NorthPoint Parents,

I hope that you were all truly inspired by the Christmas at NorthPoint performances. I wish you all a Merry Christmas. May the Prince of Peace reign over your homes and in your hearts. Have a wonderful week ahead. Thank you for your continued support.

• December 16th and 17th- High School Midterms
• December 18th- End of Quarter 2
• December 19th-January 5th- Christmas Break (No School)

Our first round of new P.E. and playground equipment has arrived from our Apex Fundraising event. We can't wait to see our students enjoying it all. Thank you again for your support.

What an amazing show! Our students did a great job sharing the joy of Jesus' birth through song. Thank you to Mrs. Allen for all of your hardwork and dedication that you pour into our students and music program.

Thank you to everyone that supported Asheville Christian Academy. Your generous donations raised $1300!

Tuesday 12/17 vs Palisades - 6:30 pm

Monday Home vs UR Academy - 5:30 pm

Tuesday Home vs Palisades - 7:30 pm

Monday Home vs UR Academy - 7:00 pm

Wednesday practice - 5-6:30

Chess Club will meet every Wednesday from 2:45-3:45

This week in Chapel, we explored how the Christmas tree reminds us of Jesus’ light, love, and promise of peace. Each part of the tree held a special meaning:

• Lights represent Jesus as the Light of the World, shining hope and pushing back darkness (John 8:12).

• Ribbons reflect Jesus’ love that wraps around us and binds us together (Romans 8:38-39).

• Ornaments remind us that we are God’s masterpieces, with our own unique gifts and talents, created to reflect His glory (Ephesians 2:10).

• Evergreen Branches symbolize God’s unchanging nature, reminding us that He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8).

We sang Phil Wickham’s "O Christmas Tree", a beautiful arrangement that ties the symbolism of the tree directly to Jesus’ life, light, and love. We closed chapel with joyful singing and dancing to "Feelin’ Like Christmas", celebrating the joy and peace that come from knowing Him.

May each of you have a very Merry Christmas filled with the light, love, and peace of Jesus!

This week, we kicked off our Christmas series titled No Room. "There was no room for Him in the inn" (Luke 2:7). This familiar refrain is a part of the popular Christmas narrative both for Christians and for our culture at large. In this two-week series, we will dig into the historical context in which Jesus was born in order to understand what it meant for there to be no room for Jesus. As we connect history with students' modern experience, this series encourages students to make room for Jesus in their own lives. Week One’s discussion - Do You Have Room?

We were joined again by our live worship band as they sang Firm Foundation. They have done a wonderful job preparing our hearts for worship and we hope to have them in each chapel service for the remainder of the school year!

Senior Students and Parents:

Just a friendly reminder to make the FAFSA application a priority before year end. I realize December is likely your most overscheduled month of the year, but I do want to encourage you to complete the FAFSA this month. The earlier you complete it, the more likely you are to receive funding. Whether your student qualifies for need-based, merit-based, or a combination of both sources, applying early will make a difference. As you can imagine, there is not an unlimited amount of funding available…so make time to apply early. If you were at the Financial Aid night, November 18th, you learned that the entire application process typically takes around 45 minutes to complete. The new application imports your tax information directly from the IRS, saving you time and drastically reducing the number of questions you are required to answer. Students are now able to list up to 20 colleges on the application and will receive the Student Aid Index shortly after submission. Here is an article indicating the improved success of the process since last year’s unsuccessful rollout.

https://reason.com/2024/12/10/wait-this-years-fafsa-actually-works/

Junior Students and Parents:

Remember to sign up for one ACT and one SAT early this spring. Registration is NOW! My preference is that your students take the February 8th ACT and the March 8th SAT. Once we get results back, I can help your junior determine which test yielded the best results. After the initial benchmark test, I recommend committing regular, scheduled study hours each day/week in preparation for one of the two college admissions tests. I have given juniors a good list of study resources (free and paid programs included). Your student should begin studying immediately, but feedback from the February and March tests will be used to target trouble spots in need of extra review. Multiple testing dates for one of the 2 tests enables your student to take advantage of super scoring to improve the total/composite score submitted for college and scholarship applications. I will include links to both registration sites below:

ACT Registration

SAT Registration

There is a complete list of test dates and registration deadlines in the packet of materials I gave your student in our junior meeting. It is in the GREEN CFNC folder inside the stapled packet entitled “Preparing for Your Junior Year & Your College Admissions Process”. Look at the back page of the packet for the dates and deadlines. Parents, please read through the materials in the folder carefully. The document I just referred to outlines all the major items you and your student will need to complete in the next few months. Christmas Break is an excellent time to do some family planning, college research, and prioritizing of “next steps” as you head into the final half of the junior year.

Finally, parents of juniors, please save the date for Junior Parent Night. I have reserved Tuesday, January 14th, from 6:30-8:00PM as an evening for us to meet as a group to outline and discuss the following:

• What was covered and assigned to students in the junior meeting

• Why this year is so important and what tasks you don’t want to skip

• How to navigate the college application process at NorthPoint including how we use Scoir, Common App, and specific college application portals

• What needs to happen before summer, and the senior application season which will open during summer

All High School Students and Parents:

Midterm exams begin next week. Please refer to this past week’s Counselor’s Corner in the Nighthawk News (Sunday, December 8th) for a complete list of exam study tips! I will be praying that this is a positive, confidence-building experience for all of our high school students.

Blessings for a JOY-filled Advent Season!

Mrs. Hamilton, Academic & College Advisor

Do you have books at home that you would like to donate to our lower school library? Have your students bring the books into Mrs. Newman. We would greatly appreciate your donations.

Parents,

This week in Spanish class we had so much fun "visiting" three countries in Latin America and got to see and talk about how Navidad is celebrated. The students enjoyed watching small clips from El Salvador, Mexico and Argentina. They learned about the traditions, food, and got to "see" fireworks! We practiced a tradition in class pretending that it was midnight and we gave each other hugs as we said "Feliz Navidad" to each other.

Loved seeing their interest and wanting to learn all about the traditions!

I hope you and your families have a wonderful CHRISTmas.

¡FELIZ NAVIDAD!

Mrs. Zelaya.

Mother's Prayer group will meet at 8:30a.m. each Thursday in the atrium.

We hope you can join!

Click on the calendar below for a full, printable version. Please remember this calendar is subject to change.

Please remember that any early dismissals (not sports related) must be made prior to 1:45.

Students not signed out by 1:45 will have to be dismissed in the regular afternoon carpool.

Open 11/25, Close 12/9, Delivery week of 12/19

Open 1/7, Close 1/21, Delivery week of 2/7

Open 2/4, Close 2/18, Delivery week of 3/5

Open 3/10, Close 3/24, Delivery week of 4/11

Open 4/7, Close 4/21, Delivery week of 5/6

Monday: Chick-fil-a

Tuesday: Carolina Charcuterie & Catering

Wednesday: Jersey Mike's/Carolina Charcuterie & Catering

Thursday: Carolina Charcuterie & Catering

Friday: Papa Johns

Reminder: Orders must be placed by 12:00 p.m. (NOON) the Friday before the week you are ordering for.

No orders will be accepted after the cut off day and time.

We are in need volunteers to help distribute the food during lunch time 3 days a week. If you can help us consistently or just every once in awhile-we would love to have you! (Make sure your school volunteer background check is up to date)

We need 3 volunteers on Mondays (Chik-Fil-A) and 2 on Fridays (Pizza) between 10:50-12:45.

All volunteers are required to complete a background check. The background checks have to be redone every three years. Please email Mrs. Maslin at kmaslin@northpointwaxhaw.com to request a background check. Thank you!