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Parent Newsletter
Important Upcoming Dates:
Grade 9 School Leaving: May 27th (details to follow)
Spring Concert: June 7th, 2016
Exams: June 15-17th
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MDJH
May 6th, 2016
Traffic Caution
Parents/Teachers are asked to take extra caution when driving around the building in the afternoons and on the weekends due to on-going construction.
Grade 7/8 Parent Volunteers for Grade 9 School
Leaving
We are still seeking Grade 7/8 parents to help out in the cafeteria during the Grade 9 School leaving Ceremony on May 27th 7:00 - 9:30 PM. Some set up/preparation required prior. Please contact the administration if you are interested in helping out.
Sarah Osmond: [email protected] or Craig Squires: [email protected]
Student Council
Help for Fort McMurray MDJH student council are asking for your help in our efforts to help the people of Fort McMurray. Given the devastation experienced by our fellow Canadians (many of whom are Newfoundlanders) in Al-berta, the student council would like to turn our efforts to raising money to give to the Red Cross for Fort McMurray. A goal we feel the school community can meet and perhaps exceed is $1500. We will have bake sales and a coin donation drive. If every student do-nated a $1 we would be almost halfway to $1500. If every student donated $2, we would be very close to the goal of $1500. We know this is attainable within our school. There will be bake sales and op-portunities to donate for each homeroom. Parents and students are asked to please support this worthy cause.
MAY 6,2016 P AGE 4
Student Council
Free the Children Congratulations to the members of student council who have been very involved in this cam-paign. Our school joined the Free the Children organization in order to fundraise for education in Ecuador. This initiative was student-led and our two main campaigns consisted of "We Create Change" (a coin / donation drive) and "We Bake For Change" (bake sales). Our goal was $500 for this school year and we raised $702. We hope to continue our efforts next year. Thanks to all students who supported our bake sales and who donated in their homerooms
Canadian Student Leadership Conference (CSLC 2016)
The national leadership conference for grade 9-12 students will be held in Edmunston, New
Brunswick from September 27th- October 1
st. This is a wonderful experience and provides op-
portunities for students to participate in leadership workshops and activities. Any current grade 8
student who would be interested in attending this conference should contact Ms. Quann for
more information. There are a limited number of spots available.
Yearbook
MDJH Team Pictures Needed
Thanks to everyone who has sent in pictures. We are still looking for pictures of many of our
teams. It would be much appreciated if a parent, coach, or student could pass along a picture by
emailing Ms. Quann at [email protected]. If you are emailing a picture taken from a cell
phone, please select actual size when you email as changing the size will alter the picture and
the quality of the picture will be poor so we will be unable to put it in the yearbook.
ALL MDJH STUDENTS are included in the yearbook. It is not a book for grade 9 students only. It is a nice keepsake for all junior high students that highlight school events and memories. Our yearbook includes all school events from September 2015- June 2016 and are delivered next fall.
Page 2 MAY 6, 2016
Band Notes—May 9th-13th, 2016
MAY 6,2016 P AGE 4
Very successful Rotary Music Festival for all the bands – Gold Standards were earned by all the bands. Congratulations!
NEXT:
MDJH Annual Spring Concert
BILLBOARD and BLOCKBUSTERS We will be performing music from the top of the charts and from the blockbuster
movies we love. Students are reminded that continued regular attendance is expected.
Jazz Band will practice Monday after school as usual Schedule for this week:
Mon. May 9 Tues. May 10 Wed. May
11
Thurs. May
12 Fri.May 13
Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Day 7 Day 1
1 Grade 7
Trombones
Baritones
Tenor Saxes
2 Grade 7 Trumpets Grade 7
Alto Saxes
3 Grade 8/9
Low Brass
Tenor, Bari Sax,
Bass Guitar
Grade 7
Percussion
4 Grade 7
Flutes Grade 8/9
FULL
BAND
Grade 7
FULL
BAND
5 Grade 8/9
Percussion
Grade 7
Clarinets
Grade 8/9
FULL
Congratulations to members of the MDJH volleyball program who have been selected to the NLVA Provincial Program this summer. Selected athletes will now be a part of the Provincial Training Excellence (PTE) Program and participate at the Eastern Canadian Volleyball Championships. Athletes in-clude: Laura Parsons, Kaitlyn House, Holly Dunn, Holly Clarke, Maddi Brown, Ashley Walsh, Christopher Pike, Graham King, Jordan Hepditch, Jaydon Collier, and Brandon Lilly.
St. John’s Athlete of the Month Congratulations to Camryn Bonia on being named as Athlete of the Month for April.
Camryn Bonia of the Pearlgate Track and Field Club in Mount Pearl won a gold medal in late February at the 2016 Hershey Canadian indoor track and field championship at the Claude - Robillard Sport Facility in Montreal.
Bonia, 13, was first in the 800 metres youth under16 event, stopping the clock in 2:19.32.
Please be advised that exams will begin on Wednesday, June 15th and will be completed on Fri-
day, June 17th. The schedule is posted on the website. Students will be writing exams in Scienc-
es, Mathematics and English Language Arts.
MDJH held its first community market on Saturday, May 7, 2016 at the Macdonald Drive Junior High gymnasium, just in time for Mother's Day. It was a tremendous success. Thank you to all those that helped organize the event and volunteered on Saturday.
All proceeds from the event will go towards the school's breakfast program and the enhancement of technology across the curriculum.
Volleyball News
Final Exams
MAY 6,2016 P AGE 4
Macdonald Drive Community Market
Intramurals
Grade Level Intramurals this month is vol-leyball. See schedule of games posted on the gym door. Games take place at lunch time in the Gym.
