THE BEST

October 30 - Fun Run

October 31 - Character Parade

November 4 - Election Day/Teacher Work Day (No School)

November 10 - Fall Picture Retake Day

November 10 -14 - Book Fair

November 11 - Veterans Day Performance for 3rd Grade Parents

November 14 - All Pro Dad

November 12 - Thanksgiving Feast (Grades 1, 2, 4, and AU)

November 13 - Thanksgiving Feast (Grades K, 3, and 5)

November 24 - 28 - Thanksgiving Holiday Break (No School)

Our return from fall break was met with refreshed, smiling faces and brisk fall mornings!

We have started some fun, positive, and engaging activities this semester that focus on our love of reading. Before the break, we had DEAR (Drop Everything And Read) time as the students continued to log their reading into Beanstack! Northwood was the leading elementary school in Fulton County before we left for break, and students are working hard to keep that lead. They have also been busy coloring book spines to add to the school's two new reading bulletin boards.

I'm excited to share that Mrs. Imhulse, our literacy coach, has been working the past few weeks to complete the required steps to connect Northwood with a certified CAREing Paws reading dog! We hope that Sadie and her handler will be able to visit our school soon and pop into classrooms to listen to students read. Sadie has special rules that she follows when at school. She will always be clean and wearing her ID tag identifying her as a “helper dog.” The logistics are still being ironed out, but we’re excited to welcome Sadie and her handler to Northwood soon. If your child has an allergy or fear of dogs, please email your teacher so they’re aware. Most of the time when in classrooms, Sadie will remain in the front of the room and will listen to students read from their seats. She’ll also walk through the halls and plans to attend some of our fun family events this year, too.

We have had a fantastic start to our Foundation Booster Week! Next Thursday (weather permitting) is our Booster Run. Parents are welcome to come watch the event during your child’s Fun Run time, please see the graphic below. The run will take place on the large field on the far back of campus behind the bus loop. There will be Foundation members and school staff near the entrance to answer any questions. Once the run is complete, all students will return to their classrooms with their teacher. While it is not encouraged, if you choose to check out your child after their run, that must be done via the front office. Students will not be allowed to leave from the field area. Siblings in other Northwood grade levels will not be able to watch other siblings run. T-shirts for the run, provided by the Foundation, will be given to all students on the day of the run. Be sure to send your Explorers with water bottles that are clearly labeled.

The students have been so excited this week, and I know that will continue all the way through the run. They’re working toward grade level and school wide fundraising goals with some fun, creative rewards. Be on the lookout for specific details from your homeroom teacher.

With gratitude,

Heather Q. Rucker, principal

Dear Northwood Elementary School Families,

Help us reach our $40,000 for School Wide Enhancements ⬇️

1. SIGN UP your student(s) on MyBooster.com.

2. SHARE with your family/friends using the SHARE tools on MyBooster.com.

3. GIVE a donation.

We’re currently at $25,900 towards our goal of $40,000. Every donation counts and brings us closer to School Wide Enhancements for our students! Over the weekend, the top fundraising student in each grade level gets to silly string a mystery space guest!

❗Don’t forget - this year, more of every dollar raised stays right here at Northwood. By updating how we run our fundraiser and keeping more of the day-to-day work in house, your support and donations go even further—directly benefiting our students, classrooms, and programs. Thank you for helping us make a bigger impact!

Reminder: Our big Northwood Explorers Fun Run is coming up on 10/30/2025! See the graphic above for times. We can’t wait to celebrate with you.

Thank you again for supporting our school!

Enjoy your weekend,

NORTHWOOD FOUNDATION

Supporting North Fulton Community Charities (NFCC) Food Pantry

📅 November 11–14, 2025 🙌 Help Us Make a Difference!

We're teaming up again this year to support families in need across our North Fulton community. Your donations will go directly to the NFCC Food Pantry to help stock shelves with essential items.

🚗 Morning Carpool Collection

Dates: Monday, November 10 – Friday, November 14

Time: 7:10 AM – 7:40 AM

Location: Front of Northwood Elementary (Carpool Drop-off)

📝 Volunteer Sign-Up

We need 2–4 dads/families each morning to help collect donations. It’s a simple way to give back—and a great way to show our kids what community looks like. Join us in making this food drive a success! https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0F4EAFA728A3FBC70-59908003-allpro

🛒 What to Donate

Check out NFCC’s current needs: https://nfcchelp.org/food-bank

💬 Thank You! Your support of All Pro Dad at Northwood helps NFCC provide food assistance to individuals and families in need. Let’s show up strong for our community!

This year the 3rd grade class will be performing in a Veterans Day program. We are very excited to honor our Veterans with this patriotic show. Our performance is on Veterans Day, November 11th.

The Northwood chorus has been practicing for our winter concert on December 11th. This sweet group of singers are working hard to learn and memorize a lot of songs. We will perform winter songs, Hanukkah songs, and other holiday favorites.

