Good morning Bronco Families,

We are well into our second semester already, with progress reports just around the corner. We are ramping up for end of the year activities, planning for the 2024-25 school year, and watching our seniors as they come to the realizations of "this is the last..." fill in the blank.

Conversely, our Broncos have been busy, establishing new "firsts" of their own. We have our very first competitive robotics team, led by senior Sean Donelan. We had our first traveling drama show, 'Little Women', whose quest for outreach to middle and elementary schools have brought the arts to our future Broncos. We now have our first girls wrestling North Coast Section Dual Tournament Championship. Our animation program hosted their first Career Technical Education day for middle school students, introducing them to industry standard animation software and our complete animation pathway. Our competition cheer team is competing at Nationals for the first time, this weekend. Northgate continues to set the bar high and find new paths to excellence, and we could not be prouder.

As a community, we are approaching a significant milestone. Northgate High School turns 50 next year. We are a tight and proud community, with alums who have come back to work with our current students, alums who have remained in the community and continue to support the school, and those in our parent community who have proudly driven their own children to their alma mater as they too become Broncos. We embrace our legacy and our outstanding students and staff who have passed through Northgate's doors, and we are launching a huge project to commemorate them.

Our legacy brick project is being launched this month. Families, alums, community members, and staff are all invited to put their "stamp" on Northgate's grounds by purchasing a legacy brick for our planned 'Legacy Lane.' This pathway will be installed from the stadium entrance all the way to our planned stadium bathrooms and concessions building that we hope to fundraise for with this project.

Before we announce this to alumni and the community, we are first offering this opportunity to our current families. There will be limited availability on these bricks, with a finite space, and we have set a goal of 4,000 bricks. Details can be found further down in the newsletter, but bricks are available for purchase NOW in our webstore.

Our athletics programs have received an upgrade, in the form of a new website and a brand new app available in your app store. Go to the app store and search Northgate, and you should find our 'Northgate Broncos' app, which gives you a list of upcoming events, provides broadcasts of games and events in the gym and stadium, photos, results and more. Huge thank you to VP of athletics Tyler Rosecrans, Athletic Director Ben Ballard, and volunteer webmaster Phil Parker for their work in this!

This semester brings a flurry of activity, with Winter sports ramping up to playoffs, Spring sports starting in two weeks, art shows, performances, festivals, prom, ball, labs, exams, field trips and Senior Project, as well as graduation. Keep track of it all through our school calendar, which can be viewed on our website, on ParentSquare, or added to your own calendar through google

Our Broncos are remarkable, and you will not want to miss a thing.

Yours in partnership,

Kelly Cooper

Principal

From the MDUSD Friday Letter:

Months after hatching a plan to bring Northgate HS live theater to elementary and middle school students, Northgate HS Drama Artistic Director John Litten and a small cast of drama student staged three back-to-back performances of "Little Women" over three days - Tuesday through Thursday, Jan. 23-25 - sharing their joy of acting with younger students. Their goal was to spark an interest in high school drama while students are still young. Based on the enthusiastic response the show received from students, teachers and administrators, Litten and the Northgate cast achieved their goal. They performed the full-length play for Ayers and Woodside elementary students and teachers in Northgate's Little Theater on Tuesday, then took a "traveling show" on the road to Foothill Middle School and Walnut Acres Elementary on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively. Litten hopes to expand the program to more schools next year, possibly with help from Prop. 28 arts funding for travel and other expenses.

Girls Basketball

Our Broncos are 17-6 overall, 7-2 in League so far, with three games left to the regular season. The Broncos won the West Coast Jamboree this year, with senior Amelia Schrag winning MVP of the tournament, and being named this season as an Athlete of the Week nominee by the East Bay Times. Three of our athletes passed the 500 high school career point mark this season- Amelia Schrag, Hana Neuman, and Samantha Myhr. The Broncos are currently ranked #4 in Division II, with Samantha Myhr coming up 5th in the NCS for 3 pointers made at 51. Senior Night is February 2nd, and we celebrate Josie Croy, Elleanor Litten, Avery Martin, Amelia Schrag, Kelsey Schaffer, Makaela Summers, Kelsie Tamura, and manager Jada Tillman.

