Northwest News

Greetings NWJH Families!

As we begin another exciting school year, I want to extend a warm welcome to each and every one of you. You are now part of the Northwest Middle School family, the best middle school where your potential is limitless and your gifts are just waiting to be unlocked.

I am incredibly honored to serve as your principal, and my journey here is deeply personal. I am a proud product of Northwest Middle School. My principal played an incredibly important role in my life, seeing something in me that I didn’t see in myself. To this day, I still speak with him, and his belief in me continues to inspire my work. My goal is to inspire every NWMS student to be their very best and authentic self.

Please remember, my office is not a place to fear. It’s not where you go when you’re in trouble; it’s where you go when you need to see a friendly face. I encourage you to stop by, whether you have a question, need guidance, or just want to share your thoughts. My door is always open for you.

Embrace the Journey

Affirm yourself and recognize that you belong to an exceptional community. Your student possesses incredible talents and abilities, and we are here to help them grow, learn, and succeed. Together, we will create an environment where everyone feels valued and empowered to achieve their best.

Key Dates to Remember

As we embark on this academic adventure together, I want to share some important information and dates to ensure a smooth start for everyone.

• Virtual Parent Informational Meeting: Wednesday August 21st 6th grade @6pm
• Virtual Parent Informational Meeting: Wednesday August 21st 7th grade @6:30pm
• Registration (New to the School District): Monday August 5th 8am-4pm
• Orientation:
• 6th Grade: Thursday August 22nd 9:30am-11:00am
• 7th Grade: Thursday August 22nd 1:30pm-3pm

Please note that orientation is only for current 6th and 7th grade NWMS students, they cannot be accompanied by siblings, parents, friends etc. These sessions are crucial for helping our new students acclimate to NWMS.

Meet Our Staff

Throughout this week, you will receive several newsletters introducing our new NWMS staff members. We have many wonderful educators dedicated to your student's success, and I can't wait for you to learn more about them.

Stay Informed

Please click This Link to access our school website, where you will find all the important dates and information you need (Thank you for your attention to these important details). Make sure to save this newsletter as a reference for the future, as it contains vital details on how to:

• Access your student's schedule
• Add/drop courses
• View lunch schedules
• And much more!

Thank you for being a part of our wonderful school community. Here’s to a fantastic school year ahead!

As a reminder, all families are required to register their students in Infinite Campus each year. Please use the link below to register your child(ren). Remember to select the school year “24-25” to register for next year.

Registration instructions for returning families to the District

Families who need assistance with the registration process may attend on-site registration at their home school on Thursday, August 8th from 9:00am-Noon. If you have completed online registration you do not need to attend.

Families who are new to the school district may attend New to District Registration on Monday, August 5th from 8:30am-4:00pm.

We thank you for taking the time to register your students early as it helps greatly with our staffing efforts over the spring and summer.

Monday, August 5th: New to District Registration 8:00am-4:00pm

Thursday, August 8th: Returning Students Registration 9:00am-12:00pm (only if you require assistance with OLR.)

Tuesday, August 13th: Math Placement Test 10:00am-12:00pm. *Details listed below

Wednesday August 21st: 6th Grade Parent Informational Meeting, 6:00pm via Zoom

Wednesday August 21st: 7th Grade Parent Informational Meeting, 6:30pm via Zoom

Wednesday August 21st: Parent Meeting-Athletics, 7:00pm via Zoom

Thursday August 22nd: 6th Grade Orientation, 9:30am-11:00am

Thursday August 22nd: 7th Grade Orientation, 1:30pm-3:00pm

Friday, August 23rd: 1st Day of School

Monday, August 26th: School Pictures, 9:00am (order form below)

Wednesday, August 28th: PSTO Meeting, 12:00pm via Zoom

Monday, September 2nd: No School

We are excited to meet your student! Transitioning to a new school building can be exciting, scary, or even not a big deal. As such, we offer optional orientation sessions for the students who will be new to our building. Thursday, August 22nd, we will have 6th grade orientation in the morning and 7th grade orientation in the afternoon.

