Community Connections

NTPS offers a variety of programs to support our youngest learners in starting strong!

• Kindergarten: If your child turns 5 on or before August 31, 2025, they can start full-day kindergarten this fall. Find helpful information about registration and preparing for this exciting step on our website.
• Future-Ready Kindergarten: If your child turns 5 between September 1, 2025, and August 31, 2026, and needs support for kindergarten readiness, they may be eligible for our full-day transitional kindergarten program at select elementary schools. Learn more and apply!
• Preschool: Our part-day preschool program is designed for preschool students with special needs to learn alongside typically developing peers. Families of the typically developing students pay tuition on a sliding scale. Learn more.

Unified sports clubs allow students with and without disabilities to participate in school activities together! The Unified program promotes a districtwide culture of inclusion and acceptance. Our high schools host “Pack the Gym” events celebrating Unified sports by inviting the whole student body and community to attend and cheer on the teams.

We are working to expand the Unified experience around the district. Recently, Chinook, Nisqually, and Salish Middle School Unified basketball teams took the court at Salish for the first middle school Unified jamboree. It was an afternoon of teamwork and fun.

Check out our school website calendars to find information on Unified events!

We offer field studies, so students can have hands-on learning experiences related to scientific concepts they learn in class. Depending on their grade level, students may visit WET Science Center, Mount Saint Helens, salmon spawning areas, Inspiring Kids Preserve, and many more.

NTPS 2nd-grade students recently visited Wolf Haven Prairie, Mima Mounds, or Glacial Heritage Preserve and participated in interactive stations to observe and identify prairie plants and animals, practice scientific drawing, and make seed balls to help restore prairie habitats.

Learn more about our science program and field studies.

From student-structured studio time in elementary school to high school musical productions, we ensure students of all ages have opportunities for creative expression. Visual and performing arts are a key part of the NTPS experience.

Starting in kindergarten, NTPS students participate in hands-on visual art experiences. Anndi Cook is Woodland Elementary School’s dedicated art teacher. She and art teachers around the district teach students that art class is a place where they can choose the direction of their creativity and access the space and materials they need to imagine, initiate, experiment, and collaborate.

In Cook’s classroom recently, 3rd-grade students chose “studios”: collage, painting, drawing, fiber arts, and building. Along with the freedom to choose their studio comes the responsibility of sharing materials with other students, caring for the community tools, and carefully putting everything away when it’s time to wrap up. Students learn to find inspiration, envision an idea, design a plan of action, problem-solve when something doesn’t go according to plan, and see projects through to completion. They also develop fine motor skills and organizational skills.

Alongside art class, NTPS elementary students participate in music class, where they gain foundational music skills, like identifying notes, rhythms, and musical forms. Starting in 5th grade, students can choose an instrument and join band or orchestra. Once students enter middle school, they may also choose choir as an elective. Young musicians perform at school and community events, and if they stick with it, they might find themselves in a jazz band, concert orchestra, or chamber choir in high school.
High schoolers at NTPS have even more opportunities to explore visual arts. Classes like ceramics, photography, and metalwork can spark a lifelong hobby or a career.

“This goes beyond fulfilling a graduation requirement for so many students,” said Angela Brooks, NTPS director of activities, arts and, athletics. “Besides cultivating creativity and collaboration in our learners, arts education helps create a sense of belonging.”

Thanks to voter support, we have completed the new lighted turf field and rubberized track at Nisqually Middle School! Nisqually students are enjoying this addition during PE classes. The track and field will be an excellent resource for middle school athletics and the community.

The new 70-classroom wing at River Ridge High School is on schedule to open in fall 2025!
This new space will provide modern general and science classrooms for our students. We are
beginning work on the River Ridge track and field this spring. Some River Ridge athletes will use the
Nisqually space for practices over the next year while we complete the major modernization of the
River Ridge campus.

The NTPS School Board has approved the schematic design for the Young Child and Family Center,
which is slated to open in 2027 near the corner of Marvin and Steilacoom roads. It will provide
high-quality indoor and outdoor preschool spaces for our youngest learners, as well as community
gathering spaces.

Read more about current construction and modernization projects.