The Hawk's Nest Hansen Community Newsletter September, 2025
A Message from Mrs. Jones
Welcome back, HAWKS! At Hansen, we have been eagerly awaitng your return. Our teachers and staff have been working incredibly hard to get our 'nest' ready for YOU!
We are very excited to see you all at the Back-to-School BASH on Tuesday, Sept. 2nd from 3pm-5:30pm. You may come to Hansen at anytime during those hours to drop off your school supplies, meet your teacher, eat some ice cream, and play on the playground. We are really looking forward to reconnecting as a community.
Let's have a great year, HAWKS!
School Day Logistics
First Day!
Our first day of school for all 1st-5th grade students is this coming Wednesday, Sept. 3rd. At Hansen, the school day begins promptly at 8:30am.Our doors open to students at 8:15am. If you are walking or driving your student, please arrive early enough so that your student has plenty of time to get inside the buidling before 8:30am.
All students who do not ride the bus will enter the school through the side door near the gym. Bus riders can enter through the playshed. All students meet together in the gym each morning to start our day together. This is an important community-building time.
The first day of school is a full Wednesday, 8:30am-2:45pm. ALL other Wednesdays through the school year will run 8:30am-1:55pm.
If your student plans to ride the bus to and from school in the 2025-2026 school year, please register each student using this Google Form (English, Spanish, Vietnamese).
Preschool and Kindergarten students begin school on Monday, Sept. 8th.
Morning School Drop-Off
If you are driving your student to school, please have your child exit the car once you are up in the turnaround area. We do not want students walking through the parking lot for safety reasons. Once your student has exited your car onto the sidewalk, please pull forward to keep traffic moving. This is very important so that all cars can get through the drop-off zone in a timely fashion.
If you walk to school, please carefully follow the directions of the crossing guard, enter where the car parking lot is located, and stay on the sidewalks. Please do not walk through the bus entrance gates. This is unsafe as buses are entering and exiting.
If your student arrives after 8:30am, they will buzz into the main office to receive a tardy slip. Attendance is critical for school success. This will be a major emphasis of the school this year. Every morning, every classroom will start the day with a morning meeting and breakfast at 8:30 AM. The purpose of this time is to build strong classroom communities and create a strong sense of belonging for our students. Being on time will be critical to their involvement with morning classroom time. Thank you for making sure your student gets in the doors prior to 8:30 AM.
If you are having trouble with on-time attendance, please don't hesitate to reach out for help. We can help!
Afternoon School Pick-Up: Car Lane
When you pick up your student by car, please follow the traffic flow to the right after entering the school parking lot. You will then enter the turnaround and proceed as far forward as possible. There will be multiple cones that students will stand at, waiting for you. Adults will be with the students, directing them to a specific cone as they see your car approaching. Please meet your student at the cone they are directed to. Please stay inside your car if you are in the pickup line. If you would like to get out of your car to pick up your student, or if your student needs extra help getting in the car, please park in a designated spot and walk up to their grade level pickup area.
All families will be given a placard to place in the windshield of your car if you pick up your student via the car lane. These placards will be handed out at our back-to-school night or sent home on the first day of school. Please write, in large, legible letters, your child's first and last name on the placard. Please display this in your windshield as you are entering the pickup lane each afternoon. This will really help our pickup work efficiently.
After School Pick-Up: Walkers
Any adult or student walking to and from school will need to follow the directions of our crossing guards. It is extremely important that no one walks through the bus loading area. If you are walking to drop off or pick up your student, please help guide and teach them to follow the sidewalks in the car entrance gate and wait for crossing guards to stop the parking lot traffic before crossing to the next sidewalk. At afternoon pickup, parents may wait in 1 of 2 designated waiting areas. One area is near the small preschool playground, and the other area is near the playshed.
Students will come out to the front of the school with teachers and stand in grade-level groups. Students who are walking home on their own need to exit campus at dismissal. There is no supervision for students on the playgrounds without adults after school. Thank you for working together to keep all of our Hawks safe!
** If you have a dog with you when you are picking up your student, the dog must stay on leash at all times. Please do not allow your dog to approach other students. Dogs may not be off leash at any time during school or Ycare hours. Thank you so much for keeping all kids safe.
