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Northwest Public Schools | February 18, 2025

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Note from the Principal- October 2024

Note from the Principal- October 2024

Parents & Guardians,

The end of the first quarter is in less than two weeks. There will be no school for students on Oct. 17 and 18. Report cards will be sent home on October 25. Parents, please sign and return the envelopes. Report cards will also be available in the PowerSchool Parent Portal. To access the portal go to the Northwest website under the “Parents” tab and click on PowerSchool. Here is also a link to guide you. Page 10 provides specific steps for viewing standard based grades: PowerSchool Parent Portal Guide

EMAILS- We apologize for any mix ups or nonresponses to anyone who reached out via staff email through the website or PowerSchool App since the start of the year. We had a district wide issue with some teacher and staff emails not working and others that were. We were unaware this was going on until we received a couple calls and investigated. Please know our staff will always respond within a reasonable amount of time. If you are not hearing from someone please, please call the office and ask to speak with the teacher or the office to get clarification. We currently believe the issue is resolved but technology can always throw us a curveball. We apologize for this communication error and please know staff were not intentionally not responding.  

We had a great response for parent teacher conferences 95% were able to come. Thank you for partnering with us in your child’s education. Please remember teachers are always available to answer questions or clarify concerns. Middle school parents Power School is a great tool to follow your child’s grades and receive alerts. Middle school parents may receive PowerSchool low grade alerts if you have signed up for them. Your child knows how to access their grades and is asked to do so on a regular basis at school. Middle school teachers update grades on a weekly/daily  basis but grades turned in over the weekend and after deadlines may not be posted for Monday reports. We discuss OWNERSHIP with our ROW expectations meaning students are responsible for meeting due dates, fixing work, completing make up work when absent, and seeking help during their intervention and study hall times.  

Please welcome Mrs. Chelsey Timm to the 1R family if you see her around. Mrs. Timm joined us in late September as a para. She has been a wonderful addition to our staff and team. 

Mrs. Cadwalader would like to thank everyone for their support of the Scholastic Book Fair. This was her first book fair and she raised around $5,000. Great job Mrs. Cadwalader!!  Teachers greatly appreciate all their wish lists getting filled. Mrs. Cadwalader will be able to purchase and restock our library with her scholastic dollars earned. The greatest reading intervention is reading with your child.. 

PTO had a great turn out for Breakfast Buddies in conjunction with the book fair. We had a line out the front door. It was so great to see so many families supporting our school and the book fair. PTO continues  to be supportive of our school, students and staff.  Thank you to all the volunteers who brought food for staff at Parent Teacher Conferences. We are always spoiled!  We had a great turnout at the DQ dining night out this week. A fundraising event will be coming home October 4th for the Northern Wreaths and Poinsettias. Be looking for events and fundraising on PeachJar.  On October 17th, from 4:30-7:30 PM there is a 1R family event at Helgoth’s Pumpkin Patch. There will be a Freddy’s dine out night from 4-8 PM on Tuesday, November 5th. PTO Meetings continue to be on the 1st Monday of each month at 6 PM.

Middle school fall sports are winding down. Congratulations to all athletes and coaches on a great fall season. Winter Sports (GBB & Boys Wrestling) will begin practices on October 28. All home games will be at Cedar Hollow. Wrestlers will be bussed to Northwest for practices. More information will come from coaches as we get closer to the season. 

NWHS home football game reminders – During the Northwest game we ask that students remain seated or near parents or in the student section during the game. This is for safety reasons as we have students in the parking lots, concession areas and outside the football area unsupervised. This is for everyone’s safety. Please monitor your children and where they are at all times. Thank you for your attention to this matter. 

Lunch Fund Reminders- PowerSchool is set up to send weekly reminders with your lunch fund balance. If your balance is negative a text and email will be sent. If your balance is under $6.00 you will receive a Sunday evening text. If you need assistance please contact the office at 385-6352. You may also pay online. You may also contact the district office at 385-6398 extension 5168 and speak with Chelsie. 

Attendance and Sickness- Please notify the office prior to 8:00AM if your child will not be in school. You may email or leave a message on our voicemail. Mrs. Bachle will begin contacting families if your child is not in attendance after 8:30AM.  It will soon be cold and flu season if your child has a temperature over 100 degrees please keep them home. If they come down with a temperature at school over 100 degrees we will contact parents to pick them up. We understand with technology emails, phones, texting, apple watches students and parents have around the clock communication. We ask that if your child is feeling sick in school they ask teachers to go see the nurse. The nurse and office will evaluate your child and communicate with parents if there is a concern.  

The weather will be changing soon. Please make sure children are dressed appropriately with coats, hats, mittens and gloves. If there is snow on the playground they must have snow pants and boots to play in it. Otherwise, they have to stay on the concrete. They need to bring a separate pair of boots for outside recess unless they are rubber or water resistant shoes. Reminder place names or initials on items as we collect a lot of nice items in our lost and found. 

We will utilize Bright Arrow as our mass communication delivery system this year for weather closings. Bright Arrow– Reminder to type: 790-41 text yes for alerts. Please check that your information is updated and current in Power School so you may receive important school and district information. We have no way of knowing if those emails or phone numbers change. Announcements will also be made on KOLN/KGIN 10/11 (Lincoln), KSNB Local 4, KHGI Channel 13 and KRGI Radio along with Northwest Social Media accounts. 

On behalf of the staff and myself, we thank you for your continued support. We are off to a great start and looking forward to a great year. If you have questions regarding your child’s education, please do not hesitate to contact the office at 385-6352.

Sincerely,

Mr. Retzlaff, Principal