Cougar Chronicle: 8.15.25

Welcome to the 2025-26 school year Clyde Hill Elementary School families!  As this first newsletter of the year is being finalized, the weather is anything but summer like, but I hope that as your family prepares for the first day of school, you are savoring wonderful memories of this summer and perhaps still making a few more!  For our families new to Clyde Hill Elementary, welcome - we are so glad you are joining our school.  To our families who are returning - we are glad to see you back.  

This first newsletter of the year highlights key information to get families ready to return to school.  Each week in August, I will share information that will be posted on our

school website for your reference.  The Clyde Hill and Bellevue School District website will create a machine translation of these posts for families who prefer to read these in a language other than English.  I will continue to share updates with you through early September to ensure we have a smooth launch of the school year.  Following a mid-September update I will switch to monthly newsletters that will be published on the first Friday of each month.  I will send a link out to our school community for easy access.  However, should I receive information that needs to be shared immediately, I will communicate that right away to our school community.

For this first newsletter I am sharing updates on school supplies, lunches, drop-off and pick-up, buses, before and after-school childcare, key preschool dates, and class placement.

School Supplies*:   Clyde Hill Elementary provides all basic school supplies such as pencils, paper, crayons, markers, and safety scissors.  We do ask that students come to school with a backpack that can carry a folder for papers and a couple of books.  Many kindergarten students also carry a spare change of pants and underwear in a bag in their backpack because accidents still happen at this grade level. 

Lunch*:   Students at Clyde Hill either bring lunch from home or participate in school lunch.  School lunches can be purchased by having money in a school lunch account or by participating in the Free/Reduced Meals Program based on a family’s income.   If you would like to sign up for Free/Reduced Meals Program, information for the 2025-26 school year will be available on the Bellevue School District website after August 18^th at:  https://www.bsd405.org/programs-and-services/nutrition-services/free-and-reduced-price-meals  Information about the cost of school lunches and setting up an online account can be found at:  https://www.bsd405.org/programs-and-services/nutrition-services/pay-for-meals.  Additionally, once the school year is underway, the main office of Clyde Hill can also accept lunch money for student accounts. 

*Clyde Hill’s Family Engagement Specialist, Supriya Unnikrishnan, unnikrishnans@bsd405.org, will be happy to help any family that needs a backpack or assistance accessing items such as the Free/Reduced Meals Program.  She can be reached on email beginning the week of August 25^th. 

 

Arriving and Departing from Clyde Hill: 

• Parking Lots – There are two parking lots at Clyde Hill, one is accessed from NE 24^th St. and the other is accessed is 98^th Ave NE.  I strongly encourage all families new to Clyde Hill Elementary to drive to the school and find these lots, particularly the one off of NE 24^th as it is not obvious from the street. 
  • During the school year, you can only turn right into and out of the parking lot on NE 24^th St. during school hours.  If you are arriving at Clyde Hill driving east to west on NE 24^th St., use these weeks before school to know how to make a block at 96^th Ave NE so that you can get into the school parking lot like a pro for the first day of school!
  • The lot off of 98^th Ave NE is the primary staff parking lot and is used for preschool drop-off and pick-up.  Preschool families are given a special lanyard to hang from their car mirror that indicates they should be entering the parking lot.  Other than that, our crossing guards will send drivers to the parking lot on NE 24^th St. 
    • Additionally, this is the lot where our buses arrive.  While we have staggered the start time of preschool to decrease the load on this parking lot, it is not a place where we want to add additional cars.  
• Buses – Bus Routes for the 2025-26 school year will be posted online on Monday, August 18th at:  https://bsd405org.finalsite.com/programs-and-services/transportation/bus-routes#elementary.  Families of kindergarten students will be receiving information from the Transportation Department in the mail in mid-August.  This includes a special band that goes on their backpack which families will write their bus number on.  This helps school staff place students on the correct bus as kindergarten students may not recognize their bus numbers at the beginning of the school year.  Please note that students in other grades will not be receiving these bands.  However, all students will have a card that they scan as they enter a bus which will help us track students.  These cards are delivered to the school and will be handed out by school staff on the first day of school.
• Parent Drop-Off/Pick-Up – The morning drop-off and afternoon pick-up lane happens in the parking lot accessed from NE 24^th St.   Students exit the car independently from the passenger side onto the sidewalk.  All drivers stay inside their cars.  If you choose to use this option, please make sure your child can exit the car independently.  We encourage you to give it a practice run prior to the start of school!

