We had a great week of school and I know our students are looking forward to the long weekend. Our music students are headed to Disney World today to perform in the happiest place on earth! Thank you to our music teachers and parent volunteers who made this trip possible for our student musicians.

Green Up is next Friday and we have not reached our fundraising goal for Star House Foundation. This organization supports our school district and local students. Please donate today!! Donate here - https://northwesternpto.membershiptoolkit.com/packet/28757903

Does your 8th grade student want a summer job? See below about an opportunity at the City of Milton pool.

Information about course verification for next school year is below. Please pay close attention to the deadlines. Please ask for help if you have any questions!

We have about 17% of our families who have completed the Parent School Perception Survey. Your feedback is important to us. Please take a few minutes to complete the survey now. https://tinyurl.com/FCSSurvey-Parents

Please consider serving on the School Governance Council. Candidate declarations are open until March 24. We currently do not have any parent candidates for next school year. If you have questions about the SGC, or serving on the council, please contact me directly at petersonj1@fultonschools.org.

I hope all of our families have a wonderful, long weekend. If you need anything, please don't hesitate to email me at petersonj1@fultonschools.org.

I can't wait to see our students again on Wednesday!

• Monday, March 13 - Professional Development Day (No School for Students)
  
• Tuesday, March 14 - Teacher Workday (No School for Students)
• Thursday, March 16 - Algebra I End of Course Test
• Monday, April 3-Friday, April 7 - Spring Break
• Tuesday, April 11 - April PTO Meeting (9:30am)

Northwestern Middle School is hiring Instructional Paraprofessionals for next school year.

Do you want a full time position on your kid's school schedule? Including summers off!

Do you want to make a difference for kids?

Do you want to work in a dynamic and supportive environment?

Are you awesome and want to work with awesome people?

Eleven out of ten people say Northwestern is an amazing place to work!

Please consider an Instructional Paraprofessional position at Northwestern Middle School!

Email Mr. Peterson at petersonj1@fultonschools.org if you want to learn more about our opportunities for next school year.

Green Up! is next Friday (St. Patrick’s Day). Don’t forget to have your child wear their Green Up! spirit wear (this will be given out on Wednesday) or their own green clothing. Classes will continue their door decorating all next week. Donations to Star House Foundation will be accepted all week:

https://northwesternpto.membershiptoolkit.com/packet/28757903

Winning class for each grade level gets to go to Starbucks!! (Winners will be a combo of fundraising, door decorating, and wearing green.)

Please make a donation to Star House Foundation today!

Peer Buddy Program

Northwestern’s Peer Buddy Program is a great opportunity for your student to make relationships and develop many skills within our special education Mild & Moderate Intellectual Disability (MIMO) department. Peer Buddies work with MIMO students and teachers. This will count as a connections class for your student. If your student participates in year-round band or orchestra, they may be limited in their availability for this program.

If your student is interested in being a part of Northwestern’s Peer Buddy Program, there will be an application posted to their homeroom TEAMS page on Monday, April 10th. The application will close Friday, April 21st. No late applications will be accepted.

Once applications are reviewed, our MIMO staff will complete interviews to complete the process. All students who are chosen as peer buddies will be notified via email and there will be rosters posted outside the MIMO classrooms.

We have a very limited number of spots and this is a tough decision every year. The buddy program is a per semester position for 7th and 8th graders. If you know of any rising 6th graders that would be a great peer buddy, please email MaryBeth Redman at redmanm@fultonschools.org.

Please send any questions to MaryBeth Redman at redmanm@fultonschools.org.

Northwestern Course Verification #1

Dear NMS Parents/Families,

Course Verification #1 was sent home via your student on Friday, March 3rd and is also available to view in Campus Parent.

Currently, we are asking you to review your student’s Course Recommendations for the 2023-2024 school year (Verification #1). Please note, the courses that are currently requested for your student will be the courses on your student’s schedule for the 2023-2024 school year. Please review carefully! Due to the complexity of the master schedule, we will not be able to make mass changes in August.

To view your student’s Course Requests, log in to Campus Parent. If you do not have an account, your student can access through their Student Portal in ClassLink. Directions are attached. March 17th is the deadline to view your student’s Course Requests. This feature will be disabled in Infinite Campus to allow for the scheduling process to continue.

