Newsroom

We are excited to invite you to an open house for the Verizon Innovative Learning STEM Achievers Program, taking place on December 7 at the Community College of Allegheny County's Allegheny campus. This event is designed for middle school students and their families to learn more about this transformative program.

The Verizon Innovative Learning STEM Achievers Program offers a unique opportunity for students to engage with cutting-edge technology while developing essential STEM and entrepreneurship skills. The students will work on hands-on projects, receive mentorship, and utilize advanced technologies such as 3D printing, augmented reality, and robotics. The program emphasizes design thinking and social entrepreneurship, preparing students for future success in a technology-driven world.

During the open house, you will have the chance to meet our program leaders, ask questions, and explore the benefits of this free, project-based learning experience.

Event Details:

• Date: December 7, 2024
• Time: 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM
• Location: CCAC Allegheny Campus

We hope to see you there as we work together to empower our students with the skills, they need for the future. If you have any questions or need additional information, please feel free to reach out to Felicia Parker at fparker2@ccac.edu.

 

The Avalon Kindness Club created pumpkins at its last club meeting. They were sold to the students, and they have some left! If anyone would like to purchase a pumpkin please contact, Miss Anderson at abigail.anderson@northgatesd.net and she can set up delivery.  Pumpkins are $5.00 and proceeds will benefit the KDKA Turkey Fund and the Avalon Kindness Club. 

The Spanish/French classes are planning a trip to Europe for spring break 2026. For those interested in attending, the early enrollment discount of $250 will be extended until Dec. 1.

We are excited to share a new program we will soon be launching called ParentPowered. ParentPowered provides year-round, evidence-based support directly to families. It is designed to ensure that learning continues during the 80% of your child’s life when they’re not in the classroom. ParentPowered empowers families with the information and emotional support to act as their child’s first and most important teacher. Its continuous birth-to-12th grade, whole child curriculum promotes family well-being, positive relationships, child transitions, and involvement at school, supporting families as lifelong learners and leaders.

According to ParentPowered, its approach has been shown to increase learning by 2+ months in one school year. Ninety-three percent of parents say it helped make learning a part of every day. Ninety-seven percent of families who receive ParentPowered's weekly text messages report that the program helped strengthen their relationship with their child. Ninety-two percent of families report increased confidence in their ability to support their child’s learning.

Once you enroll, ParentPowered will send you three texts a week to support what your child is learning and doing this year. Texts are delivered with tips and activities that fit into families’ day-to-day routines. Each text message is short and easy to comprehend. Messages are tailored specifically for your child’s age and developmental stage. The messages will give you easy ways to connect with your child and support their learning. You’ll also receive 1-2 messages per week with information on community resources to support you and your family. Every message is aligned to your child’s age or grade and each tip is built around everyday routines. You can opt out at any time.

The Northgate School District is extremely excited and honored to host one of three 2024 Gold Star Honor Games! These games honor those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice for our country! Join us to be a part of this event on October 4th at the Home Football game at Alumni Field. Pre-game festivities begin at 6:25 p.m. We would love to have our Northgate stands filled with FLAMES FANS to support the Gold Star Families!

Due to this special event, we want to inform our Northgate Community of the following important information:

• There will be a Police and 25-Bikers Escort for the visiting team, South Side Beaver.

• Gold Star Families will be provided special parking in the lot across from the Main Gate to the stadium. This lot will also be used for the Police and Bikers Escort vehicles. Therefore, it will not be available for the general public this evening. We appreciate the Northgate Community’s understanding and cooperation in seeking other parking for this special event.

• The ceremony to honor Gold Star Families will begin at 6:25 p.m. We encourage our Northgate Community to join us for this special recognition.

• Members of the Northgate FLAMES and South Side Rams Football Teams will serve as escorts for the Gold Star Families during the pre-game ceremony.

• The National Anthem will be played by both the Northgate Marching Band and the South Side Marching Band.

We look forward to seeing you on Friday, October 4, 2024, at Alumni Field!

 

 

Congratulations to Carrie Wynn and Aniyah Settles for being named the 2024 Northgate Homecoming Queens and to Alyx Bohn for being named the Homecoming King! This is the first time there was a tie for queen. We had a great Homecoming Parade followed by our annual Meet the Flames and varsity football game. 

Congratulations to our 2024 Homecoming Court!

From left to right: Jay Shane, Carrie Wynn, Aniyah Settles, Reagan Michalski, Olivia Rajakovic, Alyx Bohn, Caleb Gratner, Anthony Hopkins, Darius Fields and Kaleb Billings.

The annual Homecoming Parade is this Friday. It starts at Avalon Elementary at 6 p.m. and ends at Alumni Field. Meet the Flames will take place at 6:35 p.m. Kickoff for the Homecoming Game is at 7 p.m. against Shenango. The Homecoming Ceremony will take place at halftime.

