WEEK AT A GLANCE
MON. NOV. 22 – Healthy Hunger: Splumbo’s (Richmond Campus); Edo (Currie Campus)
WED. NOV. 24 @ 4-8pm – Checkpoint Meetings
THURS. NOV. 25 @ 8am-4pm – Checkpoint Meetings
FRI. NOV. 26 – Non-instructional Day; NO SCHOOL for students
CHECKPOINT MEETINGS
WED. Nov. 24 @ 4pm-8pm & THURS. Nov. 25 @ 8am-4pm
In preparation for the checkpoint meetings on Wednesday, November 24 and Thursday, November 25, we have generated a progress report for each student at North Point. The summary of current progress will be given to the students at the end of the day on Friday. Please be on the lookout for these reports, so you can review them and bring them to your child’s meeting.
Please ensure that the student attends their meeting, so we can brainstorm necessary strategies that the student will engage with. We look forward to seeing you next week.
Meetings can be booked on the Conference Manager by SchoolSoft until noon on November 24. If your student is in Kindergarten through Grade 8, you will book a 20-minute meeting with the mentor teacher or teaching team. Grades 9-12 will book 40-minute time-slots during which all three High School teachers will be available. Mr. Humeniuk will be available for families to drop-in to meet with. If you prefer to do your interview over Zoom, please let the mentor teacher know and they will send you a link ahead of time. Please direct any questions regarding booking a meeting to Dorothy at dreimer@northpoint.school. All other inquiries should be sent to Mr. McClelland at bmcclelland@northpoint.school.
NORTH POINT GIVES BACK
Altruistic Action Friday – December 3rd
Each year around the Christmas season it has been a North Point tradition to try and positively impact the community around us through various good deeds. This year we are planning the following giving options and service opportunities:
- Whole School – Families are encouraged to send in a backpack for a child that we will donate to Stephen’s Backpacks. Here is a link of what can be included in a backpack and/or a Food Donation to be delivered to the Calgary Food Bank and/or various organizations that provide food to families in need. Please try and have any donations in by December 14th so we can deliver them before we leave for xmas break.
- K-2 Class – Ms. Jenn’s class will be coordinating our Food Bank donations as well as a special gift box activity within their classroom.
- Grades 3-5 – Ms. Glowa and Ms. Bjornson’s boys will be spreading cheer throughout our neighbourhood with our annual Candy Cane Walk. Boys leave Candy Canes with NP best wishes in mailboxes and on doorsteps.
- Grade 6 – Annually the Grade 6 cohort supports giving to the Children’s Cottage. They will again be collecting gifts/donations and then delivering them.
- Grades 7-8 – In addition to spearheading the delivery of filled backpacks to Stephen’s Backpacks, the Grade 7-8’s will spend two hours at the Magic of Christmas Warehouse picking gifts for families and setting up packages for delivery.
- Grade 9 – Our Grade 9 boys will undertake a neighbourhood shovelling and clean-up project. They will be walking through our surrounding neighbourhoods helping to make our community a better and safer place to be.
- Grades 10-12 – Our oldest boys will have a unique opportunity to help sort and organize all the donations that have been dropped off at the Mustard Seed and prepare the items for distribution at the Foothills Shelter’s clothing & hygiene rooms. We’ve done this in the past and will continue the tradition this year.
NP TRADITION
Ornament Ceremony
On Friday, December 3rd we will invite all of our students, who are new to the school this year, to be recognized and place their ornament on one of our NP Christmas Trees. We have done this every year since we started the school and we will expand the tradition to both of our campuses this year.
Boys, new to NP this year, are encouraged to bring in an ornament that we can keep at the school forever! They can start bringing their ornaments now, nice and early and teachers will collect and label them so that we are ready to go on the 3rd.
A DIFFERENT KIND OF CHRISTMAS PLAY…
How to Survive a Zombie Apocalypse
On Tuesday, December 14th, there will be two performances of the play that our Theatre Lunch Club has been hard at work on for the past several months. At 2:00 pm they will put on a show for the student body and at 6:00 pm parents and siblings are invited to enjoy the performance in the elementary/middle school gym.
DRESS CODE
Dress Code is an important part of our overall team culture here at North Point and is a mandatory requirement. If students do not have the appropriate dress code, we will do our best to provide an extra piece of clothing if available, or reach out to you directly to have some dropped off at school.
MESSAGE FROM THE HEAD – Fundraising
Our focus over the past 8 years has been developing a strong North Point model to help inspire boys to achieve and exceed their potential. We believe that we have developed a strong foundation for that model and are excited to be expanding to include a girls school and co-educational high school. Since our inception we have relied on the Pirie Foundation to provide the significant seed funding that has allowed us to create North Point, which to date has totaled approx 3.2MM. Like all private schools, and as a non-profit charitable organization, setting the right tuition together with a strong fund development plan goes hand in hand with continuing to offer best in class programming and opportunities for all of our families.
With the incredible success and parent support of last year’s Walkathon and our recent announcements regarding fundraising opportunities through our partnerships with Dunvegan Gardens and Master Chocolat, we wanted to put into perspective what our Fund Development plan will look like moving forward.
Financial Climate
We are fully aware that to some, the timing for North Point to be taking this expanded stance on external fund development likely couldn’t be worse! Our economy in the oil and gas industry, a key driver in Calgary, has taken an absolute pounding and the pandemic has pushed many people to the brink of financial hardship and beyond. However, we also know that people who can give, are giving at higher levels than ever before and we wanted you and your extended network to think about North Point as a potential home for those gifts. We’ve tried to tailor our annual internal fundraising activities to be useful in that you can substitute a Farmers Market box for what you might spend at the grocery store or take care of some gift shopping by purchasing world class chocolates through North Point. Mission appropriate activities like the Walkathon have struck a positive cord as well, with the boys getting out and being active while raising money for their school.
