March 8: Greenlake Walk

March 8: 8th Grade Parents and Guardians Grade-level Call

March 8: 7th Grade Parents and Guardians Grade-level Call

March 9: 6th Grade Parents and Guardians Grade-level Call

March 10: No School (In-service Day)

March 10: Snowshoeing at Gold Pond

March 13: Beacon Hill Walk

March 15: 11th Grade Parents and Guardians Grade-level Call

March 15: 10th Grade Parents and Guardians Grade-level Call

March 17: Urban Farm and Garden Volunteering

March 17: Woodland Park Soccer with Britt and Mercy

March 18: 9th Grade Parents and Guardians Grade-level Call

March 18: 10th Grade Parents and Guardians Grade-level Call

Dear Northwest School Families,

I am writing with some staffing updates and announcements today. Now that Northwest School’s permanent Head of School Ray Wilson has been hired, we have the opportunity to look at our vacant positions a little differently and we have decided to begin a search for a permanent Upper School Director and a permanent Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for the 2021-2022 school year.  For the Upper School Director search, we have retained Storbeck Search, the same firm that placed both Ray and me, and they will be helping us with our search and sourcing candidates. Our advisors at Storbeck assure us that they believe there is a strong candidate pool for this job.

We posted the Director of DEI position last month, received close to 70 resumes, and the search committee had their first meeting last week. The current Advancing Equity Team will remain in place next year to support the new director and I am thankful for the efforts of this group this year. The group consists of Michele Sanchez, Amina Loftin, Meg Golder Rabinowitz, and Charlotte King-Mills.

I want to thank Amy Berner-Hays for serving as our Interim Upper School Director this year. Amy has stepped into this role with tremendous enthusiasm, dedication, and care. Amidst the most challenging circumstances over the course of the past year, in a pandemic and in a time of significant shifts in leadership, Amy has been a true stabilizing and attentive force. She has worked to find creative solutions to complex problems and has been a dedicated division director serving the needs of our students, faculty, and families. Our next Upper School Director will benefit from her intentional and thoughtful work.

We will keep you posted about the progress of both searches. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out.

Best wishes and in partnership,
Dennis

We are excited to welcome Upper School students on campus next week for MOJO #2! It will run from 9:00-11:30 am on the following days:

• March 8: 11th Grade
• March 9: 12th Grade
• March 11: 10th Grade
• March 12: 9th Grade

Students will engage either on campus or remotely. They will not have their regular classes on MOJO days but will partake in science and Humanities classes, either in person or online. Here is the timetable for the day.

• 9:00-9:15: Arrival and health screening
• 9:15-10:10: Humanities/Science class (depends on grade level) 
• 10:10-10:30: Clean room/break/move to next class       
• 10:30-11:25: Humanities/Science class (depends on grade level)
• 11:30: Clean room/dismissal

There is an option for students to bring a sack lunch and walk to a nearby park for additional social time with classmates. Please complete this form to sign up for Upper School MOJO #2 (one submission per student please).

Students need to bring their laptops, headphones, pen, paper, and water bottles to the event. They will be screened before entering the building. Please use the following entrances according to the last name of your student.

• Last name begins with A-H: Main entrance on Summit
• Last name begins with J-P: South entrance on Union
• Last name begins with Q-Z: Commons entrance on Crawford

Please let us know if your Middle School student will be attending the second round of MOJO orientations in person or remotely via this form. All MOJO days will run 9:00 am-12:00 pm.

• March 15: 8th Grade
• March 16: 7th Grade
• March 18: 6th Grade

Wednesday, March 24 will be dedicated to experiential learning and wrapping up Trimester 2 coursework. For students who have coursework to finish, teachers will be available during school hours for support. For students who have already completed their Trimester 2 coursework, we are offering optional in-person and online experiential education opportunities. Register here no later than March 16.

• Beacon Food Forest: Hands-on volunteer work to support BFF in creating and expanding open forage produce access. Two options: 9:30am-12:00pm (US) or 12:30-3:00pm (MS).
• Yes Farm/Black Farmers Collective: Hands-on volunteer work to support Yes Farm/Black Farmers Collective in growing healthy, organic produce for communities of color in Seattle. Two options: 9:30am-12:00pm (MS) or 12:30pm-3:00pm (US).
• Seadrunar Materials Recycling Facility: Take a lively tour of the recycling facility, seeing up-close how paper, cardboard, plastics, and metals are sorted, packed, processed, and shipped, as well as learning about Seadrunar’s job training programs. Time: 10:00-11:00 am (MS + US; limited to 12 participants).
• Olympic Park Art Walk: Take a walk through the Olympic Sculpture Park. Time TBD, tentatively 1:00-3:00 pm (MS + US).
• Online Options: Films, a community art project, and neighborhood mapping. Details published on March 21.

