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E-News: Sept. 4

Upcoming Events

Sept. 8-11: Upper School Student Orientation

Sept. 8: Technology Q&A for 6th Grade and Other New Parents/Guardians

Sept. 8: 12th Grade College Night

Sept. 9-11: Middle School Student Orientation

Sept. 9: 6th Grade Virtual Potluck

Sept. 10: 7th Grade Virtual Potluck

Sept. 11: 8th Grade Virtual Potluck

Sept. 14: First Day of Classes

Sept. 15: 11th Grade Potluck and College Preview Night

Sept. 16: 9th Grade Virtual Potluck

Sept. 16: 10th Grade Virtual Potluck

Sept. 18: Learning Resources Middle School Back-to-school Q&A

School Supplies Pick-up

School supplies pick-up is in full swing right now. See below for when your Middle School and Upper School student should come to the school to pick up their supplies for the year.

Middle School

Please click here to see when your student should arrive on campus to pick up school supplies.

Upper School

Upper School students currently in Seattle will have the opportunity to come to school and pick up supplies for science, visual art, music and other miscellaneous classes until Sept. 9. Please sign up for a time to visit our school supply drive-by pick-up here.

When coming to school, please approach driving north (downhill) on Crawford from Union. There will be several parking spots reserved near the top of the block. The pick-up will happen at the Fanny Brice classroom window. To help reduce everyone’s risk, please wear a face-covering when visiting, and wait in your car if another family is already at the window. We look forward to seeing you!

A Message From Our Librarians

The Northwest School librarians are excited to welcome you back to the 2020-2021 school year! While school may feel different this fall, we still look forward to forming connections with you through class research projects, one-on-one conferences, book club and over Canvas / Zoom / Teams. Keep an eye out for information regarding your own personal New York Times account, information on how to access our collection and the Seattle Public Library’s collection on Sora, and Drop Everything and Read (DEAR), which will be happening every third week.

If you’d like to start browsing the collection now, click here, then click on Northwest School. The login link is in the upper right-hand corner. Your username is your NWS username and your password is Welcome2020.  

Please feel free to reach out to us and let us know what you read this summer!

Northwest School Remote Dining Program

The Northwest School Remote Dining “House Specialty" Program will start the week of Sept. 14. You will receive (if you haven’t already) an e-mail confirming your pickup location and day of the week. Your pickup location and designated pickup day will remain the same throughout the trimester.

If you have questions about the dining program, please e-mail Bethany Fong. If you have questions about the dining program fee, please e-mail Michal Allaire.

You can follow Bethany's adventures in food and cooking on the official Northwest School Dining Program Instagram account @nws.kitchen.

6th Grade and Other New Families 1:1 Device Q&A

Since 6th grade families will be receiving a school-owned laptop into their homes, we would like to invite you to join us for a Q&A on Sept. 8, 4:30-5:30 pm. Here is the link for the session. A video of the Q&A session will be made available for those that cannot attend.

Here are the resources for Parents and Guardians about the school-issued laptops and co-creating a media agreement with your student(s).

Faculty Performances and Presentations

On Monday, Aug. 31, the Northwest School faculty gathered on Zoom for the annual beginning-of-the-year faculty retreat. Normally, this retreat is held at the Kiana Lodge, on Bainbridge Island. In keeping with the spirit of community during these virtual times, multiple faculty presented and performed as part of the retreat. Here are a few of the performances and presentions:

Civics and Swing States Program: Autumn Edition

Are you interested in tangibly engaging in the 2020 election? Supporting voter registration and voter turnout in swing states?

This upcoming election is arguably the most important election of the lifetimes of young people around the world in relation to racial justice and climate change, and the communities most impacted by it—the same communities most impacted by COVID-19 and by racial injustice. So, let’s get out the vote!

Join Jenny Cooper, Director of Environmental Education & Sustainability, for “Civics & Swing States,” a free 4-week program aimed at mobilizing people to get out the vote in swing states and engage locally and nationally in the November 2020 election. Jenny facilitated the program this summer to a group of 65 people, ranging in age from 12-68, and is excited to offer the program for a second time. Open to students, parents, faculty, alumni, and friends and family.

Full program description here.

