Friday, Feb. 7, 2025

Dear Parents and Guardians,

The monthly Letter to Families is intended to keep you apprised of news that affects all students and families of Near North District School Board (NNDSB) and is distributed on the first Friday of the month.

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We are excited to announce that kindergarten registration is now open at all of our schools for the upcoming academic year. Families can choose from our engaging English programming or our exceptional French Immersion programming, designed to provide young learners with a strong foundation for their educational journey.

Parents and guardians can register their child for kindergarten by calling their local school directly or by completing the online registration form available at this link.

Early registration ensures families have access to essential information about kindergarten readiness and programming options. NNDSB is committed to creating inclusive and supportive learning environments where every child can thrive.

We look forward to welcoming your child to one of our schools and beginning this exciting journey of learning together.

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The NNDSB math team is hosting a math night for parents/caregivers of Grade 7-12 students. The event will include information about TVO Mathify (a free online tutoring support), an overview of secondary math courses and pathways, sharing of virtual resources and tools for students and information about the Grade 9 EQAO math assessment.

The event will be held over Microsoft Teams on Wednesday, Feb. 19 from 6:30-7:30 p.m. Here is the registration link.

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School Mental Health Ontario (SMHO) launched a new parent/caregiver learning hub called By Your Side, designed to meet the needs of Ontario’s families.

The resource was created by Ontario parents/caregivers and school mental health professionals and includes information and supports in many formats, including web content, PDFs and videos to make sure families can easily access information and strategies that promote mental health and well-being at home.

Key topics include understanding mental health, promoting mental health at home, supporting mental health at school, stress and anxiety management, substance use prevention, navigating digital technology use and reaching out for help.

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Nominations are now open for the 2025 OTIP Teaching Awards. Presented by the Ontario Teachers Insurance Plan (OTIP) and the Ontario Teacher’s Federation (OTF), the awards recognize the excellence of teachers in publicly funded education.

There are three categories of awards: elementary teacher, secondary teacher and beginning teacher (in the first five years of teaching). Teachers may be nominated by professional colleagues, students, parents or the public.

The deadline for nominations is March 31, 2025.

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Many NNDSB secondary schools are planning open houses for prospective students and their families.

Below is a list of upcoming open houses:

West Ferris Secondary School (WFSS) is advising students that specialized program applications are open until Feb. 14, 2025. In addition to its full slate of course offerings, WFSS has several specialized programs, including STEAM, Arts Nipissing, Near North Sports, Extended French and French Immersion.

These programs are available to students across North Bay, with busing available. Here are the programs with application information hyperlinked: STEAM; Arts Nipissing; Near North Sports; Extended French/French Immersion.

There will also be a Grade 7 information night being held Thursday, May 1 from 6 to 8 p.m.

F.J. McElligott will be hosting an information night/dinner event for Grade 6 and Grade 8 students and their parents on March 4, 2025, beginning at 6 p.m. (the snow date will be March 5). This information night will be an opportunity to see the school, hear about the programs offered at F.J. McElligott at both the intermediate and secondary levels, and enjoy a dinner that will be prepared by the Grade 6 and Grade 8 students earlier that day, as part of a transition day activity. Families are asked to call the school at 705-472-5720 to RSVP for the dinner.

Chippewa Secondary School (CSS) is planning its Grade 7 information night for May 1 from 6 to 8 p.m. More information will be available closer to the event.

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A reminder that Monday, Feb. 17 is the Family Day statutory holiday. All schools and the board office will be closed. We hope you enjoy the long weekend, and we will welcome students back to school on Tuesday, Feb. 18.

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The next meeting of the Board will be held Tuesday, Feb. 11 at 6:30 p.m. The meeting is open to the public, and you are welcome to attend in person or join via Zoom. The link and login information can be found at the top of the Board and committee meetings page.

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In addition to staying informed via the board’s website, families can find NNDSB on Facebook and Instagram.

 

Sincerely,

Near North District School Board

Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025

Dear Parents and Guardians,

We wanted to share an important update about a cyber incident experienced by Near North District School Board (NNDSB) involving PowerSchool – the application used by NNDSB and many school boards across North America to store a range of student information and a limited amount of staff information.

On Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, PowerSchool notified the board and other school boards in Ontario and across North America that they had experienced a data breach between Dec. 22-28, 2024.

Our cybersecurity team promptly activated our response plan, taking immediate steps to ensure that our critical systems remain operational.

Working with PowerSchool, we are conducting a thorough investigation to understand the nature of the incident and what personal information may have been affected. At this point in time, we are still assessing the exact information that may have been accessed or exported from the application. PowerSchool has informed us that it has received confirmation that the data accessed by an unauthorized user has been deleted and that no copies of this data were posted online.

When we determine what personal information has been impacted, we will let you know as soon as possible. In the meantime, we have proactively notified the Ontario Information and Privacy Commissioner of this incident.

We know this news may be concerning, but please know that we are doing everything possible to learn more from PowerSchool about what occurred and will share that information with you.

Many of you will have questions as a result of this news, but given the ongoing investigation into what occurred, we do not yet have more information to share at this time.

We will continue to update the community as more information becomes available.

Sincerely,

Near North District School Board

 

Friday, Oct. 4, 2024

Dear Parents and Guardians,

The monthly Letter to Families is intended to keep you apprised of news that affects all students and families of Near North District School Board (NNDSB) and is distributed on the first Friday of the month.

Students in Grades 7-12 and their families are invited to Level Up! at a skilled trades career fair presented by Skilled Trades Ontario. The fairs are taking place across the province, with one being held at Nipissing University, 100 College Dr., North Bay on Wednesday, Oct. 16.

The event runs from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., with an evening open house from 3 to 7:30 p.m. Local Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program (OYAP-PAJO) recruiters are also hosting OYAP-PAJO breakout information sessions at the event.

Many NNDSB schools will be sending students to learn more about the skilled trades, and families are welcome to attend, too. This is a great opportunity to explore the potential for a career in the skilled trades.

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The NNDSB Parent Involvement Committee (PIC), alongside the NNDSB math team, is sponsoring a virtual presentation called Supporting Your Children in Learning Math (Grades 1 to 8) with Educational Leader Dr. Marian Small.

The presentation will take place on Wednesday, Nov. 6 from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Dr. Marian Small is the author of many Ontario and Canadian classroom math resources, and is an expert on student learning in mathematics. In her very clear and approachable manner, Dr. Small will address how and why math teaching has changed in the last 20 years and how parents/caregivers can best support their children to build their math confidence and math success.

To register for this event, please click here.

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The Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) has released the board- and school-level results of the testing done in the 2023-2024 school year. These results are the Grades 3 and 6 assessments of reading, writing and mathematics, the Grade 9 mathematics, and the Grade 10 Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT).

Schools are required to share this information, so families can expect to get individual results for students who wrote the tests last year. Please note that only students who fully participated in the assessments of reading, writing and mathematics (primary and junior divisions) will receive individual results.

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NNDSB supports its students all year long!

The board was able to provide summer learning supports for students with special education needs and offered them in coordination with NNDSB’s program team. Seven virtual summer assistive technology learning camps were offered during the summer of 2024, including assistive technology and literacy, studying and test taking skills, high school transitions and social coding and robotics.

As well, August transition supports were offered to NNDSB students with special education needs during the last two weeks of the month prior to the start of school. Transition visits were planned and coordinated wherein individual students and groups of students were welcomed into our elementary and secondary schools. Staff provided school tours and program overviews. They joined together for both formal and informal transition meetings to support and facilitate successful entry to school for students with special education needs/considerations.

Staffing supports included school administrators, teachers, early childhood educators, educational assistants and support staff. At each participating school, individual school program offerings were determined, and transition activities were planned in response to individual student needs.

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The next meeting of the Board will be held Tuesday, Oct. 8 at 6:30 p.m. The meeting is open to the public and you are welcome to attend in person or join via Zoom. The link and login information can be found at the top of the Board and committee meetings page.

Information about the Board, committees and their meetings can be found here.

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In addition to staying informed via the board’s website, families can find NNDSB on Facebook and Instagram.

