Northern Lights Public Schools is starting to welcome new preschool and Kindergarten students to start their education journeys.
The early learning registration opens up on April 1 with elementary schools hosting in-person open houses for students on Friday, May 13.
More opportunities to learn about early learning programming will be coming in the upcoming weeks.
Board Chair Karen Packard says they are looking forward to being able to welcome families into schools this year.
“We want all of our new students to get to know their new school and feel excited about attending in the fall.”
The fees for preschool are being reduced for the 2022-2023 year as the programs are eligible to receive Federal Affordability Funding. Families with an income of $180,000 or less are also eligible for the Alberta Child Care Subsidy.
“We know that cost has been a barrier for many families who want to enroll children in preschool,” said Packard. “This will help make preschool more affordable and provide more students with the opportunity to benefit from preschool programming.”
Northern Lights offers several early learning programs for children aged 2 years and 8 months to 6 years old:
- Through the Little Lights program, NLPS can access Program Unit Funding (PUF) for children as young as 2 years and 8 months who are identified as having developmental delays or disabilities. This can be used to provide services such as speech-language and occupational therapy.
- Care to Learn Preschool is a provincially-licensed preschool program operating in nine NLPS elementary schools. A variety of three-hour programs are offered at the nine locations, as well as full-day preschool programs at Duclos School in Bonnyville and Ecole Plamondon School. These programs will have reduced fees for 2022-2023, as the programs are eligible for the Federal Affordability Funding. Families with a household income of $180,000 or less can also apply for the Alberta Child Care Subsidy.
- All Northern Lights elementary schools offer a full-day Kindergarten program five days a week. The Kindergarten curriculum is taught by a certified teacher and follows Alberta Education’s Program of Studies. The Extension program is provided by our Extension Educational Assistants (EA’s).
How to register
NLPS offers online registration for both the kindergarten and preschool programs. Instructions for Preschool Registration and Kindergarten Registration can be found following the links.
- Existing Care to Learn Preschool Students
Parents of current preschool students will receive an email informing them that the 2022-2023 Preschool and Kindergarten Re-Enrolment Form has been assigned to them in School Engage. They will be able to login to the PowerSchool Parent Portal to re-enroll their child in preschool or register them in Kindergarten. - New Preschool Students
Registration will open for new preschool students on April 1, 2022.- Families who are new to Northern Lights (no other children currently enrolled in our schools), can register by filling out the 2022-2023 Preschool Registration form in School Engage.
- Families with other children already enrolled in a Northern Lights school, can register their new preschool student by logging into their PowerSchool Parent Portal account and clicking on School Engage in the bottom left-hand corner of the screen to access the 2022-2023 Preschool Registration form.
- New Kindergarten Students
Registration will open for new Kindergarten students on April 1, 2022.- Families who are new to Northern Lights (no other children currently enrolled in our schools), can register by filling out the 2022-2023 K-12 Registration Form in School Engage. This form can also be used to register new students in grades 1-12.
- Families with other children currently enrolled in a Northern Lights school, can register their new kindergarten student by logging into their PowerSchool Parent Portal account and clicking on School Engage in the bottom left-hand corner of the screen to access the 2022-2023 K-12 Registration Form.
Preschool or Kindergarten?
Not sure if you should register your child for preschool or if they are eligible to attend Kindergarten instead?
- The age of entry for Kindergarten is 5 years of age by December 31 of the school year you are enrolling in. So to start Kindergarten in September 2022, students will need to be 5 years of age by December 31, 2022.
- To confirm when your child will be eligible for Kindergarten, please check out our Kindergarten eligibility calculator on our Kindergarten Registration page.