August 26, 2022

Building Excellence Successfully Together

Key News for Explorer Families

It was wonderful to see so many parents and guardians here for our Curriculum Nights this week. If you were unable to attend, your child's teacher will share the information with you via email. Thank you for also supporting our fantastic PTA, they are ready to kick off a phenomenal Enrichment Fund Week - more info to come on that soon!

As you have heard from Dr. Looney, our District Superintendent, school safety is a priority this year, and will continue to be so in the future. The school board has recently approved funding for schools to spend toward campus safety initiatives. Additionally, our school board will be supporting campuses with a specific emphasis on school safety. Here at Northwood, all staff members work to keep our campus safe. We have practiced our required emergency drills (evacuation (fire), shelter, soft lockdown, hard lockdown) with the students and staff. We will continue to do so throughout the year. Our staff members are spread out during recess time to monitor students and the surroundings. Our external doors remain closed with visitor access through the main front door only. Mrs. Levine, our AP, leads our school safety team which meets regularly as well.

We appreciate the diligence and support of our families. Thank you for following our campus check in / check out processes for both adults and students. We do need all of our carpool families following carpool line up times and procedures. These are in place to maintain consistency of arrival and dismissal processes which in turn allows for the am and pm transition times to run smoothly. We hope to add some additional signage outside to help with traffic flow and directions. Adults in the cars for carpool are to remain in the vehicles, NWES staff will assist with loading and unloading as needed.

Finally, as families look forward to next week, I would love to invite all students, staff, parents to participate in College Colors Day on Friday, September 2nd. If you have a favorite college team shirt, jersey or team colors, wear them on the 2nd to celebrate the kick off of the college football season. Students love walking through our College Avenue hallway and seeing all the school pennants. We are excited to see all the colleges represented on campus next week.

With gratitude,

Heather Rucker

Principal

zoom_out_map

CALENDAR DATES

September 2 - College Colors Day (Wear Favorite Team Jersey or Colors)

September 5 - Labor Day, No School

September 6 - Professional Development Day / Remote Day for Students

September 9 - All Pro Dad (7:10-7:40 am)

September 16 - Fall Picture Day

September 22 - FCS Board Meeting

SECOND GRADE EXPLORERS

Second graders have started the year off with a bang! We’ve been learning about our fabulous state of Georgia. The children had so much fun creating pictures about GA to go with each letter of the alphabet. We are now focusing on the five regions in our state. In math, students have been brushing up on their place value skills and learning how to read, write, and compare numbers. A highlight from the first week was building 3D shapes with marshmallows and spaghetti. It’s been a fantastic beginning of the year and we are all looking forward to a successful, exciting, and productive school year!

THIRD GRADE EXPLORERS

THIRD grade students GOT DIRTY! The students investigated different soil types AND participated in a WATER RETENTION LAB. The students were able to roll the soil between their fingers and record their observations. The soil samples included sand, clay and loam. In the lab students explored and discussed WHICH kind of soil holds (retains) water the best. The results allowed students to realize how the amount of water a soil will hold could affect the types of plants that could grow in each type of soil.

zoom_out_map

MISSING SOMETHING?

Parents, please encourage your students to check regularly for lost items in the Lost and Found. Please mark all student belongings clearly with the child’s name so that it can be identified. Unclaimed items are donated to local charities after the last school day of every month. August’s date is Wednesday, August 31st.

GET INVOLVED: NORTHWOOD CLUB APPLICATIONS

Northwood is excited to offer Explorers several morning and afternoon clubs for their enrichment and enjoyment.

Participants are expected to adhere to Northwood PBIS behavior expectations both during the school day and during club activities. We want your child's participation in school clubs to be a great experience of learning and interaction with other students. Our three Northwood expectations “Be Respectful, Be Responsible, and Be Engaged” will continue to be taught during all club activities. Club advisors will use Northwood’s Reflect and Refocus forms to teach positive behavior and “stop and think” strategies. Club participation is dependent on students following these PBIS procedures.

Below are Northwood Club application links with more details about deadlines and start dates.

Eco Team Application 2022-2023.docx

Art Club Application Fall 2022.docx

Newspaper Club Application.docx

Chorus Application 2022-2023.docx

Northwood 2022 All Grades Get Fit Morning Fitness - Permission Form.docx

zoom_out_map

New This Year: Attendance and Dismissal Emails

ATTENDANCE EMAIL

If your child is absent from school, please submit an email to your child’s teacher AND northwoodattendance@fultonschools.org within five days of returning to school.

Please include:

Child's first and last name
The absence date(s)
Reason for absence(s) *attach doctor's note if applicable

You can monitor student attendance in your Campus Parent Portal account.

If you would like to request a pre-approved absence, the Absence Request Form is available on our website under Attendance.

DISMISSAL EMAIL

While all transportation changes should be submitted in writing and given to the teacher in the morning; we do understand that emergency situations do happen. If you have a same day emergency change, please submit an email to NWESdismissal@fultonschools.org before 12 pm.

Please include:

Child’s first and last name
The date and the specific change, i.e. bus to car rider
The reason for the change

Please copy your child’s homeroom teacher on the email as well.

open_in_new zoom_out_map

Have You Joined Infinite Campus Parent Portal?

The Infinite Campus Parent Portal provides quick and easy access to information for all enrolled students in their household. Find grades, attendance, assignments, schedules, ID numbers, school announcements and more. If you haven't already joined, please do so today as Fulton County Schools is transitioning to managing everything via the portal.

For more information, access the Parent Portal Booklet for Infinite Campus here.

Student Code of Conduct & Discipline Handbook: PLEASE REVIEW & SIGN OFF

Each year Fulton County Schools asks families and students to read and discuss the Student Code of Conduct & Discipline Handbook; and then sign off that you have read it. Please follow the steps below to access the handbook, and then sign off electronically in your Infinite Campus Parent/Student Portal Account.

Please read and review the Code of Conduct with your student(s). There are also paper copies available for your convenience in the office. fultonschools.org/codeofconduct

Please take a moment to complete the Acknowledgement of Receipt Form. This link provides directions on the sign off process. How to sign Acknowledgement of Receipt.pdf

CAFETERIA NEWS

ICE CREAM & BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS

Your child will be recognized at school on his/her birthday, with an announcement on Explorervision and a special birthday pencil. Please do not send cake, cupcakes, balloons, party favors, or party invitations to school as these will not be distributed. If you would like to celebrate your child’s birthday at school you may purchase ice cream from our cafeteria for your child’s class.

Please email your Explorer’s teacher to find out how many students are in their class.
Email our Cafeteria Manger Kara Flood at FloodK@fultonschools.org to place your order at least ONE FULL WEEK IN ADVANCE of your Explorer’s birthday.
Ice cream is still $1 each for birthdays. The simplest way to handle the cost is to have money on your Explorers account via the MyPaymentsPlus app.

Please note, this year ice cream will only be available for students to purchase during lunch (except for preplanned birthday celebrations) on Fridays. The new cost is $1.25.

UPDATED: FCS TAG Screening & Referral Information 2022-23

Families that would like to review the updated TAG eligibility guidelines please click the updated attachments.

GET YOUR YEARBOOK LIKE, NOW!

Get your yearbook like, now! Use the QR code or click here to order.

REFLECTIONS

Young artists get involved through their local PTA or PTSA. A student may submit an entry in any of six arts areas. Only original works of art are accepted. The six art areas are: Visual Arts Photography, Literature, Music Composition, Dance Choreography, and Film Production.

That's why the Reflections Program provides an excellent opportunity for students of all ages to: