On Friday we were fortunate to have our district Academic Leadership team spend the day in our school. This team is made up of our Chief Academic Officer Cliff Jones, all seven Zone Superintendents, and other district leadership. They spent time in our classrooms observing our students and teachers. They were impressed by our school and the feedback was very positive. I'm glad these folks had a chance to see what I see everyday. Northwestern Middle School is a special place because of the students, teachers, and staff who work hard each and every day.

Please don't forget Monday is an early release day. All students will be dismissed at 2:05 pm.

How can I help you? Please let me know! I hope all of our families have a wonderful weekend!

I'm looking forward to seeing our students again on Monday!

• Monday, March 21 - Early Release (2:05 dismissal)
  
• Monday, April 4-Friday, April 8 - Spring Break

• Reading Teacher
• 8th Grade Physical Science Teacher
  
• Adaptive Special Education Teacher (MIMO)
  
• Interrelated Resource Special Education Teacher (IRR)
• Spanish Teacher
• Instructional Paraprofessional, Special Education

We will update our open positions throughout the hiring season.

Please email a resume and letter of interest to Mr. Peterson at petersonj1@fultonschools.org.

Rising 7th and 8th grade parents,

The first round of course verifications closed today. The 2nd round of verifications will open on March 25th. During that window parents can check to see that any requests were made to their student’s courses. If a parent did not make a request during the 1st round or has an additional request it can also be made during the 2nd round of verifications. Please use the link to make any changes, https://forms.office.com/r/J1G1uv6VEy. If you have questions regarding the courses please reach out to the rising grade level AP, 7th grade Deana Skimel skimel@fultonschools.org and 8th grade Ashley Poston postona@fultonschools.org.

NMS is excited to announce our upcoming Scholastic Book Fair! Mark your calendars for March 21 - March 31. Every purchase from the Book Fair earns rewards for NMS, so please stop by and support your school!

Scoliosis Screening will be held on Thursday, March 31, 2022, for 6th and 8th grade ONLY. It is mandated by the state for each child to be screened for Scoliosis unless you return the yellow DO NOT SCREEN form. It must be returned to the homeroom Teacher by March 25th.

We need Parent Volunteers for Scoliosis Screening on March 31st! All volunteers must register with Fulton County Schools prior to March 30th. Please contact our Cluster Nurse, Marian Buckle, at 678-472-7534 if you have any questions.

School Nutrition to begin accepting Meal Eligibility Applications to support P-EBT Benefits

To support P-EBT eligibility benefits for students, the School Nutrition Program will process Free & Reduced Price Meal applications. By completing an application it may help you to qualify for P-EBT Benefits for next year, however it is unknown at this time if P-EBT benefits will be extended for another year. Thanks to USDA waivers, students will continue to receive school meals at no charge this school year. The Free & Reduced Price Meal application is online for parents/guardians that wish to apply for meal benefits. Visit www.fulton.schoollunchapp.com to begin the online application.

Georgia Milestones testing is scheduled for April and May. The Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) is reminding all districts and families that Milestones testing will be required, and that the results will be used for College and Career Ready Performance Index (CCRPI) and other important school level and school system rankings. With the absence of significant testing data from the last two years, this year’s scores will be used to establish a new baseline for the schools and districts. Participation will be critical.

Mr. Peterson will share information in the coming weeks about the participation requirement for all students and how Georgia Milestones directly impacts our school and community.

If your student has chosen not to receive a Fulton County laptop and to exclusively use a personal device, please know you can request that a laptop be checked out to your student at any time. They would receive a newer model Dell or Lenovo (depending on inventory). If you choose not to have a Fulton County device, one will be provided to your student for Milestones testing.

There are a number of important updates that must be run on all school devices before we begin the Milestones testing process. If your student has a school issued laptop, please help them go through the update process:

• Make sure the laptop is charged
• Type “check for updates” in the search bar and click on “check for updates” when it appears
• Follow the prompts (even if the device looks like it’s been updated, still click on “Check for Updates” in Settings)
• Let the updates run. When prompted to restart the computer, restart from the Windows icon in the lower left corner.
• If there are lots of updates, several complete restarts may be required. Some laptops may spin for a long time before the updates are fully installed.

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

Breakfast/Lunch Fees. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has waived fees so all students will continue to receive meals at no charge for the 2021-22 school year, allowing school nutrition professionals to focus on nourishing children for success.

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 continue to offer many clubs and student activities for our students during the 2021-22 school year. Check back often for more information!

Registration is open for the Milton Summer Softball Camp! The camp will be for rising 1st – 8th graders on June 13-16th, 2022. Rising 1st – 4th will meet from 9am-12pm. Rising 5th - 8th graders will meet from 1pm – 4pm. Activities will include drills for stretching, throwing, fielding, hitting, base running and other fun games! The registration fee is $110 through June 5th and $130 after June 6th so register early! Register online at miltonsoftballcamp.cheddarup.com. For more information, please contact Lynne Siders at lsiders@comcast.net.

Registration will be open until 6/30/22.

Rising 9th grade students interested in playing football at Milton next season:

We will begin after school workouts Monday, March 7th, 4:20-5:00 in the high school weight room. Workouts will be every Monday and Thursday at that same time through April 21st.

Rising 9th grade Spring football practice will be April 26-29 from 4:30-6:00.

A current physical is needed to participate. Please email Coach Ben Reaves if you have any questions - reavessb@fultonschools.org.

Come support the Milton Baseball program at our annual Diamond Dinner fundraiser event. Enjoy a fun night out with music, trivia games, dinner and great auction items: March 5th @ Atlanta National Golf Clubhouse 6:30-10. Buy Tickets or donate: https://www.miltonbaseball.net/diamond. Questions: contact miltondiamonddinner@gmail.com

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

We are in need of volunteers to help package and deliver to teachers PBIS awards our kids have purchased and are excited to receive!

It's Book Fair time!

Please consider signing up for a shift (or two...or as many as you like) to help the kids purchase books and items.

As an added bonus, volunteers receive a 5% discount!

Shifts are based around class visits, so teacher names are listed with each shift.

Moe's Southwest Grill PTO Fundraiser was once again a great success!!!

76 Taco Kits SOLD & $760 earned for NMS, thank you for your orders!!

Yearbooks are on sale and can be purchased directly from the Balfour website https://www.balfour.com/georgia/alpharetta/northwestern-middle-school

FAQS

· What is the due date for submitting baby photos/ad space?

o February 1st is the deadline, don’t miss out on honoring your 8th grade student!

· How do I know if I have ordered a yearbook?

o There are 2 ways to verify whether or not you have ordered a yearbook. You can check your inbox, if you have ordered a yearbook, you will receive an order confirmation from Balfour. Or, you can log into your Balfour account and click on “My Account” on the top right hand corner of the screen, then click on “My orders” on the left hand side of the screen.

· What is the deadline to order a yearbook?

o The last day to order a yearbook is April 15.

· How do I know if I have completed the process correctly?

o We will be reviewing each order extensively. As long as you have processed your order (i.e. add your items to the cart and then check out completely), we will follow up if we have any questions.

· Do I get a proof to review?

o Since we utilize the exact image that you upload, we do not provide a proof for you to view.

· If you have any questions about your order, call 1-800-BALFOUR or email at contact.us@balfour.com.

Spirit Wear is 25% off until the end of the year. New styles have been added!

Spirtware is available for purchase! A wonderful amount of different NMS Wildcats items for purchase and shipped directly to your home! CLICK HERE!!

Support North Western Middle School and purchase a PTO Membership! All funds go right back into the school to benefit teachers and students. CLICK HERE!!

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!