Homecoming is this Saturday, Sept. 13 at 7 p.m.

It's no secret rebranding has been a goal of the Northgate School District. As students head back to school at the Middle/High School, they may notice a more 'on brand' learning environment.

New this school year, the lockers have been painted red and the walls are now white with yellow trim to align with the Flames’ new image.

About 2 years ago, the district went through a formal rebranding process, where it created new logos and official school colors; red and yellow.

“When this process was finished, members of the student council approached me and asked about painting the school to reflect these official colors,” High School Principal Dr. Nicole Smith said.

From there, a core group of students got right to work. They researched paint samples and worked with their art teacher to create a mock-up of potential changes and put paint samples on the wall.

“Teachers then came in during a day of service in January and painted one hallway for a visual,” Dr. Smith said.

Once that was done, the paint changes were planned by the Facilities Manager. After a summer of hard work and preparation, the hallways and lockers at Northgate High School are ready for the 2024-2025 school year.

Even though school was out for the summer, that didn’t stop many Northgate students from participating in summer camps offered by the district. Students had the opportunity to participate in three different camps during their time away from the classroom. The three camps offered included the Assemble STEAM Summer Camp, the Arts Greenhouse "Journal Week," and Summer Greenhouse Groups.

The Northgate/Assemble STEAM Summer Camp provided students six weeks of hands-on fun with science, technology, engineering, art and math. Assemble is a nonprofit organization and community space located in Pittsburgh’s Garfield neighborhood. Its mission is to build confidence through different opportunities where students of all ages can engage with STEAM based activities. Each week, students were able to explore different STEAM topics such as Afrofuturism, chemistry, engineering, board game design, and geology.

The Arts Greenhouse "Journal Week" was a one-week program dedicated to promoting youth arts. Incoming Northgate 5th through 8th grade students had the opportunity to explore and practice skills in creative writing, journaling, illustration, short stories, font making and calligraphy. Ten students attended the program regularly throughout the week.

Finally, the Northgate School District and The Chill Project partnered together to offer free Summer Greenhouse Groups. The group sessions took place in the district’s greenhouse at Northgate Middle/High School. The groups were centered around hands-on horticulture activities, mindfulness, gardening skills and creative projects. The goal of this camp was to not only promote gardening skills, but also emotional regulation, grounding, sensory awareness and a deeper connection to nature and themselves.

Each camp played an important role in building students’ academic and essential life skills, while also creating new friendships and staying active during the summer.

This past spring, educators from around the world met in Pittsburgh to discuss the future of education at the Forge Futures Summit.

The event included visits to AHN Suburban to see how the partnership between Northgate and the facility offers students an innovative learning environment.

Our high school students interviewed some of the educators in attendance to get their insight on learning ecosystems.

Check out the videos below to hear their thoughts!

Forge Futures: Feature 1

Forge Futures: Feature 2

The Northgate School District is making changes to the leadership structure at Northgate Middle/High School. These changes are designed to best support the various systems, services, and initiatives in the building.

To better align our administrative structure with the school’s functions, the district has redefined the previous middle and high school principal roles to two new principal positions: Secondary Student Services Principal and Secondary Instructional Principal.

1. Secondary Student Services Principal: Dr. Nicole Smith will assume this role, overseeing all student-focused activities for grades 7-12. Dr. Smith previously served as the High School Principal. Her responsibilities will now include managing the school’s support systems, including the Multi-Tiered System of Supports, Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports, and Student Assistance Program, as well as overseeing guidance, graduation, attendance, truancy, and athletics. This role also involves supervising the office faculty, Special Education faculty, counselors, and the Northgate Online Learning Academy coordinator.

2. Secondary Instructional Principal: The district’s Board of School Directors on June 24 hired Dr. Nancy Bowman to serve as the Secondary Instructional Principal. Dr. Bowman brings extensive experience in education, ranging from teaching science to serving as both a middle and high school principal. She has most recently worked in the North Allegheny School District. In her new role, Dr. Bowman will lead the instructional faculty and oversee all aspects of teaching and learning for grades 7-12.

Both principals also will proactively work to build positive relationships with students, families, and staff to ensure a welcoming environment for all students.

“In a short period of time, our building has redesigned how we do school,” Dr. Smith said. “We really feel that we are making powerful changes that are greatly impacting our students’ futures, so we want to make sure our building leadership structure supports those endeavors in a sensible way as well.”

Additionally, the district hired Michael Wagstaff to serve as Secondary Assistant Principal at Northgate Middle/High School. Mr. Wagstaff previously served as the district's interim middle school principal this past spring.