Each December, our parents treat the teachers, staff, and administration to delicious homemade and bakery cookies at the Annual Faculty and Staff Cookie Exchange. This is a beloved tradition by our teachers. Please consider bringing in one dozen homemade or bakery bought cookies. Click here to sign up  Please deliver to the main office on Wednesday, December 11th by 11am. 

Below are a few reminders to ensure safety for our children, as well as, a smooth drop-off and pick-up system for all families.

• Please use the crosswalks when crossing the traffic lanes. 
• Please make sure your child stays buckled and in their seat while driving through campus.
• Please refrain from cell phone use while driving on campus and be ready to receive your child. 
• Please be here on time so that your child feels settled when starting their day. 
• When dropping off in the front of school, please park in designated spaces if you plan to park to keep the drop-off lanes free for traffic. 

• It is likely other parents will be waiting to meet with teachers as well, so individual conferences are limited to a maximum of 10 minutes. If you need to meet with a teacher for a longer period of time, you may certainly make an appointment to meet with that teacher on another day.
• If you would like to speak with the following elective teachers who are not available on the 1st, please email them to set up an alternative conference time: Mrs. Hale (MS Art), Mr. Nathan (School of Rock) Mr. Long (Guitar), Mr. Williams (Woodworking), Dr. Paschall (TechCrewsaders), Dr. Spengler (MS Band) or Mrs. Ogden (Opening Night)

On Friday, October 18th, we welcomed over 1000 people, HCES students, parents and friends, to our campus for our annual Fall Festival and Book Fair. We kicked off the afternoon with the Episcopal Schools Celebration, a national celebration of Episcopal Schools, in the outdoor chapel featuring our 5th grade choir. Our families and friends then strolled into the courtyard for an evening filled with fun and fellowship making it, yet again, one of the most treasured events of the school year as it has been for decades. As you can imagine, many months of planning and hard work go into organizing this special event. Thank you to HCES parents, Molly Bader and Mary-Kathryn Malphurs for serving as our leaders chairing the event. Families enjoyed live music, bounce houses, a rock wall, games, crafts with Holy Comforter Church and our Latin Club, a hayride with Mr. Williams, the ever-popular cake walk, and face painting! HUGE shoutout to our Middle School Band, School of Rock band and Opening Nights for providing live music and thank you to our Music Department teachers for leading! 

Click here to view this year's Yearbook Portraits!

Save the date and join us to celebrate our 70th Anniversary at the Platinum Gala on February 8, 2025. Sponsorships will open on Monday, October 21st. Tables fill up fast, so be ready! If you have any questions, contact Emily Lockard at elockard@hces.org.

November 20: Thanksgiving Eucharist and Blessing - during Chapels
November 22: Thanksgiving Parties - Check your homeroom newsletter for more information
November 26: Grandpeople's Day, 8:30am PK3 - 1st, 9:30 2nd - 5th  (Wear Red) 

Poinsettia Options: Three sizes this year.

The Middle School Foundations in Technology class is looking for a typewriter - either manual or electric. If you have one you would be willing to donate, please reach out to Melissa Young at myoung@hces.org. 

Click here to purchase your Fall Festival Family Pass.

Episcopal School Celebration

Cake Walk 

Fall Festival Important Safety Info

• Parking will be tight. Please be patient and respectful to others. 
• Check-in will be at the Bell Tower. Meal tickets and Kona Ice tickets will be given at the check-in table. 
• If your child is in Omega, please park first, check in at the Bell Tower, and then walk to pick up your child from the Omega awning (by the outdoor chapel). PLEASE bring your ID or car tag when picking up from Omega. They will be checking to keep all of our students safe.
• Please do not park in the Omega loop. Please do not walk through the Omega gate in the back. Walk around the fence and out of the way of cars picking up children. 
• The check-in table will open at 4:30 PM.

We are collecting legos, of all shapes and sizes. If you are cleaning up and ready to part with some of you legos, please deliver them to school at your convenience attn to Emily Lockard. 

This event has been rescheduled to Wednesday, October 9th.

Calling all K through 2nd grade parents! Save the date and join Mrs. Cowart, our Reading Specialist, for an informational session with helpful tips and tricks to develop good homework and reading habits at home. Ask questions and connect with other parents and faculty members, as well.

Rescheduled: Wednesday, October 9th, 8:15 am
Where: The Commons Donor Room

Are you on LinkedIn? If so, connect with us - https://www.linkedin.com/company/holy-comforter-episcopal-school/! We want to share with our parents who own businesses and are in the business world everything we are doing at HCES when it comes to supporting each other! Any questions? Please ask Ida Thompson, ithompson@hces.org

Please join us on Monday, November 4th at 9:30 am for a very special Courtyard Chapel. We will kick off our 70th Anniversary Campaign supporting the new 8-lane collegiate track. New plaques from The Commons Campaign will be blessed. If you have a plaque on campus, please join us and RSVP to Ida Thompson at ithompson@hces.org. We will have special seating for our donors.

