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E-News: August 21

School Supplies Pick-up

Middle School students will be scheduled by advisory groups to come to campus Sept. 2-9 for a technology orientation. There will also be a couple of evening sessions for families who cannot make it during the day. Details forthcoming.

Upper School students will have the opportunity to sign up for a time to come to campus and pick up supply packs. The exact window for Upper School supply pick-up depends on the orientation schedule on Sept. 8-9. Stay tuned for more details.

If you have any questions, please contact Leilani Nussman.

Back-to-school Parent/Guardian Packet

On Monday, Aug. 17, you should have received our digital back-to-school packet via email. if you missed it in your inbox, click here to access it.

New My BackPack Link

Parents/guardians: Our login page for My BackPack has a new URL. Please update your bookmarks to https://northwestschool.seniormbp.com.

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.

Book Updates

All of the books for our Humanities courses are now available in our online bookstore. The only remaining outstanding courses are 12th grade calculus and 6th grade math. Please stay tuned to E-News for details about when those courses are available.

We Are Still Accepting Applications for the 2020-21 School Year

If you know anyone who would be interested in applying to The Northwest School, please contact our Admissions Office.

Athletics Update

The Upper School athletics seasons have been shifted and modified in accordance with the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association’s recent changes to the 2020-21 sports season calendar. The seasons have been moved to later in the school year and compressed in length as follows:

  • Dec. 28-Feb. 28: Winter season (basketball, mixed ultimate)
  • March 1- May 2: Fall season (cross country, girl's soccer, boy's ultimate, girl's volleyball)
  • April 26-June 27 (extending past the end of the school year): Spring season (boy's soccer, girl's ultimate, track and field)

It should be noted that the dates above are tentative and further changes may be made to respond to the changing situation around the pandemic. As no sports seasons will be happening in the fall, the WIAA has designated Sept. 28-Nov. 30 as a period when coaches may conduct practices (online or in-person, appropriate to COVID-19 health and safety guidelines at that time).

More details will follow as we get clarity on what we’ll be able to offer during the fall. If you have questions regarding athletics, please reach out to Upper School Athletic Director Britt Atack.

2020-21 Outdoor Program Opportunities

Our Outdoor Program is still happening this year! We are pivoting the programming to create exciting new experiences to engage students in the outdoors, in accordance with the state of Washington and King County COVID-19 prevention guidelines for outdoor recreation.

We will update the Outdoor Program webpage by the start of the school year with all of the additional details.

College Jumpstart, Aug. 24-28

Students and parents received an e-mail on Friday, Aug. 14, with detailed information and a link to register for Jumpstart. We highly encourage all rising seniors to register by Aug. 21. More information is available here.

Civics and Swing States Program: Fall Edition

Are you interested in tangibly engaging in the 2020 election? Join Jenny Cooper, Director of Environmental Education & Sustainability, for “Civics & Swing States,” a free four-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. The program, scheduled to take place mid-September through mid-October, is open to students, parents, faculty, alumni, and friends and family. More details to come.

Become an Annual Fund Ambassador!

We are still looking for parents/guardians from each grade to help raise awareness and support for this year’s annual fund, Uniquely Northwest. Please contact Julie Lombardo (206-816-6208) to learn more about this easy, enjoyable, and low-key volunteer opportunity.

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!

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.