April 5: Trimester 3 Begins

April 5: Alumni in Theater Conversation

April 5: All Classes Remote

April 6: All Classes Remote

April 7: All Classes Remote

April 7: Parent Training for Youth Suicide Prevention

April 8: 9th/10th Grades On Campus, All Other Grades Remote

April 9: 11th/12th Grades On Campus, All Other Grades Remote

Due to recently changing guidelines from the CDC and Governor Inslee, we have significantly changed our Trimester 3 schedule, specifically, how long each student will be on campus.

• Please click here for a document detailing the schedule for which grade levels are on campus in the coming weeks.
• Please click here to see the daily timetable.

Please click here to access our Handbook for Hybrid Learning, which provides specific information regarding pick-up and drop-off, what supplies your students need to bring to campus, how lunch works, and much more information.

We are excited to announce that we will be offering one-way and roundtrip bus service on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays during Trimester 3, beginning Monday, April 12, 2021. We are pleased to offer this service as it helps reduces traffic congestion from individual cars and our carbon impact on the environment. We will offer five routes:

• Route A: Ballard, Magnolia, Queen Anne
• Route B: Victory Heights, Wedgewood, University of Washington
• Route C: West Seattle, Fauntleroy
• Route D: South Seattle, Renton, Kubota Garden, Columbia City
• Route E: Redmond, Kirkland, Bellevue, Mercer Island

The cost for bus service is normally $425 for a one-way route and $850 for a roundtrip route per trimester, but because we are beginning this program part-way through Trimester 3, the fee will be discounted to $300 for a one-way route and $575 for a roundtrip route. The Northwest Experience Fund covers 100% of this expense for families that receive financial aid. You can sign up via My BackPack, in "Bus Service Sign Up" within the Message Center.

Please contact us with any questions.

We’re back in The House!!! Starting Trimester 3, we will feed students who are on campus. We are sad to say goodbye to the House Specialty Remote Dining Program but look forward to seeing students at lunch again, safely sharing a meal. Lunch will look different now than it looked pre-COVID. Here are a few details of on-campus dining to inform you of what we are doing to help ensure a safe dining experience.

• Students are expected to wash or sanitize their hands before and after lunch.
• Lunches will be individually packed in compostable paper products and include compostable utensils and napkins. Students should maintain a six-foot distance from one another during lunch and minimize talking while masks are off. Food should not be shared.
• Individual milk cartons will be provided with lunch. Students should bring a water bottle with them daily. There will be refillable water stations on campus available throughout the day.
• At the end of lunch, students will be responsible for properly disposing of any uneaten food and containers, and sorting trash, compost, and recyclables.
• The dining room will continue to accommodate folks with allergies and special dietary needs. We will provide options for meat-eaters, vegetarians, and vegans. For planning purposes, please fill out this Dining Survey by Wednesday, April 7.

We will communicate the most up-to-date plans via this weekly communication as well as on Instagram at @nws.kitchen.

Reminder of Our Travel Policy

Travel increases your chances of getting and spreading COVID-19. CDC recommends that you do not travel at this time. 

Governor Inslee recently modified the Nov. 13, 2020, Washington State travel advisory. Travelers must now comply with the CDC’s current COVID-19 travel advisory guidance. Due to the update, we have adjusted our travel policy to remain in alignment with current state and local guidelines. You’ll find our updated travel policy below.

1. Get tested three to five days after your trip AND
2. Quarantine for a full seven days (change from five days) after travel, even if your test is negative
3. Confirm test results with Health Coordinator Sierra Maxwell

          OR 

1. Quarantine for 10 days (changed from 14 days)

This policy does not apply to one’s usual commute to work, trips to neighboring cities, or the travel of a household member.

Magnus App

We will be using the COVID-19 Daily Health Screening assessment in the Magnus Health mobile app to track the health of our students and faculty members. In an effort to keep our community safe, all parents/guardians will be required to complete this daily health screening for each student attending in-person classes/activities prior to arrival at school or the event. Click here for more information on how to set up your Magnus Health account and complete the daily health screening.

From our incoming Head of School Ray Wilson, we would like to welcome all of our newly accepted students to The Northwest School for the 2021-22 school year!

We invite all of our community to the next installment of our Conversations with Alumni. The Alumni in Theater Conversation will take place on Monday, April 5, 6:00-7:30 pm.

Panelists will be: Frank Garland '16, Abe Koogler '02, Sophia Watt '08, Max Sarkowsky '16, Sylvie Baldwin '11, Sam McHale '16, and Gine B. LaLonde '02.

• Meeting Link
• Meeting ID
• Passcode

Please contact Alumni Program Coordinator Svetlana Turetskaya with any questions.

Upcoming Volunteer Time: Wednesday, April 7, 10:45 am-12:30 pm

Open to students in all grades. We'll be moving plant starts, turning the compost, and weeding. Sign-up here.

News from the NWS Chickens!

Check out The Seasonal Chicken, by Priscilla Lindberg, Upper School Humanities Teacher and chicken whisperer, for an update on the hens. If you're interested in helping to care for the NWS chickens, please watch these instructional videos and sign up here.

Get some new spirit wear for your return to campus. Orders can be made here.

Personalized duffle bags for the Spring sports season must be made by Monday, April 5, for availability by Monday, April 12. Bags can be picked up at school. You will be contacted to set up a time after ordering.

April is National Poetry Month and we could not be more excited to welcome writer, performer, and teaching artist Kai Davis to Northwest on April 13-14. While at Northwest, Kai will engage with our Spoken Word class, present at Community Meeting, meet with all of our student affinity groups, and participate in a Parent/Guardian Association event.

