The March Band Schedule has been updated.

On March 2, 2022, during the Provincial Government’s COVID-19 update, the Chief Medical Officer of Health indicated that masking in K-12 schools will continue until at least Thursday, April 14, 2022, which brings us up to the Easter Break.

A further announcement will be made prior to the return of classes on April 25, 2022.

The District is committed to following the medical advice and guidance of Public Health experts regarding COVID-19 protocols in an effort to reduce transmission within the school environment, including on school buses. As such, masking in schools and on buses remains in place.

Masking requirements for schools are also outlined on the Provincial Government COVID-19 website at: Masks – COVID-19.

Meanwhile, moving forward, we will continue to follow the guidelines as outlined in The 2022 Public Health Guidance for K-12 Schools, including, but not limited to:

• cohorting to the degree possible;
• maintaining physical distancing to the degree possible;
• avoiding large gatherings/assemblies at the K-6 level;
• limiting visitors to school during the school day, and
• continuing to utilize the daily school screening questionnaire.

We recognize that many of our students, staff and families are anxious to return to pre-Covid school operations. The District looks forward to that day as well, and we hope to announce a lifting of these restrictions in the near future.

We thank you in advance for your continued cooperation and support.

To download a copy of this memo, please click here.

The provincial government has launched the annual school development surveys of students, parents/guardians, and staff. The data from these surveys will be used by our school to create our school development plan. Please complete the family survey by Friday, March 25th so we have representation from all of our families. A memo and email has been sent out with more information, and you can find the survey by clicking here.

If you do not have internet access, please contact the school.

To: Parents/ Guardians of Grade 9 Students

Re: Farewell Carnival

This year, MDJH will be hosting its Carnival on May 26, 2022, from 6:30 – 9:00 PM. Both the Student Council and School Council have endorsed this event. This marks the first time in 2 years that we have been able to come together as a graduating class. All grade 9 students are invited to attend as it will be one of the last times to come together as the senior class of MDJH. The City of St. John’s Youth and Recreation Group will be helping to organize the occasion. Some of the events that have been planned include:

• Bazooka Ball Zombie shootout *NEW*
• Large Games
• Red Planet Adventure
• Clue Orienteering
• BBQ
• Memorial Banner
• Wii Sports & Just Dance
• Karaoke
• Smoothies & Candy Shop
• Photo Booth
• Video Games Room
• Escape Room “NEW”
• Thrill Hill 3 Lane Slide *NEW*
• Magician *NEW*

As each student completes an event, their card will be hole-punched and their names will be entered for a prize. To keep costs at a minimum, we will be looking for the donation of small prizes. If you would like to donate an item, feel free to drop it off at the office. Items that have been donated have include:

• gift certificates
• movie passes
• basketballs
• caps
• and many more!

We will also be looking for parents/guardians to make mini cupcakes in batches of 50.

The food items include:

• barbequed hot dogs
• popcorn
• fruit smoothies

Dress for this event is casual: shorts, t-shirts and sneakers. To help offset the costs, we are asking that each student bring in $20.00. If there are any concerns please let the office know.

Yes, my son/ daughter _____________________ will be attending the Carnival on Thursday, May 26, 2022.

Homeroom: _____________

Parent Signature: ____________________________Date: __________________

To: Parents/ Guardians of Grade 8 Students

MDJH will be holding their Carnival on Thursday May 26, 2022 from 6:30 – 9:00 PM. This marks the first time in 2 years that we have been able to come together as a graduating class. All grade 9 students will be attending as it will be one of the last times to come together as the senior class of MDJH. The City of St. John’s Youth and Recreation Group are helping to organize the event. Some of the events that have been planned include:

• Thrill Hill Slide *NEW*
• Red Planet Adventure
• Large Games
• Bazooka Ball Zombie
• Escape Game *NEW*
• Clue Orienteering
• Fortune Teller
• Hoop Zone
• Smoothies
• Memorial Banner
• Karaoke
• Wii Sports & Just Dance
• Candy Tables

We are currently looking for Parent Volunteers to help supervise this event. In anticipation of your son/ daughters participation next year, we thought it would be fitting for grade 8 parents to participate. If you are able to volunteer for this event please contact your son/daughter’s Homeroom teacher to let them know!

If there are any concerns, please let the office know.

Every year, MDJH celebrates the students with a yearbook that is put together by the student yearbook committee that is headed up by Mme. Quann. If you are interested in ordering the 2021-2022 yearbook, you can do that on-line. Go to ybpay.lifetouch.ca and use the code 11573722.

Happy Friday!

We would like to share some items with you:

• Respect in the community
  • Owners of local restaurants and other businesses close to the school have been reporting that some of our students are using inappropriate language and being disrespectful towards their employees and other members in the community. Please speak to your child about their behaviour when visiting these places. We have advised the vendors to contact the RNC when they are concerned about safety.
• Crosswalks
  • Please remind your child to use the crosswalks during lunch, especially while crossing Macdonald Drive.
• Help for Ukraine
  • We would like to thank everyone who donated money to Ukraine. We have collected a donation of $1000 for the Red Cross!
• Report cards
  • PowerSchool is a great place to access the most up-to-date grades and comments for students. Therefore, we will not be sending home paper copies of report cards for this term. OPTIS will be open on March 18, at 2:30 pm to book a virtual or telephone Parent Teacher Conference. If you need help accessing PowerSchool, please contact the school at macdonalddrivejrh@nlesd.ca.
• PMF Family Survey
  • Thank you to all of those that have completed the survey. To date, 21% of our families have completed the survey. If you have not already done so, please complete the survey by March 25, by clicking on the following link: https://www.research.net/r/SDFAMILY2122EN. This data is very important to our school.
• Mask Wearing
  • As you may have heard, mask wearing is mandatory in schools until at least Easter break. We will keep you posted if there are any changes to this directive from Public Health.
• New Staff Welcome
  • We would like to welcome Ms. Kerri Bungay and Ms. Mina Perham to our school. Ms. Bungay has been hired for the remainder of the school year to replace Ms. Laura Clemens-Brenton, and Ms. Perham will be replacing Ms. Andrea Tilley.

Thank you for your continued support and have a wonderful weekend!

A letter is going home with students on behalf of Memorial University. It is concerning a research study on Executive Functioning and Math Ability. Parents who are interested in finding out more information can refer to the letter, or download a PDF copy by clicking here.

The next math league practice will be Monday, March 28th in Ms. Kennedys room (207) at the beginning of lunch. This practice is mandatory if you intend on competing in the competition after school on Tuesday.

The next Math League Competition will take place on Tuesday, March 29th at 3:30 PM NST. The Competition will take place at the school with teams joining via Google Meet. These games will be open to all schools provincially and be hosted by Memorial University. These games usually take 2 – 2.5 hours to run including a short break.

All practices in the gym for this afternoon and tonight (Friday, March 4th) have been cancelled.