MARK YOUR CALENDARS! We're excited to announce that Northern Light School will be marching again in this year's Black Joy Parade!

The Black Joy Parade is a hyper-positive, inclusive non-profit that celebrates the Black experience and community's contribution to history and culture with its signature parade and celebration, partnerships, and events.

The Black Joy Parade will be taking place on Sunday, February 25th in Oakland. We're hoping to get as many families out there as possible showing our NLS spirit, repping Northern Light School! We're planning to have a banner, hand out some NLS swag, and have a great time walking the parade route. Everyone is encouraged to come out for this super fun family event!

If you are interested in marching in the parade with Northern Light School, we're asking that you please register so we can communicate out a meet up time and participation details as the event draws closer.

Here are some pics from last year's parade. Yes, it was a little wet and cold but that didn't stop us from having a great time!

Music helps the body and the mind work together. The science known as “Active Music Play” benefits children in many ways. Here are a few:

1. Exposure to music strengthens the corpus callosum, the tissue that connects the two hemispheres of the brain. With that connection strengthened, a child will be better equipped to regulate their mood, emotions, and behavior.

2. Dancing and movement to music helps children build motor skills while allowing them to practice self-expression.

3. Music helps strengthen memory skills, sound recognition, and word meaning. Some examples of “active music play” in our NLS elementary music classes are:

• Singing “Jingle Bells” and keeping time with jingle shakers on an imaginary sleigh.
• Marching to the beat and singing “Siyahamba” while alternately dancing and singing with crepe paper streamer flags.
• Performing the ASL (American Sign Language) manual gestures for the lyrics of “Te Aroha” and “Peace Like a River” while singing the song.
• Singing while clapping the backbeat and performing a set dance step or a self generated dance step.
• Playing a recorder, xylophone, boomwhacker, handbell, drum, or other percussion instrument, especially while reading music and tapping a foot to the beat and tempo of the music. 

The NLS Varsity Basketball team had their first game last week against Oakland Hebrew Day School and came back with a big 42-29 WIN! Congrats to the NLS Stars! Want to see them in action? Come check out an upcoming game!

Mark your calendar - It's going down! It's Prom Night, an Adult Prom with a modern twist. Our Prom party kicks off on 3/16 at the beautiful Oakland Scottish Rite Center. Come relive your prom night or get a second chance at a great experience. This is going to be epic!

This is a ticket-only event, get your tickets today online or pay at the front office (we accept cash, checks, and credit card)! In addition, we are selling raffle tickets! Purchase a ticket to be entered into our raffle. We have some amazing prizes up for grabs, and every ticket sale goes directly toward NLS! 

We are excited to announce our STEAMposium to all science classes this week! The entire school (elementary and middle school classes) will have projects to share at the showcase on February 7, 2024. In Kindergarten - 5th grades, we will be completing class projects in our science and homeroom classes. HOWEVER, if your child is interested in completing their own project (individually or with a partner), all the information is provided for what they will need to complete a project outside of class. This is a great opportunity for students to share their interests with the NLS community!

If your child turns in a STEAM Project Background Form by 12/13/2023, they will be provided with a printed template for each section of their project, and a display board to showcase their work. Students will not have time to work on these projects in class, so everything will need to be completed at home, and turned in by February 5, 2024. 

Even if your child chooses not to complete a STEAM project at home, they will still have a class project to showcase, so we hope to see everyone after school on February 7, 2024! 

See below for STEAMposium project resources at each grade level. Questions? Please reach out to Ms. Lindsey!

We are very excited to announce that Northern Light School will be hosting Steve & Kate's Camp on our campus during February Break, Spring Break, and Summer Break! Steve & Kate's camp is open for students 4 years old and up. They have numerous exciting daily activities, an unused days reimbursement program, and provide all lunch and snacks! See below for more info and for camp registration links!

About Steve & Kate's Camp: We believe life’s most valuable lessons come from self-exploration. That’s why we built our camp around self-directed learning. Every time a kid makes their own choice, they gain confidence. And every time they make a mistake, they gain knowledge. With a lot of freedom and a little guidance, our unique approach prepares kids to navigate real life. After all, we think children deserve the world–plus the self-assurance necessary to make the most of it. We’re determined to give it to them. We allow campers to choose from a variety of activities including, sewing, stop-motion animation, music, sports & recreation, makers crafts, bread making, and more. Campers decide what they want to do, and for how long. Our job is to get out of their way, cheerlead creative risks, and provide just enough guidance to make sure nobody does anything totally* asinine.

*Totally asinine: By our definition, mistakes aren’t asinine. They’re how you learn.

We are excited to announce that Northern Light School has chosen Clarity as our new tuition assistance application system. Our goal is to make the tuition assistance application process as easy as possible for your family. 

You will find that Clarity offers a streamlined and user-friendly tuition assistance application process that can take as few as twenty minutes to complete. It is mobile-friendly, so you can complete your application on your phone or tablet! Furthermore, your 1040 and W2 documents from 2022 will be automatically transferred from the IRS when you complete the verification step, so you will no longer need to upload those documents manually. These are just a few ways in which Clarity enhances the tuition assistance application process.   

We know that you may have questions about this change and how it will impact your family. We welcome you to reach out to us with any questions or concerns. We also invite you to review the FAQs attached below to learn more about Clarity!

The FTC is always looking for volunteers to help lead and execute our programs. Find out more about volunteer opportunities by filling out the interest form. 

While the entire NLS community is part of the FTC, support our programs by becoming a paid member. Dues are $21 per adult for 2023-2024.

Find out the latest information on upcoming events and FTC business.

Using a partnership model, Northern Light School asks that each family participate in volunteer hours. Each family is required to volunteer a minimum of 30 hours during the 2023-2024 school year. For families that do not satisfy their volunteer requirement by the end of the 2023-2024 school year, they will be billed $10 for each hour remaining. [For example, if they serve 25 hours, they will be billed $50. That is, 5 hours x $10 per hour for the remaining 5 volunteer hours.]

Parent engagement and participation is crucial to the health of our school community and we thank you for your time and support!

We will keep families up to date on upcoming volunteer opportunities. In the meantime, the best place to check is with your child's homeroom teacher. Teachers will also send out opportunities as they come up. Some current volunteer examples and opportunities are:

Attending FTC Meetings



Flag Football Coach

Preschool Garden Support - weeding, clean up)

Preschool Playground - wood chip maintenance

Driving on Field Trips

Room Parent

Dance Chaperone

Supply Donation ($10 = 1 hour)

Development Event Volunteer

Lunch Duty

Yard Duty

If your child will not be attending school or will be dropped off late/picked up early, please contact the Front Office 510-957-0570 to report your tardy/absence. You can also send a message to Molly Harrington via Parent Square or you can email her directly at mharrington@nlsoakland.com.  

If you know you will be out far in advance or for a longer period of time, please also communicate with your child's classroom teacher for any missed assignments or independent work.

Northern Light School has a No Peanut Policy. The School recognizes that food allergies represent a health and safety hazard, which can have serious consequences. for those who have such an allergy. Peanuts are the most common allergy amongst school-aged children. In order to foster an inclusive and safe environment for everyone, the school prohibits the use, serving, or selling of peanuts, peanut butter, or any peanut product by students, staff members, visitors, or guests.

Safety is a community effort and we thank you for doing your part in keeping our community safe!