Today was a great day! We were able to celebrate our Teacher of the Year and Professional of the Year. Thank you to our PTO for your generous donation for our winners. Our school is blessed to have so many talented, caring, and wonderful educators!'

T-shirt designs for our Green Up event are due next Friday, February 10. Please see below.

I hope all of our families have a wonderful 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 Monday!

• Friday, February 3 - NMS Basketball @ Crabapple MS (5:30/7:00)
  
• Tuesday, February 7 - 8th Grade Field Trip: National Center for Civil Rights
• Wednesday, February 8 - 8th Grade Field Trip: National Center for Civil Rights
• Wednesday, February 8 - NMS Basketball vs FAST (5:30/7:00)
• Thursday, February 9 - 7th Grade Dance (4:05-5:30)
• Friday, February 10 - NMS Basketball vs River Trail MS (5:30/7:00)

During the month of February, to honor Black History Month, we will have several students participate in our morning announcements. These students will share about African American figures - both past and present, their lives, accomplishments, and contributions to society. Our students do an amazing job!

Our Teacher of the Year is Ms. Johndra Jordan. Ms. Jordan is one of our 8th grade math teachers. Our Professional of the Year is Ms. Brittany Gray. Ms. Gray is our School Nutrition Manager. Congratulations to both of these amazing educators and people!

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.

Parents, it is that time of year where we need your input for the next school year’s Code of Conduct. Please fill out this easy quick survey link below. We will close the window for feedback on 2/13/2023.

As we approach Valentine’s Day, it is important to ensure that all homemade candy, desserts, baked goods, or other edible items are not to be sold or distributed during school hours, and that appropriate store-bought items are delivered to the teacher or administration. Please know that taking this measure will help us maintain a safe environment for all students with allergies, etc. You can help us protect your student(s) by requesting that they not eat anything given to them by another person, anything that they have not brought from your home or anything not in its original sealed package.

Thank you for your continued partnership in keeping all of our students safe at school!

Similar to our Pink Out event in October, NMS is planning a fund student event and fundraiser for March. All proceeds will go to a local charity, The STAR House Foundation. Stay tuned for more information!

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.

Why Take Latin at Milton Next Year?

The reasons are limitless and each person’s experience is unique, but here is what college and university admissions personnel say when asked about Latin as an academic pursuit:

“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

Want to know more? Scan the QR Code or click on the link!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eSdTVKTWcc&t=2s

Our NMS PTO is sponsoring our recycling initiative at Northwestern which includes weekly service to pick up and process our recycled materials. Dr. Bartlett, a science teacher, has a group of students who collect recycling each week. We are hoping to add more recycling bins for each classroom and office throughout the school.

You can support this initiative by making a donation to the PTO that will go toward purchasing recycling bins for the school. You can also purchase the bins directly from Amazon, and have them sent to the school. We appreciate your support!

Here is the link to the PTO website to donate for the recycling bins. https://northwesternpto.membershiptoolkit.com/form/m/219450

Shipping address:

Northwestern Middle School

12805 Birmingham Highway

Milton GA, 3004

The inaugural FCS CTAE Middle School Career Expo will be held on Saturday, February 25 at North Springs High School. All middle schools in FCS are invited to participate in a day of hands-on, interactive exploration into career paths that match the CTAE pathways offered in FCS.

Stay tuned for more information as this event gets closer!

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 calendars have been updated through October.

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!

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

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!