In music class this quarter we reviewed and learned some new rhythm symbols and patterns. We have had a blast practicing fun rhythm patterns with various instruments. Our next unit is all about pitches and melody. We will be learning how to identify pitches and read music.

November 11th is Veterans Day, and we are having a performance to celebrate. We would like to invite you to post photos of your loved ones who served in the armed forces. Whether they are currently serving, served previously, or have passed on, we want to see and celebrate their bravery, sacrifice, and commitment to our country. These photos will be presented in a slideshow during the 3rd grade Veterans Day performance on November 11th. Please follow the link to share your photos with us.

https://padlet.com/dahl25/veteran-s-day-photo-share-prt6hx02ibnxb3t9

Our Scholastic Book Fair will be held in the Media Center November 10th-14th - mark your calendars! Book Fair is the major fundraiser for our Media Center. It is also a wonderful opportunity to purchase books as holiday gifts for your children and family, or perhaps something special for your child's teacher!

Book Fair Volunteer Opportunities- Click Here to sign up to help during preview and shopping days. Be on the lookout for your child’s preview and shopping times in the weekly blasts from homeroom teachers.

Please be sure you are an FCS registered volunteer:

https://www.fultonschools.org/volunteer

Fall Picture Retake Day is Monday, November 10th. If you are not happy with your Explorer's portraits, simply have your student return their original picture package to the photographer on retake day and they will replace the set at no additional cost. Don't forget to tell them to smile!

This is a friendly reminder that we need your help in keeping head lice at bay. As the weather gets colder, and with Thanksgiving and winter break approaching, it is not uncommon to see an increase in lice cases. Head lice are small insects that live on the scalp of human beings. They are tiny (about the size of a sesame seed). Lice lay eggs on individual pieces of hair. These eggs, called nits, are firmly attached to the hair shaft and found approximately ¼ inch from the scalp. Lice do not jump and they do not fly. Lice do not live on pets. Head lice are typically spread through prolonged, direct head-to head contact, however there are rare occasions where lice may be indirectly spread by brushes/combs, hats, coats, etc., that have been used by a person who has head lice.

Head lice are very common in the elementary school population. Please help us monitor our students by checking your child’s head on a weekly basis. Should you find indications of lice (live bugs or nits) please notify the clinic so that we can keep track. If your child is found to have lice, they may return to school once treatment has been completed. If you have additional questions regarding lice, you may contact the school clinic or the cluster nurse Jayna Brosmer RN at 404-625-6171.

As part of our ongoing efforts to support digital safety, we’re excited to share that Fulton County Schools will launch Qustodio on October 20th, a free app that helps parents monitor and manage their child’s online activity. This tool gives families insight into how students use both district-issued and personal devices.

For district-issued devices:

• Parents can see how much time their child spends online, which apps are being used, and what searches are conducted during the school day.
• Families can also set time limits and restrictions outside of normal school hours to encourage healthy screen time habits.

• Parents can choose to install Qustodio on personal devices to monitor usage and set limits at home.
• Fulton County Schools does not have any visibility or access to data from student or parent/guardian personal devices — that information is visible only to the parent or guardian who installs the app.

After October 20th, use this link: qustodio.com/my-school to begin Qustodio. Please use your Parent Portal email address during the sign-up process.

From Fulton County: As we approach the upcoming holidays, it is important to remind everyone that candy, desserts, baked goods (store bought/homemade), or any other edible items are not to be sold or distributed at school or on the bus unless approved in advance by school administration. Per our Student Code of Conduct, students who do not adhere to this expectation are subject to disciplinary action for violation 7A: Failure to Follow Rules, and all candy or food items will be confiscated.

Please discuss this expectation and possible consequences with your student(s) as this will be taken very seriously. This is due to recent national and state reports about students sharing edible items and synthetic medications with other students that contain very harmful substances.

Please know that taking this measure will help us maintain a safe environment for all students. You can help us protect your student(s) by requesting that they not eat anything given to them by another person, anything that they have not brought from your home or anything not in its original sealed package.

Thank you for your continued partnership in keeping all of our students safe at school!

Northwood is participating in a creative fundraiser with Art to Remember that allows you to purchase keepsake products customized with your child's art. There are over 60 products and many are less than $20. These make great gifts and a percentage of every purchase goes right back to the Northwood art program. CLICK HERE and search for your child's artwork. Then, have fun shopping! Thank you for supporting art class at Northwood!

We all share a common and critical goal for our children to be safe and protected from all things harmful. In support of this goal, elementary students in Fulton County Schools will soon receive annual lessons designed to increase their personal safety & protection.

