HSD News Round-Up
August 8, 2024
Getting Ready for the 2024-25 School Year
We can’t wait to see you and your student back on campus! You can find open house information, bell schedules, meal prices, bus routes, school supplies, athletics, and more on our Back to School page. You can also find basic school information, including contact numbers, at the links below:
Hockinson Heights Elementary School
School Hours: 7:45 am - 2:15 pm
Wednesday 1 hour early release
Office Hours: 7:15 am – 2:45 pm
School Hours: 8:50 am - 3:20 pm
Wednesday 1 hour early release
Office Hours: 7:45 am – 3:45 pm
School Hours: 9:00 am - 3:30 pm
Wednesday 1 hour early release
Office Hours: 8:15 am – 4:00 pm
We Want to Hear from You: Voice Your Input on Facilities Planning Committee Survey #3
This spring, the HSD Facilities Planning Committee (FPC) invited Hockinson families to participate in two surveys designed to engage the community in identifying facilities improvement priorities. Families are again being asked to take a moment to voice their thoughts on its latest survey, which drills down into solutions to those priorities. Note: It is estimated that this survey will take 5-10 minutes to complete. Parent input from these surveys offers valuable perspectives and direction to the FPC, a community-based advisory group, as it researches facilities needs and, ultimately, makes recommendations to the Hockinson School Board. In FPC Surveys 1 and 2, we asked families to prioritize facilities needs and provide input on ways to address these needs. Read a full summary of survey #2 results here.
Click HERE to take FPC Survey #3.
Spotlight on Facilities Planning Committee Member Heather Swanson
The Facilities Planning Committee (FPC) is a team of community members, HSD staff, and school board representatives charged with the responsibility of researching solutions to challenges such as overcrowding at the elementary school and safety needs for our growing student population. The committee began its work last fall and will be collecting community input through surveys and upcoming engagement events to prioritize facilities projects and make a plan to address important issues facing Hockinson's schools. That plan will ultimately be presented to the HSD School Board later this fall.
Today, we’re highlighting Heather Swanson (pictured: far right) for her contributions to the FPC team! Heather Swanson is a Hockinson parent and works as a teacher in a neighboring school district. She loves spending time with her two teenage daughters, reading, and solving puzzles.
"I feel it is important for community members to have a part in facilities planning in order to meet the unique needs of our school district. We each bring a different point-of-view and our combined voices make for a stronger education for our children," said Heather.
"The values that guide my role on the committee are transparency, responsibility and a focus on the best interests of all students."
Thank you for sharing your time and insights as a classroom teacher with the FPC, Heather!
Informational Opportunities about HSD Facilities Coming Soon
The Facilities Planning Committee (FPC) invites Hockinson community members to participate in a Facilities Open House and school tour this fall. At the events, FPC members and community members will:
Discuss the results from FPC surveys 1, 2, and 3,
Review the facility needs identified by families as priorities in these surveys, and
Explore possible solutions to address these needs.
Attendees will also have the opportunity to tour school facilities, including areas that do not currently meet the needs of families and students and require repair or replacement. Here are the details:
Facilities Open House & Information Night
Tuesday, Sept. 17 at 6 pm @ HHES
HSD Community Tour (starts at HCC and visits HHES, HMS, and HHS)
Friday, Oct. 18 from 8 - 11:30 am
Fueling Minds for Learning: 2024-25 School Meal Info
How to Find School Menus
To find school menus, search Hockinson, WA on Nutrislice. Here, you can find month-by-month menus for each school at the link.
How to Make Payments
Families can make meal payments via InTouch or Skyward Family Access.
- InTouch: Access the InTouch link and login using your student’s 5 digit student ID number with two zeros at the front for the username. This is the same as their lunch/library number. For the password, use your student’s last name in all caps.
- Skyward: Follow these steps to make payments via Skyward.
Meal Costs for 2024-25
Breakfast:
HHES: $1.85
HMS: $2.05
HHS: $2.35
Lunch:
HHES: $3.35
HMS: $3.75
HHS: $3.90
Free/Reduced School Meals Program: Nutritious & Confidential
The Free/Reduced School Meals Program provides nutritionally balanced, low-cost or free lunches to children each school day. It also provides discounts for school activity fees.