Sincerely,

Near North District School Board

Monday, Sept. 30, 2024

To Near North District School Board families, staff, and community partners,

Today is National Truth and Reconciliation Day – recognized across the country as a day on which Canadians pause, acknowledge and reflect upon the truths of the history of settlement. European-based history, while praising the efforts of the settlers that came to this land, overlooked the incalculable toll that settlement took on the Indigenous Peoples of Turtle Island.

Among the injustices done to Indigenous Peoples was the implementation of the residential school system, which took children from their homes to attend schools far from home. Thousands of those children never returned, and tens of thousands more were never the same. The generational trauma caused by residential schools continues to this day.

We wear orange today in honour of the survivors and lost children, and to bring further awareness to the history and legacies of the residential school system.

The Honourable Justice Murray Sinclair, who chaired the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, stated that “Education got us into this mess and education will get us out of it.”

Near North District School Board is committed to ensuring that the board, its schools, and staff are actively engaged in responding to the Truth and Reconciliation Calls to Action, specifically 62 and 63.

We are grateful for the partnerships of First Nations and community organizations that support Indigenous Peoples. Mino Bimaadiziwin – the concept of living a good life, and/or having a good mind – is central to the work that settler Canadians must continue. Together, we will continue to move forward in a good way.

The board supports all students, staff, and community members in learning about the truth and devastating legacy caused by residential schools. We wear our orange shirts to show our commitment to reconciliation and trust that our schools will provide education that is relevant and meaningful to their communities.

Sincerely,

Ashley St. Pierre
Chair of the Board

Craig Myles
Director of Education

Friday, May 3, 2024

Dear Parents and Guardians,

The monthly Letter to Families, distributed on the first Friday of the month, is intended to keep you apprised of news that affects all students and families of Near North District School Board (NNDSB).

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Today is the deadline to apply for NNDSB’s skilled trade bursary program. This program provides a $1,000 bursary to students who wish to pursue a post-secondary skilled trades pathway.

This bursary is open to candidates enrolled at an NNDSB secondary school, who are currently in Grades 11 or 12.

Click here for more information, selection criteria and to apply.

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If your family is moving over the summer months, you may be in a different school zone. Check your school zone here.

If you will be moving into a different school zone, we recommend contacting the new school in May to register your child for September. If bus transportation is required, make sure to also complete a transportation form, available from the school.

If you are moving over the summer but remaining in the same school zone, let your school know your new home address as soon as possible.  You will need to provide proof of address (new address) to confirm school zone eligibility. You may also need to complete a new transportation form, also available from your school.

Advising your school of an address or school change prior to the end of this school year helps ensure that your child has bus transportation in place for the first day of school.

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The school climate survey, which is mandated to take place every two years, is open until May 17.

The links to each of the surveys can be found here. There are surveys for students in Grades 4-6, Grades 7-8, and Grades 9-12, and a separate survey for parents and guardians.

The survey is anonymous, and the information gathered will be used at the school and district level to set goals and measure progress towards creating accepting, safe, and inclusive learning environments.

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Virtual school update: Course selections for secondary remote learning have taken place. Students will be attached to home schools and students will have a variety of in-person and online courses.

Elementary students not currently enrolled in elementary virtual learning and looking to attend virtually must contact virtualschool@nearnorthschools.ca by June 7 to be considered for virtual learning.

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The Ministry of Education released the province’s education budget last week. The new funding model identifies key funding pillars which support students.

The Ministry has created a two-page document to provide families with an overview of how Ontario funds schools.

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The next meeting of the Special Education Advisory Committee (SEAC) will be held Thursday, May 23 from 1-3 p.m.

Here is the link to join the Zoom Meeting. The meeting ID: 837 4122 7806 and the passcode is 601612.

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The next meeting of the Board will be Tuesday, May 14 at 6:30 p.m. The meeting is open to the public and you are welcome to attend in person or join via Zoom. Here is the link to the meeting. The meeting ID is 899 1167 8742; the passcode is 859936 and the number for dial in is 1-855-703-8985.

If attending in person, please confirm attendance by contacting Maureen Egan at 705-472-8170 ext. 5028 or maureen.egan@nearnorthschools.ca.

Information about the Board, committees and their meetings can be found here.

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In addition to staying informed via the board’s website, families can find NNDSB on Facebook and Instagram.

Sincerely,

Near North District School Board