Niton Central News

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Our students have just completed their first full week of school and are beginning to settle into their routines. It’s been wonderful to see them adapting to new classes, playing with friends, and embracing the rhythm of the school year. We’re excited to support them as they continue to grow and learn in the weeks ahead.

Teachers are well into the Early Learning Screens for our grade 1 - 4 students. This year, the screens have been extended to the grade 1s and in January 2025 our Kindergarten students will also be included in the screens. These assessments further allow teachers to understand where their students are currently at and implement programming which will best support their learning needs. Once the assessments are finalized, the results will be communicated with parents. If you are interested in finding more information, please click here, Early Learning Assessments.

Our first school council meeting will be held on September 23 at 3:30. Anyone is welcome to attend. We encourage you to join our school council meetings to help shape our school. Your ideas and feedback are valuable in creating the best environment for our children. We hope to see you there!

A big thank you to Keli and Carol who came in on Tuesday to cook hot dogs for all the students and staff in our school. Thank you to Mackay Community Association for donating all the hot dogs! It was a wonderful treat during our second week of school.

Thank you to Yellowhead County for allowing our students to participate in the community mural project! Our students had a blast painting!

Our Terry Fox Run is on Friday, September 20 starting just after 2:00. Parents and community members are welcome to join our students as they honor his legacy while raising awareness and support for cancer research.

If you are interested in volunteering in the school, there are many places that would love to have the support which include our hot lunch program, reading volunteers, school council, sports concession, fundraising, and more! If you are interested or just have questions, please feel free to reach out to the office and we can provide you with additional information.

Have a wonderful weekend,

Bailey Benson

"The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you." ~ B. B. King

Sept. 18 - First Fire Drill

Sept. 20 - Terry Fox Run @ 2:00

Sept. 23 - School Council Meeting @ 3:30

Sept. 27 - School Acknowledged Orange Shirt Day

Sept. 30 - Schools Closed for National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

Oct. 1 - School Pictures

Oct. 5 - World Teachers' Day

Oct. 14 - Thanksgiving Day - No School

The K/1 class worked to create patterns in different ways. They talked about different types of patterning like AB or AAB patterns and then used various manipulatives to create them!

The 8/9 class utilized our science lab this week to further their understand of solutions, solutes, and solvents. They had different chemicals (salt, baking soda, etc.) that they had to dissolve to see how much of the solute could be added before it reached the point of saturation.

The 4/5 class has been learning about longitude and latitude. This week they learned how to put plots on a graph.

This was our first week of Junior Kindergarten! We were very excited to see our students join the action at NCS! Students played games, made crafts, read books and so much more.

On Thursday, all our students helped to paint a mural for the county. They were all very excited to be apart of it. Once completed, the mural will be displayed at the community hall.

In CTF, our junior high students have been busy cooking both chocolate chip cookies and focaccia bread this week. They were delicious!

My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive! ~ Maya Angelou

We are continuing our Knight Awards to help celebrate and acknowledge all of the incredible things our students do everyday. This month, our theme is Thrive! Staff and students can nominate others based on things they see happening around the school. Thrive to us might look like,

• Trust: Building strong, supportive relationships with teachers and peers.
• Hard Work: Embracing challenges with determination and a positive attitude.
• Resilience: Bouncing back from setbacks and learning from mistakes.
• Initiative: Taking ownership of their learning and seeking out opportunities for growth.
• Voice: Feeling empowered to express ideas, ask questions, and contribute to the classroom community.
• Engagement: Actively participating in lessons and activities with curiosity and enthusiasm.

We are grateful for all of the volunteers we have in our school and hope that you continue to volunteer in this year. We have many programs like reading buddies, hot lunch, sports concession, field trips, and more which are able to run because of volunteers!

If you plan to volunteer for more than ten hours over the course of the school year, you will need to ensure you have a criminal record check with vulnerable sector, Forms AP 401 and AP 402 on file at the school. Criminal record checks are good for two years, the forms need to be completed annually. If you are unsure when your record check expires, you can contact the office and we would be happy to let you know. The forms have been attached and are available in the office.

We have a tentative volleyball schedule. Please take a look below. Because of the number of girls we have, for some games we are able to split the team into an A and C team to ensure all of the girls get lots of playing time.

• Monday - Girls Volleyball Practice, 3:30 - 5:00
• Tuesday - Boys Volleyball Practice, 3:30 - 5:00
• Wednesday - Girls Volleyball Practice, 3:30 - 5:00
• Thursday - Boys Volleyball Practice, 3:30 - 5:00

If anyone is interested in becoming carded for reffing volleyball, there is a clinic online on September 24 and in-person October 4 & 5 in Westlock. For more information, please contact the school and we can get you in touch with them.

We are looking into some cross country meets in the near future. If your child is interested in participating, please talk to Mrs. DeLeeuw or the office.

Teacher's will look at how students are doing and if they notice anything that Ms. Emma could help with, they will contact parents and then put forward a referral. If parents have concerns that you believe and FSLC could help with, please reach out to your child's classroom teacher to further discuss.