Parents/Guardians and Students, 

Hello everyone!  School is off to a great start and fall sports/activities are in full swing.  There is a sense of excitement in our hallways.  I can’t wait to see what is in store for the first semester.  

Counselor’s Corner

Please click on the link: September News

Freshman Parents

Please click on the link for news pertinent to 9th grade parents. Freshman Academy Newsletter 

Senior Parents

Tonight is a very important meeting for senior parents.  The meeting will be held in the auditorium and will start at 5:30.  They will be discussing many important things that senior parents need to know as they help prepare their students for what is to come after high school.  Please plan on attending.  

Senior sponsors and Midwest Grads meeting with seniors Tuesday, Sept. 10th during advisement to talk about graduation items covering cap/gown orders, diplomas, and other important graduation things.  Midwest Grads will come back on Sept. 17th to pick up orders.  Parents will also be able to order online and that information will be in seniors’ packets that they bring home.  

Information for all parents and stakeholders

Just a reminder that our alerts will go out via a new software called Bright Arrow.  Please make sure you are receiving text and email alerts.  If you are not receiving them, please call the school and we will be happy to help.  

On to College, formerly John Baylor’s ACT Prep site is available for all Northwest High School students.  The site includes ACT Prep. ACT Refresher, PreACT Prep, and College and Career Readiness Courses.  The login is your student’s school email and password.  If your student’s password does not work, he/she can use the “Forgot Password” option to reset their password.  If your student still has trouble logging on to the ontocollege.com site, he/she can contact Mrs. Ramsey to reset their password.

Homecoming is next week!  We always look forward to homecoming week and the school spirit that comes with it.  We will have a pep rally in the gym after the volleyball game.  At that time, we will announce our homecoming candidates.  Please join us if you would like!  Crowning will take place after the football game on Friday night on the football field.  We want everyone to stick around to congratulate our king and queen!  The dance will be on Saturday night this year.  It is semi-formal.  Please don’t go and buy anything fancy.  For guys, nice pants and a nice polo or button-up shirt is great.  Nice pants and a shirt, or a skirt and a top for the girls is great!  We would like to see a great turnout for our homecoming dance.  

The parking lot is always chaotic at the end of the day.  If you are a freshman parent, I would encourage you to pull into the north end of the north lot and pick up your student there.  You can then head west and go out the northwest side of the school into the neighborhood.  This will help alleviate some of the traffic flow in the main parking lot.  

Just a reminder that random drug testing will begin soon for those students who are involved in activities or sports.  Sport Safe is the company that we contract with regarding our drug testing. They utilize a company called Red Arrow to generate the random list.  Red Arrow is one of the premier drug and alcohol testing software providers and Safe Sport has been working with them since the late 90s.  The district provides Sport Safe the database of students and they are uploaded to the software program with the student ID being the primary identifier.  When Sports Safe has the system generate the random list, it digitally stamps the record in a way that cannot be replicated by Sport Safe.  In case of a positive test, Sport Safe will first contact home in regards to the positive test.  After that, the company will let Mr. Fritsche know of the results, and he will work with the student and his or her parents in regard to what happens next.  It’s important to help do what we can to keep our students safe and a reason to say no.  If you have any questions regarding drug testing, feel free to contact Mr Fritsche.  He would be happy to answer any questions you may have.  

Finally, please make it a daily habit to check the daily announcements on PowerSchool as well as your student’s grades.  Some of our announcements pertain to parents.  If you need help logging into PowerSchool, please contact the school.  

It’s a great time to be a Viking!  

PJ Smith

Principal

Northwest High School