Dear Northwest Families,

We were excited to welcome the first day of fall and celebrate the Shawnee Mission Education Foundation Fall Breakfast today! We are grateful for the continued dedication of the foundation - whether partnering their support through grants for teachers, securing millions of dollars in scholarship offers for our students through Scholarship Shawnee Mission, or fostering future leaders through Leadership Shawnee Mission, their unwavering commitment makes a difference for our students!

As we continue to support and care for our students, we would like to share some important information compiled from our social workers. September is a time we share suicide prevention information. As a community, it is important we work together to support the mental health and wellness of our students. If you are seeing any changes in your student's behavior, please reach out to one of us and we can connect your student with additional support from one of our social workers. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is now the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. Students and families can call or text 988 for support.

Please take a few minutes to read through the information about suicide prevention at the following link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lhnyNT0cMxQwIPAEJ5DDNJomJivnWNMV/view?usp=sharing

On Tuesday during seminar, our Sources of Strength group will host two sessions for our student body with a focus on mental health wellness. More information is included in the above link.

Please take a moment to mark your calendars with some important dates below. We have Homecoming activities in two weeks and Parent-Teacher conferences shortly thereafter. These are two great events to engage our families and communities. We hope you will join us as available.

All the best,

Dr. Lisa Gruman

Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) opens October 1st!

Go to www.studentaid.gov

SMSD FAFSA Information & Completion Night on 10/4, 6:00 pm at SMW

Registration Link: https://forms.gle/qtxZRus8JC79zp3m8

Shawnee Mission East Career Fair on 10/12 6:30-8:30

If you have a junior interested in qualifying for the National Merit Scholarship, they should consider taking the PSAT at school on Wednesday, October 12th.

More information about the National Merit Scholarship can be found at https://www.nationalmerit.org/s/1758/interior.aspx?sid=1758&gid=2&pgid=424.

Students can register for the PSAT at https://user.totalregistration.net/PSAT/172771.

DEADLINES REMINDER:

• October 7th—Quick Step+ College Algebra Deadline
• November 2nd—AP Exam Registration Deadline

Senior families wishing to purchase a Senior Yearbook Ad: yearbooksforever.com

Photo retakes will be 8am-11am in the auditorium. If you tried to sign up with the link that was previously in the announcements, disregard that link and use this one. If you are getting a retake, it will be free of charge if you bring your photo packet. If not, please bring $3 cash to your retake. If you have not yet gotten your school photo taken, please sign up on the retake form, and it will be at no cost to you. The deadline for signing up is Thursday, September 28th. https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0F4FAAAD22A1FFC07-underclass

Grades 9 - 11 can pre-pay at this link: https://bit.ly/SMNWRETAKE22

~Please note that this only applies to underclassmen, and the senior signup is below.

Senior photos will be taken from 8:30 - 11:00. Please use the linke below to sign up:

https://bit.ly/SMNWSRLC

Questions? cs@rollandkc.com

2022 - 2023 Online Fee Payment:

• Follow link www.smsd.org/families/pay-fees

*** Fees for first semester elective classes are due along with the Resource, ID and Participation fees. Contact the bookkeeper with questions.

Breakfast at Northwest

Regular Days: Breakfast is served from 7:15 – 7:35

Late Start: Thursday breakfast is served from 8:15 – 8:45.

Meal Benefits: Food Service carryover meal benefits from prior year (free and reduced priced meals) will be expiring on September 23rd. If you have not applied for the current school year, families are encouraged to apply on https://www.schoolcafe.com/SHAWNEEMISSION.

For families who do not qualify for meal benefits, payments for school meals can be made by sending cash or check to the school, online at eFunds or by phone by calling the Food Service office at 913-993-9710.

Additional food service information is available on the district’s website at https://www.smsd.org/about/departments/food-service.

September 22 - Varsity Football @ North Stadium / Band Night

September 22 - Varsity VB @ OE

September 22 - Varsity Soccer @ ODAC

Sunflower League

• Visit our Athletics Website for schedules of upcoming events: https://smnwcougars.com/