THE BEST

March 16 - Professional Development Day (Students No School)

March 20 - PTA Blooming Mornings

March 27 - PTA Bingo Night

March 31 - Spring Pictures

March 31 - PTA Dining for Dollars - From the Earth

April 3 - STEM Day

April 6-11 - Spring Break (No School)

April 17 - All Pro Dad

April 29 - May 1, 5-8 - GA Milestones Assessments

We had a wonderful Exceptional Children’s Week! It was great to see students and staff in their colors each day while learning what makes everyone special. On Thursday our SEC team celebrated the Yes I Can Awards with a special heartwarming breakfast and recognition event. Thank you to our incredible SEC team for planning the event.

This morning, we also had our All Pro Dad meeting where the topic was patience. A few dads got to put that discussion into practice right away as a handful of cars got stuck in the mud in the back field. In true Northwood community fashion, the dads worked together and got all the cars out safely!

On Wednesday the 18th, we will be hosting guests for the AVID Elementary Showcase. We are very excited to share how AVID strategies can be taught and refined from kindergarten through fifth grade. For the past few years, Ms. Evangelista, our CST, and the AVID team have led staff training for on student goal setting, organizational skills, focused notetaking and structured classroom discussions and activities. We are looking forward to sharing this work and our journey with others. We would love all students to wear a Northwood sweatshirt or t-shirt that day too!

This week is National School Board Appreciation Week, and Northwood is grateful to the entire school board, especially, Mrs. Sara Gillespie, Dr. Morancie and Board President Mrs. McCabe for their support of our school. For information about Fulton County School Board meetings, summaries, and district areas, the board website is linked here.

Fondly,

Heather Rucker, principal

Kindergarten students have been working hard on setting and reaching their SMART goals! With guidance from their teachers, students created personalized academic goals just for them. They reflected on what they wanted to improve, discussed how they could meet their goals, and identified strategies and tools to help them along the way. It has been exciting to see our kinders take ownership of their learning, practice self-reflection, and celebrate their growth. We are so proud of their effort and determination!

Fifth Grade Math students enjoyed rotations where they had the opportunity to work with their peers to showcase their knowledge on multiplying and dividing fractions. During these rotations they were able to correct any misconceptions and "be the teacher." They loved having the opportunity to highlight their mastery on these concepts before the unit test.

The Student Success Skills Inventory is used to measure student growth across Student Success Skill standards taught by teachers. Students complete the inventory by indicating if they almost always, always, sometimes, or never apply the skills being taught in the areas of Self Awareness, Self-Management, Social Competence, Collaborative Problem Solving, Reflective Learning Strategies, and Sense of Belonging. The SSS Inventory is about 15-20 items and administered to students in the Fall and Spring. It takes about 15 minutes to complete. Students complete the SSS Inventory using the Illuminate platform.

SPRING ADMINISTRATION: March 30, 2026 – April 17, 2026

QUESTIONS? If you have any questions about the SSS Inventory, please contact your school’s Student Success Skills Champion, Jennifer Weeks at weeksj@fultonschools.org.

Inventory Opt Out: Parents can choose to opt their student out of the inventory. To opt out, parents must submit written requests to the school principal.

We have successfully launched our new system called PickUp Patrol to help us track dismissals. PickUp Patrol provides families with a convenient way to make changes to your child’s dismissal plans and helps ensure that students are accurately dismissed each day.

If you haven't signed up, please email Mrs. Lorraine Robertson at Northwood's front desk, robertsonl1@fultonschools.org, and she will resend the registration email from PickUp Patrol with a link to set up your account. Moving forward, this is the only way to make dismissal changes. Please note that dismissal requests will no longer be accepted via the Northwood Dismissal email, teacher inboxes, or paper notes.

The parent portal is free to parents and can be accessed from your phone or computer. The link in your registration email will be live for 48 hours. As soon as you receive it, please log in and confirm your child’s default plan.

If you have any questions, please first check the PickUp Patrol Parent Guide & if you need additional assistance, please reach out to Mrs. Robertson, robertsonl1@fultonschools.org.

What can I do to help my child prepare?

• Be certain your child gets plenty of sleep and has a healthy breakfast.

• Be certain your student is at school on time, so they are not worried about being late.

