Dear Nathan Hale Families,

The year is off to a great start with many wonderful things happening. We have several new teachers, we have approximately fifty more students than last year, and we have added to our ICP program (Intensive Communication Program) with a class at NHI. In addition to this, we are continuing our plan to place interactive boards in all classrooms.

Ms. King (formerly at Hale Pre-K) has joined our team in first grade. Ms. Carmody is a new teacher in grade two to replace Mrs. Anderson who retired. Ms. Avila has joined the third grade team as a bilingual teacher, and Ms. Faro has joined the team as the dual language teacher. At NHI Ms Murphy has rejoined the team after one year at Whittier School. Ms. Vargas is a new member on the 5th grade team as the transitional bilingual teacher. Ms. Vargas has ten years of experience in grades 5-8.

Last year we hired Ms. Buckley as our ICP teacher at NHP. This year we have expanded the program to NHI and were fortunate to hire Ms. Skupian who had been at George Washington School for the past ten years. We are very proud that we have this program to offer in School District #130.

We just completed our second annual Walk a Thon and it was a giant success. There were over 30 parent volunteers here for the event. We raised nearly six thousand dollars through student pledges. All of these funds will go towards our building goal of having an interactive white board in every classroom. We hope to have this goal accomplished by the end of the 2012-13 school year. This technology greatly enhances the level of engagement in the classroom which should lead to higher learning rates.

As always, we greatly appreciate all of the parent support that we have. We cannot do this job by ourselves; it takes the whole community working together. Do not hesitate to call, e-mail, or just stop by if you have any questions or concerns.
 

Sincerely,

Jim Duggan
Principal

 

Assistant Principal's Message

 

 

My name is Bridget Gainer and I am the new assistant principal at Nathan Hale Primary and Intermediate.  I began my teaching career in District 130 thirteen years ago as a second grade teacher. After teaching second grade, I became a Reading Recovery/ Primary Literacy teacher and had the opportunity to work in many different buildings in our District, including Nathan Hale Primary.  I am very excited to be back at Nathan Hale.  I’d like to thank you for entrusting us with your children.  It is a job that we take very seriously. I am looking forward to working with you to achieve a valuable educational experience for your children. If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact me by phone (708) 385-4690 or email at bgainer@district130.org.  

 

Sincerely,

Bridget Gainer
Assistant Principal