June 2025

The Highly Capable Program is available to identified students in kindergarten through 8th grade who require advanced learning and enriched instruction. High school students can choose more challenging classes through their counselor. The services offered depend on the grade and need, and students must meet certain standards in testing and academic performance to qualify. Families can submit applications for the program June 1–July 31.

Learn more about the Highly Capable Program and application process. 

Learn more about our project-based choice high school during an Envision Career Academy information session at 5:30 pm on Thursday, June 12 (411 College St., NE). Envision offers four career and technical education (CTE) pathways to graduation:

• Agriculture Sciences
• Biomedical Sciences
• Business & Marketing
• Manufacturing 

Sign up for the info session! 

Preschool and elementary school families: Join us from 4:30–6:00 pm on Monday, June 16, at Envision Career Academy (411 College St., NE) to kick off the summer! Learn about family-friendly summer activities and events in our community, play games, and enjoy pizza and cookies. Each child will also take home a free book.

Register now! 

The last day of school is Wednesday, June 18. We will be on a half-day schedule. Have a great summer!

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.

The City of Lacey is accepting Lacey Youth Council applications from local students who will be sophomores, juniors, or seniors during the 2025-26 school year. The application period is open through Monday, June 30. Youth Council members learn about local government, provide feedback about city-related issues, and participate in community projects. Learn more and apply.

Starting July 1, NTPS will have a new, simpler web address: www.ntps.org. Our website, staff emails, and student emails will be easier to type and read!

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.

There may be some broken links. Our web team will work hard to ensure that the website will not be affected by the change, but some links will take time to find and update. Thank you for your patience! Send us website feedback if you have questions or concerns! 

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

NTPS schools will begin composting food waste in fall 2025, ahead of a state law that goes into effect in January 2026.

Food waste provides nutrients for soil when turned into compost. Composting reduces methane emissions created when organic materials decompose in a landfill.

Our new composting program is a change for most of us and will require time, practice, and patience! We are working on school signage and a video to help students understand how to separate food waste from trash after meals. Thank you to the staff and students at Pleasant Glade Elementary School, who are sharing knowledge from their existing composting program with other schools!

We are now enrolling for the 2025-26 NTPS Preschool Program! In NTPS Preschool classrooms, 3- and 4-year-old students with special needs and typically developing students play and learn together with a focus on kindergarten readiness.

The program is free for students with special needs and is tuition-based for families of typically developing students. Families can choose a two-day-a-week or four-day-a-week program.

Learn more and apply!

NTPS offers full-day kindergarten at each of our elementary schools. Students who turn 5 on or before August 31 are eligible. Online registration make the process easy: Families can fill out all the forms in Skyward Family Access (our student data system) then upload the required documents or bring physical copies to their neighborhood school office.

Learn More & Register for Kindergarten

Families of children who will enter kindergarten in the fall 2026 may now apply for Future-Ready Kindergarten, a free, transitional pre-kindergarten program offered at eight NTPS elementary schools. The program helps ensure students are ready to thrive in kindergarten and beyond! Classes will focus on social-emotional and early learning skills needed for school.

Learn More & Apply for FRK

Are you leaving NTPS? Let us know so we can process your student's withdrawal. Please get in touch with your school before the school year ends, so your records are in order before you move. Thanks for being a part of the NTPS community!

Applications for the 2025-26 Lunch Buddy mentor program are now being accepted. This is your chance to make a positive difference in a child’s life. Volunteer mentors meet with a matched student (grades K–8) for about an hour each week during lunch to play games, talk, build friendships, and empower kids. We provide training and support. Apply to be a Lunch Buddy mentor! 

For questions, email mentoring@nthurston.k12.wa.us.

The Timberland Regional Library Summer Library Program is fun for readers of all ages! Visit any Timberland Library location to get a free book and activity log. Complete 10 activities by August 31 to collect your certificate of completion.

Learn more and get started!

After Lakes Elementary School 2nd-grade students drew a monster and wrote a story about their creature, Timberline High School Advanced Placement art students created ceramic versions of the monsters! 

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 May 6 meeting, including:  

• Students in the Ignite Family Academy leadership club shared current events at the school, including field studies and Compassionate Community projects. 
• The Board received an update on NTPS Strategic Plan Goal 4: Continuous Growth—All Students, All Subjects, Outcome c: Increased growth rate for students experiencing personal and/or systemic barriers to achievement or opportunity. NTPS continues efforts to ensure students receiving special education services are served in the least restrictive environment. Through a grant, we have trained a cohort of special education and general education teachers on co-teaching methods to help ensure students are in the general education classroom as much as possible. Several NTPS principals, assistant principals, and school staff presented their strategies to support student success in the classroom, including calming corners and access to sensory tools and spaces. 

NTPS Superintendent Troy Oliver joined his colleagues from Olympia, Tumwater, and Yelm to share their perspectives on various education topics, including the 2025 legislative session, construction projects, and curriculum.

Earlier this month, staff, and students at Aspire Performing Arts Academy celebrated math teacher Jacqui Gibbons during a surprise assembly, where she learned that she has been named the Educational Service District 113 Regional Teacher of the Year!

A longtime public school educator, Jacqui “encourages students when needed and nudges them when necessary because she cares deeply about their future success,” said Aspire Principal Mike Suhling. “She works side by side with students to grow, to accomplish, and to celebrate an amazing future.”

Congratulations, Jacqui! We are so proud to have you representing North Thurston Public Schools!

Next up in our school video series is Summit Virtual Academy! Watch the Welcome to Summit Virtual Academy video to see how students build knowledge and community both virtually and in-person.

We were honored to recognize community partner Sensory Tool House at the recent annual Washington Association of School Administrators (WASA) awards hosted by Educational Service District 113!

Sensory Tool House provides training throughout our district to support our inclusionary practices work. Classrooms now have calm-down spaces designed to support students in the general education setting.

They also are an NTPS Partner in Education at Meadows Elementary School, providing schoolwide professional development for staff to support neurodivergent students. They also attend school events to provide alternative environments for students and family members who may need a different space during high-energy and busy events!

Thank you to our Partners in Education (PIE) for all you do to support student learning and achievement! Our PIE program helps bring schools and businesses together through volunteering and student support activities.

Learn more our PIE Program