Hello Northwest families,

My name is Tere Tidwell and I am excited to be named as the interim principal at Northwest Elementary. I have spent my entire teaching and administrative career in Pflugerville ISD. I began my career at Northwest Elementary so this feels like I am returning home.

I have spent part of the last two days meeting your children in their classrooms. What a wonderful group of children and staff. I am impressed with the level of work that is being done in the classrooms and how the children know the rules and expectations of the school.

It is my belief that our school will be successful with our parents and community as our partners. I am looking forward to meeting each of you.

Please come visit us at school and be involved with us, as we work as a team toward your child’s success!

See you at school! 

Tere Tidwell
Principal
Northwest Elementary School

Good afternoon Northwest parents and families! I hope you are having a wonderful Friday.

Thank you to all of the parents and families that supported the PTO Fall Fest this past Saturday. We really appreciate your support with setting up, working stations, and helping to clean up this event. Based on the amount of families that came to the event, I can see it was a big success. Thank you, as always, to our PTO president Tonya Riley for arranging this yearly event. It was a success!

 

Updates

Community Survey

Our administration department would like your feedback in the following survey. Please take a few minutes to complete. Thank you in advance for your participation.

Spanish Survey 

Vietnamese Survey 

English Survey 

Box Tops Update

Box Tops earn our school free money. Please be sure to submit any box tops you have collected as our first submission deadline is fast approaching.

We have only 2 submission deadlines a year for sending in our Box Tops.

Our first submission deadline is Nov. 1 and second submission deadline is March 1.

Box Tops DO EXPIRE so please be sure to submit them before that happens. Students may feed the Robot on the way in to school. They may be glued to these submission sheets (English and Español) or in a Ziploc bag.

Thank you for all you do and for your support! 

Northwest Elementary Literacy Night

Tuesday, Oct. 30 from 5-7 p.m.

Come join the Northwest staff as we celebrate literacy. We will have fun literacy activities and games for you and your students to participate.

We hope to see you there! 

3rd Grade PTO Movie Night

Friday, Nov. 2 from 6-8 p.m.

Movie: "Hotel Transylvania 3"

Nathan Steenport
Principal Northwest Elementary

Good morning Northwest parents and families. I hope you are staying warm and dry today.

As you all know, we have our annual Fall Festival this Saturday, from 4-6 p.m. We are still needing parent support to help run this event. We have many parents that have signed up to support setting up and breaking down the event, but still need support running each event. If you would like to volunteer, please use the following link to sign up. Thank you in advance! 

Sign-Up: www.signupgenius.com 

Next week, we will have our annual Red Ribbon Week to educate our students about the harmful effects of drugs and how to say no to them. To celebrate this event, we will have daily themes if you choose to participate. See below for more information: 

Red Ribbon Week-Themed Days

Monday (10/22):

• Band Together Against Drugs!
• (wear a band/singer/music related shirt)

Tuesday (10/23):

• Team Up Against Drugs!
• (wear a team jersey)

Wednesday (10/24):

• Follow Your Dreams…Live Drug Free!
• (wear pajamas) 

Thursday (10/25):

• Be a Superhero & Fight Against Drugs!
• (wear a superhero shirt or outfit)

Friday (10/26):

• Life is Your Journey, Travel Drug Free!
• (wear something native to your country/culture/heritage) 

 

UPDATES

PTO Fall Fest

• Saturday, Oct. 20 from 4-6 p.m.
• If you would like to volunteer, please use the following link: www.signupgenius.com

Fundraiser Delivery

• Monday, Oct. 22
• We will be open until 5 p.m. for your to pick up your orders.
• All items not picked up will be donated. 

Report Cards

• Go home on Tuesday, Oct. 23. 

Pops Rally

• Friday, Oct. 26 from 1:45-2:30 in the gym. 
• Every nine weeks, we celebrate the academic successes of our students at Northwest. It’s a wonderful time!

If you would like to attend, please come early as the gym will be PACKED!  

Nathan Steenport
Principal 
Northwest Elementary

 

Good afternoon Northwest parents and families! I hope you are having a marvelous Friday.

