School starts Monday! Our teachers and staff have done a lot of work and preparation to make sure our students have the best first day of school!

School traffic will be heavy on Monday. Please leave a few minutes early so our students can be in class on time at 8:55 am. If your student is riding the bus, please be patient with the drivers. Busses will often run late in the morning and afternoon during the first week of school. The routes will get faster and normalize after the first few days.

The first week of school is all about building relationships and learning school routines. Please be assured that our staff is going to love your student while they are with us and everyone will work hard everyday to ensure they have a great experience at NMS!

Residency Verification: All 6th grade and 7th grade students must submit residency verification. Details are below including how to submit your documents.

I hope all our families enjoy their weekend. If you need anything, please don't hesitate to email me at petersonj1@fultonschools.org.

I can't wait to see our students on Monday!

• Monday, August 7 - First Day of School
• Thursday, August 10 - New Parent Coffee w/ Mr. Peterson (9:30 am)
• Thursday, August 10 - August PTO Meeting (10:00 am)
• Wednesday, August 16 - Last Day to Register for Music Program
• Thursday, September 7 - Curriculum Night (6:30-8:15 pm)

Northwestern is an awesome place to work. If you want a flexible, work when you want to job, please consider serving as a substitute. Work with awesome people on your child's schedule!

Eleven out of ten people recommend serving as a substitute at Northwestern!

This week the state announced a delay in the publishing of Georgia Milestones Individual Student Reports to the statewide SLDS portal. The state will not make Individual Student Reports available to families until later in August. Once score reports are available, we will communicate instructions for accessing these reports.

Our new METI, Ms. Allison Tripp, wants to know what students would like to add to our Media Center. What books would you like to add to our collection? What activities would you like to see in our Maker Space? What events or clubs do want to host in the Media Center?

Use the Padlet below to share your ideas with Ms. Tripp!

All 6th graders (new or coming from a feeder school), all 7th graders, and any new enrollees to Fulton County Schools MUST provide TWO documents for residency verification. If you have a returning student in the 8th grade, you will need to submit proof of residency if there has been any address change.

An email address has been created strictly for submitting proofs of residence starting July 14. Please make sure you attach a photo of your document.

· You may email your attached two acceptable documents to NMSResidency@fultonschools.org starting JULY 14.

· Please make sure that in the SUBJECT line, you list the student’s complete name, parent’s complete name and grade.

· If you are moving into a new home, you may provide an email from the Utility company stating the following: your name, date service is to start and the current address.

The approved documentation list is below.

Important note: When you email your residency documents, you will not receive a confirmation email. You will be contacted if the school needs additional information.

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!

Please enter the roundabout and pull up as far as possible. Students may exit your vehicle anywhere along the sidewalk. Students should use the sidewalk to enter the school through the Wildcat Den doors.

We have an afternoon carpool procedure designed to keep cars off of School Road and Birmingham Highway. Please review the carpool map carefully. When in doubt, follow the person in front of you. Please be courteous to fellow parents/guardians and NMS staff members during carpool.

This year the PTO sold Platinum Memberships that include a reserved parking space at the front of the afternoon carpool line. These ten spaces are indicated on the carpool map with a yellow star. These spaces will be reserved for the entire school year and each afternoon the spaces are held until 4:05 pm for the family who purchased them from the PTO.

Before 4:05 pm Dismissal

• The first car should pull up to the front of the carpool line. This is the first spot after the 10 reserved spaces. (marked on map with red 1)
• All subsequent cars should line up on the sidewalk (marked with yellow arrows) until the line reaches the roundabout entrance/corner. (marked with red 2)
• All additional cars should follow the red arrows through our parking lot, circle back toward the roundabout and stop (stop indicated with a red 3)
• A staff member will direct any car parked behind location 2 to follow flow of traffic (red arrows) through the parking lot.

After 4:05 pm Dismissal Bell

• A staff member will direct cars who have picked up their student(s) toward the exit.
• A staff member will direct cars parked at location 3 to proceed into the roundabout toward location 1 to pick up their student(s) (marked with blue arrows).
  
• Students can enter their car from a sidewalk at any point in the roundabout
• Students are not allowed to enter cars who are in the carpool line in the parking lot.

Other Important Information

• Parking spots in the roundabout are for emergency situations only. Please do not park in these spaces.
• No cars may enter the Bus Lot (marked red 5) between 8:05-9:15 am and 3:15-4:45 pm.
• Students may walk across the street if their car is parked at Milton HS (marked red 4)
• Students may not enter cars on School Road. This is strictly enforced for safety.

Expected arrival time for students is between 8:25 am and 8:45 am. Our 1st period class begins at 8:55 am. All students, except for bus riders, will enter the school through the Wildcat Den doors. The Wildcat Den doors will open at 8:05 am for early arriving students. Students may arrive early for teacher help sessions. Early arriving students will be supervised between 8:05 and 8:25 in the cafeteria. At 8:25, all students will be dismissed to their grade level hallways. Northwestern Middle School cannot assume responsibility for students prior to 8:05 am.

Only students who have teacher permission will be allowed to attend a help session prior to 8:25 am. Teachers will provide permission to students in advance for help sessions starting prior to 8:25 am.

Breakfast is available in the cafeteria from 8:25-8:50 am.

Car riders, bike riders, and walkers will be dismissed at 4:05 pm and exit the school using the front entrance doors and Wildcat Den doors. Bus riders will be dismissed at 4:05 pm to the gymnasium (6th/7th) and cafeteria (8th) until dismissed by staff to load their bus.

Please ensure your student(s) knows how they are getting home every day. We cannot notify students of transportation changes. Please text your student to let them know of a transportation change. Students will be able to check their cell phones during locker breaks and at the end of the school day.

