The Hawk's Nest Hansen Community Newsletter February, 2025
A Note from Mrs. Jones
Strive for fewer than 5 days absent!
From now until the end of the school year, our goal is to "Strive for Five!" This means working to miss less than 5 total days- school is so important! We are really taking off in our 2025 school year at Hansen Elementary School! I am so excited to see all of the smiling faces every day. Students are settling in, working hard, and learning how important their presence is within their classroom communities.
Please help us with school attendance:
- Use bus routes when available. Buses will almost always get kids here on time in the morning
- For parent drop-off, have kids at school at 8:15 AM
- Schedule appointments outside of the school day when possible
- Unless kids are vomiting or have a fever, please send them to school
- Please schedule vacations during regularly scheduled breaks from school
If I can be of assistance in any way as it relates to getting kids to school on-time, please don't hesitate to reach out. cajones@osd.wednet.edu
Announcements
February is Black History Month
Students at Hansen will all experience meaningful and creative studies around black history this month. As a school, we will be creating a "Celebration of Heritage" quilt, where each student will design a square that represents some of their learning for the month. Our school is working together to design engaging and truth-seeking lessons around honoring our Black Heroes this month.
Parents Night Out!
Parents Night Out is sponsored by the Hansen Community Council (HCC). This coming Friday, Feb. 7th, is the Penguin PJ Party! Parents, drop your kids for a night of fun activities, games, dinner, a movie, popcorn, and snacks while you have a night out!
- Time: 6pm-9pm
- Cost: $25 for one child; $45 for two children
- Sign up at: Penguin PJ party
Valentine's Day Friendship Feast
We are celebrating Valentine's Day with a Friendship Feast during lunchtime at school. On Feb. 14th students' lunch will be a Belgium waffle, strawberries, whipped cream, sausage, and milk. We will have some table cloths and table "candles" to create a "fancy friendship feast." Caregivers are invited to join us to help with all the FUN and stay for recess if you'd like! Sign up here if you are interested in volunteering. Whether you sign up or not, you're invited to be there!
Here is our daily lunch and recess schedule:
- 10:55am-11:35am: K/1 Lunch & Recess
- 11:40am-12:20pm: 4/5 Lunch & Recess
- 12:20pm-1:00pm: 2/3 Lunch & Recess
Classrooms will not be having individual Valentine parties, but students are welcome to bring Valentine cards for classmates - please be sure every classmate gets one if you choose to hand out cards.
Yearbook Cover
This year the theme of our Yearbook is "Hansen HAWKS: Flying High Together!"
We invite all students to enter our yearbook cover contest. Create a yearbook cover that best represents our theme and our value of community and working together. Guidelines for the cover are on the attached graphic. Covers are due on Feb. 10th, and you can turn them in to the front office.
CISPUS!
This coming Friday, Feb. 7th, is the final cutoff for any student to sign up for CISPUS outdoor school. If your student has been hesitant, now is the time! Hansen Elementary 5th graders are all invited to CISPUS! If you have any concerns or questions about your student attending, please reach out and we can sit down to talk about it. This 3-day, 2-night outdoor science camp is an incredible hands-on learning experience for kids. Hansen will attend CISPUS March 10th, 11th, 12th. I really encourage all 5th graders to attend. They will make memories that will last forever! about that.)
Report Cards
The first semester ends on January 31st. Teachers are working hard to prepare report cards for all of our students so that you can see what kind of progress they are making.
Report cards are viewable on Family Access (Skyward) on Wednesday, February 12th by 3:00 PM.
We are no longer printing report cards for all students. However, if you would like a printed copy, we are happy to print one for you. Please just reach out to your classroom teacher if you would like a printed report card.
Reminders
Parent Square
At this point, we hope you all have received email notifications to sign up for Parent Square. This is the platform that our school will use for school communications. If you do not sign up for Parent Square, you will continue to receive notifications based upon your Skyward preferences.
However, please sign up. This platform is amazing. It will allow you to keep track of all school communications and it will allow you to update your Skyward information with ease.
- Here is a link to sign up for Parent Square.
- Here is a link to learn more about Parent Square through the district website.
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 one during their snack time. We are specifically looking for donations of:
- Goldfish crackers
- Pre-made Popcorn
- Saltines or Pretzels
HAWK Award Assemblies
We will continue to celebrate our weekly HAWK award winners every-other-month at assemblies. That means our Nov/Dec HAWK award winners will be recognized in an assembly in December.
Dates:
- 3rd-5th grades: Monday, December 16th @ 2:10PM
- Kinder-2nd grade: Tuesday, December 17th @ 2:10PM
Because these assemblies are pretty quick, we have moved the start time to 2:10pm so that we end with just enough time to walk back to classrooms, pack up, and leave.
If your student has received a weekly HAWK award in Nov. or Dec. and will be recognized, you will receive a phone call and an email from the school.
Financial Assistance Available
The Olympia School District Education Foundation provides support to families in need. With their support, we can help with:
- Rent and utility bills
- Clothing and shoes
- Eye exams and prescription glasses for students
- Transportation
- School Supplies
- School-related expenses
- Internet through Xfinity
- And so much more...
We can also provide grocery vouchers to Ralph’s or Bayview grocery stores and gas vouchers to help with transportation. Contact Family Liaison Lakia Hollis if you have questions. lhollis@osd.wednet.edu
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. 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 News
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, February 11th
- 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.
*If you cannot attend in person, please click here for either meeting to attend virtually
HAP Lottery for the '25-'26 school year.
Dates for entering our HAP program have not yet been released. However, we invite anyone who is interested in being in a HAP classroom to attend one of our upcoming information nights. Both nights will be located in the Hansen library and will share identical information:
- Tuesday, Feb. 25th @ 6pm
- Thursday, Mar. 13th @ 6pm
Our HAP classrooms are community-based classrooms where you will find many caregivers offering their time, talents, creativity, and resources. We welcome ALL students in our city to join HAP!
HAP Board Chair & Treasurer
HAP needs one or two volunteers to assume the Chair and Treasurer for our Board. This is a wonderful opportunity to help shape the future of HAP and to continue valuable work for our students, teachers, and school. Email hansenhap@gmail.com or come to the community meeting on February 11th if you are interested in volunteering and would like to hear more about the position.
HAP email list
If you’d like to receive emails from the HAP Leadership Team regarding upcoming HAP events, donation and volunteer opportunities, please sign up by filling out our Google Form. We hope you will join us for the HAP parent meeting this month where we will be voting on our HAP Handbook during the meeting. Come at 6:45 to hear the principal's report and stay for the 7pm meeting.
For questions regarding HAP or how to be a part of the HAP lottery this spring, email hansenhap@gmail.com anytime!
Important Upcoming Dates
- February 5th: Elementary Orchestra Concert @ TMMS @5:30PM
- February 7th: Parents Night Out!
- February 11th: HCC/HAP community meetings
- February 12th: Report cards posted to Family Access in Skyward
- February 14th: Valentine's Friendship Feast during lunch
- February 17th & 18th: President's Day Mid-Winter Break
- February 24th: Big Smiles Dental @ Hansen; HAWK Award Assembly 3rd-5th grades
- February 25th: HAP info night; HAWK Award Assembly K-2nd grades
- February 5th, 12th, 19th, 26th: Early Release Wednesdays @ 1:55pm