This is a verification of courses and is not your child’s actual schedule. The courses that should appear include the following: Math, Science, Reading/World Language, Social Studies, Language Arts, and Performing Arts selection if made. No general Connections courses will appear until the final schedule is received in August.

A course with .2 indicates a TAG course, 40/45/60 at the end indicates advanced, .9 indicates a team-taught class (students with an IEP), and .8 indicates a resource (IRR) class (students with an IEP). If your child is in the Services for Exceptional Children Program, course placement will be based upon your child’s most recent Individualized Educational Plan (IEP). If your child is not presently in this program, team-taught classes may not be requested.

Please note: TAG placement is authorized only after the proper testing has been completed.

If you have a question about a particular placement for next year, please consult your student’s current teacher.

IMPORTANT: If the courses you view are correct, you do not need to do anything else. We will consider no response as an approval of the 2023-2024 courses. If you need to request a change/update, please complete the Form:https://tinyurl.com/ea47rrn8 . You do not need to sign and return the paper copy.

If you desire to place your child in a higher-level course, against the teacher’s recommendation, the Waiver Form (https://tinyurl.com/2ysdwj53) must be completed and emailed to the rising assistant principal: Rising 6th graders - manganellia@fultonschools.org, Rising 7th graders – skimel@fultonschools.org, Rising 8th graders – simpson1@fultonschools.org.

The final deadline for submitting any changes/updates to your student's course recommendations is Friday, March 17th.

The window for parents and teachers to declare candidacy for their school's School Governance Council opens on February 1. During this time, individuals interested in serving a 2-year term (July 1, 2023 – June 30, 2025) will have the opportunity to complete a Candidate Declaration Form available on the Charter System Website. The declaration window will remain open until March 24 with voting to take place in April. Find out more at https://www.fultonschools.org/elections.

Northwestern has one teacher position and one parent position open for election.

Friday, May 12 - 8th Grade Dance (7:00-9:00 pm)

Friday, May 19 - 8th Grade Block Party (6:00-7:30 pm)

Monday, May 22 - Monday Funday (All grade levels)

Wednesday, May 24 - 8th Grade Promotion Ceremony at Milton HS (2:00 pm)

We are so excited to have our Career Fair back again for our 7th graders after 2 years

of having it virtually. If you want to make a positive impact here at NMS and inspire our students with options for their career choice, please consider volunteering for this amazing opportunity.

It will be held Thursday, March 24th from 9:00-10:45. Each volunteer will have a booth, and students will rotate around asking questions of you while completing a career exploration activity. Please e-mail Janette Hinton at hintonj@fultonschools.org for more information.

Each grade level has an assessment calendar located on our school website. These calendars can be located on the Northwestern site under Academics Home or the links are below.

The link below includes the weekly study/help sessions available for every teacher at NMS.

At Northwestern Middle School, we believe effective and timely communication is essential to our mission. NMS staff, students, and parents/guardians should maintain open, honest, and respectful lines of communication. Working together is the best way to help each student achieve success!

Parents/guardians have the ability to "turn off" attendance notifications in their Parent Portal. Click on the Silhouette on the top right and select Settings. Unclick the box for the Attendance emails.

The Curriculum Hub provides a variety of resources to assist parents in supporting their student's learning in the areas of English Language Arts/Reading, Mathematics, Science and Social Studies including:

• A year-at-a-glance for each course with the standards taught in each unit
• Unit plans detailing the specific learning targets to be mastered
• Parent resources to preview or review concepts and skills taught in each unit

Our School Governance Council has discussed the need to do more as a school community to better understand our student's use of social media and cell phones, and provide education for students and families around this issue. This school year, our students will engage in more discussions with staff around safe and responsible use of cell phones.

Representatives from Bark presented at one of our previous PTO meetings. As a company, Bark provides monitoring service and resources for families. I will be sharing information from Bark and other sources weekly in our newsletter.

There is also a Facebook group that is a great resource: Parenting in a Tech World

Parenting in a Tech World | Facebook

Northwestern will offer many clubs and student activities for our students during the 2022-23 school year. Check back often for more information!

