District News

We enjoy keeping Hockinson families in the loop with HSD news! The March 21 edition of the HSD News Round-Up features the newly released 2025-26 school calendar, a reminder about next week's parent-teacher conference schedule, stories on student achievements in academics and leadership, and more. Find it here. 💙

Over the past three weeks, Operations staff worked diligently to remove sediment and algae from the Hockison High School Tennis Courts. The courts were deep cleaned two years ago, but the combination of our area's wet weather and deteriorating surfacing combine to create favorable conditions for algae.  All four courts are scheduled to be resurfaced this June.

The Hockinson High School Mock Trial Team competed in the YMCA Mock Trial district tournament at the Clark County Courthouse last month, facing off against 7 other teams. The competition challenged students to apply real-life case law and deepen their understanding of the court system. 

It's apparent that the Hawks like to get involved and compete. This past season 22% of the school's 680 students were involved in a Winter Sport. That may not seem as impressive as the 35% involvement percentage in Fall Sports until one considers that HHS has only five sport offerings (versus eight in the fall and seven in the spring). Two programs, Boys Swimming and Boys Wrestling, team, celebrated team championships.

In January, we shared how Maintenance staff, AmeriCorps volunteers, and even our superintendent teamed up to convert a former middle school classroom into a fitness facility. We are excited to provide an update to our community: Yesterday, surplus weight equipment from HHS was brought over to the fitness room. So it is now ready to be used by HMS sports teams and Community Education!

Over the past seven years, the Hockinson Jazzercise community has contributed more than $5,100 to support Hockinson students. Spearheaded by retired HSD counselor Sue Thompson, this year’s effort raised $544 to help schools cover miscellaneous expenses for students-in-need. A heartfelt thank you to our Jazzercise community for their continued generosity and support of Hockinson’s students!

Based on its "Methodology for Rating U.S. Governments," S&P Global Ratings recently performed a thorough analysis of the Hockinson School District's financial profile and gave the HSD an A+ rating. This rating was based on numerous criteria including: Population and enrollment trends; Stability of funding sources (state and levy); Maintenance of reserves; Adherence to accounting guidelines and reporting; and Risk-reduction practices.

At approximately 6:00 am this morning, before the beginning of the school day, there was law enforcement activity near Hockinson Middle School and the 18-21 Transition Program Building. I know this situation created a lot of questions and concerns, and I want to assure parents that this police response was not connected to our schools and did not impact normal school operations. If further details become available, they will be released by the Clark County Sheriff's Office.

Hockinson School District is in the process of surplusing a property that is no longer needed for school purposes. At the February 24 board meeting, the HSD School Board voted to direct Superintendent Steve Marshall to publish a notice of the district’s intent to sell the property. As a next step, HSD will prepare a board resolution declaring the property as surplus, which will include a public hearing prior to its next regular meeting at on Monday, March 24 at 6 pm at the Hockinson Community Center.

It was a thrilling end to the season for Hockinson Community Education’s youth basketball teams as several Hockinson athletes wrapped up their winter season with strong performances in the Clark-Cowlitz Youth Basketball (CCYB) League tournaments. Continue reading here.

We enjoy keeping Hockinson families in the loop with HSD news! The March 1 edition of the HSD News Round-Up features information on the School Safety & Security Capital Levy, winter sports updates, and news stories on a generous Jazzercise donation, interactive HHES history lessons, the HMS Knowledge Bowl Team, and more! You can access the News Round-Up here.💙

Ben Nelson was hired last week as Hockinson High School's Head Football Coach. Nelson is excited about the opportunity to lead the program and brings a wealth of coaching experience to the role, having spent the last eight years as an Offensive Coordinator at both Woodland and Battle Ground High Schools. In addition to his coaching background, he is also a valued member of the HSD community, serving as a Counselor at HMS.

The fluorescent can lights in the HHS Library were recently switched out with LED fixtures. With this retrofit and previous grant-funded LED replacements in 2021 and 2023, the HSD is excited to announce that almost all lamps and fixtures district-wide are now LED. Increased energy efficiency benefits our schools and patrons.

On Tuesday, March 4 representatives from the Clark County Assessors and Sheriffs Office will be joining us to teach residents about tax relief programs for seniors and those with disabilities, as well as the SALT program: Seniors and Law Enforcement Together.

February is Career & Technical Education (CTE) Month, and HHS is celebrating a significant milestone. With 738 students enrolled in CTE job readiness courses across the fall and spring semesters, this year marks the highest CTE enrollment in the school’s history.

FBLA had an incredible showing at WLC, with 12 students qualifying for State–possibly 13! Five students dominated their events, earning first-place medals and the honor of being recognized on stage. Now, students are gearing up for the State Business Leadership Conference in April.

Meet Makenzie Carter, an 8-grader at HMS! Makenzie is the sole “quadruple threat” athlete at HMS this year, possibly bumping that number of sports played up to five very soon. More from Makenzie:

At its Jan. 27 Regular Meeting the HSD School Board was recognized as part of School Board Appreciation Month. This year’s recognition was extra special because the Board was also recognized by the Washington State School Directors Association (WSSDA) as a 2024-25 Board of Distinction.

HSD Operations staff collaborate whenever possible to keep our buildings looking their best and in working order. But today’s Facility Friday: Saturday Edition feature is another one-person success story and the protagonist is again HSD Operations Supervisor David Wilson. The antagonist is the usual “aging equipment” and, in this case, the Hockinson High School (HHS) staff and students are the ones who get to experience the happy ending.

Community members can now sign up to receive HSD e-newsletters, a biweekly email update with school news and information. Sign up here.