Please know that for arrival and departure school staff are supporting students whether it be to find their bus, re-unite with their grown-up at car-rider pick-up or walking location, transition to after school childcare, or begin walking home safely on their own. 

Before and After School Childcare – Two programs provide the majority of childcare services to Clyde Hill families.  I am including the links to the two programs as they are partners with the Bellevue School District. 

• Bellevue Boys & Girls Club:  https://www.bgcbellevue.org/Programs/Project-Learn-25-26
  • Students ride a bus to the Downtown Bellevue Boys and Girls Club where childcare is provided afterschool.  
• Right at School:  https://www.rightatschool.com/school/?school=clyde-hill-elementary&tab=2025-26-before-after-school
  • Right at School is located on site at Clyde Hill and provides before and after school childcare. 

 

Preschool at Clyde Hill

This year, the first day of preschool at all preschools in the Bellevue School District will be Monday, September 8th!  Families in our preschool classes should anticipate receiving a message from their child's preschool teacher in late August inviting you to a Meet and Greet conference during school hours on September 3rd, 4th or 5th.  This will be an opportunity to meet your child's preschool teacher and share information with one another to ensure a smooth start to the school year. 

 

Class Placement

You may have read in a recent Bellevue School District news update that student placements/schedules are visible online as of August 15th.  While one can dive into the system and possibly find this information, I strongly encourage you not to at this time.  First, our enrollment at the elementary level across our district is changing which means staffing and classroom configurations are changing.  Second, over the summer, we keep a list of possible changes to make once teachers return and review these changes with fresh eyes.  Teachers will not return until later next week, therefore, these changes have not yet been made.  Changes are coming. 

If you see a teacher name attached to your child's name at this time, it is only a draft and very much subject to change.  Sharing a teacher name with your student now and having it change could lead to disappointment and an unnecessarily difficult start to the year.  If you have already shared this information with your child, please remind them that this information, like past years, is just a draft.

Student assignments will be sent by email to families late in the afternoon of Wednesday, August 27th for grades 1st - 5th.  This will be followed by a Teacher Meet and Greet for grades 1st - 5th on Thursday, August 28th from 3 - 4 PM.  

*For kindergarten families, information about class placement was sent in the kindergarten welcome letter.  Families who were recently enrolled can find this letter now posted on our website at:  https://clydehill.bsd405.org/our-school/news/news-details/~board/clyde-hill-elementary-school-news/post/kindergarten-welcome-letter-august-2025

 

The staff of Clyde Hill is excited to have our Clyde Hill cougars return to school in just a couple of weeks!  

Enjoy these final weeks of summer vacation!

Amy MacDonald

Principal, Clyde Hill Elementary School

 

 

 

 

Bellevue School District does not discriminate in any programs or activities on the basis of sex, race, creed, religion, color, national origin, age, veteran or military status, sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, disability, or the use of a trained dog guide or service animal and provides equal access to the Boy Scouts of America and other designated youth groups.

The following employees have been designated to handle questions and complaints of alleged discrimination:

Civil Rights, Racial Discrimination, and Gender Expression or Identity Discrimination:Civil Rights/Nondiscrimination Compliance Coordinator Nancy Pham, 425-456-4040 or phamn@bsd405.org

Sex-based Discrimination, including Sexual Harassment:Title IX Coordinator: Jeff Lowell, 425-456-4010 or lowellj@bsd405.org

Disability Discrimination:Section 504/ADA Coordinator: Karen Dejong, 425-456-4277 or dejongk@bsd405.org

Mailing address for all three: 12111 NE 1st Street, Bellevue, WA 98005.