Last Friday, all PfISD staff participated in the district Trauma Informed training to be able to support students who have experienced all types of trauma in their lives. I also attended this training and can say I learned a lot about how to identify and how to support students who may have experienced trauma in their lives. It made me happy to know that our staff are already providing many of the interventions in their classrooms, which are great for all students! These interventions include creating relationships with students, shaking hands at the door, creating safe places in the classroom, community circles, mindfulness, and the 2nd Step curriculum. I am VERY proud to be able to serve all students with these great supports.

As my email indicated yesterday, we have our PTO Fall Fest next Saturday, Oct. 20 from 4-6 p.m. and need your support in setting up, running, and breaking down the event. Any and all support is GREATLY appreciated to ensure this is a success this year. Please support Northwest by signing up for at least one job by using the following webpage: www.signupgenius.com. Thank you all in advance for your support!  See documents below for more information about the Fall Fest:

Donation Raffle Entry
Fall Fest flyer

Lastly, early voting begins for the upcoming elections on Oct. 22 and run through Nov. 2. The general election is Tuesday, Nov. 6. I and my assistant principal will be supporting our staff to be able to go out and vote throughout early and regular voting. I hope you take the time to exercise your right to vote! For more information on polling locations and the upcoming elections, please check out the following information:

Voting Sign up: Looks like Wells Branch MUD Rec Center and Wells Branch Community Center
www.pfisdbond.net
www.pfisd.net
 

Updates

Dyslexia Parent Night

• Dyslexia Awareness Month is in October and to support awareness of dyslexia and related disorders, the Department of Special Programs will be hosting a Dyslexia Parent Information Night on Wednesday, Oct. 17 from 6-7 p.m. in the Board Room at Central Administration. 
• Community members interested in learning more about how dyslexia is assessed and identified in Pflugerville ISD are welcome to join us for a night filled with great information.
• Cara Schwartz, Executive Director of Special Programs, will speaking about how the district is supporting the dyslexia program and will be available during the question and answer portion of the presentation to talk through questions, comments, and concerns. 
• We look forward to seeing all those who are interested in learning more about dyslexia!

Parent Support for NES UIL Competitions

• Ms. Mooney, NES Art Teacher, is looking for parent support to help run our UIL teams this year. 
• Please see the following link if you are interested in supporting these wonderful events: docs.google.com

NES Fall Festival

• Saturday, Oct. 20 from 4-6 p.m.
• Support is needed to help set up, run, and break down the event. Please consider signing up for one event by going here:  www.signupgenius.com
• See attached documents for more information

Nathan Steenport
Principal 
Northwest Elementary

Good afternoon Northwest Elementary parents and families!

It’s been another amazing week her at Northwest. Our teachers are continuing to engage their students throughout their lessons and apply rigorous problem-solving methods to ensure each child is prepared. We are currently working on implementing the Fundamental Five, which focuses instruction on the following:

• Frequent student-to-student purposeful talk
• Student collaboration
• Lesson framing (Daily objectives that tell students what they will do during the lesson and how they will know they have been successful).
• Critical writing in all subjects
• Working in the Power Zone (working directly with student).

In order to roll these high-yield teaching strategies out to our teachers and students, we have been focusing on one section of the Fundamental Five each month. In September our teachers learned about the Lesson Frame and have been successfully teaching them to our students. During our daily walk-throughs we have seen them 95 percent of the time, which is fantastic! For October, we are working on frequent student-to-student purposeful talk, which will support with student engagement during a whole group instruction. I am truly excited about the work our teachers are doing to implement these best practices!

 

Updates

Friday, Oct. 5 and Monday, Oct. 8

• No School, Staff professional development

School/Family Involvement Plan

• On a yearly basis, I create and submit a plan for how we will involve parents at Northwest. I am attaching the document for your information.

I will review more at our next PTO meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 9. 

Flu Clinic Reschedule

• We apologize for having to cancel the student Flu Clinic on Wednesday, Oct. 3. 

When this has been rescheduled it will be communicated with you all. 

PTO Meeting

• Tuesday, Oct. 9 from 6:30-7:30

We will be discussing plans for the PTO Fall Fest on Oct. 20. We will need a lot of parent support for this event so please look out for communication. 

If you would like to volunteer at this point, please reach out to our PTO president: president.nwpto@gmail.com 

Nathan Steenport
Principal 
Northwest Elementary

Good morning Northwest Families and Parents! I hope you are having a wonderful Friday so far. 

