THE BEST

August 7 - PTA's Back to School Ice Cream Social, 3-5 pm

August 20 - FCS Board Meeting

August 31- PTA Meeting and Curriculum Night, Grades 1, 2 and 5

September 1- PTA Meeting and Curriculum Night, Grades K, 3, 4 and AU

What a wonderful first week of the 2026-27 school year! I hope all families have been able to get into the back-to-school groove. I am looking forward to seeing families at Whit’s Frozen Custard for the PTA Back-to-School Kickoff Event this afternoon! These first five days have been full of new learning. The staff has shared and modeled expectations and practiced routines. The students have attended art, music, PE, media, or counseling. They’ve had a lot of fun during recess and lunch, meeting new friends and reconnecting with others. They learned about how they can earn PBIS points by modeling the expectations of being respectful, responsible, and engaged. They will save the points to shop at the Northwood Exchange prize room each month. What a delight it has been to have our hallways filled with students once again.

This week we completed the required safety drills, including an evacuation, soft and hard lockdown, and shelter-in-place drills. Please visit the Fulton County Schools Safety website linked here for additional information. Should you have specific questions, do not hesitate to reach out to our Assistant Principal, Mrs. Levine, at levinem1@fultonschools.org.

The FCS Student Code of Conduct and the Northwood Family Handbook are linked below. Both are important for families to review. Directions on how families and students over age ten should acknowledge receipt and review of the Code of Conduct in their Infinite Campus portal are also linked below.

This is an important reminder for new and returning families: the district monitors school enrollment through daily attendance at the start of the school year as part of the SEAT Count process. Northwood is currently aligned with projections; however, it will continue to be monitored into next week. I am not yet sure if we will end up with any grade-level or schedule changes. This attendance monitoring process is why we mention that class placements are tentative until after we receive district guidance.

The State of Georgia Early Literacy guidelines remain in place; look below for the attached parent notification letter from Fulton County Schools that outlines the impact of the legislation and how schools will proceed with screening processes. Ms. Nicole Sickle is our MTSS/504 Chair and is available to answer any questions at sicklen@fultonschools.org.

With gratitude,

Heather Q. Rucker, principal

It's been a successful first week of school! We are excited to have all of our Explorers back in the building and would like to extend a special welcome to Northwood's Kindergarten Class of 2032.

The Northwood Student & Family Handbook is filled with important information about school policies and procedures to help our school run smoothly and safely. We suggest that parents and students review the handbook together. If you have questions after reading, please call the school office.

We believe that a collaborative partnership between parents, community members, and business partners is a must for student success. Educating your child is a partnership—together we SHINE!

Northwood Student & Family Handbook 2026-2027-Final.pdf

Each year Fulton County Schools asks families and students to read and discuss the Student Code of Conduct & Discipline Handbook; and then sign off that you have read it. Please follow the steps below to access the handbook, and then sign off electronically in your Infinite Campus Parent/Student Portal Account. At Northwood, we will follow up by August 31, to make sure all families have signed.

• Please read and review the Code of Conduct with your student(s). Student Discipline Code of Conduct

• Here is a (link) with instructions on how to complete the Acknowledgment of Receipt Form. All parents and students (over 10 years old) MUST sign this form found within their INFINITE CAMPUS PARENT/STUDENT PORTAL ACCOUNT. How to Sign Acknowledgment of Receipt

Northwood has partnered with 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 and safely dismissed each day.

If you need to change how your child should be dismissed, you should submit that information via PickUp Patrol before 1:30 pm on the day of the change, and our staff will be notified. We no longer accept dismissal requests via email or paper notes. Please do not email teachers directly.

All dismissal information and changes must be entered into PickUp Patrol.

If you have any questions, please first check the PickUp Patrol Parent Guide. If you need additional assistance, please reach out to Mrs. Robertson at Northwood’s front desk, robertsonl1@fultonschools.org.

The bus routes are running smoothly now with busses being loaded in the afternoon and rolling off campus in good time. The carpool process is still a work in process as we have a large number of families participating in carpool.

