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8/22/22: Back-To-School Family Information

Welcome letter from Superintendent Deb Clemens 

Dear NTPS Families: 

Welcome to the 2022-23 school year!  

We are just a few weeks away from the start of school. Our principals and teachers have been gearing up for the year ahead, readying their classrooms, designing new lessons, and more. To ensure you are ready, we’ve included several items of interest in this email (including information on our back-to-school checklist, our family connection meetings, and more).

Our schools are ready! From day one, our classrooms will provide students with many opportunities to learn and grow. This is why we have selected “Solutions Seekers” as our theme for the 2022-23 school year (watch this short video to learn more). Helping our students become critical thinkers and problem-solvers aligns with our 2022-28 Strategic Action Plan.

Every day at North Thurston is mission-driven. We prepare all students for rewarding careers, fulfilling lives, and compassionate, global citizenship.

We expect all students to reach this benchmark. For our seniors, this might be just around the corner. For our younger students, we might be over a decade away.

Either way, we’ll get there! Our exceptional North Thurston educators and staff are working every day to help our students become empowered and future ready.

We are excited for the year ahead, and for the opportunity to be partners with you in this most-critical endeavor – education!

Superintendent Deb Clemens 

✔ Back to School Checklist 

We’ve created a Back-to-School checklist to help prepare your student for school. The checklist contains the latest information on start-of-school, school supplies, required forms, volunteering, and more. https://www.nthurston.k12.wa.us/backtoschool  

🚌 Bus Registration 

All regular bus riders must register to ride the bus. While the deadline for a guaranteed seat on the first day of school has passed (it was August 19th), you can still register your student. Note: Students qualified to receive special transportation services (including special needs, McKinney-Vento, and Foster Care services) do not have to fill out the registration form. Please visit https://www.nthurston.k12.wa.us/busregistration for more information.   

🎉 Open House 

Your school’s open house welcomes students & families to the school community. You’ll learn about school facilities, programs, services, clubs, and activities. Please look for information about your school’s open house in a future email. 

😎 Choice Schools Enrollment 

Our choice schools are enrolling now! Would your student benefit from a different educational experience while still being supported by our fantastic NTPS staff? Check out your options today!  

👍 Family Connection Meetings for Grades K-5

Family Connections Meetings allow families and students time to meet with their teachers and prepare for the new year together.

  • Grade K: The Connection meetings will take place from Wednesday, September 7, to Friday, September 9. The first full day of in-class instruction will be Monday, September 12.   
  • Grades 1-5: The Connection meetings will take place from Wednesday, September 7, to Thursday, September 8. The first full day of in-class instruction will be Friday, September 9.   

All Connection meetings will be held in person at the school buildings, and interpreter services will also be available. Conferences will last 15-20 minutes per student. By the end of August, your school will contact you with additional information and instructions on how to sign up for your conference through Skyward.