Boys Basketball

Our boys are 14-8 overall, and 6-2 in league. Senior Daniel Louie was featured as an Athlete of the Week nominee by the East Bay Times, and has committed to play for University of Hawaii at Hilo. The boys beat Las Lomas in the Battle of the Creek, 84-76, and lost a nail-biter in overtime to CVCHS. The Broncos are currently 5th in league, with senior Jake Andjus ranking 7th in league in scoring. Senior Night is January 31st, and we celebrate RJ Anderson, Jake Andjus, Jake Ebrahimi, Brady Foster, Spencer French, Peyton Judd, and Daniel Louie.

From Coach McCoy:

The season is moving along. We traveled to the Torrey Pines Tournament in San Diego in late December and played 4 games and went 2-2 against top level teams. We played 3 out of state teams and 1 in state team. Not only was it a great basketball tournament, it was also a great team bonding experience. I feel that the Torrey Pines Tournament was a major turning point in our season that has lead a strong team environment as we moved forward in our season.

As we move along in league we are supporting a 14-8 record and a 7 game winning streak. We have some big wins against Miramonte and Las Lomas. We also had a heartbreaker game against Clayton Valley Charter where we lost in overtime. They played their heart out and I couldn't more proud of them.

As the regular comes to an end, Northgate mens basketball team is looking forward to competing in the D.A.L. tournament and a possible North Coast Second birth. I believe that if we continue to play basketball the way we have been playing we should have a good chance of post season play.

Girls Soccer

Our Broncos are 8-3-3, 9th in Division II of the NCS, with Senior Jules Colchico, who is committed to play soccer for Sacramento State University, and Junior Keira Lund leading the team in goals scored. Senior Night is February 8 vs Campolindo, and we will be celebrating seniors Reagan Thomas, Jules Colchico, and Rachel Burkes.

Boys Soccer

Broncos are 6th in league with a 6-5-2 record, after a close match with Las Lomas, and a great tie with Clayton Valley Charter. They had a fantastic win against favored San Ramon Valley HS. Junior Alesandro Guarnaccia leads the team in goals per game, while Junior Mateo Gonzales leads the team in goals scored. Mateo ranks 14th in Division II for NCS in goals scored. The team faces College Park, Acalanes, then Campolindo, before closing out their regular season. Senior Night is February 6th, where we will celebrate seniors Brady Brown, Nate Greenberg, Bradley Haraguchi, Alex Hong, Lucas LeSieur, Adrian Milford, and Trey Schultz.

Wrestling

This year in Wrestling, we have 55 athletes - the most ever in program history.

In dual meet action, our varsity boys' team is currently 4-3; our varsity girl's team is 4-0 and recently captured the in-season Girls North Coast Championship Dual Tournament title; and our JV boys' team is 3-3 after finishing 4th in the San Marin JV Duals.

In individual tournaments, we've had some great team and individual success. Varsity boys have had multiple top finishes, including 4th at the Jim Lanterman Classic in Napa, 5th at San Marin's Green and Gold Tournament, and 9th at Western HS's Pioneer Rumble. The Varsity Girls recently won their first in-season individual tournament in program history at SRV's Girl Invitational. They also have top finishes at the Lady Royals Invitational (Overfelt HS - 6th), Roger Briones Invitational (San Leandro HS - 4th), and Albany Girl's Tournament (Albany HS - 6th). Individual champions this season include Becky Fletcher (4x), Tony Pucci (2x), Symone Jewell, Jacob Nouhi, Joylyn Jayko, Keira Sale (2x), and Lexi Rotenberry (2x).

