Weekly Wildcat Newsletter - Jan. 14
Northwestern Middle School News and Notes
Happy Friday Wildcat Country!
We had a wonderful week of school! It was so nice having our students back in the building and in classrooms with teachers. We have a long weekend ahead and possibly snow! I hope everyone enjoys their weekend!
I have included several important updates about scheduling options and rising 9th grade meetings at our two feeder high schools. Please read carefully and let me know if you have any questions.
Please report any positive COVID-19 cases to the Parent or Employee portals.
If there is anything we can do to support your family, please let us know. I hope all of our families have a wonderful weekend!
I'm looking forward to seeing our students again on Tuesday!
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Important Upcoming Dates
- Monday, January 17 - MLK Holiday (No School)
- Monday, January 24 - Early Release Day (Dismissal at 2:05pm)
- Thursday, January 27 - Orchestra GMEA Performance Athens, GA
- Friday, January 28 - 2nd Quarter Pride Wall (9:00 am)
New Morning Hours for Spring Semester
Students should not be dropped off earlier than 8:15 am. We do not have staff for supervision before that time.
Rising 9th Grade - Cambridge High School Information
Thursday, 1/20/22 - Special Programs (AP classes, CTAE, TAG, etc.) videos and information will be available on the Cambridge school website. for AP classes, CTAE, TAG
Tuesday, 1/25/22 @ 5:30 –Rising 9th Grade Parent/Student Information Night – Live presentation (link on CHS website)
Informational Video for rising 9th grade will also be available on 1/25/22 on CHS website.
Rising 9th Grade - Milton High School Information
Rising Milton 9th Graders and Families:
Milton High School will host a virtual Rising 9th Grade Information Night on Wednesday, January 19 at 6:00 PM. This event will be live on Microsoft Teams but will be recorded and published for families who are unable to attend live. The presentation will include important information regarding program offerings, course selection, and general high school information from the Milton Counseling department, Talented/Gifted coordinator, and ESOL coordinator. A Q&A will conclude the presentation.
Please save this link to join the live event: Rising 9th Grade Information Night (1/19 @ 6 PM)
We are excited to meet you soon!
Face-To-Face Instruction is the FCS Standard
Face-to-face is the best educational model for students, and FCS is committed to maintaining in-person instruction.
- The district’s standard will be face-to-face; however, individual classes and schools may be required to switch temporarily to remote learning based on the local school data.
- We will continue to use mitigation strategies – such as remote learning decisions starting at the class level, then grade, school and city levels progressively – to keep everyone safe while avoiding disruption in learning, as much as possible.
Masks will be required indoors for all FCS schools and facilities through January 21, 2022. After that, masks will be optional and only mandated based on public health directives for those in quarantine.
COVID Mitigation
We are adapting our strategies in response to the evolving realities of this pandemic. COVID-19 has changed, which means the data points and decision matrix the district uses to respond have also evolved.
- The Omicron variant is different than previous variants and reportedly less severe.
- As the COVID-19 vaccine, booster and treatments have advanced, the community has become better protected.
- Research has increased our knowledge and mitigation efforts have continued to improve.
As these factors have changed, direction from public health officials has changed, too. For example, the CDC and Georgia Department of Public Health (GaDPH) have recently announced adjustments to their recommendation for schools regarding quarantining and isolation. In short, these standards are now:
- Isolation: Anyone who tests positive for the virus must isolate at home for five (5) days. After the 5-day isolation period, students/staff can return to school if they are asymptomatic and continue to wear a mask around others for five (5) additional days. It is very important that parents keep their children home if they are exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms, even beyond the five (5) days if their symptoms have not improved or resolved.
- Quarantine: Students who have been directly exposed due to a school exposure to COVID-19 can stay in school as long as they continue to wear a mask for ten (10) days after the exposure and remain symptom free/asymptomatic. Questions regarding individual circumstances can be confirmed with a representative of FCS District Health Services or FCBOH.
Click here to see the GaDPH’s full administrative order regarding quarantining and isolation.
FCS will continue to use the following reports regarding COVID-19 data. They are available on the FCS website and updated regularly:
- FCBOH Epidemiology Report – measures community spread with several data points
- FCS COVID-19 Report By School – measures the total COVID-19 counts and percent by school
- FCS 14-Day Positive Trend Rate – measures positive rate per 100,000 by municipality
Late Start Days Switch to Early Release Days
Based on feedback from a variety of stakeholders, the Board voted on a calendar adjustment that will change all remaining late start Mondays for the 2021-2022 school year to early release days. This impacts the following dates:
- January 24, 2022
- February 28, 2022
- March 21, 2022
Dismissal times:
- Elementary School 12:20 p.m.
- High School 1:30 p.m.
- Middle School 2:05 p.m.
Northwestern Middle Schools hours will be 8:55-2:05 on these Early Release Days.
NMS Early Release Bell Schedule
Rising 8th Grade Students - Intro to Art Course
Rising 8th Grade Students - Fundamentals of Theatre
Rising 9th Grade Students - Latin at Milton High School
Why Take Latin at Milton High School?
The answers might surprise you!
Latin is NOT hard – the Latin I class average last semester was 90+!