If you choose to do carpool in the mornings, make sure to plan enough time to get through the carpool lane. Students are to be in their seats by 7:40 am – not still unloading from the car or walking down the halls. Between 7:10 am and 7:40 am drivers should not exit the vehicle. If the bell has rung, then parents should park and walk their child in to sign them in. Students should only exit and enter the vehicle from the passenger side.

Detailed info can be found in the attachment below.

ATTENDANCE EMAIL

If your child is absent from school, please submit an email to your child’s teacher AND northwoodattendance@fultonschools.org within five days of returning to school.

Please include:

• Child's first and last name
• The absence date(s)
• Reason for absence(s) *attach doctor's note if applicable

PARTICIPATE REMOTE LEARNING DAY REQUEST

Participate Remote Learning Day Request

Students may request up to 5 remote learning days per semester and receive attendance credit for being present through remote participation. To receive participated remote credit, students must follow the participated remote directions outlined below.

• Notification of PR Day must be made prior to the start of the instructional day to teacher(s). Students should make all requests for remote learning days one school day prior to the requested date when possible.
• Remote learning days cannot be requested on summative evaluation days.
• All work must be submitted within 2 days of the return from the remote learning days.
• The absence will be marked Unexcused in IC until this form is completed and turned in to the Assistant Principal. Once the teacher has signed that the assignment is complete and hands this form into the office, the absence will change to PR (Participate Remote).

PRE-APPROVED ABSENCE FORM

Pre-Approved Absence Request Form

Students may request Pre-Approved Absences for family events and special family circumstances. Consideration for Pre-Approved Absences will be based on the following criteria.

• Pre-Approved Absence Request Form is received 5 days prior to planned absence.
• Attendance review indicates student is not at-risk of chronic absenteeism. Please note that students with 17 or more absences per year fall within the chronic absenteeism attendance band. Even though they are pre-approved, these absences count towards the 17.
• Academic review of classes shows student is on-track with work completion.

Please visit the Northwood ES website here for more details about the forms.

Parents, please click the attachments below for more information; and to set up your Rethink Account which provides access to all the lesson content.

Per Georgia early literacy legislation aimed at improving reading skills among young readers, FCS schools complete screening to help us identify students who may need extra support. Please read the attached letter below for more information and reach out to our MTSS specialist, Nicole Sickle, with any questions.

Families that would like to review the TAG eligibility guidelines please click the PDF link below. You can also access the FCS TAG website here.

Fulton County Schools uses SchoolCash Online as their preferred method of payment for school fees — from field trips and yearbooks to athletic fees and more. It's free, secure, and takes less than two minutes to set up.

Get started here: https://fultonschools.schoolcashonline.com

Looking to volunteer? All volunteers will need to complete the Fulton County Schools online registration process. For more information and to begin the process, please click the link below.

https://www.fultonschools.org/community/become-a-volunteer

Per District policy, ALL second-grade families are required to provide the school with two proofs of residency before entering second grade. Copies can be dropped off at the front desk or emailed to our Data Clerk, Amy Dulion, at dulionaw@fultonschools.org.

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 transition swiftly, quietly, and orderly.

Did you know? Our school community has a Cafeteria Principal Account Fund. This account will 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 Mrs. Rosa Gutierrez, our cafeteria manager, and notate that the funds go to the Principal Fund. Please reach out to Mrs. Gutierrez, gutierrezabr@fultonschools.org, if you have any questions.

Parents may eat lunch with students after the first two weeks of school - starting August 17th. Teachers eat with the students during the first week, and the students are learning the routine the second week. We also encourage nutritious lunches; therefore sodas, canned drinks, fast food, candy, energy drinks, etc. are discouraged. We kindly ask that you refrain from bringing these items to school or sending them in lunchboxes.

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. August's date is Monday, August 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.

Kid Chess has been Atlanta’s most popular after-school enrichment club since 1998. The program meets at Northwood Elementary on Wednesdays. We send multiple coaches (on average of 5) to keep a uniquely low student teacher ratio, which guarantees level appropriate instruction from true-beginners to advanced players. For details or to register call (770) 575-5802 or go to Kidchess.com.

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