• 9:30-11:00am - 6th graders

• 1:30-3:00pm - 7th graders (and any new 8th graders)

During this time, students will be introduced to administrative and support staff, will be given their class schedule, and will participate in a walk-through of their schedule to meet all of their new teachers. Students do not need to register or sign up for this orientation.

Students will need to enter Door 2 (the West set of doors almost directly across from the entrance to the Coralville Rec Center) and will start in the gym. They should not bring anything with them except a water bottle (if needed). Doors will open about 15 minutes before the scheduled start time.

If you have any questions about orientation, please feel free to contact Ms. Baker (baker.erin2@iowacityschools.org or by calling the school 319-688-1060).

Schedules are available to be viewed in Infinite Campus starting August 1st on the parent and student portal. Click here to learn more about how to login to Infinite Campus as a parent. Click here to learn more about how to login to Infinite Campus as a student. If your student would like to make changes to electives they signed up for please have them pick up an add/drop slip at registration, or the first week of school in the guidance office. You can also fill out the Add/Drop Slip HERE.

If you notice an error on your student’s schedule, please call the office at 319-688-1060 or email haugland.lisa@iowacityschools.org. We are NOT able to accommodate requests to change teachers, periods or lunch shifts due to scheduling constraints and full classes. This includes requests to change an 8th period class due to concerns about absences related to athletics. Thank you for understanding.

Please note that incoming 6th grade students will not be eligible to make schedule changes to their music selections once the school year begins as the 6th grade courses are aligned with the music course that they have selected. Please also be aware that when you and or your student logs into their Infinite Campus account to view their schedule, it will show quarters and hexes at the top of the page. All 6th graders’ quarter schedules will show a missing class period at some point in their day. This class period can be found by clicking on the hexes term. Please see the screenshots in this document for further information regarding hexes and quarters as well as information regarding A/B days, lunches, and the bell schedule.

Please note that incoming 7th/8th grade students were placed into as many elective courses as possible that were chosen in February. If a student did not select enough electives, then they would have been assigned to open electives. Students should not have more than one every other day study hall opposite PE. If a student sees an elective on their schedule that they did not want and wish to make a change, they can fill out the add/drop slip and select a different elective. However, there are no guarantees that we will be able to make it work due to space and schedule constraints. Please see the information in this document for further information regarding quarters, A/B days, lunches, and the bell schedule.

Not sure what your student should have on their schedule?

List of classes required for 6th graders

List of classes required for 7th graders

List of classes required for 8th graders

For a description of classes, please see the program of studies linked below:

Program of Studies

Donate to PSTO: MySchoolBucks

Thank you for your support!

The District provides transportation as required by the State of Iowa.

Iowa Code 285.1.a. The board of directors in every school district shall provide transportation, either directly or by reimbursement for transportation, for all resident pupils attending public school, kindergarten through twelfth grade, except that:

When measuring distance to determine eligibility for transportation, distance shall be measured by using the shortest distance on public roads only. In general, school buses do not travel on private roads/lanes or in private subdivisions. Distance is measured from the student's driveway to the assigned attendance point of entrance.

1. Elementary and Middle School pupils shall be entitled to transportation only if they live more than two miles from the school designated for attendance.
2. High school pupils shall be entitled to transportation only if they live more than three miles from the school designated for attendance.

Students who have moved over the summer must fill out a new transportation request form.

Students moving from elementary school to middle school must fill out a new transportation request form.

A School Bus Tracking App for Parents

Iowa Central School Bus offers a free app, Here Comes the Bus, that enables parents to track their child’s bus in real time!

Here Comes the Bus features:

• Shows the real-time location of your child’s bus
• Tracks multiply buses if your children don’t all ride the same bus
• Provides push and email notification when the bus is near
• Provides password protection for your account
• Can be downloaded by App Store or Google Play

All you need is an account with Here Comes the Bus and you can track the bus using your computer, smartphone, or tablet.