All volunteers assisting in any capacity at Holy Comforter Episcopal School (field trip chaperones, volunteer coaches, classroom parent volunteers, etc.) must be certified through the Episcopal Diocese to work with children.

Parents, grandparents and other volunteers may register for the “KEEPING YOUR SCHOOL SAFE” video using the link below. When clicking the link, be sure to scroll to the bottom of the page in order to access the form.

YOUR SCHOOL SAFE REGISTRATION FORM

Within 48 hours, you will receive an email invitation directly from donotreply@praesidiuminc.com with directions for setting up your user account and completing the video.

Re-certification is required every 5 years and alternate training or certification previously received through another church, state or law enforcement agency, medical facility or licensing agency, etc., does not satisfy the Episcopal Diocese requirement.

Anyone needing to check their status may contact Janet Parrish at 383-1007 or jparrish@hces.org.

The Cheer Clinic performance will be held on October 3rd during halftime of the football game. The girls will also join the middle school team to cheer on the football team during the first half of the game. 

• Kindergarten through 2nd Grade: Coached by Libby Hatchett and Katie Cowart
  Dates: September 30, October 1, 2, 3
  Times: 2:45 - 4:00 for practice
  Performance: 6:00 PM - October 3rd - 1st Half of football game with MS Cheerleader and routine at halftime 
• 3rd thru 5th Grade: Coached by Madison Hester and the Middle School Cheerleaders
  Dates: September 30, October 1, 2, 3
  Times: 2:45 - 4:00 for practice
  Performance: 6:00 PM - October 3rd - 1st Half of football game with MS Cheerleader and routine at halftime 

For more information, please contact Jeremy Barlow at jbarlow@hces.org

Registration: https://hcesomega.campbrainregistration.com/. Deadline to register is September 11th.

Please join us for "Lower School Bring Your Parents to School Night" (also known as Lower School Open House for grades PK3 - 5th) at 6:00 pm on September 5th in the Student Center. Children may be dropped off in classrooms beginning at 5:45 with their teachers. Children still in Omega at 5:45 will be taken to the classrooms. After the parent meeting in the Student Center, parents will join their children in the classrooms for a teacher presentation. The schedule for the evening is listed below. If you have more than one child, take advantage of the second session. 
 
5:45 - 5:55 pm: Student drop-off in classrooms
6:00 – 6:40 pm: Lower School Parent Meeting, Grades PK3–5th (Student Center)
6:45 – 7:15 pm: Session I – Grades PK3 – 5th (Classrooms)
7:20 – 7:50 pm: Session II – Grades PK3 – 5th (Classrooms)

If you have a child interested in Cub Scouts, please join us on August 29, 2024, at 6:00 in the church Parish Hall. You can register and get all your questions answered at the info event. You can also register for the Cub Scout Pack here. Please direct any questions to the Cubmaster, Billy Geers, at (386) 846-8331 or billygeers@hotmail.com.

Yearbook photos will be taken on Wednesday, 8/28, and Thursday, 8/29. Please see your child's classroom newsletter for the specific day and time.

Thank you Davalos & Jones for your generous sponsorship and support of our Back to School Sweet Treat and to Brown and Brown Insurance for sponsoring the WooHoo BooHoo Coffee, today, the 1st day of school! Both events were a wonderful way to gather back together as a school family.

November 19 - December 2: Guardian ad Litem Collection
November 26: Grandpeople's Day, 10:45 in the Commons - Middle School students and grandparents

Click here to view 2024-2025 class lists.

• When purchasing a meal plan, you pay for 9 months and get the 10th month FREE.
• Meal plans can be deducted monthly from your Blackbaud Tuition Account or you may pay in full. 
• Meal plans are for the entire school year, not per semester. 

All lost and found items are on display in the colonnade at the end of Building 4 (3rd - 5th grade hallway). Please claim any items your child may be missing. All items left at the end of the school year will be donated to charity.

Thank you, families, for participating in the Royal Nail Spa and Narcissus Share events in February. We are excited to share that we raised over $1,100 from the events thanks to your participation!

Parents, please note that the end of year report cards (4th 9 weeks) for middle school AND lower school will be mailed home AFTER the school year ends. Please be sure that your account is current by the end of the school year, as all accounts that are in arrears will delay the mailing of your child(ren)'s report card. Your account includes tuition, extended day, athletic fees, and lunch balances. *Please log in and verify your mailing address is correct, as well. 