Attention 8th graders!
Looking for a fun summer job? Come join the Dynamo Pool Management team and work as a gate attendant at the City of Milton pool this summer. Easy hours, flexible and great place to work this summer. Text Jo at 678.910.8259 or email jo@dynamopm.comif interested. We look forward to hearing from you. You can EARN lots of money this summer so sign up today! www.dynamopoolmanagement.com/employment/apply-online

Interested in trying out for the Milton Girl's Flag Football Team?

Join us for an informative meeting about the 2023/2024 Milton Varsity & JV Flag Football Program!

Open to all rising 9th to 12th grade girls attending Milton

Wednesday, April 12th

7pm-8pm

Milton High School Media Center

This is a MANDATORY meeting for all parents & players interested in trying out.

Questions? MHSflagfootball@gmail.com

Please include information as often as possible leading up to the meeting date!

Thank you again for spreading the word!

Kelly Long

kvahalylong@gmail.com

The Always a Hawk Club is having a sock drive to benefit the Hembree Springs Elementary School’s Clothes Closet. We need mainly kid’s socks, especially boy’s size 8, but all of the donations will be appreciated. All donations should be brought to Mrs. Rindt in room 906. All the donated socks will go to the Clothes Closet in Hembree Springs where they will be put to good use.

We will be collecting donations all through the month of March,

P.S. If you went to Hembree Springs, come join us at our next meeting!

A few highlights:

• There is a parent and student information meeting at Milton HS on Tuesday March 7th at 7pm.
• Meeting is in the Blackbox Theatre on the ground floor.
• The meeting will cover the audition process, time commitment, fees etc.
• There will also be a chance to hear from current students and parents about their experience and ask questions.
• Meeting materials will be sent out afterwards to all attendees.
• Anyone interested in auditioning for Advanced Drama, Cirque Fundamentals, Cirque Performance or both AD and Cirque should sign-up to audition.
• The link is: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdwBdCGpKSOJbovP2TaKjZSUu44hOMq-_7mGK8iWTHb4mgN8g/viewform
• Students interested in Advanced Drama should also email Helen Gordon to schedule a specific timeslot. gordonh1@fultonschools.org
• Advanced Drama Auditions are Tuesday March 21 and Wednesday March 22
• Cirque Auditions are Wednesday March 29 from 4 – 8pm with a possible call back on Thursday March 30. Middle school students should arrive as soon as possible after school ends. We realize there is transit time especially from Elkins Pointe.
• For more information:
• www.MiltonTheatreCompany.com
• Advanced Drama https://www.miltontheatrecompany.com/copy-of-advanced-drama-previous gordonh1@fultonschools.org
• Cirque https://www.miltontheatrecompany.com/cirque-auditions garretth@fultonschools.org
• MASK Booster Club Miltontheatre@gmail.com

FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) meetings are back to normal at Northwestern and will continue take place on Thursdays in the gym from 8am - 8:45am. We will let you know when we will have another opportunity to join the Milton High School crew.

Students are encouraged to bring friends to the Thursday morning meetings.

The FCA at Northwestern is also hoping that some volunteers may be willing to become more active and attend FCA meetings on Thursday mornings or help with things such as picking up food, small group leading, or even character coaching. Not much is required other than attendance for one hour a week. FCA is also looking for part-time and full- time employees. If you are interested in volunteering and/or employment, please contact Denton Carter (FCA leader) via email (dentoncarter@fca.org).

Students interested in joining the NMS Newspaper Staff should contact Ms. Denna Warrayat at warrayatd@fultonschools.org.

Thank you to our PTO for having breakfast for our bus drivers this morning! They keep our kids safe on the roads and we appreciate them so much!

We have a few yearbooks remaining for purchase. You can place your order on the Balfour website. https://www.balfour.com/georgia/milton/northwestern-middle-school

The NMS PTO would like to give a BIG THANKS to our 2022-2023 Business Partners

When you see these businesses, please acknowledge their sponsorship for the school & dedication to the academic achievement of our youth!

Home of the Wildcats!

Email: nmsfrontdesk@fultonschools.org
Website: https://www.fultonschools.org/northwesternms
Location: 12805 Birmingham Highway, Milton, GA, USA
Phone: (470) 254-2870
Twitter: @TheNMSWildcats

Thank you for your continued support of Northwestern Middle School!

Sincerely,

Joel - Principal

Northwestern Middle School: Teach Hard, Love Harder - The Wildcat Way!