Our 15th annual Bill Martell Invitational was a huge success, hosting 44 teams and 279 wrestlers from across the state. We also traveled down to Southern California to wrestle in tournaments and visit Disneyland over Martin Luther King Jr. Weekend.

We look to continue our success as we wrap up the regular season and head into the postseason.

DAL League Championships are Saturday 2/10 at Mt Diablo HS

NCS Championships are Friday and Saturday 2/16-17 at Albany HS (Girls) and James Logan HS (Boys

On February 7th, we will be hosting a national letter of intent signing day in the front of our school during lunch. Please fill out the form attached if you are signing with a university to participate in athletics after Northgate.

Signing Day 2023

Thank you! Go Broncos!

In honor of the coming 50th anniversary of Northgate High School, we are launching a fundraiser and sale of commemorative bricks for our planned 'Legacy Lane', running from the stadium entrance to the planned stadium bathrooms and concession building.

This fundraiser will raise money to build long-awaited stadium bathrooms, a concession stand, and will allow us to purchase a video scoreboard.

There are three sizes of bricks. The standard 6x8 brick ($500), a larger 8x8 brick ($1500), and the largest 12x12 brick ($5000, perfect for companies and graduating classes)

Space is finite, which means we can only sell so many bricks. Leave your 'trail' at Northgate, and purchase your family's brick today!

Tryout information will be released soon, but most of our sports will be starting on Febraury 5th. In order to tryout your child needs to be regsitered on Sportsnet and have a completed physical signed off by a Doctor.

Please see this website for more detailed information: Athlete Registration

Our Spring Sport Parent Night will take place on Feb 1st from 7-8pm in the Little Theatre.

This year, we are joining the majority of schools in the Bay Area, and providing all transportation for both Junior Prom (held in Oakland this year, location to be revealed in January!) and Senior Ball (held in San Francisco, location to be revealed in March!)

We have reserved Charter Buses to transport all students and their guests, and the cost of the buses will be included in the cost of the tickets. Pickup and drop off will be at Northgate HS, and students will be allowed to group together with their friends on buses. (Sign up lists will go out closer to the event)

The provided transportation is mandatory, and a move made in effort to reduce costs to families, reduce incidents of cancelled private transportation due to double bookings, and increase the overall safety for our students getting to and from the events.

More detailed information will be offered soon for each event, but we wanted to give the heads up for planning!

Junior Prom is February 24th, 2024. Senior Ball is April 26, 2024. Students will be allowed to bring a guest, either from Northgate or from other schools. A guest contract will be required.

First, we want to say thank you and congratulations to cafeteria baker, Sylvia Hovland, who has accepted a promotion as the Lead Cafeteria Manager at Pleasant Hill Middle School.

We also say goodbye to Mr. Karimi, who has decided to pursue other opportunities.

We welcome to our Bronco Family:

Catherine Kenna, who joins us as our new Student Resource Technician.

Leah Wilson, counseling intern.

Welcome back to Jennifer Burlison, who returns as a Special Education Assistant.

Ian Leonard, guest performing artist who is teaching our choir and guitar program as a long term substitute.

Daniel Horne, our new English teacher, all the way from North Carolina.

On behalf of NBC Sports Bay Area/California and Provident Credit Union, we are excited to announce the start of the 17th annual All-Star Teacher contest.

Each year, we recognize middle and high school teachers in the San Francisco & Sacramento area for their extraordinary dedication to their students and community. We are happy to share that starting this year, primary school teachers (K-5) will be able to participate in the contest!

The contest is broken down into several parts, and below is an overview of each:

Nomination period:

• The nomination period runs from January 5 to February 5, 2024.
• The nomination form is available on our website, NBCSportsBayArea.com/ast, and must be completed by anyone 18 years or older by the deadline.