Breakfast After the Bell
At Hansen this year, we are serving 'Breakfast After the Bell.' This is a federally funded program that offers free breakfast for all students in their classrooms. Students and their teachers will be dismissed from the gym at 8:25am each morning to walk to their classrooms and pick up breakfast on the way to class. All students have this option, but it isn't required. All breakfast items will be hand-held and easy to carry to classrooms. This was quite successful at Hansen last year, and I am thrilled we have the option to continue. We also serve free lunch to ALL students at Hansen. This is because Hansen is a part of the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP).
In order to continue with this federally funded program in the future, ALL HANSEN families are asked to fill out two forms:
- The 20205-26 Child Nutrition and Education Benefit Application (linked here: English, Spanish, Vietnamese)
- The Consent to Share Program Eligibility Information (linked here: English, Spanish, Vietnamese)
Please download, fill out the form, and either email or print a copy and send it back to the school. Whether or not you have historically qualified for free/reduced lunch, please fill these forms out.
Announcements
Snacks
Snack Donations
Hansen is looking for snack donations. Most Classrooms will have a class snack time. We are looking to provide a snack to any child who needs on during their snack time. We are specifically looking for donations of:
- Goldfish crackers
- Popcorn
- Saltines
- Pretzels
If you are able, please bring donations to our front office anytime.
Electronics and Toys
Please help our school days run smoothly by double-checking your child's backpack, ensuring there are no extra toys, trinkets, or electronics inside. These types of things really add to the distractions and stress levels of the kids.
Our school policy follows the OSD policy of "Students will not use telecommunication devices in a manner that poses a threat to academic integrity, disrupts the learning environment, violates the privacy rights of others, or as part of bullying, harassment, or intimidation."
At Hansen, we ask that all cell phones, smart watches, and any other electronic device be stored in the student's backpack during the school day. This helps ensure a safe and focused learning environment.
Sometimes, really important items end up lost. If your student would prefer to store their device in the school office (and pick it up every day), that is always an option.
Thank you for double checking your student's backpack each day.
If you or your student need to get ahold of each other for any reason during the school day, there are phones available in the office that students may use.
The Little Mermaid, Jr. by Hansen Students!
We are so excited to announce that our own Hansen Students will have the opportunity to perform the musical, The Little Mermaid, Jr.! The Pacific Northwest Theater Company will be leading our students in this endeavor.
Click here to read all the information regarding registration, important dates, and requirements for participation. Participating in The Little Mermaid, Jr. is open to all 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders and is completely FREE of charge!
Volunteer at Hansen!
Parents, Caregivers, Community members, and Guardians are welcome at Hansen! If you are interested in helping our school in any way, please fill out a background check form here. The volunteer background check form must be filled out every school year. If you are interested in helping directly with your child's teacher, please contact the teacher directly after filling out the background check. There are many jobs around our school for volunteers to help with. When you are visiting or volunteering at Hansen, we ask that you please not take any photos of kids who are not your own.
HCC/HAP
Monthly Meeting
Please join us every month for the HCC and HAP parent meetings. You will see a reminder in each month's newsletter about the meeting date and time.
- Date: Tuesday, September 9th
- Schedule:
- HCC @6PM
- Principal's Report @6:45PM
- HAP @7PM
Both HCC and HAP will hear the monthly principal's report at 6:45pm. Please consider joining HCC and/or HAP. This is an excellent way for all community members to be a part of the wonderful things going on at Hansen!
Visit the Hansen HCC website here or email hansencouncil@gmail.com to find out more information.
Important Upcoming Dates
September
- 9/2 Back to School Open House 3:00-5:30pm
- 9/3 First day of school (1st-5th grades) 8:30am
- 9/7 The Little Mermaid, Jr. registration opens
- 9/8 First day of school (preschool & Kindergarten)
- 9/8 BooHoo Yahoo Breakfast for Kindergarten families outside the front of the school
- 9/9 First HCC/HAP parent community meeting 6pm in the Hansen Library
- 9/12 Red Robin fundraiser night