Northridge Middle School is a School to Watch, a designation earned from the National Forum to Accelerate Middle Grades.  We offer a variety of programs for the 1000+ students in sixth, seventh, and eighth grades.  There are three instructional teams made up of four teachers, or team members, at each grade level.  The team organization allows for better communication among teachers concerning curriculum and student progress.  The subject areas covered in the teams are language arts, social studies, math, science, and expressive arts.  Students participate in twenty-three minutes of silent sustained reading during each school day.  The expressive arts classes include instruction in the following areas: instrumental and vocal music; music exploration; 2D art, 3D art and advanced art; family and consumer sciences; Project Lead the Way Gateway classes in Design and Manufacturing, Medical Detectives, and App Creators; German; Spanish; physical education, and health.  Provisions are also made for special education students through direct collaboration and consultation services.  Advanced classes are offered in some subject areas as well.  Students in need of remediation are provided additional assistance in language arts and math through the remediation classes and during Tiers 2 and 3 Response to Intervention settings (LEAP and MERGE programs).  Students may also receive help in their current classes through after school support offered twice a week with a supervising certified teacher.

The counseling department offers a variety of services to the students of Northridge Middle School.  The school counselors provide both individual and small group counseling. Counselors are responsible for teaching and supporting students emotional development, scheduling, and preparing students for college and careers.  Counselors teach classroom guidance lessons and coordinate the tutoring program.  LEAD Day and Leisure League are guidance-sponsored activities.  LEAD Day provides an opportunity for approximately forty students to explore and develop personal power.  The school counselors consult with parents, teachers, administrators, and community agencies to address the personal, social, and academic needs of NMS students.  There is also a student mentoring program offered (A.R.M.S.) in which community members come into the school to meet one-on-one with students.

Parents and teachers communicate through many different channels.  Report cards are distributed every nine weeks, and the cards offer letter grades and/or attitude marks for every class.  Approximately 80 percent of the student body is represented at parent/teacher conferences, which are held at the end of the first grading and third grading periods.  Grade checks and progress reports are given out during each grading period.  Parents also have access to PowerSchool Parent, which allows them to view their child's progress via the Internet.  Northridge maintains a Facebook page called "The Official Northridge Middle School".

Northridge enjoys an abundant amount of parent and community support.  The P.T.O., Parent Teacher Organization, acts as an advisory council for the school.  This group organizes volunteers for school events, fund raising, tutoring, mentoring, and general support wherever there is a need.

Many co-curricular activities are offered to Northridge Middle School students, and the many of the faculty participates as coaches or club sponsors.  These activities are offered in academic, athletic, and club categories.  Academically, the students are involved in Academic Super Bowl; art, music, and math contests; social studies competition; Geography Bee; National Junior Honor Society; Optimist Oratorical Contest; Science Olympiad; Spell Bowl; Math Counts; and Spelling Bee. Athletically, the school offers competitive teams in basketball, cross-country, track, tennis, cheerleading, football, volleyball, wrestling, golf, soccer, and swimming.  Northridge is a member of the Big 11 Athletic Conference.  Clubs organized by the school include Jazz Band, Video Game Club, Computer Coding Club, Student Council, drama, Art Club, Raider Creator and Leisure League.  Northridge also sponsors student dances throughout the year.  A trip to Washington D.C. is offered at the end of the school year.  Classes go on various field trips, as well as service learning projects around the community.

The students of Northridge Middle School are involved in a variety of service projects.  Student Council makes annual donations to Riley Children's Hospital, Ronald McDonald House, Faith Mission and The Middlebury Food Pantry. They raise donations for U.S. Military Troops through Boxes of Love, as well as the Water for Sudan Project. The eighth grade serves the Middlebury Community through a variety of Civics Projects including Pretty Up the Parks and The Riverbend Park water health and clean-up day.  The Council, along with the National Junior Honor Society, has participated in Make A Difference Day and has won national recognition for their participation.