SAT scores – 2 year Latin students outscore others by 100+ points!
Unlimited Test Recovery – students can retake tests until they pass!
Milton was rated the #1 medium-division program by the Georgia Junior Classical League!
Student choice on homework: you pick the assignments you like the best!
Every Latin student who took the National Latin Exam won an award!
Latin Club is planning a trip to Italy summer 2023!
!!!NO PBAs!!!
Why Take Latin at Milton High School?
Don’t just take our word for it! This is what college entrance officials say about Latin:
“The study of Latin is also the study of history, art, music, theatre, philosophy, law, literature, laboratory science, ‘and more!’”
Teresa Hudkins, Willamette University
“The study of Roman culture which typically accompanies Latin study informs the study of any Western literature, art, or culture as well. [. . .] If Latin were dead, every Western culture and language would be also bereft of life.”
Matthew Potts, Admissions Counselor, University of Notre Dame
“Latin trains abstract thinking, provides a key to all modern Romance languages, is a model for interdisciplinary study (language, history, culture) and can be a lot of fun.”
Michael C. Behnke, Vice President for Enrollment, University of Chicago
“Vocabulary and grammar of the English language can be mightily improved through the study of Latin.”
Kathy Lindsey, Associate Director of Admissions, Middlebury College
“A background in Latin provides students with a stronger English vocabulary. Open any SAT prep book and you will see a crash course in Latin in the vocab section.”
Andrea Thomas, Assistant Dean of Admission, Hamilton College
If you have any questions about Latin at Milton High School, please email Alex Marsh at MarshAJ@fultonschools.org.
Connect Fulton
Fulton County Schools’ Office of Student Supports is helping launch a game-changing tool called Connect Fulton to all of Fulton County. Anyone - not only FCS students and employees, but also parents and community members who live and/or work in Fulton County - can go to connectfulton.findhelp.com, enter their zip code and access thousands of local, reduced-cost resources. Whether the need is for food, housing, financial, medical, clothing, job training, etc., a multitude of services and solutions are available. For more information, please reach out to Fulton County Schools Office of Student Supports at 470-254-0451.
K-12 ELA Textbook Adoption
ELA textbook materials for grades 6-8 will be on display during the public review period of Monday, November 29, 2021 to Friday, January 21, 2022. All parents and community members are encouraged to review the materials during our regular school hours. Please check-in with the front office and be sure you have your photo identification. The ELA textbook materials for review are located in our Media Center.
FCS Curriculum Hub
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
Breakfast and Lunch Fees
Family Resources for Social Media & 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
NMS Clubs and Student Activities
Northwestern will continue to offer many clubs and student activities for our students during the 2021-22 school year. Check back often for more information!
Milton Jr. Eagles Cheer
NMS Student Newspaper
PTO Spirit Night - Wednesday 1/19
The Gwinnett Gladiators celebrate MLK day at the “kids day out game”.
Parking is free and tickets are only $12 (which include a hot dog and a drink). Our cluster of schools has a bunch of great seats reserved for us in the lower level so it's a fantastic way to watch a hockey game.
*Buy tickets by Friday January 14th!!
fevo.me/crabapple
Order Your Yearbook - Preserve The Memories
Yearbooks are ordered directly from Balfour, click HERE to place your order
Attention 8th Grade Parents
There is only one month left to submit a baby photo or
purchase a shout out or ad for your student.
We are happy to present the following options to honor our 8th grade students!
Steps to purchase/process your submission –
1. Go to www.balfour.com and choose “Shop My School”; search for and select “Northwestern Middle School”
2. Select “Order Now”; select “Add Student”, enter student info and select “Shop for this student”
3. Select the items you would like to purchase (baby photos are listed as $.01, this will be refunded to you once you are checking out). Add items to your cart.
4. Once you check out, you will receive an email within 24 hours with the subject line “Your yearbook ad space is ready”. Follow the steps in the e-mail to create your submission. If you have “ordered” both a baby photo, as well as a shout out or ad space, you can toggle in between each item by clicking the drop down at the top of the ad submission page.
FAQS
· What is the due date for submitting baby photos/ad space?
o February 1st is the deadline, don’t miss out on honoring your 8th grade student!
· How do I know if I have ordered a yearbook?
o There are 2 ways to verify whether or not you have ordered a yearbook. You can check your inbox, if you have ordered a yearbook, you will receive an order confirmation from Balfour. Or, you can log into your Balfour account and click on “My Account” on the top right hand corner of the screen, then click on “My orders” on the left hand side of the screen.
· What is the deadline to order a yearbook?
o The last day to order a yearbook is April 15.
· How do I know if I have completed the process correctly?
o We will be reviewing each order extensively. As long as you have processed your order (i.e. add your items to the cart and then check out completely), we will follow up if we have any questions.
· Do I get a proof to review?
o Since we utilize the exact image that you upload, we do not provide a proof for you to view.
· If you have any questions about your order, call 1-800-BALFOUR or email at contact.us@balfour.com.
Northwestern Spiritwear
Spirtware is available for purchase! A wonderful amount of different NMS Wildcats items for purchase and shipped directly to your home! CLICK HERE!!
PTO Membership Packages
Northwestern Middle School
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!