Please note: All in-person events are rain or shine; please dress appropriately. In-person sessions may change depending on number of registrants, staffing constraints, external partners, and/or COVID-19. Thank you for your patience and flexibility.

The administration, in partnership with the PGA Co-chairs, will host grade-level parent/guardian meetings in the coming weeks. The goal will be to answer any remaining questions about hybrid learning, offer brief academic program updates, and create space for parents/guardians to connect with one another. Here are the dates and times of these calls:

• Monday, March 8, 6:00 pm: 7th Grade
• Monday, March 8, 7:15 pm: 8th Grade
• Tuesday, March 9, 7:00 pm: 6th Grade
• Monday, March 15, 6:00 pm: 11th Grade
• Monday, March 15, 7:00 pm: 12th Grade
• Thursday, March 18, 6:00 pm: 9th Grade
• Thursday, March 18, 7:00 pm: 10th Grade

Vaccine

This week, Governor Jay Inslee announced that Washington state teachers and childcare workers are now among those who are eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine. Educators and licensed childcare workers are moving up to Phase 1B-Tier 1 of WA Phase Distribution. This is exciting news and several of our faculty members have already been able to get scheduled for their vaccine!

COVID-19 Daily Health Screenings

We are working on integrating an app to be used by parents/guardians to complete a COVID-19 daily health screening for their student(s). This will eliminate the need to conduct daily health screenings in person and allow us to avoid congregations at entryways. The app is called Magnus Health and will allow parents to complete daily health screenings easily from a smartphone in just a few clicks. More information and details to come soon!

The Parent Guardian Association is now using the community connection platform Konstella. Here is a short introductory video that shows the basic layout and how to accomplish some common tasks.

Inspired by a compelling proposal from Upper School students in the Environmental Interest Group, Northwest is exploring adopting a goal of meaningfully achieving carbon neutrality by 2030. The first step in that process is convening a Task Force to assess the feasibility of going carbon neutral and recommending a path forward.

The students have put together a terrific framework for establishing the task force, and are inviting other students, faculty, parents, guardians, board members, and alumni to participate. An outline of their proposal is here, and the form to express interest in joining the Carbon Neutrality Task Force is here (deadline is March 10).

Please reach out to Jenny Cooper if you have any questions.

Our Northwest School Counselors, Erin and Lynn, would like to share a few resources and upcoming opportunities to help support the health and wellness of your teen and family. Click here for more information.

Many of our students have joined Neighborhood Adventures in the past few weeks. Come join us for some informal face time with fellow students and faculty! In general, sign-ups and permission slips are due two days before the trip.

New adventures will be happening every week. Check the Outdoor Program webpage for regular updates.

Upcoming Neighborhood Adventures:

• March 8: Greenlake Walk with Flora, Maddy, and Malia
• March 13: Beacon Hill Walk with Scott and Jenn
• March 17: Woodland Park Soccer with Britt and Mercy
• March 24: Woodland Park Soccer with Britt and Mercy

With spring coming right around the corner, we have some volunteer opportunities to help our Urban Farm and Garden prepare for the planting season.

• Wednesday, March 17, 10:45 am-12:15 pm: Sign up here
• Sunday, March 21, 9:30am-12:30 pm: Sign up here

Contact Jenny Cooper with any questions.

Please note: Even though there is no school for students on Wednesday, March 10, we will have meal pickup as usual. Here is the upcoming schedule for the House Specialty Program:

• Week of March 8: Regular pickup
• Week of March 15: Regular pickup
• Week of March 22: Regular pickup
• Week of March 29: No meal program (Spring Break)
• Week of April 5: No meal program (kitchen closed for cleaning)

Check out the menu for next week here.

We have asked faculty to share some highlights of what is happening in their classes during Trimester 2. Here is a sampling of what some of our performing arts students are engaging in.

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.

Planning is now underway for our spring financial aid fundraiser, Pizazz! Please save the date for this virtual event which takes place on April 27-30. Contact Julie Lombardo to learn more.

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.

Is your student interested in STEM majors and careers? You may wish to attend this college fair on March 7, 10:00 am-2:00 pm PT. Hear firsthand from admission advisers about their college's STEM majors and programs, financial aid, student life, and much more. More than 200 colleges and universities will offer live Zoom sessions and live chat this Sunday.
 
In addition, during the virtual fair you can attend four informative workshops offered by NACAC:

• Building your Identity in STEM Education (10:15-10:45 am PT)
• Engineering Students' Perspectives: Experiential Learning and Opportunities in Industry (11:00-11:30 am PT)
• Does Size Matter? STEM Education at Small, Medium, and Large Schools (11:45 am-12:15 pm PT)
• Exploring the Fields of Engineering (12:30-1:00 pm PT)

This event is part of a series of College Fairs. The next event is a Performing & Visual Arts Fair on March 16.

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.