Dates: September 23 - October 17

Times:

  • Option 1: Wednesdays & Fridays, 8:00-9:00 am PT
  • Option 2: Thursdays, 5:15-6:45 pm & Saturdays 10:00-11:30am PT

Register here (no later than Sept. 16)

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

Canvas: Our New Learning Management System

Starting this year, Canvas will be The Northwest School’s instructional platform for facilitating online learning between faculty and students. With Canvas, we will consolidate and provide information-rich asynchronous and synchronous instruction to students in remote, hybrid, and face-to-face formats. We would like to invite you to join us for a Parents and Guardians Q&A on Sept. 10, 6:00-7:00 pm. Here is the link for the session. A video of the Q&A session will be made available for those that cannot attend.

Prior to that, you can learn more about how we will use Canvas as our central hub for online learning by visiting this page for a video tour and overview of Canvas. In addition, please send us any questions you have ahead of time by using this link.

Zoom Links for Beginning of the Year Potlucks

Here are the links for each grade's potluck:

6th: Wednesday, Sept. 9, 7:00 p.m.

https://thenorthwestschool.zoom.us/j/98259420133?pwd=TlVPakh4QlZZQVRsOC9idEh6Q2Yvdz09
Meeting ID: 982 5942 0133
Passcode: NWS6th

7th: Thursday, Sept. 10, 7:00 p.m.

https://thenorthwestschool.zoom.us/j/96704416243?pwd=Kzl3aVM1c1lNb0xNV0E2Q2xmcFdtQT09
Meeting ID: 967 0441 6243
Passcode: NWS7th

8th: Friday, Sept. 11, 7:00 p.m.

https://thenorthwestschool.zoom.us/j/93544501901?pwd=clZUUjREWlhxTUpKL2NES1ZUU3VUQT09
Meeting ID: 935 4450 1901
Passcode: NWS8th

9th: Wednesday, Sept. 16, 7:00 p.m.

https://thenorthwestschool.zoom.us/j/94601641552?pwd=UlhxbXdjR3JSWmhOclVDeTdvVk9jZz09
Meeting ID: 946 0164 1552
Passcode: NWS9th

10th: Wednesday, Sept. 16, 8:00 p.m.

https://thenorthwestschool.zoom.us/j/95179372480?pwd=SDVlSk82QXd4dmt4cG9sNWdiZWxwZz09
Meeting ID: 951 7937 2480
Passcode: NWS10th

11th and 12th Grade Potlucks and College Previews

12th Grade: Tuesday, Sept. 8, 7:00 pm PST
https://thenorthwestschool.zoom.us/j/92465576681?pwd=b25lejZyVHo5aUlxcENMaHlESnJNUT09

Please join us for timely college counseling updates and a review of Northwest's process for supporting students' college applications this fall. The program will begin with information from the Upper School administration and will move directly into College Night. We are scheduling 90 minutes to allow for Q&A following the presentation.The webinar will be recorded and shared with families unable to attend the live program.

11th Grade: Tuesday, Sept 15, 7:00 pm PST
https://thenorthwestschool.zoom.us/j/99011754497?pwd=S1JWZmVUSmZvYi9hQlhEUTZQaHh6Zz09

Please join members of the College Counseling team and Upper School administration for highlights for the fall of 11th grade and a preview of the college counseling process. We are scheduling this webinar for 90 minutes to allow for Q&A, but we plan to keep formal programming to under one hour. The webinar will be recorded for families who are unable to attend the live presentation.

Early Sibling and Faculty Child Applications

Applications for admission to the 2021-22 school year go live on Sept. 14. For current families and faculty members with a child applying to 6th grade, please note Early Sibling & Faculty Child (ESFC) applications are due Oct. 22. Please fill out the ESFC interest form to be included in mailings about this process.

For more information about the ESFC application timeline and the admission process for siblings and faculty children applying to grades 7 and above, please click here, or contact our Admissions Office. We are excited to meet and work with you this fall!

Boldly Grown Winter CSA Sign-up

Northwest is a pick-up location for a winter community-supported agriculture (CSA) box from Boldly Grown Farms, which is owned and operated by alumni Jacob Slosberg '06 and his wife Amy Frye. CSA members receive a supply of high-quality, locally grown, certified organic vegetables throughout the winter months, every other Wednesday, from early November through March.

Full program details and registration information can be found here. Space is limited, so sign up soon!

College Counseling Programs and Updates

Please click here to view additional college counseling announcements, upcoming visits and events, admissions updates, and scholarship information.

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