Hamlin Robinson School
The focus at Hamlin Robinson School is, first and foremost, on our students. Our mission to ignite the academic and creative potential of students with dyslexia and other language-based learning differences increasingly extends far beyond the walls of our school. We are simply not content unless we’re doing our utmost to extend our expertise and resources with the wider community.
students with dyslexia and languagebased learning differences. ALDS connects the people, resources, and events of these schools so that our collective impact on students and families is magnified.
MISSION To ignite the academic and creative potential of students with dyslexia and other languagebased learning differences.
VISION The world class educational program at HRS is a catalyst for students to discover the joy of learning within a rich, comprehensive school experience.
CORE VALUES
Respect, Responsibility, Purpose, Perseverance
EQUITY STATEMENT
The Hamlin Robinson School community strives to ensure each student and their family has access to the supports they need within an inclusive environment that recognizes and honors all aspects of identity. We aspire to create an equitable environment for each student, family, faculty and staff, and all members within our community where everyone thrives and knows they belong. We are committed to this journey which requires continual self-reflection, vulnerability, intentionality, and accountability from each of us.
The Scoop is a publication of the HRS Advancement Office and is mailed quarterly.
As we have grown over the past decade, the HRS Learning Center has kept pace. First conceived to extend the expertise of HRS into tutoring services for students, the Learning Center now encompasses much more. I hope that you’ll read about the amazing outreach going on through our Learning Center on page 6.
It’s amazing to see how much the energy and activity at HRS is impacting our wider community. Through the HRS Learning Center, we are connecting with community non-profits to benefit underresourced students. We’re planning grant-funded teacher education workshops for colleagues from other educational settings. We’re sharing books and literacy resources with students in the Rainier Valley. We’re partnering with other organizations to offer special opportunities to HRS and non-HRS students.
It’s not just through the HRS Learning Center that we’re extending our impact. In 2023, Hamlin Robinson School became a founding member of the Association of LD Schools (ALDS. org). ALDS is an association of schools that specialize in the education of
Several members of our faculty and staff are also actively engaged with the Slingerland® Literacy Institute. Because our teachers are experts in the use of the Slingerland® Approach – the classroom-based instructional model used at HRS –many serve on committees that are updating Slingerland’s extensive teaching resources and creating new print and digital resources to better meet the needs of educators throughout the U.S. and beyond.
With the full support of our Board of Trustees, HRS also recently hired Jonathan Lee as our new Director of Equity and Belonging. We’ll share more about this role in our next issue of the Scoop, but our goal is to foster an inclusive environment and promote equity throughout the internal and outward-facing programs of HRS.
I am proud to be a part of a community that not only excels at educating and supporting our students, but also cares deeply and proactively about the community beyond our walls. Thank you for supporting us in this work.
Sincerely,
Stacy Turner
Head of School
If you are a part of the Hamlin Robinson School community, you have most likely benefitted from the teaching expertise of Kay Nelson. Since 1992, she has not only been a teacher of students, but also a teacher of teachers.
As the current school year draws to a close, we want to share that Ms. Nelson will be saying goodbye to HRS and moving out of state to be closer to family. She is truly an HRS icon and will be missed.
As part of the HRS community for over 30 years, Ms. Nelson has worn many hats, including:
• Serving as a classroom teacher for grade levels 1,2, 3, and 4
Wednesday, May 29 4:00pm – 5:30pm
HRS Middle School
4th Floor
• Serving as a Managing Director for Slingerland summer training on-site at HRS
• Mentoring and supporting HRS faculty in the role of Structured Literacy Specialist
Ms. Nelson’s expertise was not limited to students and teachers at Hamlin Robinson School. She also generously shared her literacy instruction skills with countless students who participated in the Kid Reach tutoring program administered through BelPres and the Jubilee Reach Center in Bellevue. She exemplifies the HRS mission: to ignite the academic and creative potential of students
with dyslexia and language-based learning differences.
As a part of HRS Alumni Day on May 29, former students will have the opportunity to connect with Ms. Nelson.
Calling all HRS Alumni! It's time to relive the memories and create new ones at the annual HRS Alumni Day. Reconnect with friends, reminisce with former teachers, and help us bid farewell to the legendary Kay Nelson as she embarks on her next adventure.
We’ll have snacks, games, prizes, and tours. Alumni can register for a tour of our spectacular new Middle School building and/or a nostalgic tour of the Lower School building.
Whether you've been away for a year or a decade, this is your golden opportunity to reconnect with your HRS community and see how far we've come together.
RSVP today on the HRS alumni webpage using the link below. We look forward to seeing you!
Register: www.hamlinrobinson.org/alumni
Approximately 8 percent of children in the U.S. have a diagnosed communication disorder. That number might be double or more among students with dyslexia and other languagebased learning differences.
