Buddies & Mentors
Buddies
At NPS, we believe that our students nurture and teach one another. To that end, in the beginning of the school year, Third Graders are paired with Pre-Kindergarten students as "Buddies," and those pairings remain intact until the older child graduates in Sixth Grade. This special relationship nurtures both younger and older children throughout their years at NPS. The older students benefit from serving as leaders and role models as the younger students relish the attention and guidance from their older buddies.
Buddies spend time together on a regular basis. They sit together at all-school assemblies, and they jointly participate in community service and other special projects throughout the year. When Sixth Graders near graduation, a special assembly celebrates these friendships. The Second Graders present their Sixth Grade Buddies with gifts: NPS ties for the boys and silver pendants for the girls. When these younger buddies move into Third Grade, they become older buddies for an incoming class of Pre-Kindergarten children.
I love my big buddy because when I see him at recess, I ask him to play football with me and he always does!
Mentors
The mentor program allows teachers and staff to become a trusted counselor and advocate to students in the Fourth Grade. As Fourth Graders, they are faced with increased expectations and responsibilities. Mentoring helps children manage the rigors of academic work, as well as the more complex social issues they have begun to encounter. Typically, the relationships students and mentors build provide support beyond the Fourth Grade year.
Small groups of two or three students are invited to have lunch with their mentor every two weeks throughout the school year. Mentors are also available to meet individually with students if the need arises.