As you know, parent and family academic support is paramount to student success. In order to improve the communication with our parents and families, our teachers will hold parent/teacher conferences on Monday, Oct. 8. While many of these conferences will be held on this date, know that our teachers will work with you to find the best time to meet to review your student’s academic progress. In addition to academic progress, teachers should be reviewing the School-Home compact. This form outlines the things we, you as a parent, and the student will do in order to achieve the greatest amount of student success. 

On another note, we had 185 moms show to our annual Muffins with Moms last Friday, Sept. 21. That is AMAZING! Thank you all for your time, we greatly enjoyed your visit. I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

 

Updates

NES PTO Email

• If you have questions regarding the NES PTO, please use the following email address: president.nwpto@gmail.com

Box Tops Update

• Box Tops earn our school free money. Please be sure to submit any box tops you have collected as our first submission deadline is fast approaching.
• We have only 2 submission deadlines a year for sending in our Box Tops.
• Our first submission deadline is Nov. 1 and second submission deadline is March 1.
• Box Tops DO EXPIRE so please be sure to submit them before that happens. Students may feed the Robot on the way in to school. They may be glued to a submission sheet or in a Ziploc bag.
• Thank you for all you do and for your support!

Mount Playmore Tonight

• We will host a PTO night at Mount Playmore this evening from 3-7 p.m.
• Address: 13609 N. Interstate 35, Austin, TX 78753
• When you arrive, please tell them you are with Northwest so we may receive a portion of your entrance fee.
• Students MUST be accompanied by a parent/guardian. 

Staff PD Days NO SCHOOL

• Friday, Oct. 5 and Monday, Oct. 8 are designated as staff professional development.
• Students will not have school on either of these days. 

Nathan Steenport
Principal 
Northwest Elementary

Northwest families and parents,

I hope you are staying dry today on this wet Thursday. It seems we have some cool weather coming next week! Fall is almost here!

We had 135 dads show up to Donuts with Dads last week! It was an amazing time. Thank you to everyone that showed for this event. Check out our Facebook page for images from this event.

Don’t forget, we will have Muffins with Moms tomorrow from 6:50-7:30 a.m. Will the moms have the most attendance this year? Who knows?

 

Updates

Family Jamboree

This event is the first of its kind and it is free for our special needs families. There's going to be tons of prizes!

The Play for All Abilities Park will be closed to the general public for this big event. 

If you would like more information, please contact Mrs. Marry Berry at bricerg@yahoo.com

• Special Needs Family Jamboree (Sept. 22, 2018) 

Northwest Elementary T-Shirts

If you would like one our Northwest Elementary T-shirts, please use this order form and send to our PTO president, Mrs. Tonya Riley TCMILLER1@AOL.COM

 In addition, if you would like to have an announcement on the marque, please fill out this order form.

Muffins with Moms

• Friday, Sept. 21
• 6:50-7:30 a.m.

Hope to see you there!

Picture Day

• Friday, Sept. 28 

PTO Mount Playmore Night

• Friday, Sept. 28 from 3-7 p.m.
• 13609 N. Interstate 35, Austin

Note: Parents are required to be in attendance with their children. 

 

Nathan Steenport
Principal 
Northwest Elementary
Pflugerville ISD 

 

Good afternoon Northwest Parents and Families! I hope you all are having a wonderful Friday. 

We held our second annual Donuts with Dads today. Check out our Facebook page for pictures from this event. We had 135 dads show this morning, which is 20 more than last year! Thank you dads for representing today! I hope you enjoyed your time as much as we did. Muffins with Mom will be held next Friday, Sept. 21 at 6:50. Let’s see how many moms we can get! 

Dr. Killian attended our PTO meeting this past Tuesday to provide facts about the upcoming Bond and Tax Ratification Elections coming on Nov. 6. If you missed this speech and would like to watch it, check out our Facebook page as the video is posted there. We will host future PTO meetings via Facebook Live for parents unable to make monthly meetings. Below is some information regarding the Bond and Tax Ratification Election.

The Pflugerville ISD Board of Trustees has unanimously called for two elections in November 2018: A Tax Ratification Election (TRE) and a $332 million bond election. The TRE proposes the PfISD tax rate be lowered by two cents and could result in an additional $4.1 million in state funding. To stay informed on these elections, visit www.pfisdbond.net. 