If your child is returning, the lunch balance rolls over to the next year. If your child graduates, you will have the option to transfer your graduate’s balance to a younger sibling, contribute to the annual fund, or be refunded. For those students leaving at the end of the school year, if your child’s balance is less than $10, it will be contributed to the HCES Annual Fund and you will receive a credit for the donation unless notifying the business office of a requested refund. Please expect any refunds to be mailed by mid-June.

If you happen to have a door access key card, please return it to the front office. We know it's easy to forget to turn them back in, but we are low in supply and would like to avoid ordering more, if possible. Thank you for your help in this!

• Take ownership of their performance
• Practice organizational and communication skills by compiling a presentation of their academic year
• Engage in productive conversations about school 
• Identify strengths and areas for improvement
• Critically and honestly evaluate their performance
• Use evidence to support their analysis of their performance in school
• Use the analysis of their progress to make plans for improvement
• Set ambitious but attainable goals for the next school year
• Determine and verbalize what help they might need to achieve their goals 

Thursday, May 9: PK3 & PK4 Musical Program
Tuesday, May 15: 5th Grade May Day 

On Tuesday, April 16, we celebrated the culmination of the HCES athletic year with an incredible evening of fellowship and awards at the annual banquet. Over 400 students and their families attended as we recognized 147 middle school student-athletes for their hard work this year across 12 sports in Crusader Athletics. Awards were given for each sport and two 8th grade students, Nicky Fiore and Bailey Dyle spoke, reflecting on their time as Crusader athletes. The final award of the night, given to a male and female 8th grader, is the Timothy award.


Thank you to everyone involved in putting together an unforgettable night for our student-athletes and their families, including our banquet chair, Colby Lindsay, and co-chair Katherine Boland!  Thank you to all the parents and coaches for their time and effort each day on and off the fields. Go Crusaders!

Click here to view photos from the evening

Save the Date for our 2nd Annual Crusaders Powderpuff Game! Come out on Thursday, May 2nd to watch our 6th, 7th, and 8th grade girls compete for the title of Powderpuff Champs! It will be a fun night for the whole family - food, shaved ice, music, football, and fellowship. Click here to purchase a t-shirt. 

Please save the dates for Faculty and Staff Appreciation Week., April 22-26. Our PA Committee is hard at work organizing special ways to treat our teachers and staff. https://www.signupgenius.com/go/409094DA9A823A5F85-48990400-teacher#/

We love our school and we love our city! Thank you Gulf Winds Track Club for choosing to support us through this year's Springtime Tallahassee run! Thank you to our families who came out to run and cheer on the runners - from the littlest PK3 runners to our Middle Schoolers (who got up early after the dance!) to alumni parents (who placed!), and our dear friends who came in town to visit and run. We are so grateful for our community. Congrats to our HCES team who came in 3rd!

Click here to view images from the day!

On Wednesday, March 27th, we hosted a social hour for our HCES alumni and families of HCES alumni. The evening welcomed so many wonderful members of the HCES community back to campus! Guests enjoyed jazz music by the Nygel Anderson Quartet, wonderful food by Chef Erik Fisher (an alumni parent) of Simply Entertaining and the event was sponsored by Hummingbird Wine (owned by Mairin Moore and Stuart Nagy-Kato ’00) - a very special thank you to them for their generous contributions! This was the first event to welcome families back to campus in preparation for our 70th anniversary that will kick-off next year and run through 2026! We loved seeing so many familiar faces and look forward to doing it again in the future! 

Click here to see images from the evening.

• Flexible payment (monthly or one-time)
• 3-year warranty, accidental damage insurance included
• HCES Tech staff oversees repairs, parents don’t have to lift a finger
• No cost for repairs!
• Your student is guaranteed to have a working computer 100% of the time, for three years. 

• MacBook Air M2
• 256 GB Solid State Storage
• 8GB memory
• Apple M2 Chip

If you have a younger child at home who will be ready for school in 2025-2026, now is the time to apply in order to get priority consideration. Due to full enrollment this coming year in the younger grades, we anticipate a waiting list again in 2025-2026. When you are logged into the website, look under the Resources tab for a light green button that says Apply.  If you have questions, please contact Nena Martinez in the Admissions office: nmartinez@hces.org or 850-383-1007.

On Tuesday, March 19th, we hosted another Conversation in the Commons with guest speaker Stephanie Anderson, LCSW of Anderson Counseling. During her presentation, she discussed the effects of social media on the mental health of adolescents. She offered a look at the pros and cons of social media use and how parents can help their children navigate virtual communities. Also discussed were apps that parents can use to keep their children safe online. Below is a link to an article she suggested that lists some of the apps.

https://www.mommyhighfive.com/?s=best+parental+control+apps

A huge THANK YOU to chairs Mary-Kathryn Malphurs, HCES '01, and Jessica Potts for creating such a magical evening for our daughters and dads. A special thank you to Brandy Simmons, our Oscar statue builder and creator; Amanda Bell; Randi Mackintosh as well as Dorothy Thames and her Dad, Brent Tyndall, who donated the first car he ever owned- and still owns, a 1972 Chevrolet Malibu. The car served as a backdrop for incredible keepsake photos of the dads and their daughters. We loved welcoming over 200 daddy-daughter duos to the star-studded "Oscar-themed" evening. 