Private Schools
In the private school market, many of the larger schools will have, in addition to tuition, a ‘one-time’ membership fee upon acceptance, ongoing yearly fees, or a bond program ranging from $650 – $10,000. In many ways, these types of fees can also be characterized as ‘mandatory giving’ programs. North Point has intentionally avoided adding on these mandatory additional fees. We know the commitment it takes to pay significant tuition and believe that giving to a charity should be optional and that an organization needs to prove itself worthy of receiving additional donor support and recognition.
Current Donors
In addition to the Pirie Foundation, to date we have received approximately $250,000 in donations. In 2017 were gifted an incredible $500,000 endowment by Randy and Marilyn Ward that helps support our Financial Aid program and also recognizes academic excellence through The Randy & Marilyn Ward Diversified Staff Scholarship recognizing the top academic students at junior and senior high annually.
We are now taking a more measured and focused approach to our overall fundraising efforts at North Point and would welcome the opportunity to speak further with you or anyone you know that would consider making North Point a charity of choice.
Fundraising Opportunities
This will focus on three specific areas:
Annual Giving
These funds will be used to enhance our experiential academic programs, and educational partnerships. Annual Giving contributions will be put towards the area of greatest need.
Fund a Future
North Point offers a need-based Financial Assistance Program. We understand that every family’s financial circumstances are different, especially when there are multiple school-aged children. Funds raised ensure that we can welcome all students who will benefit from our program, despite a family’s economic circumstance.
Capital Projects
North Point needs space for our students to grow. Funds raised for capital projects will ensure our requirements for facilities, transportation and technology keep up with our needs now and in the years to come.
Internal Fundraising
Internal fundraising activities to support school operations include:
Walkathon – An annual event in the spring where all of our students raise money through sponsorship to support their 13 km walk around the Glenmore Reservoir.
Chocolate Bars – Bernard Callebaut will produce North Point School Chocolate Bars at cost for students and staff to sell, with the proceeds going toward school programs.
Farmers Market Box Fundraiser – Through a partnership with Dunvegan Gardens, North Point will receive a portion of the proceeds from the sale of locally grown vegetables produced by Dunvegan Gardens and sold by North Point students and staff.
Harvest Dinner – North Point will host a fundraising dinner in the fall of each year beginning in the 2022/23 school year.
Casino – The Friends of North Point Society parent organization applies for a Casino license every 12-18 months.
DUNVEGAN GARDENS – Off to a Great Start!
Farmer’s Market Box Sales Scores: Total 12 Boxes
IMPORTANT NOTE: WHEN PLACING ORDERS ON THE DUNVEGAN WEBSITE, THERE IS A GENERIC “FARMERS MARKET BOX” OPTION THAT NEEDS TO BE CHANGED TO ONE OF OUR 4 NAVIGATOR SQUADS SO THAT NORTH POINT IS RECOGNIZED AND RECEIVES OUR FUNDS. FARMERS MARKET BOXES GET DELIVERED ON THURSDAYS.
Mountaineers – 4 orders
Aviators – 4 orders
Mariners – 3 orders
Astronauts – 1 orders
Link to Flyers
Please download these flyers to email or hand out to family and friends.
North Point Chocolate Fundraiser
Master Chocolat Bars by Master Chocolatier Bernard Callebaut
North Point is pleased to announce another amazing fundraising initiative. Through the generosity of the Callebaut family, North Point is able to gift or sell Master Chocolat chocolate bars to our families and friends at Christmas, Valentine’s Day, and Easter. Four flavour options include, Milk Chocolate, Milk Rice Crisp, Dark Chocolate (70%), and Dark with Pink Himalayan Salt. Our first major opportunity is for gift giving around this Christmas holiday season.
The process is simple – each family or staff member can place an order for chocolate bars no later than December 1st. Chocolate bars are $5 each. The bars will be delivered to the school by December 10th, and we will call on some of our enthusiastic parent volunteers to help us package them up so that they can be picked up or taken home by the boys for delivery to our supporters. Bars will be available for pick-up at the school by our parents during the week of December 14th.
There is no minimum or maximum order, as long as orders are submitted by December 1st. If you have submitted an initial order and need more (a great problem to have!), you will be able to make additional orders through the same same link until the end of day on December 1st.
Click on this link to submit your order. Payment is due to Dave Jackson in our business office, either via cheque, cash, or EFT to djackson@northpoint.school, before you pick-up your bars. There is no direct payment mechanism on the order form. We appreciate your support in purchasing and selling as many bars as you can!
CLICK ON THIS LINK FOR A PDF YOU CAN SEND TO YOUR FRIENDS, FAMILY, and CO-WORKERS. YOU WILL NEED TO ARRANGE PAYMENT WITH THEM DIRECTLY. THEY CAN PAY YOU OR ARE WELCOME TO MAKE CHEQUES PAYABLE TO NORTH POINT SCHOOL FOR BOYS.
Our initial goal is to try and raise $15,000 through this tasty holiday initiative to put towards the cost of items such as the new gaga ball turf, off-campus educational journeys, athletic team jerseys, digital cameras for photography, theatre lunch club supplies, assistive technology in the classroom, and more! Additionally, we will be donating 5% of our proceeds to our sister school, Kuwala Girls School in Malawi, Africa, to help at-risk girls access an education that will change their lives.If you have any questions at all please feel free to contact Mr. Devost.
NAVIGATOR SQUAD POINTS
| MOUNTAINEERS ••• | AVIATORS ••• | MARINERS •••• | ASTRONAUTS |
| 362 | 215 | 408 | 388 |
Basketball season is upon us and boys are signing up for intramural and team programs. Stay tuned for more details soon!
