Welcome Back by Jennifer Neafcy, Hope Assistant Principal
Welcome back from your Labor Day weekend. I would like to take this opportunity to welcome all our new families and students to Hope! Our first week back at school was full of energy and excitement with new and returning students and staff. I was exhausted, in a good way, at the end of the week, so an extended weekend to get some extra rest was very much appreciated!
Each school year usually begins with excitement and a little trepidation for me, and this year was no different. This year I transitioned from being in the classroom full-time into the role of assistant principal. My preparations for the school year began this summer where I jumped in on my first day very excited about new opportunities and new challenges, but also a little nervous about how this transition would take place. I’m sure that many of our students, especially those that are new to our school, experienced some of these same feelings last week as the school year began.
After a summer of quiet in the office, I am thrilled to have the noise and busyness that comes with the beginning of the school year. Our hallways and classrooms have been full of learning new routines and procedures and making new friends. I have been doing the same. My time has been spent learning new routines and procedures from a school-wide view rather than from a classroom perspective, as well as meeting new students and families, and greeting returning students, some of whom stepped on our campus for the first time after a year of virtual learning. What a joy it has been to have everyone back on campus, and I look forward to all of the great things that will be happening at Hope this year!
Calendar of Events – Click Here
Wed. 9/8: 8:40 AM Chapel for K-4 & 9:05 AM Chapel for 5-8
Fri. 9/10: Deadline for Hope School Apparel Orders
Wed. 9/15: 8:40 AM Chapel for K-4 & 9:05 AM Chapel for 5-8
Fri. 9/17: Free Dress Day – Review policies here
Upcoming Events
Tuesday, September 21 – Curriculum night – more information to come
Friday, September 24 – All school picture day. This day will be individual pictures only with class pictures scheduled for the springtime.
Student Arrivals
Students in grades K-3 may arrive between 8:05-8:20 AM; students in grades 4-8 should arrive between 8:15-8:30 AM. Please arrive in those windows of time to reduce the possibility of COVID-19 exposure between students. We do not have the ability to supervise multiple students waiting out front and still maintain social distancing. Families with students in both age groupings should try to arrive between 8:15-8:20 AM. In addition, please remember to pull all the way forward at drop-off to ensure other cars are able to pull in as well. Younger students should be encouraged to learn to unbuckle seat belts and exit the car independently as much as possible. If your child needs assistance, feel free to park in the lowers parking lot or another location and walk them to the front of the school.
At afternoon pick-up time, families with older students should wait until 3:00 to come to the front on 42nd Ave SW. Families with a younger student may pickup at 2:50, exit campus, and return at 3:00. We need to be sure we allow space out front for families with younger students to pick up before the parking is taken by families waiting for older students.
We realize the staggered time for school presents challenges but we can work through them. Thank you for your assistance in maintaining these safety measures!
School Milk / Hot Lunch Program
Milk can be purchased through our SMART Buy Now link: https://bngn.smarttuition.com/?id=bzd030en5td
Hot Lunch can be ordered through NEST’s website: http://www.cafestellinacatering.com/NEST-School-Lunch-Program.html orderable and payable on a month-to-month basis.
Hope School Apparel – Deadline Sept. 10, 2021
Hope school apparel items can be purchased through our SMART Buy Now link:
https://bngn.smarttuition.com/?id=jlhbqek3lpt. Deadline for orders are due by Friday, September 10.
Uniform Drive Continues Through Sep 17, 2021
We will keep our gently used uniforms out through Friday, Sept. 17 for families that would still like to shop; contact the school office to arrange a time to come in.
Tuesday Newsletter & Communication Envelopes
Our newsletter is sent via email every Tuesday and will also be posted to our website at www.hopeseattle.org. Please notify the school office at 206-935-8500 if you require a hard copy. Our weekly newsletter is used for general announcements, calendar date changes or reminders, Parent Involvement Program (PIP) opportunities, sports, and much more! Other communication tools we utilize are Vertical Response, which goes out via email, and Gradelink. Please ensure that your information is up-to-date for your family in our Gradelink portal. All students will also be sent home a bright yellow communication folder with important school forms. Please sign the outside of the envelope, remove the contents and return the folder to your child’s homeroom. Do not place forms inside this envelope; instead, attach any forms returning to the school to the outside of the envelope.
Chapel Offering Envelopes
Offerings are collected during our chapel services from the students using their weekly offering envelopes. Hope School continues to sponsor a child, Christopher Tano, through Compassion International. Your students offering envelopes are available in their classrooms starting today. These offerings allow students to develop a pattern of giving as part of their Christian lives and to share God’s love by supporting missions and charities. Therefore, we encourage students to give from their own money (allowance or other earnings).
School and Pandemic Handbooks
At the back to school event, families received 2 paperwork packets from the office. The first is our usual updated School Handbook, which includes all our normal policies and procedures for the school year. This handbook does not have any big changes from last year’s handbook.
The second item is an updated Pandemic Family Handbook. This handbook details our specific changes in policies and procedures necessary to run a school in a pandemic. Please take some time to familiarize yourself with these documents. Remember that due to the extreme difficulty in teaching on Zoom and in person simultaneously, we do not plan to teach in a hybrid model at this time. If necessary due to quarantine, we will switch to a full virtual model.
Rainbow Parrot Art Classes for Hope students – Online art enrichment program
These super fun art classes are taught in 6-week installments by former K-8 art teacher, Lacey Reuter.
Free/donation based class: Steampunk machines, Sept. 14th @ 4-6pm
Session A1 (Recommended for grades 1-3): Tuesdays Sept. 21-Oct. 26 @ 4-6pm
Session B1 (Recommended for grades 4-8): Thursdays Sept. 23-Oct. 28 @ 4-6pm
Projects: Starry Night, jungle drawings, Cubist faces, haunted houses, Northern lights, dandelion paintings.
Free art kits provided for all Hope students who register by Sept. 13th. Students who register after Sept. 13th will need to provide their own materials.
Cost per 6 week session: $215 Early bird price (register by Sept. 15th with coupon code: RAINBOW). After Sept. 15th, the cost is $255.
https://www.rainbowparrotart.com/live-online-art-classes
