Family Newsletter

NTPS provides free drop-in breakfasts, lunches, and snacks at several locations over the summer months. All kids 18 and under eat free on-site – no registration required!

View the schedule of meal times and locations.

Join NTPS students and staff at the Thurston County Fair from July 31–August 3. See animals shown by Future Farmers of America (FFA), amazing art exhibits, exciting dance performances, and more! Take the fair shuttle, and you’ll get to ride one of our school buses!

Learn more about the fair!

All regular bus riders must register to ride the bus for the upcoming school year. The registration deadline for the 2025-26 school year is August 15, 2025. Register now! Registrations made after August 15 cannot be guaranteed a seat for the first day of school. 

Register to Ride the Bus

Special needs, McKinney-Vento, and foster care? Students who the district has identified as qualified to receive special transportation services including special needs, and McKinney-Vento and foster care out of attendance school boundary services do not have to fill out the registration form. McKinney-Vento and foster care students who live within the boundary of their attendance school DO need to register.   

What if I register after August 15? We will process late registrations as quickly as possible but cannot guarantee your student will have a spot on the bus on the first day of school. 

If you need help with the online form, paper forms mailed, or someone to walk you through the process, call Transportation at 360-412-4545.   

Reminder: NTPS uses the SMART tag mobile app so families can monitor student bus activity and receive alerts on their cell phones. Learn more and download the app.

NTPS has a new, simpler web address: www.ntps.org. Update your bookmarks! Our website, staff emails, and student emails are now easier to type and read.

Students will now sign in to Google resources using @stu.ntps.org and will need to connect their Chromebooks to the internet for an update to use their device this summer or prior to starting school this fall. Please allow 15 minutes for the update and then restart the device. Chromebook not working as expected? Visit our troubleshooting page for support.

All old email addresses will continue to work. If you email a staff member or student, their old, longer email address will still work, but update your contacts and address books with the new address.

As a reminder, beginning August 1, all NTPS schools and the district will begin using a tool called ParentSquare for school-to-home communication. Announcements, newsletters, updates, and emergency alerts will all go through ParentSquare. Be on the lookout for back-to-school information from “North Thurston Public Schools via ParentSquare” this August.

Learn more about ParentSquare

Our district and community offer many resources to keep kids learning over the summer months! Check out these fun and educational programs and activities:  

• Lacey Timberland Library Summer Reading Program: Get a free book, an activity log, and a certificate of completion at the end of the summer.  
• South Sound Reading Foundation Summer Reading Adventure: Complete reading challenges and pick up a prize on August 21 at the NTPS District Office.  
• NTPS Summer Info webpage: Find STEM activities, math practice through Khan Academy, community programs, activities, and much more.  

Thanks to voter support, we are enhancing student and staff safety, modernizing our IT infrastructure, and updating instructional technology. We are starting several projects this summer, including:  

• New 86-inch interactive flat panels (IFPs) will replace end-of-life projectors at Timberline High School and Lacey, Lydia Hawk, Meadows, Olympic View, and Pleasant Glade Elementary Schools. We will continue to install IFPs over the next two years in all remaining schools still using wall-mounted projectors.
• Refreshing Chromebooks for all 6th- and 9th-grade students. Summit Virtual Academy students will get a complete refresh of student laptops to meet the demands of their online curriculum. Our elementary schools will be the focus of next year, with refreshed devices coming for some classroom carts.
• Installing higher capacity and faster wireless access points in all district buildings to meet staff and student needs for daily instruction, large events, testing, and public Wi-Fi.
• Installing new street signage displays at Timberline High School, Nisqually Middle School, and Lakes and Horizons Elementary Schools for family and community information.
• Upgrading audiovisual cabling at North Thurston High School, Salish Middle School, and Evergreen Forest and Pleasant Glade Elementary Schools.

Learn more about capital levy-funded projects we will launch in the 2025-26 school year and beyond.

Thank you to everyone in our community who supported the 2024-25 Compassionate Community project! Together, we gathered funding and canned food items for All Kids Win, a local nonprofit that provides weekend food to Thurston County students. In addition, students, staff, and community members assembled and delivered food bags.

The Compassionate Community project is a partnership between NTPS, the City of Lacey, and the Lacey South Sound Chamber. Stay tuned for information about the 2025-26 Compassionate Community project!

New to the community? Be sure you’re registered to vote! Visit the Thurston County Auditor online.

Thanks to hard work, dedication, and planning, we had no canceled bus routes during the 2024-2025 school year. Thank you to our wonderful drivers for taking students safely to and from school and events all year long!

Check out our Facebook and Instagram pages to see photos from this event and other exciting things happening in our schools! 

Our School Board meetings are an excellent place to hear the latest news around the district. Be sure to review our Board meeting highlights from the June 17 meeting, where the Board honored many state champions, recognized the United Way of Thurston County, and announced the 2025 Dick Williams and Bonnie Evans awardees.

Thank you to our partners at the North Thurston Education Foundation, who awarded scholarships to 32 NTPS graduating seniors! Scholarships are based on academic achievement, community involvement, and other factors. Learn more about this year’s recipients.

Congratulations to the 22 NTPS high school students who earned a 2025 Varsity Letter in Community Service! Each student volunteered at least 250 hours during high school, and together they served more than 7,000 hours of community service. Read about the students and their work.