Please note: The Bond/TRE website may be displayed in Spanish, by clicking on the Google Translate button at the bottom of the website homepage.

• Oct. 9: Voter registration deadline
• Oct. 22 – Nov. 2: Early Voting
• Nov. 6: Election day

 

Updates

Traffic/Parking

• Parents dropping off their students from a vehicle may do so on the east side of the building. Please do not drop your students off via the bus loop on the south side of the building as it blocks buses. To ensure safety of all children, please comply with the following:

Drivers MUST remain in their vehicles in lanes identified for pick up only.

You may park your car in the parking lots located in the east and south side of the building.

Students and parents must use the crosswalk when walking from the parking lot to or from school. Please do NOT drop off your students in the parking area and have them cross the crosswalk alone.  

Muffins with Mom

• Friday, Sept. 21
• 6:50-7:30 A.M.

End of Fall Fundraiser

Do you want to see the principal kiss a chicken? Keep selling fundraiser items and you will! 

Our goal is to exceed $15,000 this year so help us by selling as much as you can to your friends and family members.

The Fall fundraiser ends this Tuesday, Sept. 18. 

Nathan Steenport
Principal 
Northwest Elementary
Pflugerville ISD

 

Good afternoon Northwest Parents and Families!

As you may or may not know, PfISD will be going out for a $332,000,000 bond on Nov. 6 that will include many things including two new elementary schools, one middle school, and many campus renovations. Dr. Killian, PfISD Superintendent, will be in attendance at our next PTO meeting this Tuesday, September 11th at 6:30 to discuss facts about the bond and voting in general. If you get a chance to come to this meeting, please do. We want as many of the Northwest community in attendance to represent our campus. We hope to see you Tuesday night!

Check out the following webpage for more information of the 2018 Bond:  www.pfisdbond.net/ 

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Updates

PTO Meeting

• Tuesday, Sept. 11 from 6:30-7:30
• Free childcare is provided
• Dr. Killian, PfISD Superintendent will be here to discuss the facts about the Nov. 6 elections.

Please come and represent our campus!

Donuts With Dads

• Friday, Sept. 14 from 6:50-7:30 at the cafeteria.
• We had over 110 dads represent last year so let’s see if we can get more this year!

Nathan Steenport
Principal 
Northwest Elementary
Pflugerville ISD

Good afternoon Northwest Elementary Parents and Families. 

We’ve completed 12 days of school so far this year and I can say it’s been the very best start of school I have seen in 13 years in education. It truly has been a joy to see you and your children this year.

Thank you to the following parents for volunteering their time to support our Back to School Dance last Friday! I know we had more parents than this help out so if you supported our dance then thank you! We made over $900 in two hours. This was a HUGE success.

• Jean Waits
• Rachel Ramirez
• Shaunice Brown
• Angelica Brown
• Jessica Ramero
• Kristy Trosper
• Shonda C.  

Lastly, be on the lookout for a fundraiser packet that should have been sent home today. We’ve asked that our students work with you to help sell these products. Fundraising money is used to support many school programs like Dreambox (see below). The fundraiser ends Sept. 22.  

Have a wonderful weekend!  

Updates

Dreambox and Lexia Access at Home

• Dreambox: This year, we will use Dreambox to support our math instruction. It is the VERY best in online math instruction.
• Lexia: Lexia is our online reading program designed to build reading skills with our students. 

To login to both, please have your child go to the following webpage: https://clever.com/

Campus Academic Advisory Council Parents Needed

Would you like to be an integral part of the academic decision making and monitoring here at Northwest?

If so, you may nominate yourself or someone else to be a part of our CAAC. 

Meetings are held twice each semester and meet from 3-4 p.m. in the Northwest Library.

Please nominate someone by Tuesday, Sept. 4. 

Let’s Talk About Mental Health

See attached flyer for how to speak with your students about mental health.

Labor Day Holiday Break

• Monday, Sept. 4 (No School)

Grandparents Day

• Friday, Sept. 7 during your student’s lunch

PTO Movie Night

• Friday, Sept. 7 from 6-8 p.m.
• Movie: "Wonder"

Nathan Steenport
Principal 
Northwest Elementary
Pflugerville ISD