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
