September 6, 2021
Dear NHS Families,
School starts tomorrow, Tuesday, September 7th, 8 AM – 2:30 PM! Remember to do a health screening/temperature check at home before leaving for school. If your child is ill, please keep your child home, and notify the office. Please remind drivers to park in a parking spot to drop students off. Drivers may not enter the buildings, but they may assist students with supplies to the bridge outside of the Main Building (Building M) or to the area outside of classrooms, while masking and keeping appropriate physical distance.
Student Schedule and Supplies:
Upon arrival, students should come to the bridge outside of Building M to receive their schedule and directions to their Homeroom Class. Per my letter last week, “Preparing for Full-Time, In Person, On Campus Learning”, students are only required to bring a minimal amount of supplies, as we will not be using lockers or cubbies due to COVID-19. Here are the minimum requirements for supplies:
Required:
Bring these required school supplies in a labeled large Ziploc bag or small storage container to be left at school: notebook paper, pens, pencils, erasers, small pencil sharpener.
Optional:
Other optional school supplies that may be left at school in labeled large Ziploc bag or small storage box if desired:
- calculator
- sticky notes
- highlighters
- markers
- colored pencils
- copy paper/drawing paper
- free reading book
Any additional school supplies may be returned to the store or left at home until they are needed or until we are able to use lockers and cubbies. Any large items such as paper towels, Clorox wipes, Kleenex, or reams of paper that you wish to send in, please bring to the bridge in front of Building M. You may also opt to return them to the store or keep them at home and bring them to school later.
We apologize for any confusion regarding school supplies. With the ever changing Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Washington State Department of Health (WA DOH) rules regarding shared touch points and physical distancing as well as our increased use of technology for downloading and uploading assignments, we made some changes to streamline and minimize the student supply list.
Student NHS Laptops and Accessories:
We will check out your student’s NHS laptop and accessories at school tomorrow:
Required:
These items will be checked out to you on the first day of school:
- fully charged NHS laptop
- NHS laptop charger
- NHS laptop bag/sleeve
- NHS headphones/mic
- NHS wired mouse
These items will be labelled with a number and checked out individually to your student. Please make sure that your child brings these items to school daily with a reminder to bring them home daily. Please support your child in understanding that this equipment and accessories are checked out and that your child is responsible for keeping them clean, safe, and damage free. Many laptops were returned to us dirty and/or damaged. The NHS office will bill for any items that are lost or damaged.
If your student still has technology accessories such as charger, headset, or wired mouse at home, please return them to school as your student will be receiving additional items tomorrow. We only received about 50% of these items back in June and at the end of Summer School. We appreciate your support!
Full Day Instruction:
Your child will be engaged in full day instruction this year, M-F, 8 AM – 2:30 PM. Attendance will be taken daily for every class. Please be sure that your child arrives to school by 8 AM daily. Your child may be dropped off as early as 7:45 AM. Please make sure that your child is picked up promptly at 2:30 PM daily.
Health & Safety:
Health and safety for everyone is our top priority. As noted in my letter to families last week, we are taking a layered prevention approach to help keep everyone safe and healthy. We require CDC approved masks, physical distancing, handwashing and respiratory etiquette, staying home when sick, and proof of COVID-19 testing when appropriate. We have improved ventilation in our buildings, we are cleaning and disinfecting daily, and if anyone tests positive for COVID-19 or should an outbreak occur, we will follow SKCPH guidance regarding quarantining or shifting to remote learning. Viral transmission in King County continues to be high.
Academic/Social/Emotional Well-Being:
Your child’s academic/social/emotional well-being is also a high priority. At NHS we strive to make learning accessible to all of our students by using Universal Design for Learning and Instruction (UDL and UDI) strategies. We focus on skills-based instruction at the appropriate skill levels for each individual student. We utilize authentic assessment methods (daily engagement in class, completion of assignments, mastery of skills, portfolios, project-based learning, and culminating projects) to assess student progress and adjust instruction as needed. We provide summer school every year to ensure that students are continuously progressing in skills. We also explicitly teach personal interaction, social behavior, and emotional coping skills to promote positive and healthy student relationships. In collaboration with families, private care providers, and NHS counselors, we explicitly teach social/emotional learning skills and provide mental health supports at school. Your child is included in all aspects of the school community, his/her voice is heard, and many opportunities for building student communication, teamwork, and leadership skills are provided. All of our students are valued, respected, and welcomed into our school community.
NHS Counselors:
In collaboration with Antioch University, Seattle, we provide a school-based mental health counseling program to NHS students and families. Our NHS Counselors are present on campus M-Th to provide support in self-care, coping with stress, managing anxiety, social problem-solving, and crisis care. You can reach our NHS Counselors by calling the front office at 425-226-3717 or by contacting them directly:
Isaac Cheng: icheng@new-horizon-school.org, icheng@antioch.edu, 425-516-2876
Helen Kornfeld: hkornfeld@new-horizon-school.org, hkornfeld@antioch.edu, 858-531-2631
Career & Technical Education (CTE):
At NHS we focus on supporting our high school students in focusing on and being motivated to progress toward the next steps after high school. Our students identify a Graduation Pathway and select four Career & Technical Education classes within that pathway during their high school career. This systematic approach assures that all students fulfill graduation requirements, have a clear direction in their educational program, discover meaningful connections between educational activities and their chosen Pathway, experience more hands-on learning, and graduate with skills, knowledge, and experience to support their post-secondary transition from school to adult life.
Attendance:
Governor Jay Inslee proclaimed a State of Emergency in March 2020, and that state of emergency continues. As a result, the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) has revised attendance requirements several times. If your child is attending in-person learning, we mark students absent if not in the scheduled class at the beginning of class and throughout the entire class period. If your child is attending remote learning, we mark students absent from synchronous learning if not logged on to the scheduled Zoom class at the beginning of class and stay for the entire class. We mark students absent from asynchronous learning planned asynchronous activities when not accessed that day. Evidence of attendance must occur daily, and NHS is required to take and report attendance daily.
Reminder Regarding Travel:
If your child is not fully vaccinated, your child must be tested for COVID-19 3-5 days and stay home and self-quarantine for a full 7 days after travel outside of Washington. If your child is fully vaccinated, your child must self-monitor for COVID-19 symptoms, isolate, and be tested if symptoms develop. Please notify the office.
We know it’s a lot to take in:
We know that it is a lot to take in. If your child was on campus during hybrid learning in April – June or in summer school during July, things will seem very familiar. Teachers may be in different classrooms t, teachers and students may move to different classrooms during the day, and furniture may be rearranged to accommodate physical distancing requirements. If your child hasn’t been on campus for either hybrid or summer school, we will help your child learn the health and safety rules.
If you have any questions, please ask:
Judy Colson, jcolson@new-horizon-school.org, 425-226-3717
Vikki Colson, vcolson@new-horizon-school.org, 425-226-3717
Marla Veliz, mveliz@new-horizon-school.org, 425-226-3717
Sincerely,
Marla Veliz
Administrator