What You Need to Know:
The program is 100% confidential.
Students receiving free or reduced meals are served the same food as everyone else.
Students are never called out or identified as receiving free or reduced meals.
In addition to free or reduced meals, the program qualifies students for school fee discounts.
When families participate in the free and reduced meals program, it qualifies schools for additional federal dollars.
Filling out the application is easy! Just follow these instructions to apply via Skyward.
Check out this chart to see if your family qualifies.
Questions? Check out the HSD website or contact caroline.chapman@hocksd.org
Volunteers Reorganize, Enhance the Hockinson High School Library
Hockinson High School's library is getting a fresh, reader-friendly makeover thanks to 18 dedicated volunteers! Led by HSD parent Scott Tomlinson (pictured), the team of volunteers reorganized the fiction section by genre to help students discover and enjoy books more easily this fall. Read more here.
Tech Turnaround: Planning and Fiscal Responsibility Result in Modern Tools for Learning
This summer, Hockinson School District is upgrading outdated classroom technology at Hockinson Heights Elementary using existing levy funds, avoiding the need for a separate Tech Levy. With a focus on responsible spending, the district is ensuring that students have the modern tools they need for success. Read more here.
Registration for HMS, HHS Fall Sports is Now Open
Athletic registration is open for high school students and incoming 7th/8th grade students. Student athletes must be registered and cleared on Final Forms to start practices and tryouts. All athletes must also have a current sports physical (good for two years) on file. Register on Final Forms here. For step-by-step online registration instructions, click here.
HHS: First Day of Fall Practice:
Football: 8/21/2024
Cross country, golf, swimming, tennis, soccer and volleyball: 8/26/2024
HMS First Day of Fall Practice:
Boys & girls cross country: 8/26/2024
Girls Volleyball tryouts: 9/3 - 9/5/2024
Visit the Hockinson Middle School and Hockinson High School athletic pages to learn more about fall sports.
Apptegy: HSD's New Notification System for Emergency and School Updates
We're excited to introduce Apptegy, our new family notification system! Beginning this month, Apptegy is our new system to send emergency and school updates. Families will not need to do anything differently to begin receiving Apptegy text, call, and email messages from the school district. When we send our first text message using the new system, it will be accompanied by this one-time text:
"Welcome to Messaging for Hockinson School District by Apptegy. 5 msg/month. Msg&Data rates may apply. Reply HELP for help and STOP to cancel."
Rest assured, this message is not a scam. We do not recommend replying STOP because doing so will opt you out of important emergency, weather, and transportation updates from your child’s school.
We're always looking for ways to improve communication. We'll be sharing more about Apptegy's capabilities, including website and social media integration, in the coming months. Stay tuned!
Register Your Student Now for the '24-25 School Year!
It is very important that we have an accurate count of students for staffing, scheduling, and classroom planning. So if you haven’t yet registered your school-age child who is new to the HSD, please register now! You can find required documents and instructions on how to register your new student here. The registration process has been streamlined and it's online, so you can do it anytime.
News Bites
Curious about Spring SBA scores? In mid-October, student standardized test scores for the 2023-24 school year will be available in Skyward, under “Test Scores” in the left sidebar. We will notify HSD families via Apptegy once these scores are posted. Individual student score reports will also be mailed to families in late October.
Fall HHS Sports Schedules can be found at hockinsonhawks.com. New this year: Boys Tennis has been added as a Fall Sport!
Spirit Wear Pop Up Shop - The first spirit wear pop-up shop of the school year will be on Monday, August 26 and Tuesday, August 27 at HHS. The shop will be located outside the high school front doors on August 26th from 9am - 3pm and the 27th from 9am - 2pm during HHS Orientation.
Don’t forget! The first day of school is Wednesday, August 28. Please note: Because we start on a Wednesday, all three HSD Schools will release 1 hour early.
Contact Us
Email: justine.hanrahan@esd112.org
Website: https://www.hocksd.org/
Location: 17912 NE 159th St, Brush Prairie, WA 98606, USA
Phone: (360) 448-6400