Kai Davis (she/her) is a Black Queer writer, performer, and teaching artist from Philadelphia. Kai received her BA in both Africana Studies and English with a concentration in Creative Writing from Temple University. Her work explores Blackness, Queerness, womanhood, and the many ways these identities converge. Kai’s work examines how power operates globally, nationally, interpersonally, and internally. She speaks about structural racism, misogyny, Black womanhood, ancestral trauma, mental health, intersectionality, Queer love, Black love, and more.

Please join other Northwest School parents and guardians for a guided conversation about youth suicide prevention on April 7, 6:30-8:00 pm. Topics will cover:

• Learning how to start and sustain conversations with your teen about mental health and suicide awareness.
• Learning the signs that someone you care about may be struggling with thoughts of suicide, practice and role-play how to ask about suicide, and learn about resources and ways to support someone who may be hurting.
• Connecting with other parents and guardians to build and strengthen your network of support and prevention.

Zoom link here. For additional resources and training on youth mental health, suicide prevention, and how we help demystify and normalize mental health matters, address discrimination and stigma, and encourage compassion through these challenging times, we encourage you to also explore the Well Beings website here.

We have two Outdoor Program trips planned for April. Trip information and sign-up forms for both outings can be found on the Outdoor Program webpage.

Urban Biking: April 18

Explore Seattle by bike! Experience the bike paths, back streets, and waterfronts of our beautiful city! We will meet at Gasworks Park and ride to Golden Gardens. Along the way, we will stop at Un Bien to pick up to-go sandwiches. After lunch, we will explore Golden Gardens and bike back to Gasworks. If you don’t have a bike, we will help you rent one for the adventure. This trip is a great chance to discover the outdoors without leaving the city!

Lena Lake Backpacking: April 24-25

This two-day Spring Backpacking Trip will give students the chance to wake up by a lake in the heart of the Pacific Northwest forests and mountains. We will hike about four miles into our camp, carrying everything we need for the night. Once at our destination, we will explore the area, appreciate the nearby streams, lakes, and plentiful shades of green. Finally, we will make dinner together, in small “food groups.”

This trip is open to 6-12th grade students who have prior experience with the Outdoor Program or backpacking. If your prior backpacking experience is not with the Outdoor Program, please talk with Maddy, Richard, or Nathan at the Orientation Meeting.

Now you can support financial aid and enjoy a hot meal all at the same time. We’ve added optional boxed dinners to this year’s event (to be delivered on Friday, April 30). Stay tuned for more details.

Pizazz takes place this month! This four-day online fundraiser starts April 27 and supports The Northwest Experience Fund and the Raymond Taussig Terry Financial Aid Endowment. Together, we’ll raise awareness and financial support, ensuring access to a Northwest education that is inclusive for all of our students.

Contact Julie Lombardo to learn more.

Join other 11th grade families for an evening of trivia on April 16, at 7:00 pm.

• Meeting Link
• Meeting ID: 820 5777 8135
• Passcode: 654495

We are planning an in-person Summer Camp experience focused on social connections and academic enrichment based on The Northwest School's liberal arts curriculum and social justice mission. We will have six one-week sessions, beginning July 5.

Due to ongoing concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic and because of local restrictions, we will not be offering a boarding program. However, we will still welcome international campers who have alternative housing arrangements.

The schedule this year will look a little different. Campers will work in cohorts rather than having personally designed schedules, but we will have a range of class combinations that will hopefully offer something for everyone.

Registration will open Monday, March 1, at 8:30 am. Learn more about our camps here.

We are offering virtual campus tours for the friends and colleagues of our international families who are interested in sending their children to our school. During these tours, we will show them around the campus, talk about programs and community, and help with admissions questions. If you would like us to hold such an event for your friends and can help us organize it, please contact us at: international@northwestschool.org.

Alternatively, we encourage you to share the contact information above with anyone in your community who might be interested in considering our school for their children, or simply send them the link to the virtual meetings with our Admissions Office: https://calendly.com/nws-international.

Thank you for your help and continued support of our international admissions efforts.

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我们现在提供在线参观与访谈给对西北中学有兴趣的国际家庭。我们会安排校园与宿舍介绍，并进一步说明我们的学程内容与申请程序。如果您有亲朋好友也对西北中学有兴趣，敬请与我们联系以特别安排: international@northwestschool.org.

您除了可以将上述讯息传递外，也可以让他们直接与我们在线活动安排的入学申请部门联系： https://calendly.com/nws-international. 非常感谢您对这活动的协助!

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Hiện nay, nhà trường đang tổ chức các sự kiện trực tuyến dành cho bạn bè và đồng nghiệp của gia đình học sinh quốc tế, đặc biệt những ai mong muốn gửi con theo học tại trường. Tại sự kiện, nhà trường sẽ tổ chức tham quan khuôn viên, trao đổi về chương trình học, về cộng đồng nơi đây, và trả lời các câu hỏi về công tác tuyển sinh. Nếu quý phụ huynh mong muốn nhà trường tổ chức sự kiện như trên cho bạn bè và có thể hỗ trợ tổ chức, vui lòng liên hệ với nhà trường tại địa chỉ: international@northwestschool.org.

Ngoài ra, hy vọng quý phụ huynh có thể chia sẻ thông tin liên hệ của nhà trường với mọi người xung quanh, đặc biệt những ai đang cân nhắc cho con theo học tại trường, hoặc đơn giản là gửi họ đường link truy cập buổi họp trực tuyến với văn phòng tuyển sinh: https://calendly.com/nws-international. Chân thành cảm ơn sự hỗ trợ của quý phụ huynh trong công tác tuyển sinh quốc tế của nhà trườn

Click here to join in live community fitness sessions every weeknight, at 5:00 pm PT.

Recordings of past workouts can be found here.

Please click here to find other college counseling announcements.

About E-News: The weekly E-News covers a two-week period of upcoming events, parent reminders, and campus news.