WOH For Tuesday, May 19, 2020
Having a Baby during a Pandemic…
(Not recommended but also not the worst) By Tim Allen, Middle School Teacher
When you are thinking about having your next child, the last thing that you think about (well, at least for my wife and I) is that in 9+ months when the baby is born, there will be a global pandemic going on that will shut down the world and change just about everything. For us, it definitely was an interesting time to be in the hospital, but everything turned out fine.
Kamdyn Madison Allen was born at 8:00pm on Friday, April 10th, 2020, happy and healthy! She turned 1 month old this past Sunday, and here are a few blessings that have surprisingly come out of having a baby during a pandemic:
1) We chose to keep our older daughter, Harlyn, home from daycare the same day Hope closed (March 16), so we were able to be together as a family of 3 for almost a whole month before we grew to a family of 4. This gave us an amazing time to prep Harlyn for the addition, and provide her with some much needed 1 on 1 time with us before our time had to be split with the new baby.
2) Our stay in the hospital was very quick (she was born at 8pm on Friday and we were discharged at 9pm on Saturday) because that’s the last place anyone wants to be!
3) I have gotten to be home every single day during Kamdyn’s life and watch her grow and change, so much more than I was with Harlyn. It is a huge blessing to be able to work more flexibly during the day, currently, and be present every day.
4) People have been so generous in supporting us with meals provided, social distancing style, meeting her through the screen door, and other gifts dropped off to show their love, even if they can’t hold her yet.
Of course, we are very excited to get back to a more normal time of having anyone who wants to cuddle/hold Kamdyn, but we can be patient and might just have to throw a massive 1st birthday party next spring!
May 22 & 25: Memorial Weekend – No School
June 5: Last Day of School Instruction
June 9-12: Hope Handover – Sign Ups for Student Drop Off/Pick Up
Summer Camp: June 22 to July 24, 2020
Hope School Summer Camp
This year’s summer camp will have a variety of fun themes and will begin the week of June 22. We will be open Monday through Friday for students who have completed one year of preschool through age 12. Preschool/extended care director Christina Figgins will run our summer camp program with our regular wonderful extended care staff. Summer camp registration is now open. You may access registration by clicking on the following link: https://campsself.active.com/hopelutheranschool
More safety procedures are currently being finalized and we will share these with each family closer to the opening date of June 22, assuming that we are able to open as scheduled. At this time, we feel reasonably confident that we will be able to host a summer camp program, although certainly we may find out we have to cancel if leaders share that it’s not safe to operate. If we do have to cancel summer camp, we will offer a full tuition refund minus a $20 per week processing fee.
If you have questions about the details of signing up, you may contact Sally Heit at sheit@hopeseattle.org. If you have questions about camp or safety protocols, you can reach out the summer camp director Christina Figgins at cfiggins@hopeseattle.org or Principal Kristen Okabayashi at kokabayashi@hopeseattle.org.
Tuition Materials Past Due for 2020-2021
Tuition materials for our 2020-2021 school year are now past due. Please remember that the following items must be completed and returned to the school office ASAP; Tuition Invoice and Tuition Contract. SMART Tuition accounts need to be set up or re-enrolled as well. Please call (206) 935-8500 or email Mrs. Wallace at swallace@hopeseattle.org if you have any questions regarding these materials or instructions for SMART Tuition or if you have registered but have not received your materials.
To register, please visit: http://hope-lutheran-school.k12online.us/hope-lutheran-school/portal and enter your student’s ID number and access key to complete the registration process. Student ID and access keys can be obtained by calling or emailing the school office.
If you have applied for tuition assistance between April 30 and May 18 you will be receiving a grant letter and a revised tuition invoice which will be sent via US mail.
Facebook LIVE!
If you are currently on Facebook, please follow the school and church page for the latest updates and news plus a morning announcement to start off the day. If you are not on Facebook you can view the posts on our website homepage in the weekly blog post.
Church News & Activities – Click Here
Visit our website https://vimeo.com/hopeseattle/videos to watch live video church services.
Hope Church VBS
We are excited about sharing the Hope of Jesus with your family this summer through VBS! We will be offering a virtual program for five Wednesdays in a row beginning on July 1. A prerecorded two hour virtual experience will be released each Wednesday at 9:00 am. Families will have the freedom to watch the various stations whenever they want. Each family will receive a Family Kit that will include age appropriate workbooks, take home activities, Bible Buddies and a CD for preschool-5th grade. The program is free. Online registration will open next week.
