer break has started, the Teen Health Center and FamilyWorks Family Support has gone on hiatus and will not start back up again until school is back in session in the fall. During the summer, FamilyWorks Food Bank is accessible in their Wallingford location. For more information, please go to the FamilyWorks website.

Summer Hours for Nathan Hale Office

As noted above, the office will be open Monday, July 3rd, Thursday/Friday July 6th and 7th, and Monday, July 10th from 8:30am to 3:00pm. The office will be closed starting Tuesday, July 11th through Tuesday, August 1st. 

Distraction Free School

Next school year, starting in the fall of 2023, students will be expected to keep phones and headphones away throughout the academic day. This policy will be upheld throughout the school day and as part of this policy, we will be asking all families and students to sign a distraction free agreement, which includes expectations for phone usage throughout the school day. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for our distraction free policy, please complete the following survey

For the 23-24 school year, Metro will NOT bring cards to school for distribution. 

Students will have to register for their own ORCA cards. They should do so as soon as possible ( in order to have them for the next school year) however, there is no time limit to apply. They will need to do the following:
1). Visit MyOrca
2). Sign in/Sign up for an account
3). Upload their age verification to show that they qualify for the card.
Metro will mail the student’s card directly to their homes.

Farewells to Retiring Staff

We wish our retiring staff well and thank them as they leave NHHS for their next adventures. They are: Joanna Forsyth, Hoover Hopkins, Megan Miller, Debo Tolentino, Tina Tudor and Linda Wilson. Their combined service to Seattle Public Schools amounts to over 150 years! We are grateful for all their contributions to making Nathan Hale the school that it is, and for their work in developing honorable, skillful, thinking, global citizens.

Enjoy your summer!

With love,

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