The app requires parents and guardians to register and provide specific security information, including:

• Username
• School district code (29216)
• Password
• Each child’s Infinite Campus identification number and last name
  

Questions?

Iowa Central School Bus
(319) 688-1900

Monday, August 26th

All students will have a picture taken for their student ID at no charge.

Order pictures here! Halverson Photography

• Office hours are 8:00 AM-4:30 PM on school days.

• Phone calls to the main office may go to voicemail when office staff are helping people in the office or on another call, please leave a message and they will return your call as soon as possible.

• Access to teachers during the school day is limited, please use email to communicate with teachers when possible. Teacher email address can be found on our website.

• All items brought to the office intended for your student or someone else should have a detailed label with the student's first and last name. Items may be left on the table in the entry by the office door. Students will be called to retrieve items during passing time.

• Infinite Campus automatically sends a message if your student is marked absent from a class. If you know your student is at school, this is most likely an attendance error. We encourage you to contact your student regarding the absence.

• If you have forgotten to report your student absent, call (319) 688-1060.

• If you know your student is in the school but has been marked absent, ask your student to communicate with the teacher their whereabouts during the absent period.

When a student is going to be absent from school, a guardian must email or call the school the morning of the absence or at least two hours prior to the absence. Please email your absence to: Pagan.Grace@iowacityschools.org OR call (319) 688-1060. Voice messages are checked throughout the day. Students leaving early will receive a pass to be excused from class. We appreciate advanced notice as it reduces the amount of classroom interruptions.

New this year! How to request absences using Infinite Campus:

Instructions for Using the Parent Portal on Infinite Campus or the App.

• Access the Absence Request from the home page

• Click on the menu in the top left corner

• Click on More at the bottom of the list

• Click on Absence Requests

• Choose your student

• Pick the Excuse from the pull-down menu

• Pick the Absence Type

• For Full Day absence pick the date(s) of the absence

• For Arrive Late pick the date and the time of arrival

• For Leave Early pick the date and the time of departure

• Please remember this is the time the student will depart the classroom

• A brief comment is required

Press the Submit button to complete the form

The advanced placement testing sessions are for in district students who are currently scheduled to take Condensed Math 7/8 in the fall and wish to skip the entire course and enter Algebra or for students currently scheduled for Algebra and wish to test out and enter Geometry Honors. In order to skip an entire math course student’s need to have spent time over the summer working through the course. Skipping a math course is a very difficult and rare thing to do. To be successful students typically need a high degree of aptitude in the subject, enjoy the subject, be highly motivated independent learners, and have been thorough in their summer study.

The other group who should report for the advanced placement testing are students who are new to the district, took the initial new to the district screener test at registration, and were instructed by their guidance counselor to take the Advanced Placement Test to qualify for our district's super accelerated math track (only 2% of our students receive this placement).

Students who wish to attempt to skip Geometry and enroll in Algebra II Honors at the high school will need to test at their respective high school. This test is on August 16th from 8-10am at West High School. There are additional considerations in this case such as transportation to and from the high school back to Northwest as well as room in your schedule. A good place to start is talking to your most recent math teacher and your guidance counselor.

Email: fitten.kimberly@iowacityschools.org
Website: https://www.iowacityschools.org/Domain/1106
Location: 1507 8th Street, Coralville, IA, USA
Phone: 319-688-1060
Twitter: @NWJHVikings

It is the policy of the Iowa City Community School District not to discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, religion, creed, age, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity and socioeconomic status in its educational programs, activities, or employment practices. There is a grievance procedure for processing complaints of discrimination. If you have questions or a grievance related to this policy, please contact Eric Howard, Director of Equity and Employee Relations, 1725 N. Dodge St., Iowa City, IA 52245, 319-688-1000, howard.eric@iowacityschools.org.