HSD News Round-Up

At its Oct. 28 regular meeting, the Hockinson School Board voted unanimously to place a bond measure on the February 11, 2025, Special Election ballot. As illustrated below, the bond proposal includes plans for a second elementary school to address overcrowding, safety improvements at all schools, a Career & Technology Education building for job readiness classes HHS, and other facility improvement projects. Learn more about the bond and what it means for our community: hocksd.org/bond

As you may know, Hockinson School District purchased 40 acres near Hockinson Meadows Park (NE 119th Street & NE 172nd Avenue) using impact fees in 2023. We wanted to make our community aware of some maintenance work that will take place on this property in the next few weeks. This work will involve agricultural equipment and is a continuation of last summer's efforts to remove and control common noxious weeds like tansy ragwort and hemlock to help keep local livestock, pets, and wildlife safe.

The HSD does its best to practice preventive maintenance at all of its facilities and this plowing and seeding is a proactive move to prevent noxious weeds next spring. It is not related to the proposal for a second elementary school on this site. Any potential development of the property as a school site would require voter approval of the February 11 bond measure and permitting from the county.

Last week, HHES, HMS and HHS all received the news that they were receiving the Culture Kick Off Awards from the Association of Washington School Principals (AWSP) and the Association of Washington Student Leaders (AWSL)! This prestigious award recognizes schools that foster a positive culture through a strong kickoff to the school year, events like spirit week and the volleyball-a-thon, and intentional forward planning for a positive school year. Leadership students across all three HSD schools played a key role in sweeping the awards by helping create an environment where everyone feels connected and motivated. Congratulations to students and staff for this well-deserved honor! This award announcement follows Hockinson Middle School’s AWSP School on the Rise recognition earlier this year.

HSD Nutrition Services Director Joshua Brown-Silva is pursuing a goal that every day, HSD students have a fresh item on their plate. While fresh options have always been available, Brown-Silva has expanded them over the past four years. For example, last month, all HSD schools incorporated fresh fruit (cantaloupe) instead of canned fruit in their salad bars. Sometimes these items are a hit (roasted vegetable medley at HHES) and sometimes they are not (zucchini at HMS), but Brown-Silva is undeterred. "Part of my job is making sure our students are exposed to nutritious food options that they may not see every day," said Brown-Silva. "I love seeing the breakthroughs, when students like a fruit or vegetable they haven't tried before."

Brown-Silva also knows that students also like having choice, which is the idea behind "Your Vote Matters" in which HHES students vote on their favorite dishes (pictured). No surprises here. After the votes were tallies, Pizza was #1 and Chicken nuggets were #2. Read the full article here.

Brown-Silva wants to remind all families that HSD schools will be serving up a Thanksgiving Feast the week of Nov. 21. Lunch prices are $3.35 (HHES), $3.75 (HMS), and $3.90 (HHS) and students can charge up their accounts or pay with cash, but no change can be given due to time constraints. Any change will be applied to the student's lunch account to be used for a future meal.

Attention HSD parents: Are you interested in promoting health learning environments for our students? If yes, then you might want to get involved in our district's Wellness Committee. It's a group of district and school employees as well as parent and student volunteers that share an interest in ensuring that our schools comply with the district wellness policy and our students have access to healthy foods, physical activity, and mental health support.

The HSD Wellness Committee meets in November, February, and May and presents an annual report to the HSD School Board. If you would like to join this committee, contact Aaron Villanueva, HSD Business Services Director at aaron.villanueva@hocksd.org or (360) 448-6400.

For the past three years, Rick Steele, retired Battalion Chief for the Vancouver Fire Department and former HHS football coach, has been working alongside the HSD's Safety Director, Superintendent Steve Marshall, to continually improve safety in HSD Schools. Most recently, the two have collaborated on revising our district's parent-student reunification procedures (see below). Here is a quick Q & A with Rick:

What is your background with school and student/staff safety?

When I worked for the Vancouver Fire Department, I served as the department’s liaison with the Clark County Safe School Task Force. In the 25 years since, I have participated in the annual Safety Summits and consulted with the Vancouver Public Schools and Evergreen School District. For the past 3 years I have worked with the HSD to improve its safety program.

How do you feel about seeing schools take steps to get more prepared, more safe?

School safety is something I am passionate about and it is gratifying to see the improvements we implement pay off. Hockinson has made some big gains in its safety program and I feel very good about this progress.

What’s ahead for school safety in the HSD?

As we implement new procedures, I’m excited to see how the staff and students respond and the overall level of knowledge and preparedness [in Hockinson Schools] continues to improve. What I really want to do is provide people with the tools so they do not feel helpless and instead know what to do to act and make a difference in an emergency situation. Specifically, Steve [Marshall] and I are working to make an HSD school a pilot school for a new emergency labeling system that directs students and staff toward exits, AED devices, and designated shelter-in-place locations.

Thank you, Rick. Also, thank you Hockinson. Funds from the 2022-26 EP & O Levy enable the district to purchase the services, supplies, and equipment that make our schools safer.

Parent-student reunification may be required in response to various emergency situations including extreme weather, police activity, on-campus incident, or natural disaster.

Reunification Levels:

The HSD is prepared for four different levels of parent-student reunification:

• Level 1: Reunification on-site with normal pick-up procedure outside of normal pick-up hours;
• Level 2: On-site reunification involving controlled release of student to parent/guardian involving Reunification Information form (which would be provided to parents);
• Level 3: Level 2 reunification at another HSD site (#1 option: HHS stadium);
• Level 4: Level 2 reunification at Hockinson Meadows Park or another non-HSD site TBD.

In the event of an emergency, parents would be notified of the reunification level along with further details and instructions.

Each year, Identity Clark County (ICC) celebrates local school employees and volunteers who make outstanding contributions to student learning and school resources. As a non-profit coalition of local business leaders, ICC recognize that schools are the “foundation of vibrant, healthy communities where people want to live and employers want to operate.”

This year, ICC recognized HHS English teacher Elizabeth Fortier and parent volunteer Jennifer Foster at its October 24 “Live Here, Learn Here Heroes” awards ceremony. Fortier worked with Project Lit to create a library with over 1,000 books, while Foster’s leadership with fundraising efforts generated over $90,000 for the district's band program. These are just two examples of how Fortier and Foster go above and beyond for the Hockinson school community.