Parent Newsletter

August 7, 2023

Note from the Principals

HHES Families:


Welcome to the 2023-24 school year at HHES. We are delighted to meet you and to work with you this year! We believe in the limitless potential of each of our students and are excited to work with our HHES staff to continue the tradition of excellence at HHES and to help improve the academic and social experiences of our students.


We know that everyone is eager to learn about their child's class placement for the coming year. We work diligently to balance classrooms so that the learning environment for every student will be enriched with a variety of abilities and personalities. Factors such as class size, learning styles, abilities, and behaviors all influence classroom designs and are taken into account as part of the class roster process. Class assignments for students in grades 1-5 will be available at our Back to School event on August 24 (see below). When our office reopens, families of TtK and K students will be contacted by a member of the office team to share your student's class assignment and to schedule a meeting with your child's teacher.


Since Mr. Olson and I are new to the HHES team this year, we wanted to share a little bit about our backgrounds.


Meredith Gannon - Principal

I am delighted to be returning to HHES and to serve as the principal at our amazing school. This is my 19th year in education. For the past two years, I have been the principal of Hockinson Middle School. Prior to that, I spent four years as the assistant principal right here at HHES. I taught for 10 years in the Vancouver School District and served as mathematics coach and instructional coach in the Vancouver and Battle Ground School Districts. I earned my National Board Certification in 2010 in Middle Childhood. I was the recipient of the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching in 2016 and the Amgen Award for Science Teaching Excellence in 2010. I am looking forward to a great year working with the students and families of HHES.


Michael Olson - Assistant Principal

I'm thrilled to be joining the HHES team and I'm excited to be a part of the Hockinson community. This will be my 12th year in education and most recently I was the principal of Fugman Elementary School in Clovis, California. My family and I made the move to Washington just over a year ago and have loved it. We are excited to be putting down roots here and look forward to raising our kids in this community. Over the course of my career I have been a teacher, coach, elementary, and secondary administrator and I'm looking forward to using that experience and working hard to build on the success of HHES and taking it to new heights along with Mrs. Gannon. Go Hornets!



We are here to be of support you and our learners. If we can be of any help to you, please do not hesitate to give us a call or send us an email.


~ Meredith and Michael

meredith.gannon@hocksd.org / michael.olson@hocksd.org

Back to School Community Fair

Back to School Community Fair

Back to School Community Fair
This year, HHES will be hosting a Back to School Community Fair. At the event, we will have community partners on campus to help HHES families connect to youth sports teams and activities and other community organizations. Our amazing PWT has arranged for food carts to be on campus so that families can purchase snacks or dinner. The PWT will also be selling HHES spirit wear and families who pre-ordered school supply boxes can pick up their supply boxes at this event. The playground will be open so that our students can reconnect with their friends, meet their classmates, and play together.


This event is open to all HHES families. For students in grades 1-5, this event will also provide a chance for students to meet their teacher and see their classroom. Students in grades TtK and K are welcome to attend the fair, but will not have a chance to visit their classroom or meet their teacher. TtK and K students and their families will have a one-on-one meeting with their teacher between August 30 - September 1 instead. Our HHES office staff will be calling each TtK and K family later this month to schedule these meetings.


The Back to School Community Fair will be held on August 24 from 5 - 7 p.m. Grade 1 - 5 teachers will be available and classrooms will be open from 6 - 7 p.m.


Our community partners attending this event are:

- Chartwells (food service)

- Chinook Rugby

- Crown Equestrian / Royal Ridges

- Cub Scouts

- First Student (bus transportation)

- Fort Vancouver Regional Library

- Girl Scouts

- Highlands Little League'

- Hockinson Community Education / ASA

- Hockinson High School Band

- Hockinson Youth Cheerleading

- Hockinson Youth Football

- PWT (supply pick up, spirit wear sales, sign up to volunteer)

- Singers Company
- Washington Department of Health Immunization Van (tentative)


We hope to see you at the Community Fair!

School Supplies

School Supplies

School Supplies
All HHES School supply lists can be found here.


If your family pre-ordered a school supply box from PWT, the box can be picked up at the HHES Community Fair on August 24.


If your family needs assistance with school supplies, please give our office a call at 360-448-6430 or email our school social worker Vickie Hermann (vickie.hermann@hocksd.org) . We would be happy to help.

Get to Know Our New HHES Staff Members

PWT Events

PWT Events

PWT Events
HHES and the PWT (People Working Together) are excited to welcome our youngest learners to HHES. PWT has set up a few special events to help our TtK, K, and 1 students and their families get to know their school and classmates. We hope that you will be able to join us for the following events:


Popsicles on the Playground - TtK, K, and First Grade Students and Families - August 28 6 p.m.

Your student can enjoy a popsicle and get to know their TtK, K, and 1 grade classmates on the HHES playground.


BooHoo / WooHoo Breakfast - TtK and K Families - September 5

TtK and K families are invited to join us in the cafeteria for breakfast after student drop off on the first day of TtK and K classes.


Our PWT is supports the students and staff of HHES and HMS and sponsors many fun events for our Hockinson families. If you are interested in volunteering or learning more, please stop by one of the PWT tables at the Community Fair, Popsicles on the Playground, or BooHoo breakfast events.

Big picture

Upcoming Events

August 17: HHES Office Reopens

August 24: HHES Back to School Community Fair 5 - 7 p.m. / Meet the teacher event for students in grades 1-5 - 6 - 7 p.m.

August 28: PWT Popsicles on the Playground (TtK - 1) - 6 p.m.

August 30: First Day of School - grades 1-5

August 30 - September 1: Ttk and K Family Meetings

September 4: No School - Labor Day

September 5: First Day of School - Ttk and K

September 5: PWT BooHoo / WooHoo Breakfast - Ttk and K Families - 8 a.m.

Hockinson Heights Elementary School

Hockinson Heights Elementary School

Hockinson Heights Elementary School

20000 Northeast 164th Street, Brush Prairie, WA, USA (360)448-6430 hhes.hocksd.org/