Upcoming Service Opportunities:Special Olympics: Each Sunday from 1:30 - 3:30 pm, the adult Special Olympics hosts tennis, bocce ball and soccer games on the HCES campus. They would love for families to come and cheer for the athletes. No sign-up is required, just show up and cheer them on. 

HCES Yearbooks are now on sale for $50 through February 16th. Please visit www.YearbookOrderCenter.com and use the school code: 25014.
8th Grade Families, if you purchased a yearbook dedication in the Fall, you do not need to order again as a yearbook is included with the dedication. 

If you have any questions, please contact KC Knudsen at kcknudsen@hces.org.

You may have noticed a new addition to our Student Center Lobby. With the help and generous gifts and talents of several in our community, we now have beautiful trophy cases filled with memorabilia from over the years. 

The trophy cases, a gift from Ashley and Chris Chaney (parents to Penelope- 3rd and Charlie- K), were previously located in Andrew's Downtown on the corner of Adams and Jefferson Street. When Ashley began the visions for her new restaurant, the Hayward House - in that very location, she offered the cases to the school. We were thrilled to give them a new home and have the opportunity to have a piece of Tallahassee history. Leo Bonell, dad to Blake (3rd), Maddie (class of 2021) and husband to Mrs. Bonell (4th grade teacher), delicately disassembled, transported, and rebuilt the cases in our Student Center Lobby. The cases fit perfectly and look like they were custom-made for the space.

This week, parents Katherine Boland (Everett- class of 2022, Eva- 7th and Eliza- 5th) and Gina Coffas (Owen- 5th and Quinn- 3rd) gathered trophies and memorabilia from across campus and thoughtfully filled the cases. The addition of the cases bring a sense of pride and nostalgia to our Student Center Lobby. 

Thank you Ashley, Chris, Leo, Katherine and Gina for your time, talents and generous gifts. We are so grateful to have the opportunity to give the cases new life while showcasing the accomplishments of our students and athletes. Community initiatives like these truly make such an impact, and it's fantastic to see the collaboration and generosity within our school community. Families, next time you are on campus, stop in to take a look!

August
8 - Teachers Report
14 - First Day of School for Students

September
2 - Labor Day Holiday

October
18 - End 1st 9 weeks
21 - Teacher Workday / No Students

November
1 - Conference Day / No Students
11 - Veterans Day Holiday
26 - Grandpeople’s Day, Early Dismissal
27-29 - Thanksgiving Holidays

December
20 - End 2nd 9-weeks, Early Dismissal
23-31 - Christmas Holidays

January 2025
1-3 - New Year’s Holidays
6 - Teacher Workday / No Students
7 - Students Return
20 - MLK Holiday

February
17 - Presidents Day Holiday

March
7 - End 3rd 9-weeks, Early Dismissal / Teacher Workday (afternoon)
10-14 - Spring Break

April
18-21 - Easter Holidays

May
7 -  Conference Day / No Students
23 - Last Day of School for Students
26 - Memorial Day Holiday
27-28 - Teacher Workdays / No Students

Open Enrollment 2024-2025 will begin on Friday, February 9th for students currently contracted. Over the past few weeks, emails have been sent to all families from both Brandi Brown, our Board Chair and Peter Klekamp, Head of School, with more information, including the tuition and fee schedule for next year. More information to come.

If you have any questions regarding Open Enrollment, please contact Nena Martinez in the Admissions Office at nmartinez@hces.org or 850-383-1007. For more information, please click here to visit the Open Enrollment webpage.

All Annual Fund Corporate Donors over $1,000 will have signs added in the gym. For more information, please contact Ida Thompson at ithompson@hces.org

PK3-5th Grade Girls and Dads - we're rolling out the red carpet for you for this year's Daddy Daughter Dance on Friday, February 9th from 7 pm-9 pm. Bring your glitz and wear your glam to A Night in Hollywood presented by the HCES Parent Association. Hold hands as you find your star on the Walk of Fame and dance the night away! Thank you Chairs, Mary-Kathryn Malphurs and Jessica Potts and their committee!

Donors lists by grade level will be sent to all parents by January 26th. If you have not given and would like to be included, you can make your gift here. Thank you, every gift counts! We are at $125,000 of our $175,000 goal!