The Scoop Spring 2023 Edition

Hamlin Robinson School

Spring is in the air!

Along with spring comes longer, warmer, sunnier days ahead. We start planning and planting our gardens and arranging outdoor social events with our families, friends, and neighbors. It’s a time of renewal and new beginnings.

What’s new at Hamlin Robinson School? After opening our middle school in December, we’ve been learning how to navigate operating in two buildings. Our campus more than doubled in size, presenting a variety of opportunities for expanded programming as we also explore how we stay connected to each other while working in two spaces. A green themed “Great Hamlin Robinson School Bake-off” was a fun way for our faculty and staff to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, while putting their baking skills to the test.

Gratitude is the state of pausing to notice what is right here, ready to be appreciated now. It also makes us feel more connected to others. Our annual auction marries these together – gratitude and connectedness. On March 18, we gathered at the Seattle Design Center for our auction gala, Set Sail! Our auction inspires community, builds connection, and renews our commitment to our mission. Thank you to everyone who made this special evening

a resounding success. It was boat loads of fun, with 100% of proceeds supporting our school. We are thrilled to return to a full slate of offerings for the Hamlin Robinson School Summer Academy. Summer Academy offers a three and a half week Slingerland® morning class and afternoon camps for students entering grades 1-8. Afternoon camps are week-long activities with a variety of options for students to choose from. Our faculty are so creative when they plan their summer offerings –there is something for everyone. It’s great for parents too; the class and camps can be combined to create a full day experience.

As an organization, we have so much to be thankful for, including a rich history, our current and present thriving growth, and a future with endless potential. As a school, we are positioned to lead in the literacy education space. We have the right people, supported by a dedicated community with the passion to drive our mission forward. The seeds are sowed – and I can’t wait to see what blossoms.

Stacy Turner Head of School

Cover photo: Auctioneer Ian Lindsay and Stacy Turner

Enrichment

"We are such stuff as dreams are made on."

SEATTLE SHAKESPEARE Company

is the Puget Sound region’s yearround, professional, classical theatre and is known for their dynamic outreach programming. Through their youth programs, they brought enriching experiences in Shakespeare performance and instruction to HRS in April. In the lower school, seven different workshops gave students the opportunity to experience being an actor. The workshops highlighted how we use our bodies and words to translate meaning. Students worked together and engaged in role play to demonstrate emotions. After each workshop, there was a chance for questions, with many students asking when they will be able to do this again.

In the middle school, actors from the Seattle Shakespeare Company

performed several short scenes over two separate sessions. The scenes were from Romeo and Juliette and included time for questions at the end. The actors brought the scenes to life with voices, emotions, costumes, and a skilled narrator. After the adventure onstage, students inquired about the prep work that goes into performances, including tips for memorizing lines and how to mentally get into character for several parts or shows at once. This fantastic activity was made possible thanks to the Joan Beauregard Endowment for Discovery and Enrichment. We are always seeking unique enrichment experiences. Have an idea to share? Please reach out to Rebecca Nuffer at rnuffer@hamlinrobinson.org. •

HAMLIN ROBINSON SCHOOL Alumni Day

CALLING ALL ALUMNI! On May 31, come back to the nest at HRS and reconnect with friends and former teachers, play games, and see how HRS has grown. And, space permitting, sign-up to take a guided tour of the new middle school building.

Every year we look forward to welcoming HRS alumni back so we can stay connected. We hope all our alumni can join us. Let us know you’re coming and sign up for a tour on the HRS alumni webpage.

Wednesday, May 31 3:30pm – 4:30pm

HRS Middle School

4th Floor Event Space

Register: www.hamlinrobinson.org/alumni

For questions, email Lauren Andrews landrews@hamlinrobinson.org

HRS Resident Teachers

Empowering Educators and Expanding our Reach

At Hamlin Robinson School, we provide exceptional opportunities for aspiring educators to kick-start their careers.

Through a year-long resident experience, education professionals learn effective literacy instruction methods for teaching and supporting students with languagebased learning differences.

First introduced in 2012, over 60 resident teachers have served our program at the lower and middle school levels.

As HRS has grown, so has the need for residents; expanding from only a few participants each year to almost a dozen this school year (pictured above).

Resident teachers have the unique opportunity to work closely with a team of experienced educators

for a full academic year. They receive direct mentorship, provide classroom support, and gain valuable hands-on and classroom experience to help them develop their teaching skills. Some residents enter the program right out of college, while others are further into their career. By the end of the school year, residents have robust experience that sets them apart from their peers and fuels their future in education.

Before this experience, Jen felt a desire to serve neurodiverse students in her classroom.

However, without specific training, she knew she wouldn’t be as effective, so she connected with HRS Head of School, Stacy »

Jen Minear (pictured below) recently completed a year as an HRS resident teacher.

