Steele named a top U.S. high school, teams headed to DI finals

April 27, 2017

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Steele named a top high school by U.S. News & World Report for second straight year

Steele Accelerated High School, Northwest ISD's career-focused campus, has received U.S. News & World Report's Best High Schools bronze distinction for the second consecutive year, placing it in the top third of schools across the nation in the publication's rankings.

Rankings in the publication's annual list are determined based on a mix of state-required tests and college preparedness. According to the U.S. News & World Report's scorecard, Steele achieved a 96 percent English proficiency and a 94 percent mathematics proficiency. The publication similarly found that the school outperformed the state average.

To learn more about Steele, a non-traditional school that focuses students' futures on their college or career ambitions, visit sahs.nisdtx.org.

Three Destination Imagination teams headed to Global Finals in Tennessee

Three of Northwest ISD's Destination Imagination teams have qualified for the Global Finals following the recent statewide tournament, sending several students to Knoxville, Tennessee, to test their problem-solving abilities against the nation's best.

Teams from Chisholm Trail and Medlin middle schools qualified, as well as a team from Thompson Elementary School. The Chisholm Trail team qualified in the "top secret" category, while the Medlin team qualified in "project outreach" and Thompson qualified in "show-n-tech." Each category saw the teams use problem-solving abilities for specific tasks, and the students placed among the top seven in the state to advance to Global Finals.

Chisholm Trail's advancing students include Ayden Lalani, Carter McClure, Poppy McMaster, Ria Nair, William Thornell and Riley Tucciarone; they are led by team manager Tim McClure. Medlin's advancing students include Gwen Baxter, Reagan Ellis, Ryder Fine, Andrew Golden, Ian Hill and Kurt Ippolito; they are led by team manager Laurie Baxter. Thompson's advancing students include Chloe Goad, Nick Hebert, Evelyn Kinney, Angel Lira, Kylee Smith, Clarisa Strong and Aiden Stover.

Early voting in bond election now underway

Early voting for Northwest ISD's proposed 2017 bond package began this week and will last until May 2. Following early voting, Election Day voting will take place on May 6.

The proposed bond package would add new schools and expand some existing schools. All schools would also see security and technology upgrades, among other aspects. At 6:30 p.m. today community members can attend the district's final bond presentation meeting at its administration building, located at 2001 Texan Drive in Fort Worth.

To view an overview of the bond, click the link to video above. For a full list of items proposed as part of the bond package, visit www.nisdtxbond.org.

Student artwork celebrated at annual district art show

Hundreds of pieces of student artwork is on display at Northwest ISD's administration building as part of the 18th annual districtwide art show.

The 2017 art show began on Tuesday by hosting half the district's elementary school families, followed by the other half yesterday. From 6 to 7:30 p.m. today, all families of secondary school students are invited to attend and view the artwork and talk to their art teachers.

Families of elementary students who missed the earlier scheduled shows can attend today, but their teachers won't be in attendance. The artwork can also be seen during regular business hours until displays are taken down.

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Kindergarten Roundup to take place districtwide first week of May

A Pre-K student interacts with a touchscreen monitor

Northwest ISD's Kindergarten Roundup will take place the first week of May, providing incoming kindergarteners with the opportunity to learn about their future schools.

Children who are 5 years old by Sept. 1 are eligible for enrollment in kindergarten. Following enrollment, each school will host these incoming students as part of Kindergarten Roundup.

Though enrollment takes place online, parents and guardians must still bring appropriate documents - including birth certificates, immunization records and proof of residency - for the campus to review. Both online registration and document review can be completed at the campus during Kindergarten Roundup.

Each of Northwest ISD's 17 elementary schools serves kindergarteners, and exact dates and times for each school's Kindergarten Roundup can be seen by clicking the corresponding school link at www.nisdtx.org/kroundup.

Registration for TechnoCamps available

Registration for five summer technology camps hosted by Northwest ISD is now open, providing students with opportunities to learn about popular topics at all elementary and middle school grade levels.

Three robotics camps are available for $95 per student: CampWeDo 1.0 Robotics, CampWeDo 2.0 Robotics and Camp EV3 Robotics. These camps vary by grade level, with at least one course offering available for all kindergarten to eighth-grade students.

For students in second to eighth grades, Camp Makey Makey/Stop Motion Animation comes with a take-home kit for $150 per student. Camp Raspberry Pi also comes with a take-home kit and costs $150 per student, providing each attendee with introductory coding tutorials with a small computer system.

Each camp takes place Monday to Thursday over the summer, with dates varying by camp and session. All campers will receive a free T-shirt as part of their participation in a TechnoCamp.

All camps will be held at Pike Middle School, located at 2200 Texan Drive in Fort Worth, featuring both morning and afternoon sessions. To learn more about each camp or register for a camp, visit technocamp.nisdtx.org.

Middle school musical auditions begin next month

Auditions for Northwest ISD's 2017-18 middle school musical will begin Saturday, May 13, with callbacks scheduled for the following Saturday, May 20.

All auditions will be held in the Byron Nelson High School performing arts center, located at 2775 Bobcat Blvd. in Trophy Club. This year's musical is "Beauty and the Beast Jr.," a family-friendly rendition of the popular Disney movie.

Each performer will be asked to sing and speak at his or her audition. Rehersals for those chosen will begin in August and run through September, culminating with shows on Friday, Sept. 29, and Saturday, Sept. 30. For additional information, click here.

Did you know...

You can now search each Northwest ISD school's website for a teacher based on his or her subject or grade level.

In the staff directory of each school's website, a new field has been added to search by a teacher's classification. Simply type in the grade level or subject in the "Job Title" search box to find all teachers of that classification. Typing in "English," for instance, will find all English teachers at a school.

Community folder provides news and updates about third-party events

Northwest ISD's community folder, located at www.nisdtx.org/communityfolder, provides district families with information about events and services in the area that are hosted by third parties (and not Northwest ISD).

These events include camps, sporting offerings, local business services and more. Simply click the "Approved Flyers" link (click the "+" icon on smartphones and mobile devices) to view all the current or upcoming events and services. Local organizations and businesses can also provide information on this website to offer their flyers for distribution in the community folder.