Judging period:

• Our panel of judges will select five finalists based on four categories: overall commitment, excellence in teaching, rapport with students, and level of distinction.
• All five finalists will be notified on or around February 22, 2024, and asked if they accept or decline to participate.
• We will visit each school from February 26 to March 11, 2024, to record each teacher teaching and interview 2-3 individuals of their choice.
• The content from the school visit will be used in a short video highlighting each teacher's extraordinary work for their school, students, and community.

Voting period:

• Public voting will occur from April 1 to May 31, 2024.
• The public can visit nbcsportsbayarea.com/ast, learn about each teacher, and vote for their favorite teacher.
• Each teacher will be interviewed during an MLB, NBA, or NHL Pregame Live show & invited to a game.

Final Ceremony:

• Over the summer, all five finalists will be recognized prior to the start of a San Francisco Giants game at Oracle Park, and the Grand Prize winner will be announced. The winning teacher's school will receive $30,000!
• The ceremony will air on Giants Pregame Live on NBC Sports Bay Area. Click here to see the video of the Final Ceremony from 2023.

School Check Ceremony:

• Once the new school year begins, we will visit the grand prize-winning teachers' school to present them with a giant check, and the check ceremony will air on Giants Pregame or Postgame Live on NBC Sports Bay Area.

Attached is the press release and a flyer you can share with your school staff, student body, parents, or anyone to encourage individuals to submit a nomination. Students under 18 years old will need a parent or guardian to submit a nomination form on their behalf.

Sven won 2 bronze medals for his age group (U18) in Giant Slalom in the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Far West Division WW Qualifier at Mammoth Mountain Ski Resort. Sven (and previously his sister, graduate Freya) is on the Northstar Alpine Race Ski Team.

This is Sven’s 7th season of ski racing. He loves it and it has helped him learn to manage stress and pressure tremendously. He says he has learned to apply all coping techniques from ski racing to everything in life including school and taking academic tests.

Sven also loves volleyball and was very excited to make it on NGHS Jr Varsity team last spring.

Congrats Sven!

Applications are due by February 29th! See the attachment for details.

Check out the article here!

Reminder - The 2024 HSF Scholar Program Application is now open and closes on February 15, 2024, 5:00 PM PT. We encourage you to share this opportunity with students in your network.

Applications for the Spring 2024 UC Berkeley SWE High School Engineering Program are NOW OPEN! Please encourage your students to apply!

What is HSEP?

Our High School Engineering Program (HSEP) is designed to be an interactive, educational experience that shows you what a future in engineering has to offer. In the span of our 10-week program, you will gain an understanding in various fields of engineering, design and build an impactful technical project, and work closely in a team driven environment of 4+ students and a mentor. This program is intended for high school students who identify as female and/or non-binary. No experience is necessary! We encourage students from all backgrounds to apply!

Spring 2024 Program Information

Dates: Weekly on Saturdays from 2/10 to 4/27. (There will be no session on 2/17 or 3/23)

Time: 9am-12pm

Location: UC Berkeley Campus*

*The program will be fully in person. However, we will be curating and uploading all of our materials into an online repository for everyone to access and follow along, regardless of location. If you are interested or would like more information, please email us!

Application Link: http://tinyurl.com/HSEPSpring24

Application Deadline: January 31st at 11:59 PM PT.

Detailed program information can be found here: https://swe.berkeley.edu/hsep

Note: Students who have already participated in the High School Engineering Program before should not apply, as we want to offer the opportunity to those who have not experienced HSEP yet.

Application results will be sent out by Saturday, February 3rd and the first HSEP session will be on Saturday, February 10th from 9am to 12pm.

Contact us with any questions at: swe.highschool.outreach@gmail.com

In recognition of Black History Month (under the support of our African American Student Achievement Department), we are hosting our very own Student Summit for African American MDUSD high school students!! The summit will take place on February 22nd 2024 from 9:00 AM -2:30 PM at the Willow Creek Center. We will provide transportation and lunch for registered students. The summit will include prizes, speakers and breakout sessions designed to increase academic outcomes for African American students.