• Remind students that cell phones and smart watches will be collected and stored in the secure testing room during test administration times. It’s best for students to leave them at home if possible.

• Get information and practice using this link: Georgia Milestones Resources (gadoe.org)

• Experience the online testing session. See below for more details, and use this link: www.gaexperienceonline.com

What happens if my child is absent?

• There will be rolling make-ups throughout the testing window. Please do not send your child in if they are sick.

Can visitors be in the building?

• During GMAS testing, we will not be allowing visitors in the building before 11:30 am; and there will also be no lunch visitors these days.

Georgia Experience Online

Georgia Experience Online is a practice site that can be used for students to learn more about the structure and content of the Georgia Milestones Assessment, experience online testing, and practice using online testing tools. Parents are welcome to explore this site and use it to practice with your child.

Please note that the EOG Test Practice site will have ELA and Math questions while the EOG Study Guide for Students and Parents only focuses on Math and Science (5th grade only).

Below you will find an attachment with directions and the link to access the site. Please contact your child’s teacher or our CST, Danielle Evangelista if you have any questions.

The Northwood Foundation is seeking a couple of new members to join our team! Our mission is to raise funds for innovative programs and facilities that enhance the educational experience and opportunities for students and faculty, thus enhancing the quality of life for the greater community. As a board member, you would play a vital role in our school community by coordinating and attending the annual Fun Run events and overseeing the stewardship of donated funds.

If you are passionate about supporting our students and faculty, we would love to hear from you. Interested parties should send a short biography to northwoodfoundationga@gmail.com. We look forward to hearing from you!

What is a School Governance Council?

The purpose of a School Governance Council (SGC) is to provide parents, school staff, and community members with a leadership role through monitoring and implementation of the strategic plan.

What is the commitment?

All School Governance Council members serve two-year terms. Time commitment varies from school-to-school, but expect 2 to 3 hours per month which includes meetings, trainings, and school and community events.

When are the 2026 elections?

Candidate Declaration: February 2 - March 27

Voting: April 22 - April 29

Where to declare candidacy?

Visit the SGC website and click on Elections for a candidate guide and/or declaration. Elections - Fulton County School System

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: to learn from my mistakes and move on.

We can help you celebrate your child's birthday with his/her classmates by offering the purchase of ice-cream for $1.00 per child. Please go online and add money to your child's GENERAL LUNCH account based on the number of students in the classroom. Then email your child's teacher and our Cafeteria Manager, Chisthal Austin, at austinc4@fultonschools.org to let us know what date you would like to celebrate it. We will take care of the rest!

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. Cristhal Austin, our cafeteria manager in training, and notate that the funds go to the Principal Fund. Please reach out to Ms. Austin, austinc4@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. March's date is Tuesday, March 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.

The PTA is in the final stretch preparing for the Annual Bingo Night & Silent Auction on March 27!

We are still collecting donations for our popular Grade-Level Gift Baskets, the themed baskets families help build, for the Silent Auction. The kids really love picking out items and seeing which grade gets the highest bid!

👉 For each grade’s theme, Amazon Registry links, GiveButter donation pages, and event info, visit:
https://givebutter.com/c/2026-NES-Bingo-Night-And-Auction

📦 All orders and donations are due (in-hand or ordered) by March 18!

Collection bins will be at the front of the school. (Amazon Registry orders ship directly to the school.)

Don’t miss Northwood’s Family Fun Night on March 27 at Centennial HS.

Only 350 tickets available

Our Silent Auction opens March 20 — raffle packages available soon!

Grab your tickets before they’re gone!

The Dining for Dollars crew is back with another opportunity to send a percentage of every purchase back to Northwood at From the Earth. Kick back and let From the Earth do the work!

Where: From the Earth

Location: 1570 Holcomb Bridge Road

Date: Tuesday, March 31st

Time: 4pm-9pm

Don't forget to mention 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 $41.

Click here to order: yearbookordercenter.com/job/26362.

Questions? Email us at Yearbook@northwoodpta.com.

The Atlanta Science Festival is a celebration of local science and technology held March 7-21, 2026 with 100+ amazing science events for curious kids and adults. For more information visit www.AtlantaScienceFestival.org.

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