The Think First & Stay Safe™ program is a research-based program that teaches specific personal safety education by way of interactive classroom lessons, classroom posters, role-plays and corresponding activities. Think First & Stay Safe™ enables students to take an active and necessary role in protecting themselves from harassment, abduction, bullying, exploitation, and various forms of abuse (physical, sexual, emotional). The Health Advisory Committee reviewed and approved this program and selected components will be implemented as part of the elementary curriculum.

Northwood is proud to be an AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) school. AVID Elementary equips students with the foundational skills and mindset needed for future success. Our staff is focused on enhancing instructional consistency, fostering a college and career readiness mindset, increasing student engagement and building organizational and study skills.

As part of this, each week Northwood will be focused on one goal as a school. Be sure to ask your child about it!

Next week’s AVID goal is: My goal is to be responsible for my things in all areas of the school.

This year, with the new lunch system, our school community has the capability to create a Cafeteria Principal Account Fund. This account would be used to fulfill any meal costs for students that reach an account balance of zero. We often have families and extended family members that ask if or how they can pay off lunch balances or support our students in this way, now the process of doing so is easy!

Should you be interested in adding to the Cafeteria Principal Account Fund, just send a check or cash to school in an envelope to Ms. Juana Moore, our regional supervisor and interim cafeteria manager, and notate that the funds go to the Principal Fund. Please reach out to Ms. Moore, moorejr@fultonschools.org, if you have any questions.

The Fulton County School Nutrition Program is dedicated to serving all students nutritious, safe and customer acceptable meals in support of academic achievement. Click the link below to see what thery are serving up today.

Nutrition.fultonschools.org/MenuCalendar

Parents, please encourage your students to check regularly for lost items in the Lost and Found. Please mark all student belongings clearly with the child's name so that it can be identified. Unclaimed items are donated to local charities after the last school day of every month. October's date is Friday, October 31st.

The Infinite Campus Parent Portal provides quick and easy access to information for all enrolled students in their household. Find grades, attendance, assignments, schedules, ID numbers, school announcements and more. If you haven't already joined, please do so today as Fulton County Schools is transitioning to managing everything via the portal.

For more information, access the Parent Portal Booklet for Infinite Campus here.

You are all invited to SPOOKTACULAR Trick-or-Treat BOGO Mini Golf at The Fringe—this Saturday Oct 25th, from 4-6 pm.

Come in costume, and join the fun. Costumed characters will be giving out candy and prizes while you play amongst the Spooky Halloween Decorated Mini Golf Courses.

Play both sides for the price of one. $6 child/ $9 adult.

Located at -Aurora Cineplex—5100 Commerce Parkway, Roswell, GA 30076

Ph-770-518-0977

https://linktr.ee/auroracineplex

Here is a link to the Full Event--https://www.facebook.com/share/1CVSo2fZo4/

David Millican will be running a marathon in honor of sweet Ellie Langseth on November 8. We have partnered with Team in Training to run for a cure with individuals battling or who have battled Leukemia. If you would like to help support research and bring awareness of Leukemia in honor of Ellie, you can donate on the link below. We appreciate all of your support!

https://pages.lls.org/tnt/team/yourway26/RunForEllie

Date: Friday, November 14th
Time: 4:00–6:00 PM
Location: Willow Springs Park
Hosted by: Northwood Elementary PTA

Get ready for an afternoon of music, sports, games, crafts, and food — just for our 4th and 5th grade Explorers! Bring your friends and come make memories.

Cost: $10 per student
How to Pay: Scan the QR code to purchase through Membership Toolkit.

We can’t wait to see everyone there!

Northwood families — skip the ladders and tangled lights this year! Olympic Exteriors is offering professional holiday light installation with custom designs, safe installation, and takedown + storage included.

📅 Book your lights between Oct 3 – Nov 15 and a percentage of every project will be donated back to the Northwood PTA! 🎄💙

👉 Reserve your spot here: olympicext.com/holiday-lights-northwood

It’s time to pre-order your 2025-2026 Northwood Yearbook—celebrating our 30th anniversary with this year’s theme: REWIND! Reserve your copy now for just $36 before the price goes up on January 1st.

Click here to order: yearbookordercenter.com/job/26362 — and don’t forget, 5th grade families can purchase a dedication ad to honor their student!

Questions? Email us at Yearbook@northwoodpta.com.

Hitting the books is your ticket to watching the Gladiators hit the ice!

How it works: Read 3 books, fill out the information by clicking the link below , and get your free ticket to a Glads game! After filling out the form you will receive an email with a link and a code to claim your child's free ticket.

Atlanta Gladiators | Hat Trick for Reading

Michelle Levine, Assistant Principal

Together We SHINE!

Email: NorthwoodAttendance@fultonschools.org
Website: https://northwood.fultonschools.org/
Location: 10200 Wooten Road, Roswell, GA, USA
Phone: 470-254-6390
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NorthwoodElementaryPTA/
Twitter: @FCS_NWES or @NWES_Principal