Dec. 14: 9th Grade Parents and Guardians Coffee

Dec. 15: 8th Grade Parents and Guardians Winter Warmer

Dec. 16: Fall Music Concert

Dec. 18: 9th Grade Families Virtual Trivia Night

Dec. 21-Jan. 1: No School (Winter Break)

On Dec. 15, we are going to test our emergency broadcasting system.

In the event of an emergency, the school will send you alerts via phone, email, and text message. If you want to receive the text message alert, you must first OPT IN. Click here for detailed instructions on how to sign up for texts.

If your family has a student in the current 8th grade and you receive financial aid (FA), or if you have a student in ANY grade and your family does NOT receive aid but you would like to request it for next year, the due date for submitting your application is Jan. 8th, 2021. If your family is not currently receiving FA and you wish to apply, please also contact Director of Financial Aid Jonathan Hochberg ASAP and notify him of your intent to apply.

The Jan. 8 date is four weeks prior to the general FA application deadline of Feb. 4, 2021, which is for families who already receive Financial Aid and have students in grades 6, 7, 9, 10, and 11. We understand that you will need to do some estimating in order to meet this deadline, and also that your taxes for 2020 will not be completed yet. This is normal. For questions, please contact Jonathan.

Due to the high volume of additional FA provided by the school in response to the impact of COVID-19 on family finances in our community, it is IMPERATIVE that all requests for FA be received on time. Late requests may not be able to be considered.

Each week we will be providing a COVID-19 update to keep you informed about our decision-making processes and safety protocols. For any questions, please contact our Health Coordinator Sierra Maxwell.

Our Planning and Operations Continuity Committee meets on a weekly basis to review all of the data and guidance and apply them in real time. Here is a complete rundown of the sources informing our decisions:

We access and interpret metrics and recommendations provided by epidemiologists and public health officials to develop an internal plan for responding to that data. We reference guidance provided at the county, state, and federal levels. We are in alignment with the K-12 Schools Fall Guidance, provided by the Washington State Department of Health. This guidance can be referenced regardless of which county or phase we are in of Governor Jay Inslee's Safe Start Plan. The K-12 Fall Guidance informs us how to return to in-person learning. In addition to this, we reference the K-12 Decision Tree for making decisions about if/when to resume school in person. This tool provides us with clear metrics to guide our decisions based on the COVID-19 activity in King County. To monitor these levels of disease activity in King County, we use this dashboard provided by Public Health - Seattle King County.

At the federal level, we can reference guidance provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, such as the Indicators for Dynamic School Decision-Making; Operating schools during COVID-19: CDC's Considerations; and Considerations for K-12 Schools: Readiness & Planning Tool.

Just because we are remote doesn't mean that we can't celebrate science! Throughout the year, science teachers endeavor to inspire wonder, joy, and curiosity through engagement in both the content and process of science. Winterfest is typically the time that students share their science learning with the community. Next week, students will be taking and posting photos of current projects they are working on in their classes to this Padlet. This year we hope others in the community will also become involved. We invite you to pick a science activity to do at home and share a photo with us. Here's how:

• Go to this infographic and pick an area of focus.
• In the infographic, click on the images to get a list of possible activities. This list will continue to be updated.
• Gather your supplies, be safe, and take a photo or video.
• Post the results here.

On behalf of the Northwest Science faculty, have fun with science!

Help us celebrate the last week of fall and the end of the 2020 year with our Fall Music Concert on Dec. 16, at 7:00 pm. It will be a delightful (virtual) evening of ensemble performances from our performing arts department.

• Zoom link
• Meeting ID: 966 9433 0744
• Password: music

We want to thank all the student, parent, and guardian volunteers for your help and support during this unusual admission season. We simply cannot do this work without all of you. We value you all so much. Please continue to take good care of yourselves and we look forward to seeing you all again very soon.

If you were not able to attend the Middle and Upper School Town Halls last week on Dec. 3, we have your streams right here!

• Middle School Town Hall
• Upper School Town Hall

Please click here to view the responses to questions raised during the Town Halls.

If your student applied via an Early Decision plan and has been accepted, please assist the College Counselors by reminding them to complete the following steps:

1. Verify that you have received a financial aid package that makes attendance possible (if you applied for financial aid). If not, follow up with the college’s financial aid office and let Erin and Rachel know.
2. Accept the college’s offer by submitting the enrollment deposit.
3. Withdraw any pending applications to other colleges. Students can do this by emailing the regional admissions representative at the college, emailing the general admissions account, or responding through the college’s portal if admitted. We encourage students to include their full name and date of birth in this correspondence.
4. Email Erin and Rachel to notify them that these steps have been completed.

Seniors received an email with the above instructions earlier this week. It is critical that students take these actions as quickly as possible after receiving good news in Early Decision. While it may be tempting to wait and receive the results of other early application processes, by withdrawing pending applications, students make space for other deserving candidates. If you or your student has questions about this, please reach out to Erin or Rachel.

Next week is our final week of the House Specialty before Winter Break. Please note the following open and close dates for the meal program:

• December 14-18: OPEN
• December 21-25: CLOSED
• December 28-January 1: CLOSED
• January 4-8: CLOSED
• January 11-15: OPEN

If there are days when you do not plan to pick up your meal, or if circumstances have changed for your household during Trimester 2, please e-mail Bethany or Leilani.

Curious to know what’s on the menu for next week? Check it out here!

Thanks to all of you who have donated to our annual Uniquely Northwest campaign! This week we’re excited for you to see a video featuring Emma C. '23. We all know that students are the reason Northwest exists, and Emma shares her views on how Northwest has helped shape her into the person she is now.

Click here to learn how your annual fund support directly benefits all our students. Every single gift makes a difference. Click here to give now. Questions? Contact Julie Lombardo.

9th Grade Parents and Guardians Coffee, Dec. 14, 5:00 pm PT

• Zoom link
• Meeting ID: 897 7271 9561
• Passcode: 753637

8th Grade Parents and Guardians Winter Warmer, Dec. 15, 8:00 pm PT

Think of it as “coffee in the evening." Enjoy a hot chocolate or a brandy by the fire with your parent and guardian cohort!

• Zoom link
• Meeting ID: 897 4949 6545
• Passcode: 460999

9th Grade Families Virtual Trivia Night, Dec. 18, 7:00 pm PT

It’s just like an in-person Trivia Night but played over Zoom. Each family is a team, or you can even decide to have more than one team in your family if you want some extra competition. There will be 30 questions across six categories covering every age and taste. Stay tuned for the Zoom invite!

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

Recordings of past workouts can be found here.

Northwest is a diverse community and we want to share all the different ways that we celebrate the end of the year. We have students and faculty that come from the USA, Canada, China, Ethiopia, India, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Turkey, Vietnam, Cuba, Costa Rica, Mexico, France, Colombia, Russia, Belorussia, Denmark, Thailand, Chile, Benin, Nigeria, Togo, Senegal, Kenya, South Africa, Germany, Trinidad, Jamaica, Haiti, Brazil, Spain, Puerto Rico, and many more who are tied to indigenous origins (not countries) or states.

How do you celebrate the end of the year? What holidays do you celebrate and how? Share what you want, a picture, text, a video, an audio file on this Padlet. Feel free to share multiple celebrations. Don't just limit yourself to a country of origin: if you're up for sharing your family traditions or other stories, please do!

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.