Nisga'a Elementary Secondary School (NESS) is a public

K-12 school K-1 is a professional kickboxing promotion established in 1993 by karateka Kazuyoshi Ishii. Originally under the ownership of the Fighting and Entertainment Group (FEG), K-1 was considered to be the largest Kickboxing organization in the world ...

in Gitlaxt'aamiks, British Columbia, Canada. NESS is operated by

School District 92 Nisga'a School District 92 Nisga'a is a school district in British Columbia, Canada. Situated in the Nass River valley it covers the First Nations in Canada, First Nations area of the Nisga'a people north of Terrace, British Columbia, Terrace. This inclu ...

. It is the elementary school for Gitlaxt'aamiks as well as the designated secondary school for the area of the

Nisga'a The Nisga’a (; ), formerly spelled Nishga or Niska, are an Indigenous people in British Columbia, Canada. They reside in the Nass River valley of northwestern British Columbia. The origin of the term ''Niska'' is uncertain. The spelling ' ...

people in the

Nass Valley The Nass River is a river in northern British Columbia, Canada. It flows from the Coast Mountains southwest to Nass Bay, a sidewater of Portland Inlet, which connects to the North Pacific Ocean via the Dixon Entrance. Nass Bay joins Portland Inl ...

, including the communities of Gitlaxt'aamiks (New Aiyansh), Gitwinksihlkw (Canyon City), Laxgalts'ap (Greenville), Gingolx (Kincolith), and surrounding settlements. Secondary grades-level students from outside of Gitlaxt'aamiks are bussed to the school each day. In 2010 ninety-eight percent (98%) of students in the district were

First Nations First nations are indigenous settlers or bands. First Nations, first nations, or first peoples may also refer to: Indigenous groups *List of Indigenous peoples *First Nations in Canada, Indigenous peoples of Canada who are neither Inuit nor Mé ...

, primarily Nisga’a and others from northwestern British Columbia. In 2010–2011, 36.4% were classified as English as a second language ( ESL) students. In addition to core academic and physical education subjects, NESS offers courses in

special education Special education (also known as special-needs education, aided education, alternative provision, exceptional student education, special ed., SDC, and SPED) is the practice of educating students in a way that accommodates their individual di ...

and in the Nisga'a language. Since 2002, a high percentage of students have not met the school district's academic targets. Missed targets are in key areas such as mathematics, language, and school completion. In the 2001–2011 academic years, 50.1% of NESS students graduated. To address these problems, the school district announced in June, 2012 a district-wide restructuring. This will see NESS transform from serving students in K-12 to serving K-6 and grade 9–12, grade 7-8 classes will move to Laxgalts’ap, and more classes will be single-grade.''School District 92 Sets a New Direction'', Nass Valley News, June 15, 2012
retrieved 2012-08-21.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Fraser Institute School Report Card 2010-11
High schools in British Columbia Nisga'a Educational institutions in Canada with year of establishment missing