Student Experience
Bring Your Whole Self and We'll Embrace Every Part
Experience & Grow in our Community
We promote mutual concern and respect through programs that support academic, social, and emotional growth - like advisory, grade-level meetings, interest groups, and affinity groups.
When I graduated, I wasn’t embarrassed to have ideas or say what I think - this was especially important to me, as a woman. I left campus feeling that I could do anything.
A Culture of Belonging
Pursue your Interests
Any student can start an interest group based on activities, hobbies, and passions. Groups establish how they will operate, and have regular meetings. Most groups are open to both Middle and Upper school students.
Examples of Interest Groups
Environmental Interest Group (EIG): focuses on expanding environmental awareness through concrete projects and advocacy to promote global and local change.
Model UN: for students interested in international relations. Members organize extra-curricular trips to sessions with foreign diplomats and participate in regional Model UN events.
Interest Groups include:
- Anime Club
- Badminton/Volleyball-Basketball
- Chess Club
- Chinese Magic Club
- ClayPlay
- Climate Action Team
- D&D
- DIG
- Diversity Dance
- Flag Football
- Garden Interest Group
- Magic The Gathering
- MakerSpace
- Mathletes
- Mock Trial/Debate
- Model UN
- Musical Dreams
- Soccer
- Ultimate Frisbee
- Writing Club
- Zines
Being Seen, Heard and Valued
Our school is committed to diversity, equity, inclusion and social justice. One of the ways we affirm these values is through affinity groups, which are initiated and led by students like you.
The primary goals of these groups are to offer you and your peers a safe space to discuss experiences of identity, create group solidarity, build resilience, increase confidence and engagement and provide empowerment toward action and leadership. Each group is sponsored by a faculty member who shares the same identity.
We have 12 student affinity groups this year:
- Asian American Pacific Islander Group (AAPI)
- Black Student Union (BSU)
- Disability Collective (DisCo)
- Financial Aid Student Union (FASU)
- International Student Union (ISU)
- Jewish Student Union (JSU)
- Latin American Student Union (LAU)
- Men Against Misogyny Learning Space (MAMLS)
- Mixed Race Student Union (MRSU)
- Middle School Allies and Activists
- Middle School Young Women’s Leadership Collective
- Queer-Club (Q-Club)
- Upper School Queer-Club (USQ)
- Upper School White Antiracist Learning Space (WARLS)
Form a Unique Class Identity
You and your classmates will meet together regularly as a group and go on overnight trips too.
Grade-level events are a way to build community within your class and focus on:
- Sharing values as a community
- Being better together
- Creating meaningful connections
- Showing up as your true self
By the time you and your peers graduate, you'll have a strong sense of connection and identity as a class. We see this expressed over and over again during Spirit Week in unique and wonderful ways.
Become Your Best Self
You can look forward to building meaningful connections with faculty and peers during your time at Northwest.
Our advisory program is balanced between supporting you as an individual and building authentic communities—all of which will help you become your best self! Think of advisory as a partnership between students, faculty and families.
During middle school you’ll be matched with a new advisor each year, who will:
- Check in with you often during sixth grade, on everything from your studies to making friends.
- Support you in practicing self-advocacy as you learn more about what you need to succeed.
- Help you explore your interests and manage our challenging academic program.
In upper school you’ll work with an advisor, who will support you in:
- Owning your education as you become more self-aware of your passions, strengths and areas of growth.
- Engaging deeply in curriculum across disciplines, developing skills to prepare you for college and beyond.
- Learning what it means to be a good leader, educating our community on issues of social justice and the environment.
Small groups meet weekly with their advisors for 45 minutes, and the program is built around an intentional curriculum that will help you and your peers:
- Build study skills and learning strategies to support your academic progression and success.
- Form your own identities, build interpersonal skills and understand your place in the world.
- Learn and experience how to be responsible digital citizens and to engage in active citizenship.
Staying in the Know, Together
Our school community gathers together every two weeks for a student-run meeting. It’s how we all stay up-to-date on what’s happening at Northwest.
Affinity and interest groups share their news. Dates for upcoming events, including games and fan nights, are announced. And we sometimes puzzle over a riddle offered by one of the students who’s particularly adept at coming up with riddles. It’s a great time to get your rah-rah on!