Students, Parents and Guardians:

The staff and administration of MDJH are very much looking forward to seeing all of our students next week and hope that you all had a great summer! The weather was certainly fantastic!  A special welcome to our new grade 7 students and those transitioning from other schools and districts. We are excited about getting back to our regular routines and MDJH traditions. The school calendar can be found: https://www.nlesd.ca/schools/schoolcalendar.jsp. Our school opens at 7:45 am and homeroom begins at 8:05 sharp!

On Wednesday, our new grade 7 students will start the day together in the school cafeteria where they will meet the administrative team along with their homeroom teachers. They will then transition to their homerooms with their designated teachers for period 1 and 2. Homeroom teachers will assist with schedules, lockers, locks, and a school tour. During periods 3, 4, and 5, students will follow day one of their schedules and meet their subject teachers for an orientation to class. This is different for our grade 7 students as they will travel classroom to classroom versus staying in the same class for their day as in Elementary school. We require all students to use locks that are supplied through MDJH. Personal locks are prohibited.

On Wednesday, Grade 8 and 9 students will go directly to their homerooms for the first 2 periods once verifying their room number to allow them to get sorted for the year. They will then proceed to their subject teachers for periods 3, 4, and 5. The administration team will call these classes to the cafeteria for opening meetings once our grade 7 students have been taken to their homerooms.

 Buses will commence their runs as scheduled by our District. Bus planner routes are online at www.nlesd.ca/schools/busing/ under the transportation portal. Questions regarding busing should be directed to our District transportation team as schools are not involved in transportation decision making. If you are dropping your child off at our student entrance, please ensure that you continue a continuous flow of traffic along the outside lane by the concrete barrier. The inside lane is for our buses only! Please refrain from blocking that entrance. We request that you stay to the right and close to the right side of the barrier laneway. We will be out to assist with this in any case! 

The first full day of classes will be Thursday, September 8th, 2022 and it will be Day 2 of our 7 day rotating class schedule. September 29th, 2022 will be picture day. Pictures will be taken by Pegasus this year. Students will be called by classes throughout the day to get their school photos taken. If a student is absent, Pegasus will return to do a retake session that will be scheduled at a later date.

School is closed September 30th for Truth and Reconciliation Day. We will wear orange shirts on Sept. 28th, 2022 to recognize this event (the 29th of September is picture day!)  

Regular cafeteria service will begin by Chartwells on September 12, 2022. Students may eat in the cafeteria once again as well. Details are found under the school information tab on our website. They may also choose to leave the building however, they must return to school by 12 noon to begin getting ready for the afternoon session. Lates are recorded and three lates warrant a detention. 

The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador is continuing to provide resources and information to the public through its Covid 19 Information Website. 

https://www.gov.nl.ca/covid-19/

https://www.gov.nl.ca/releases/2022/education/0818n02/

Finally, it is our District policy to advise the public when video surveillance is used in schools. Our school uses video surveillance in many of the public spaces in our school such as hallways, exits, and entrances. Video surveillance is intended to complement other forms of monitoring and promotion of secure and safe environments for our students and staff. On that note, Grade 7 students will be receiving their Acceptable Use of Technology forms in the near future for completion. Our grade 8 and 9 students already have theirs on file and therefore, will not need re- documentation unless the student is new to our school. Cell phones are also to be placed in our cell phone hotels located in each classroom of our school while instruction is taking place. 

We are delighted to be back to regular operations at MDJH. Our first newsletter will be available on September 9th, 2022. We will post monthly on our website. It is here that you will view many important information points as we set up for an awesome year ahead! Please stay tuned! 

Have a great long weekend Grizzlies! 

Click here if you would like to download a copy of this letter.