With a new school year comes a new you, and whether you’re a bewildered freshman or a junior with premature senioritis, Northwood is the perfect place for you to find your next journey.

Although the school year is not starting off in person, extensive preparations are underway to ensure that students can still enjoy everything from our Grammy-winning music program to our unparalleled variety of clubs.

As a reminder for distance learning, all instruction will be remote until Orange County is taken off of California’s COVID-19 watchlist for two consecutive weeks. Block scheduling is still in place, and TA and tutorial will be available on Mondays. Unlike the 2019-2020 spring semester, this year’s fall semester will operate by the original grading system. Students can add or drop classes for the first few weeks of school. Additionally, standardized tests such as the SAT, ACT and PSAT will not be offered at Northwood for as long as distance learning is in place.

“We appreciate everyone’s flexibility and willingness to work with us,” Assistant Principal Eric Keith said. “This is a little bit of a different situation, and we’ll try to make it work with everybody as much as we possibly can.”

Despite all the changes to this school year, Northwood will still be offering clubs virtually. Information on the available clubs can be found in the Club Directory on Northwood’s website. All students can participate regardless of what academic model they chose.

Furthermore, ASB has plenty of ideas to help everyone at Northwood feel connected and involved, even without being on campus.

“None of us could’ve ever imagined school turning out like this, but we’re super hyped to take on all these challenges,” ASB President senior Kara Chu said. “We’ll be reimagining our traditional events in a virtual format and coming up with new ones too. Be on the lookout for class activities, events for freshmen and good times for all!”

On another note, all sports seasons have been adjusted to begin in either December 2020 or January 2021 according to guidelines from the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF). However, IUSD is planning to hold modified athletic camps for physical conditioning and skill training once school starts.

Additionally, while it’s difficult to shift Visual and Performing Arts (VAPA) to an online format due to its large class sizes, close-knit community and constant need for collaboration, Northwood instructors are working hard to ensure that it can be done. VAPA still plans to host many events and performances throughout the year that students can both attend and be involved in.

“I’ll definitely miss being able to collaborate and perform with my peers in person, but I’m still super excited to participate in VAPA this year,” Chamber Singers member junior Kaitlin To said.

Regardless of what comes next, Northwood is ready to adapt through these unprecedented times.

“I’m personally proud of our administrative team and leadership team, who have been really willing to reinvent things to fit this situation,” Principal Leslie Roach said. “It’s on everybody’s mind what school normally looks like. Not everything’s going to be perfect, but we’ll try to do the next best thing given the circumstances that we have.”