Attached is the flyer with a registration QR code. This needs to be completed by Friday, February 9th. The form will close on this day. Anyone who registers by this date will receive a confirmation email with details by February 13th. Permission slips will be provided and required and will be due by Tuesday, February 20th.

We want to make you all aware of an opportunity for High School Students to work on Election Day and get firsthand experience with American Democracy! Students will be paid for their work on election day. Please see the attached flyer for details.

- Tuesday January 30- Course Cards and Selections Due; Boys Soccer v College Park, Girls @ College Park

- Wednesday January 31- Senior Portraits in the Student Lounge; Boys BB vs Acalanes, Girls @ Acalanes

- Thursday February 1- Senior Portraits in Student Lounge; Spring Sports Parent Information Night 7pm

- Friday February 2- Boys BB @ Campolindo, Girls BB Vs Campolindo- SENIOR NIGHT

Don't miss an event! Add the Master Calendar to your own-

Dear Senior Families,

Studio 1 will be on campus on Wednesday, 1/31 and Thursday, 2/1 to take pictures of the seniors who still need to have their photos taken. Students should check their emails for their scheduled times.

If your student is taking (or has taken) their photo with Studio 1, all that needs to be done is for you and your student to choose the portrait to be in the yearbook. Studio 1 will take care of getting the photo to the Northgate Yearbook.

If your student has taken photos with an outside photographer, you must submit that photo no later than Thursday, February 1, 2024 to: https://www.hjeshare.com/eShare/ and use school code: ngyearbook. All photos must be submitted to this website by February 1, 2024 in order to be included in the yearbook. Photos submitted after that date will not be includeded in the yearbook.

If you have any questions, please contact Mrs. Collier at collierj@mdusd.org

As a reminder, graduation ceremonies are held at Concord Pavilion. Every year, the pavilion gives the district a range of dates and sites are allowed to schedule from there. We will not get our dates until early February.

For our families trying to plan, please plan on staying in town until the end of the school year at the very least. June 4. We will update as soon as we know.

Annie rejoins the Northgate staff after a hiatus, and has had ten years in the education field.

How would you describe your high school self? What makes you proud, and what makes you shake your head?

Studious. Proud of working hard. Shaking my head about caring so much about what others thought!

Where have you worked before Northgate?

Northcreek Academy

Why are you excited to be a Bronco?

I loved the kids and teaching staff when I taught here a number of years ago.

Where did you grow up?

Orange, CA

Who inspires you in work and in life?

Jesus

What is your favorite life hack/work hack you have discovered recently?

Writing down life priorities/goals and making little steps towards them works!

Do you have any hidden talents?

Ballet, antiquing, reading classics

"I am so excited to be back!!"

We need you! Our Northgate Parent Faculty Club Education Fund helps our students and staff in so many ways, including through funding of a full-time site technician, partial funding for our social work specialist and wellness center, and special projects throughout the years.

Donate to the Ed Fund today!

Follow our events on our school calendar HERE.

Of note is a new Fall Break in October, a week long break after the 1st quarter ends.

If you are interested in buying insurance coverage for the loaned chromebook for your student, it must be re-purchased annually. It is a solid investment, given it is only $23 for coverage, but $250 to replace a broken chromebook.

See below for information!

If students experience COVID symptoms, they should test as soon as possible. Take-home tests are available in the main office. Students should not attend school while they have symptoms.

If a COVID test is positive, students must quarantine for a minimum of five days from the first day of symptoms or positive test.

Students may return as long as they have been fever free for 24 hours, and symptoms are mild.

Returning students with lingering symptoms should wear a tight fitting mask to school to protect others from exposure.

Please contact the school if your student is ill by emailing nhsattendance@mdusd.org or calling extension 3505.

Email: cooperk@mdusd.org
Website: northgatehighschool.org
Location: 425 Castle Rock Rd, Walnut Creek, CA, USA
Phone: 925 938-0900
Instagram: @northgatehs