A Note from the Principal
Dear Parents and Guardians,
Congratulations on the successful completion of another school year. Here at NWC it was a great year (especially for snow skiing!) filled with great accomplishments at many levels. Much effort has been expended to plan the 50th Anniversary building improvement projects and also for the 50th Anniversary Celebrations to take place during the 2011-12 school year. We know that you will enjoy all of it. In the meantime it is our hope that all students experienced different types of growth this year and after a good restful summer, they will return to continue their journey toward personal fulfillment.
Congratulations to the class of 2011 – those who graduated from NWC and those who completed middle school or junior high and will join us as the class of 2015. We wish you all the best!
Enjoy the rest of the summer!
Sincerely, Margaret Williamson
Principal/Chief Administrator
Minutes from Parents' Club Meeting, May 16th
Mrs. Williamson gave her Principal's Report: AP exams have been completed, Mrs. Quinn, our coordinator, and the rest of the Guidance Staff deserves recognition for all their hard work. Sophomore retreats have been completed, Junior retreats will take place in a few weeks. Our last school wide Mass was held on May 2. The Ascension Thursday Mass will include the "junior moving up ceremony". The softball team has had a standout season and the outdoor track and field team has had many successes. The tapping talents of the students involved in 42nd St. were evident in their wonderful performances. The music department received many awards at the Heritage Festival in Philadelphia. Many students participated in the social studies trip to Italy and the HILL trip to Holland. Thank you to the music boosters who made Jazz Night a huge success. Hoops for Hope and Drive for Drama raised almost $6,000 and $1,300 respectively. The Prom was last weekend and a fun time was had by all, including the chaperones. Coming up this week are the Art Show and Dance Recital, the Spring Concert, and the One Act Play in the Fine Arts Department. Students who turn 18 by or on Nov. 8 will be able to register to vote during lunch this week. Students are also encouraged to participate in the Walk for Peace in West Hartford, led by Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
A great deal of work will take place at school this summer, a complete renovation of the Johnson gym and 3 corridors and classrooms will include asbestos removal. No students will be allowed in the building during the asbestos removal.
Most of the summer mailing material will be available on Edline. The office is open all summer, please call or e-mail with questions. Book buy backs will take place in the Mortensen on the last 2 days of exams. This is a great way to earn credit towards you purchases for next year. eCampus.com/nwc will be offering rentals (a cost saving alternative) on a number of textbooks for the 2011-12 school year. Don't forget to take advantage of the free shipping offered from July 5 - July 20.
Mrs. Patricia Walsh, Dir. of Advancement, spoke about the upcoming NWC Golf Tournament on June 6 and how parents could become involved.
Several NWC graduates took the floor to take questions from attendees in regard to college life and how it compares to life at NWC, as well as how the students selected their individual colleges and what the challenges have been. The students on the panel were enrolled in the following schools: University of Notre Dame, Northeastern University, Assumption College, NJ Institute of Technology, Anna Maria College, Southern State University of CT, Bentley University, College of the Holy Cross, and Wentworth Institute of Technology. The importance of time management, good study skills, and being organized were discussed as tips for being successful in college. Getting involved in campus life, building from your high school activities is a great way to meet a variety of new people. What do you wish you had known was asked? The answers included, "it is what you make of it", "things don't come automatically", "earphones are a must", "your best is okay", "develop relationships", and "be honest with your roommates". On the social side, choose friends wisely, know who you are, be careful about trying to fit in, and use the library!
Mark Your Calendars
The 2011-2012 school calendar is starting to take shape, for your planning purposes, here are some key dates that are set. Please note we will return to the full week of vacation in February next year.
- Aug. 31, 2011: First day of grade 9 and all transfer students
- Sept. 1, 2011: First day of grade 10 & 11
- Sept. 2, 2011: First day of grade 12
- Feb. 20-24, 2012: Winter Break
- Apr. 16-20, 2012: Spring Break
- June 6, 2012: Graduation
Watch the home page of Edline for a printable version of the comprehensive school calendar, available in mid-August.
Sad to see you go!
We are having two faculty changes that came up at the end of the school and we hope that you will wish the two teachers well, as we do. After teaching mathematics at Northwest Catholic for ten years, Mrs. Allison Donnelly has accepted a similar position at Xavier HS in Middletown which is much closer to her home and children’s school. In addition, after serving at NWC for 27 years, Mrs. Patricia Juda has decided to leave teaching to spend more time with her family, especially her grandchildren. Mrs. Juda has been an exemplary teacher and department chair and she will most certainly be missed.
We are very sorry to say good bye to these two experienced teachers but we wish them all the best. Watch for news about new teachers who will be hired in this very newsletter!
Second Semester Honor Roll
For a list of academically outstanding students who earned honors during the second-semester of the year, click here.
How You Can Help This Summer
New and returning NWC students (and their parents) are invited to help out with the monthly meal at Manna Community Meals sponsored by the NWC Social Action Club. The date is Mon., Aug. 1; volunteers should meet at Manna Community Meals on Church St. in Hartford at 5pm, and the meal is generally finished by 6:45pm. Volunteers are also asked to contribute a portion of the menu. Contact Mrs. Gillespie and/or sign up on our wiki at http://nwccampusministry.wikispaces.com/.
