Dear Parents & Guardians,

It was great to see so many 8th graders at the Northwest Orientation. We had a great turnout and a fun night! It is hard to believe we are at that stage and winding down the school year. The Northwest counselors will be out one more time to meet with 8th graders on class schedules if they have any questions on Tuesday, February 18th.

Monday, February 10 we will close out the American Heart Drive. You can still check out Finn’s Mission online this weekend through Monday at http://www2.heart.org/goto/1RSchool Thank you to all who have watched the videos, made safety plans and/or donated to this great cause. 

We are excited to share your child’s success next week at Parent Teacher conferences. Conferences will be Wednesday, February 12th and Thursday, February the 13th from 3:30-8 p.m. School will be dismissed at 2 p.m. both days.  The  Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) prohibits us from sharing academic information with anyone other than biological parents or documented legal guardians. While we value and recognize it takes a community to raise a child, we cannot share academic information outside these parameters (including stepparents, grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles, boyfriends or girlfriends etc.) Thank you for your cooperation in meeting these requirements of the law.

Parents you will be receiving a survey next week from the district via Bright Arrow. Please take time to complete this survey as it provides our school and district with information to help us grow. We live in an ever changing environment and value your feedback in the best way to serve our students and patrons. Again thank you for taking time to complete the survey. We will also have a few chromebooks available at conferences. 

K-5 conferences are scheduled individually with your child’s classroom teacher. Please contact them if you have not set up a time. 6-8 conferences are not scheduled for specific times. Parents can come anytime between 3:30-8 p.m.   Mr. Herrmann (S.S.) and Mrs. Erickson will be available on Wednesday at 1R.  Thursday- Mr. Simmons (PE), Mrs. Wissing (Science). Also on Thursday Mrs. Gapp (6-8 music) & Mr. Meyer (Band)  3:30–5:30 p.m. and Mrs. Liberty (K-5 music) will be available from 3:30-7. Please email or call any of the teachers if you are unable to attend and wish to set up a meeting or a phone conference. There will be NO School on Friday, Feb. 14th. 

K-3 celebrated the 100 days of school last week. Check out 1R Facebook, as there were several 100 year olds wandering our hallways. It was a fun celebration and day of learning.   

The second trimester (Careers class) with Mrs. Carpenter will end on February 21st. Please stop and see what students have been working on in Careers at Parent Teacher Conferences. Mrs. Felske will be joining us for the third trimester on Monday, February 24th . She will be introducing students to technology skills and stem lab activities.  If you have any questions for her please do not hesitate to stop in or email as she gets things set up and students transition. 7th grade will also begin a Health class with her. 

Mr. Herrmann and Mrs. Eynetich will be hosting our first ever middle school FCA event on the morning of Wednesday, February 19th at 7:30a.m. If you have a 6th-8th grade student who would like to participate, have them come that morning and check it out in the 1R Library. Contact Mr. Herrmann if you have any questions at jherrmann@ginorthwest.org

Attendance Matters: If they miss 2 days a month they miss 20 days a year, 30 hours of Math, 60 hours of Reading and they will miss over a year by graduation. 4 days a month- 40 days a year, 60 hours of Math, 120 hours of reading and writing and 2 years of school by graduation.

We know there is a lot of illness out there right now and sickness is inevitable. Please keep school in the loop on your child’s absences. Reminder students are to report to the 1R nurse or office if they are feeling ill. The school will notify parents if the child needs to go home. Please have your child  communicate with the office first versus emailing, texting or calling home. I

Northwest Attendance Policy:Students who miss five consecutive days of school due to illness must secure a doctor’s written authorization before returning to school. If a student has excessive absences, school officials will make the final determination as to student retention or promotion. Serious illnesses that result in extended periods of absence should be reported to school. Students who are infected with a contagious disease or health problems (chickenpox, pink eye, strep throat, etc.) may be required to furnish a doctor’s written authorization to return to school.

At 20 or more absences, or the hourly equivalent, during any school year, Northwest Public Schools shall file a report with the county attorney, as required by law, indicating the number of days the student has been absent. A letter will also be sent home informing the student and his/her parents/guardians of the report being filed with the county attorney. When reporting excessive absences, the attendance officer shall provide the county attorney all pertinent information regarding the student’s absences including, but not limited to, the student’s number of absences due to documented illnesses or medical conditions which make attendance impossible or impractical and excused and unexcused absence totals.

Patience, Patience, Patience is the key to a safe driveway and parking lot. Our first priority is that everyone is SAFE!! During drop off in the morning please PULL completely forward to the east end beyond the crosswalk, students in the North lane exit to the North safe zone. If you are in the South lane please have your child go to the Cross Walk and not dodge in and out of cars. I know when we have inclement weather, the snow and ice makes it more challenging. We do our best to get snow removed and make it as safe as possible. Thanks for looking out for the safety of all!  

On Wednesday, February 19, all 6th-8th grade band members will participate in a district-wide band clinic held at Northwest High school. Students will be transported to the high school, provided lunch and will perform a concert at 3:15 p.m. in the auditorium. All parents are invited to attend the concert. Parents will pick up students following the program. Mr. Meyer sent a Bright Arrow message this week to all 6-8 band parents. (tmeyer@ginorthwest.org)

We are now looking for August 2025-26 kindergartners. If you have a child who is 5 years old on or before July 31, 2019, they are eligible to attend kindergarten. Please call the office (308-385-6352) and let Mrs. Bachle know. We will add them to the list and begin sharing important information with those families. 

Congratulations to Avery Paitz (5th), Violet Placke (6th) , Hailey Allan (7th) and Josiah Sazama (8th) on representing 1R at the Hall County Spelling Bee. Middle School sports are off to a great start. Girls have had a couple meets and are finding success on the mats. Boys Basketball is also having success on the courts. Reminder the 1R calendar has both the girls wrestling meets and boys basketball games listed. This year for the first time Mrs. Gapp, Ms. Hamilton and Mr. Meyer have organized a Middle School Show Choir. Their name is Equiphonix and their first performance will be tomorrow at Grand Island Northwest if you would like to see them perform.    

There will be a PTO meeting March 3rd at 6 p.m. PTO will have a Culvers Dining Night Out on Tuesday, Feb. 11th from 4-8 p.m. There will also be PTO Family Fun Night at Axe Holes on Feb. 21th from 6-10pm.  On Sunday March 2nd they will host a Happy Brush event in the 1R gym from 2-4. Those flyers have been sent home and collected as they need RSVP for a count for the materials needed. They are also seeking board members for the 2025-26 school year. If you would like to serve in some capacity please reach out to President Lisa Allan (allans21098@gmail.com)

On behalf of the staff and myself, we thank you for your continued support. Please follow our 1R Google calendar for the most current events and check out our 1R Facebook page. If you have questions regarding your child’s education, please do not hesitate to contact the office at 385-6352.

Sincerely,

Mr. Retzlaff, Principal