HNES Families,
I want to take a moment of your time to let you know about some of the things happening at school. We are hitting the ground running everyday! First, as part of the ESSER Grant related to the CARES Act, we were able to purchase handwashing stations for every classroom, tents to maximize the outdoor space (beautiful wedding tents), additional Chromebooks, ipads, and voice tracking cameras. There was much more purchased, but I won’t drag you into every detail. We will also be filing a FEMA COVID19 claim, which helps with the additional cost of items that we need. The HNES Operations Team continues to work on the formation of our plan for the upcoming school year. Right now, scheduling is the name of the game, and as you can imagine, that is a monumental task. We will continue to work hard in making sure that Holy Nativity Episcopal School stays true to our mission~ to provide a nurturing Christian environment where students with promise receive challenging academics, enriching opportunities, and a solid foundation for developing their potential as good, caring, and responsible citizens. We continue to aim for mid-July as a goal in announcing our plans, but I can tell you that our school will be accommodating in balancing the needs of all our students, along with the health and safety requirements.
Now onto more fun news!
Mrs. Leno relocated to Texas, where her husband is stationed and is pursuing a new military position. Stephanie was a part of our HNES family for two of the hardest years, and we will miss her greatly! With her departure, we were left with an opening that required a special set of hands. Enter our very own Casey Cole, who will be joining our faculty as our new Jr. Pre-K teacher! Casey was born and raised in Panama City and a graduate of Bay High School. She then attended and graduated from Gulf Coast State College, where she met her husband, Matt Cole. They have two girl’s Grace and Ella, past graduates of HNES and attending 3k-8th grade. Her work history includes working with special needs students at Margaret K Lewis Center, volunteering, and subbing at HNES for countless years. She also led Daisy, Brownie, and Junior Girl Scout troops at HNES over the many years. Casey was also the HNES Parent Council Chair for two years. She also ran her own business, Dockside Gifts, for ten years. After the hurricane, I first hand witnessed this lady in action with our students and was amazed at her talent. She worked as a paraprofessional at our Beach Campus and in our 1st-grade portable following Hurricane Michael. This past year she rocked it as an all-star paraprofessional in 2nd grade! I can’t wait to see Casey and Savanna in action next school year!
With the many changes this year has brought, our very own Marie Robinette has relocated to St. Augustine, where her daughter will also be attending college nearby. We will miss Marie too! 1st grade is an important year of learning and also requires the perfect educator. Now enter our very own Kim Lovchuk! If you have already been attending HNES, you will remember that Kim taught second grade opposite Mrs. Fiser in the 2018-2019 school year. This will be her tenth year at Holy Nativity! She took some time off to help coordinate the building back of her beautiful home following Hurricane Michael. We couldn’t be more excited to have her back and welcome her with open arms. Kim is also a graduate of FSU with a degree in elementary education K-6 and has a reading and an ESOL endorsement. She is married to Michael and has three kids, all of which attend Holy Nativity Julian, Zander, and Kendall. They will be expecting their first grandchild in November! This will be another dynamic 1st-grade teaching team, and our rising 1st graders are going to have a great year!
I hope that you can see from the above information that God continues to take care of us in so many ways!
God Bless,
Cynthia Fuller