North Hills School District transitioning to online back-to-school forms

The first day of school for the 2023-24 school year for North Hills students in grades 1-12 is Aug. 23.

Kindergarten students will have orientation on Aug. 23 or Aug. 24 before their first full day of school on Aug. 25.

The district said classroom and teacher assignments and student schedules will be released through PowerSchool, the district’s online student information system, in mid-­August. Families will be notified via email once the information is available.

New for 2023-24, all back-to-school forms for returning students are online. Parents/guardians have to log into their PowerSchool account to complete the forms before their students can receive their schedules. Forms include student information such as emergency contacts, health and medical information, and annual permissions and agreements.

“We are excited to have fully transitioned to online forms,” district director of communications Heather Pelat said. “Putting all of our back-to-school paperwork and annual agreements into one location online has been in the works for some time, and we hope our families find this new process simple and less cumbersome.”

North Hills will be using a new point-of-sale computerized debit system beginning this fall. The new system’s features include an app to make payments and manage student accounts as well as a meal-building feature with transparent nutrition information. Additional details will be shared with families later this summer, the district said. Breakfast will be $1.50, and lunch is $2.50.

Financial assistance is available to families in need. Students eligible for free or reduced meals will receive both breakfast and lunch at no cost this school year.

The North Hills Athletic Department has partnered with HomeTown Ticketing for cashless ticketing beginning this fall. Tickets to all home athletic events now have to be purchased online, the district said. There will no longer be an option to use cash for admission at any athletic event.

Student passes and all-sport Flex Passes will go on sale on Aug. 17. Individual single-game tickets to fall sports will go on sale on Aug. 21.

“We are really encouraging our fans to take advantage of the all-sport Flex Pass,” athletic director Pat Weber said. “Passes can be purchased and loaded with five, 15 and 25 tickets or ‘scans’ that can be used at any home, regular season athletic event throughout the school year. There is no online service fee and the cost per ticket is less when more scans are purchased.”