According to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA): A communication disorder is an impairment in the ability to receive, send, process, and comprehend concepts or verbal, nonverbal and graphic symbol systems. This condition affects listening, speaking, reading, writing, and social learning. Speech therapy offers support and navigational tools to affected students.
HRS began to expand its Speech program in 2020 and to lean into programmatic integration. HRS grew from one part-time Speech Language Pathologist (SLP) to three full-staff SLPs (including our first Director
of Speech & Language). The SLPs at HRS receive training in the Slingerland® Approach, as well as from a Director who has worked with HRS students for two decades.
With grant support from a local foundation, HRS has:
• Supported and completed an SLP Clinical Fellowship (CF)
• Moved student records to a HIPAA-compliant, parent accessible web portal
• Begun to offer comprehensive speech and language assessments
Grant support has also empowered HRS to begin building a partnership with the University of Washington and its Speech Practicum program. Through this program, master’s students will receive specialized training to work with students with dyslexia and other language-based learning differences. Ultimately, HRS
Sandra Snow - CCC-SLP
practicum participants will be empowered by this training throughout their careers.
In 2022, with the support of an HRS family, seed money was planted to build a Speech Program Endowment. In future years, this endowment will help provide support for speech services. To learn more, please contact Jen Fukutaki in the Advancement Office: jfukutaki@hamlinrobinson.org
Thank you to the entire Hamlin Robinson School community for supporting this year’s Auction –our biggest fundraiser of the year.
Whether you donated items, attended the live event, bid online, or supported this year’s Fund-A-Need, we couldn’t do it without you!
Our community soared at the Museum of Flight, all in support of HRS students and programs. In addition to funds raised through successful bidding, our community raised the paddle for this year’s Fund-ANeed. As matches and donations continue, this year’s proceeds are quickly approaching $200,000!
Fund-A-Need 2024 support is directed to:
• Professional Development opportunities for HRS faculty and staff: By providing our teachers with the tools they need to make the greatest impact on students in the classroom, they will be better equipped to deliver a world-class program to HRS students.
• Tuition Assistance: 25% of Fund-A-Need proceeds are automatically directed to the HRS Tuition Assistance Endowment.
Thank you to everyone for your generosity and for making this important investment in HRS students –present and future!
Please contact Jen Fukutaki in the Advancement Office if you would like to support this year’s FundA-Need: jfukutaki@hamlinrobinson.org
The HRS Learning Center was founded over a decade ago as the community outreach component of Hamlin Robinson School. In addition to offering tutoring services, the HRS Speaker Series, and educational workshops, a few of the new initiatives from the HRS Learning Center include:
Website Language Translation Visitors to the HRS website can now access content in five non-English languages (Spanish, Mandarin, Arabic, Tagalog, Somalian) just by clicking a button on the home page.
Through a grant from Pitch Your Peers (Seattle), the HRS Learning Center received funding to support free literacy screenings for up to 300 King County students and funding for the development of free educator workshops on the topic of literacy screening. These services will launch during the 2024-2025 school year under the Literacy Link program.
As a new member of Northwest Inclusive
Postsecondary Education
Alliance (NWIPSEA), the HRS Learning Center is partnering with Washington State University, Bellevue College, University of Washington and Beacon College (Florida) to develop support services for high school students with languagebased learning differences as they transition into college and/or the workplace. More information on the Next Steps Initiative will be available soon on the HRS Learning Center webpages.
Hamlin Robinson School is committed to fostering equity
in education through the power of literacy. The HRS Community Library opened in 2024 to be an inclusive space – offering books, digital tools, and technologies accessible at HRS and through partners Wellspring Family Services and Rainier Valley Food Bank.
The HRS Community Library dedicates its purpose to the legacy of Dr. Millie Russell – a Seattle native
who was a trailblazer in education and an advocate for learning opportunities for underrepresented students. Learn more about Dr. Russell on the HRS website (see QR code).
The HRS Learning Center is recognized as a regional and national resource and services hub for students, families, educators, and community members.
Scan to learn more about the HRS Community Library and Dr. Millie Russell.
During the cold months of winter, the HRS Lower School and Middle School offered a warm welcome to guests for our Grands Days!
For many grandparents and grand friends, Grands Day offered the opportunity for their first visit to Hamlin Robinson School. Visitors received a warm welcome and presentation from Head of School, Stacy Turner, before visiting classrooms and sharing activities with the students.
Approximately 300 participants visited HRS over three days of Grands Day events. We are grateful for the support they provide to the students and their enthusiasm for what happens at Hamlin Robinson School. It was a delight to welcome everyone to Grands Days!