Academic and Service Awards 2011
For the names of students who were honored during the Academic and Service Awards evening on June 2, 2011, click here.
Textbooks available on line
Visit the virtual bookstore ecampus.com/nwc for your summer and textbook needs for 2011-2012. Click "Order Textbooks" and use the drop down menu to select summer reading or textbooks for the 2011-12 school year. The last day for free shipping is July 20. If you have a credit from the book buy back in June, be sure to visit Edline to view the directions on how to use your credit or click here. The book list is also available on Edline. Contact Katie Rose with questions.
Spring Sports Awards
For the names of student-athletes who participated in NWC's Spring sports, as well as for special awards and/or records that were set during the season, click here.
Practice and Tryouts for Fall '11 Sports
For dates, times and locations of end-of-summer tryouts and practices for Fall '11 sports, click here. All freshmen, juniors, and transfer students will take the impact test, click here for dates and times. The impact consent form must be turned in to the athletic office prior to the test. The athletic consent form must be signed by a physician and turned in prior to the 1st day of tryouts. Note: The mandatory Chemical Health Night and team meetings will be Sept. 7. Contact Josh Reese, Director of Athletics, with questions.
From the Nurse
Please return all medical forms to the nurse’s office at Northwest Catholic no later than Fri., Aug., 19, 2011. Please remember to notify the nurse's office of any update on pertinent medical information that may occur during the school year. The Medication Policy and all required forms are available on Edline, under Health & Medical Forms. Please put all medical forms (except the Athletic Consent/Release form) in an envelope marked: Attention School Nurse.
PLEASE NOTE: Emergency Information forms will be distributed to ALL students on the first full day of school. Emergency Information forms MUST be returned during the first week of school.
All Medical Forms are available on Edline under Health & Medical Forms.
Putting the NWC Web Site to Work for You
Follow NWC sports and all other events by utilizing three little buttons on the lower right-hand corner of our home page that are designed to make our site more useful to parents and students:
*Share This: Send a page from our site via e-mail, Facebook, Twitter, and many more e-tools.
*RSS Feed: Receive NWC web site headlines on Google or Yahoo home pages.
*Alerts: Sign up to get (via text or e-mail) news headlines from the home page or info about changes to games and/or events on the school calendar. This is a great way to be informed of changes in a timely fashion.
Order Photos of NWC Events from ArtRich
Parents may order professional photos of graduation and other school events directly from ArtRich. Here's how: go to ArtRich and choose "order online", select NWC from the list of schools, our password is "indians". Choose your event and enjoy!
S.O.S. from the Communications Office
I send press releases and photos of NWC students to about three dozen media outlets throughout our 40-town enrollment area. But we don't always know if or when the stories run. Can you help? Please send clippings about NWC students, faculty, or alums to Michelle Murphy, NWC’s Dir. of Communications. We’ll post copies in the media case in the school lobby and/or make note of the achievement in Logos, the school magazine. I am also always grateful for photos of students -- please email digital images to mmurphy@nwcath.org.
Archdiocesan Youth Spectacular
The Archdiocese of Hartford's 2011 Catholic Youth Spectacular will be held at St. Thomas Seminary in Bloomfield on Sun., Sep. 18, from 1pm-7pm. This year's theme is "CH_ _CH: Come as UR: Being, Becoming, Believing" and the keynote speaker is Joia Farmer and APeX. The NWC group will leave school at 12:30 and return to NWC at 7:15pm. We have a limited number of tickets still available at $25; download and complete the permission slip from the Campus Ministry page of Edline and submit along with fee to Mrs. Gillespie in the Campus Ministry Office.
We are still counting donations to the Northwest Catholic Fund!
Thank you to the many generous supporters in our community of parents, alumni, alumni parents, faculty and staff, and friends, who have donated to the NWC Fund in the 2010-11 year. As we go to press we are still counting the donations and will update you more fully later. We can say a huge thank you to the Class of 2011 Parents who raised over $24,000 for the Senior Parents' Legacy Gift. This extraordinary effort, led by Mrs. Terry Becker and Ms. Sarah Lorenzo-Genck, actually exceeded the amount needed for a new sign on North Main St., so the extra funds will go towards funding the technology in one of the classrooms that is being updated this summer.
So when you drive by the sign on North Main St. in September – think of the class of 2011 – just like the students, “double one gets it done!”
The Power of Prayer
Since last September we have been praying for the daughter of alum Matthew Skahill ’97 and his wife Maureen. Kathleen Theresa was born last September and has faced numerous challenges but has overcome a lot of them. Recent reports from a very proud grandmother tell us that Kathleen is an adorable 10 month old but that this summer she will undergo some procedures that will correct certain things and also help doctors test other things more accurately, like her hearing. So, please join us as we continue to pray for baby Kathleen and her family.
Volume XVII - Number Seven - July 2011
