Cougar Chronicle: December 2025

Welcome to December Clyde Hill Families!  This is a month with a variety of events, and a month where the staff are working diligently to set our school up for success when we return after Winter Break.  This newsletter begins by highlighting key events and dates in December and early January.  This newsletter also includes information about a focus area at Clyde Hill both for December and when we return in January.  Finally, this newsletter also includes new updates from the Bellevue School District Central Office. 

Clyde Hill PTA Movie Night

When:  Friday, December 5th

Where:  Clyde Hill Multipurpose Room (aka the Cafeteria and Gym Combined)

Time:  Doors will open at 5:00 PM with the movie starting at 5:30 PM.

How This Works: 

• Students can bring comfy blankets or sleeping bags to curl up with friends as we watch the movie Frozen.  
• Parents/guardians must remain on site during the movie as parents/guardians are in charge of supervising their children.

Prior to the PTA Family Movie Night, the Scholastic Book Fair will be open for its first day of sales!  The book fair will be open from 430 PM until 5:30 PM.  If you want your child(ren) purchasing items at the book fair but do not want to send money with them, consider setting up an e-wallet for them online at the Scholastic Book Fair website:  https://bookfairs.scholastic.com/bf/clydehillelementaryschool  This site is specific to Clyde Hill Elementary.  Every purchase at the book fair supports our school.

 

Book Fair and Family Reading Night

If your family wants to attend the book fair but cannot make it on Friday, December 5th, below are the hours the book fair will be open for purchases:

Date	Hours Open
Friday, December 5th	4:30 PM - 5:30 PM
Monday, December 8th	3:10 PM - 4:30 PM
Tuesday, December 9th	5:00 PM - 6:30 PM
Wednesday, December 10th	1:00 PM - 2:15 PM
Thursday, December 11th	3:10 PM - 4:30 PM
Friday, December 12th	3:10 PM - 4:30 PM

On Tuesday, December 9th, the staff of Clyde Hill Elementary will be hosting a Family Reading Night.  While families shop the book fair, staff members will be reading a favorite book from the Book Fair to students in various places around our school.  We will have the schedule of readers posted at the Book Fair.  The first staff will be reading at 5:15 PM and a second group of readers will read at 5:45 PM.  Come join us as we share our favorite books with our community!

*Two Notes About the Book Fair:

• Students will have an opportunity to browse the book fair with their class during the week.  Please see emails from our librarian Mrs. McCarthy for details about how shopping will happen for students who are not able to return to shop.
• Book fairs can be confusing for our youngest students.  Unlike the library where they can borrow and return books, a book fair is a store where books are purchased - a special store that opens for just a few days inside our school.  Each year we share this message with our students, and if families can also share this message, we can avoid students thinking they can borrow books from the book fair.   

 

Parent Connect:  Tuesday, December 16th

Looking for an opportunity to connect with other Clyde Hill parents/guardians?  Want to meet other adults to discuss the joys and challenges of parenting our Clyde Hill cougars?  Join us for our first Parent Connect on Tuesday, December 16th from 4:30 - 5:30 PM.  This will be an informal community session for parents to connect, share experiences, and support one another with current parenting topics and concerns.

Following the lead set by our preschool team (Prek parents, we know you have a PreK Parent Connect coming up later this month!), this Parent Connect will be led by our librarian, Mary Ann McCarthy and special education teacher, Sunitha Iyer and supported by other members of the Family Engagement Team.

 

 

Preparing for Next Year:  Open Houses, Open Transfer Process, and Applying to Lottery Schools

Believe it or not, now is the time we start planning and preparing for the upcoming school year.  Throughout December and early January schools will be hosting open houses for prospective families to learn about the programs unique to that school.  These are important sessions for families at transition points such as Preschool to Kindergarten - starting elementary school, 5th grade to 6th grade - starting middle school, and 8th grade to 9th grade - starting high school.  Additionally, families who are interested in the various choice programs throughout our district or are interested in transferring schools have a one-month window to apply for these programs.  

Below is the link to the Bellevue School District website with all the open houses listed as well as key information about the transfer process and important dates to know for this process.

https://www.bsd405.org/enroll/open-houses

Applications for Open Transfer and Choice School Programs open on Monday, December 15th and close on Friday, January 16th at 4:30 PM.  

 

Building New Habits:  Shifting Student Behavior

As we have been reviewing our school's student discipline data, a clear trend of increasing behaviors has become apparent throughout the first three months of school.  Specifically, we have seen students demonstrating more physical aggression - hitting, kicking, and shoving.  This has often been accompanied with language that will never be appropriate at school - profanity and racial slurs.  Throughout the fall we have taken a teaching stance with students, particularly around racial slurs and profanity.  Our staff has addressed students using racial slurs - helping them understand in an age-appropriate manner - why this language is not acceptable and how harmful it is.  Similarly, we have addressed students using profanity.  When instances of physical aggression have occurred we have worked with students to understand what a different, better choice would have been to handle the strong emotions they were feeling.

However, while many students have understood the message and understand that these behaviors are not acceptable, we are still working to reach some students.  Our entire staff is committed to helping students change these behaviors.  We know that breaking a habit and establishing a new one takes at least 21 days.  We are utilizing these days prior to Winter Break as well as the first weeks when we return in January to focus on the social skills that need to be built in our students - skills that help students not resort to physical aggression, and we need you, our students' families, to join us in a clear message that profanity, racial slurs, and physical aggression have no place at school.  Every student deserves to come to school knowing that their body and identity are safe from being harmed by others.

 

The following updates are from the central office of the Bellevue School District:

Language Programs Information Night

Join the BSD Multilingual Learners (MLL) Department for the Language Programs Information Night! This event is intended to help families learn about the district’s language programs in advance of the open transfer, choice school and choice program application period.

 

Event Details

Date: Wednesday, December 10, 2025

Time: 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.

Location: BSD Welcome Center

Address: 12011 NE 1st Street, Bellevue, WA 98005

Families with students in all grade levels are invited to join us for information and presentations to:

• Understand which schools offer which languages (Spanish, Mandarin, Japanese, Arabic, Korean, and more!)
• Discover different programs: Dual Language Immersion, Bilingual and World Language
• See student work
• Ask questions
• Talk to students about their experiences

Learn about all of BSD’s open houses and information nights this December and January.

 

Seeking Parents and Guardians for Disciplinary Appeals Council

The district is looking for two parent representatives that represent the diversity of our schools to participate on the Disciplinary Appeals Council (DAC). DAC members are appointed by the School Board and serve for one calendar year. If you are aware of any parents that you think would be good candidates, please reach out and encourage them to submit an application.

Applications will be accepted until January 16, 2026.  A special committee of the School Board will review the applicants and appoint the members at the regular board meeting on Thursday, January 22, 2026.  Learn more about DAC and the application process.

 

Boys and Girls Clubs of Bellevue Winter Basketball

The Boys and Girls Clubs of Bellevue welcomes students in grades K-12 to take part in a fun, recreational winter basketball program. Have fun indoors during cold winter days and learn some basketball skills! Winter basketball consists of one practice and one game per week, January-March. Financial support is available for those who qualify.

Learn more and register today!

*On Tuesday, December 2nd, staff from the Downtown Bellevue Boys and Girls Club joined Clyde Hill students at recess to introduce some basketball skills!

 

With several events happening at Clyde Hill Elementary over the next two weeks, I look forward to seeing many of you at school in the near future!

 

In partnership,

Amy MacDonald

Principal, Clyde Hill Elementary

 

The 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