» Turner, who advised her to research programs such as U-ACT at the University of Washington.

While working with the University of Washington to complete her master’s in teaching, she was hired as a resident teacher. She describes the students she taught at HRS as some of the most incredible students she ever worked with.

She was frustrated when hearing about struggles her students had in school before HRS and motivated to see the authentic success they achieved as a result of explicit instruction.

Jen experienced this first-hand; in partnership with existing HRS teachers, she was able to coprovide assessment and curriculum support throughout the year in both literacy and mathematics. She learned how to merge the worlds of literacy and math. Seeing how

math is intertwined with literacy skills, she was able to understand that neurodiverse students need their unique learning strategies incorporated in math pedagogy.

This experience strengthened her confidence in her ability to provide structured literacy supports to students outside of HRS and helped her become the teacher she is today.

After completing her time as a resident, Jen is now a full-time teacher at The Bush School where she is able to apply the skills she learned at Hamlin Robinson.

With dyslexia effecting 20% of the population, it’s no surprise she currently has students in her class with language-based learning differences. Thanks to her experience at HRS, she now

has the tools she needs to serve every student in her classroom with effective instruction.

At Hamlin Robinson School, resident teachers are not just educators, they are building and developing specialized experience, and taking that knowledge and expertise into the wider community. They complete their tenure feeling fulfilled, empowered, and accomplished as educators.

It is through the hard work and dedication of our resident teachers that students with languagebased learning differences outside of HRS are receiving more support than ever before. •

Learn more about the resident teacher program on our website: www.hamlinrobinson.org

UNDER A CANOPY of lights and nautical signal flags, our community gathered together, spending time with friends and making new connections. The photo booth, sponsored by 8 Diving Company, was an event favorite, capturing memories and providing a photo strip giveaway for everyone. Guests also tried their luck at the Seas the Day wine pull game – walking away with specialty wine courtesy of Browne Family Vineyards, including two premium bottles created in partnership with environmental non-profit One Tree Planted. Cheers to a great time!

Stacy Turner thanked everyone for their dedication to the mission of our school. He encouraged attendees to raise their paddles high and often, helping us reach the fund-a-need goal and surpass the challenge to exceed $200,000. Throughout the evening, live item bidding was spirited, with everyone united in the knowledge that every dollar raised will support HRS faculty, staff, and students. We were thrilled to include a micro dining experience with HRS alumnus and former Top Chef competitor Luke Kolpin. Together with fellow Top Chef competitor Shota Nakajima, this event will feature local, handcrafted bites and easily sold-out.

Thanks to everyone in our community, whether in person or anchored at home, for making this event an amazing success. Your support will help HRS serve even more students and families. It is this collective effort that ensures our mission remains strong and our school continues to flourish.

It was nothing but smooth waters at this year’s 2023 HRS Auction Gala: Set Sail!

Turning Community Passion into Action: Our Work Continues

In spring 2020, Hamlin Robinson School published a newsletter article with these words:

We are painfully aware of how many kids are not able to attend HRS or access our HRS Learning Center tutors; of how many parents struggle to find answers for their children; and of how many educators are not equipped to teach students with dyslexia. As a community...it is useful to channel this frustration into actionable support.

Through the HRS Learning Center and Hamlin Robinson School programs, we continuously offer and seek new ways to deliver actionable support. Our new event spaces reflect this commitment.

When Hamlin Robinson School designed its new middle school, student educational needs were explicitly made a priority. The board also considered how the building would forward its strategic goal of strengthening the impact of Hamlin Robinson School locally, regionally, and nationally.

Our laser-focused resolve to support students, families, educators, and community members in the Seattle area and beyond resulted in the purposeful design of the entire fourth floor of the building.

The facility includes a conference center, a group meeting room, a commercial-grade kitchen, a tutoring center, and a large outdoor deck.

What can we do with these new spaces? The possibilities are countless and as we work and

host guests in the new space, we recognize there are benefits we may not have even considered yet. Our current objectives include:

• Growing the HRS Tutoring Program to regionally and nationally support students with dyslexia and other language-based learning differences

• Building a parent support program offering robust resources and regularly scheduled events

• Serving our community as a go-to venue for regularly scheduled educator workshops related to the topic of dyslexia and other language-based learning differences

• Partnering with area non-profit organizations that need accessible, affordable meeting and event space

The struggles and frustrations we referenced in 2020 have not gone away. In fact, they are more relevant than ever. Through these new spaces, Hamlin Robinson School will continue to channel passion into action for our students and community. •

LEARN MORE:

www.hamlinrobinson.org/LC

1701

206.763.1167 www.hamlinrobinson.org

UPCOMING EVENTS

May 18, 2023

Arts Fest

May 31, 2023

Alumni Day

June 14, 2023

Graduation

July 5-28, 2023