NMS will not accept deliveries of flowers, balloons and other items for students, even if they are pre-paid. These items create a disruption during the school day.

NMS will not accept deliveries from Doordash, Ubereats, or directly from restaurants for students, even if they are pre-paid. The school has no way to verify these meals were purchased by a student's parent/guardian. This is a student safety issue and your cooperation is greatly appreciated in this matter.

Any item (such as lunches, instruments, PE clothes, projects, homework, etc.) delivered to school by parents/guardians will be held in the office until the student comes to claim it. Students will NOT be called to the office for deliveries, nor will parents/delivery persons be permitted to deliver items to the classroom. Parents/guardians may text their student that an item was delivered to the front office. Students may check their cell phone during locker breaks. Lunches delivered during the day will be thrown out if not picked up by 4:25 pm daily. Lunch containers will be placed in lost and found once the food has been thrown out.

Families may be eligible t​o receive meal benefits for free or reduced price meals. Learn more about Free & Reduced Information

Families are strongly encouraged to prepay for student meals using MyPaymentsPlus.

Benefits of MyPaymentPlus include:

• Online prepayments using VISA, MasterCard, or Discover credit or debit card
• Available 24/7
• Quick, easy and secure

We encourage you to prepay your student's meal accounts to help lines go faster and give students more time to eat.

"Here Comes the Bus" is a free, easy-to-use website and app that enables you to see the location of your child’s school bus on a smartphone, tablet, or personal computer. This way, you know when the bus is near your stop, so you can send your child out at just the right time. No more worrying about whether your child has missed the bus!

Download the App

1. Download the Here Comes The Bus app on Google Play or the Apple App Store or visit www.herecomesthebus.com.
2. Click the "Sign Up" button
3. Enter school code: 87428
4. Click "Next" followed by "Confirm"
5. Complete the "User Profile" box
6. Under "My Students," click "Add." Enter your child's last name and student ID number
7. Once you confirm you information, you're ready to go!

How does "Here Comes the Bus" work?

"Here Comes the Bus" uses global positioning system (GPS) technology to locate and track your child’s school bus. It is powered by software from Synovia Solutions, who are experts at tracking data, which they’ve been providing to fleet managers across North America for over 15 years.

How much does it cost?

"Here Comes the Bus" is available at no cost to all families. It's free!

7th Grade: Effective July 1, 2014, all 7th-grade students who were born on or after January 1, 2002, and all new entrants to grades 8-12 who are entering a Georgia school for the first time or entering after having been absent from a Georgia school for more than twelve months (one school year) will be required to have:

1 Dose of Tdap (Tetanus, Diphtheria, Pertussis) Vaccine and 1 Dose of Meningococcal Conjugate Vaccine

PLEASE NOTE: These changes only affect rising 7th graders (born on or after January 1, 2002), and students who are considered “new entrants” for grades 8-12.

Student Success Skills are a set of standards that will be taught in all schools, to all students, by all teachers throughout the school year. These standards include six skills that are broken down into several standards across grade levels.

From the Co-Presidents

We are Victoria Tucker & Tracy Lynn Drye, and we are excited to serve as Co-Presidents this year. Welcome to all of our new families and a huge thank you to everyone who has purchased a PTO membership. Please join us for the first PTO meeting of the school year on Thursday, August 10 following the Principal’s New Parent Coffee. We are still looking for a few more committee chairs and please attend our first meeting to learn about new exciting volunteer opportunities coming up in 23-24!

Available PTO Committee Chair Positions

Bulletin Board

Student Enrichment

MIMO Parent Support

Red Ribbon Week

Campus Beautification

Teacher/Professional of the Year baskets

If you are interested in or have questions about these committee positions, please email northwesternmspto@gmail.com.

Business Partners

PTO is currently recruiting new Business Partners for the 23-24 school year. Do you own/work for a small business and would like more exposure for your services while at the same time supporting your child’s school? This is also a great opportunity for real estate agents, lawyers, accountants, etc to support our school in many meaningful ways and receive promotion for your business through multiple channels reaching NMS families. Please email northwesternmspto@gmail.com for more information on partnership levels & benefits or sign up here: https://northwesternpto.membershiptoolkit.com/form/m/237949

The front office likes to have a stash of chocolate and candy (non chocolate) for the staff to access and get them through the day. Please help us keep their stash stocked. After all, most of us can relate to stress eating! Sign up here: https://northwesternpto.membershiptoolkit.com/volunteer/111882

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 2023-24 school year. Check back often for more information!

If you have a question about starting a new school club, please email Beth Wylie at wyliee@fultonschools.org.

FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) meetings are held at Northwestern and will take place on Thursdays in the gym from 8am - 8:45am. Students are encouraged to bring friends to the Thursday morning meetings. The FCA at Northwestern is also hoping that some volunteers may be willing to become more active and attend FCA meetings on Thursday mornings or help with things such as picking up food, small group leading, or even character coaching. Not much is required other than attendance for one hour a week. FCA is also looking for part-time and full- time employees. If you are interested in volunteering and/or employment, please contact Denton Carter (FCA leader) via email (dentoncarter@fca.org).

The NMS Student Garden was established in 2011 as a permaculture and wildlife garden. It has gone through many iterations. Its most recent additions (2023) are a no-till section (which is affiliated with the Rodale Institute for Organic Research) and five new fruit trees (planted in celebration of Earth Day). If you would like to contribute (monetarily) to the maintenance of this site and its research, then you can use the link below. If you have any other questions about the site, please free to contact Dr. Bartlett at: bartlettj@fultonschools.org. Thank you for your continued support of Northwestern MS 🙂

Students interested in joining the NMS Newspaper Staff should contact Ms. Denna Warrayat at warrayatd@fultonschools.org.

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!