What’s Happening at MacDonald Drive Junior High
Activities/Clubs Time Teacher Sponsor Room
Chess Day 7 @ 12:10pm Ms. Kinsella /Ms. Parsons 205
Math Homework Haven Monday @ 2:30pm-3:30pm Math Department LRC
Knitting Tuesday @ 11:40 am-
12:33pm. Bring lunch.
Ms. Osmond/ Ms. Penney 227
Lego Robotics (Fall) Tuesday @ 2:30pm to
4:00pm
Mr. Smith Mr. Thorne
123
ROV (Spring) Tuesday @ 2:30pm to
4:00pm
Mr. Smith Mr. Thorne
123
LGBTQ Day 3 Ms. Brunet /Mr. Dyer 124
French Tutoring Tuesday @ 12:05pm 109A Ms. Glynn
Drama TBA 109A Ms. D. Mills
Art Club Day 3 in@ 11:50 Room 227
at lunch time 227 Ms. Penney
Arts and Letters TBA 215 Ms. E. Mills
Math League Wednesday @ 12:05pm 208 Ms. Doyle
Photography Wednesday @ 2:30pm 220 Ms. Quann /Mr. Wragg
Year Book TBA TBA Ms. Quann
LRC 12:05-12:33pm LRC Ms. Power
Student Council As needed 219 Ms. Quann
Intramurals TBA (on-going) except Wed. Gym Mr. Mercer
Recycling After School 108 Mr. Devine
Maker Technology Club Tuesdays@ 2:45-4:00 110A/119 Mr. Gillard// Ms. Murray
Page 5 MAY 6, 2016
Student Absences/Tardiness
If your child is absent from school for any reason, please contact the office via phone 709 753 8240 or email one of our school secretaries:
[email protected] / [email protected]
Your child’s homeroom teacher should be contacted via e-mail, prior to the start of the school day on the day of the absence or have your child bring a note ex-plaining the absence to his/her homeroom teacher when he/she returns. Attendance is very important for your child’s academic success. If he/she is out for an extended period of time due to illness, please contact your child’s teacher to get any missed work and check the homework site regularly. Students need to be in school by 8:20 AM at the latest to ensure they are ready for their morning classes. After lunch they need to be back in school by 12:33 PM to ensure they are ready for after-noon classes.
Bell Schedule
Doors open: 8:05 am.
Warning bell: 8:20 am (5 mins)
Homeroom: 8:25 am- 8:34 am
Period 1: 8:34 am– 9:30 am
Period 2: 9:30 am—10:26 am
Recess: 10:26 am—10:43 am
Warning Bell: 10:39 am (4 mins)
Period 3: 10:43 am– 11:39 am
Lunch: 11:39 a,- 12:33 pm
Warning Bell: 12:33 pm (5 mins)
Period 4: 12:38 pm– 1:34 pm
Period 5: 1:34 pm—2:30 pm
Allergy Alert
We have a number of students with life-threatening
allergies to various products. See the list below:
No nuts No Fish
No peanuts No Shellfish
No latex No perfume / cologne / sprays
Note: No soy products
Electronic Devices
Electronic devices (ipads, ipods, phones) are not permitted for use during instructional/classroom time unless under the direction of a teacher.and permission has been given to use the devise All phones should be turned off during class time and placed in the appropriate place as directed by the teacher. These devices are only permit-ted to be used in the morning prior to class starting,
during recess, lunch period, and after school.
If a student does not follow rules pertaining to elec-tronic devices in the classroom they will be sent to the office whereby home contact will be made. If the electronic device is not rendered the student in question will be sent home. As well, a student us-ing an electronic device during class time or at any other time throughout the day (hallways) during instructional time will have it confiscated and sub-mitted to the office. Repeat offenders will require parents to collect the item from the office. We are not responsible if these items are lost or stolen.
If you need to contact your child while he/she is in school, please call the school number at
709 753 8240
Page 6 MAY 6, 2016
Any student interested in going to France and Italy during Easter of 2017 should see Ms. Quann for information. Anyone wish-ing to sign up for this trip should register as soon as possible to avail of possible discounts. Email Colette Quann at [email protected] for de-tails.
Construction Update
Europe 2017 School Council
MAY 6, 2016 PA GE 7
There was a meeting of members of the school council on Monday, May 2nd, 2016. Department presentations were made to coun-
cil members.
Building renovations are ongoing . There will be no disruptions to our student learning environment as construction will be done af-ter school hours and during weekends. There will be changes to Individual teacher classrooms, to the same alternate classroom, while windows are being installed. Students will be given notice when this happens. This will minimize any disruptions as we move forward.
We do appreciate your continued patience and support while this project continues. Please feel free to contact the administration if you have any questions regarding construction.
Celebrating Student’s Successes We want to acknowledge and celebrate the accomplishments of the students of MDJH. We have a wall of celebration where we will place a certificate of acknowledgement highlighting par-ticipation and success in a variety of activities. We want to know if your child has participated in any plays, musicals or has been on a team that has won some title or has been recognized in any individual competition. We need your help with this. Please let us know so we can proudly display this on our wall. Please email [email protected] with Celebrate YOUR CHILD’S
Safety on School Grounds
It is very important that all students exercise caution on and around school grounds at all times. We have a lot of on-going construction around our building. Students need to use crosswalks, be aware of construction zones, act and behave accordingly when going off school property for lunch (parks and eating establish-ments), and refrain from using the MDE play-ground. We strongly encourage you to be alert and careful at all times. As well, to drivers, please adhere to speed limits in our school zone and be extra alert.
Student Drop Off / Pick Up
Stay to the left in a single line as you enter off Toronto Street.
Buses proceed to the right coming off To-ronto Street.
Student drop off area: Drivers are asked to proceed as far as possible to the stop sign on the left side of the cement divider before dropping your children off. Buses stay on the right side of the cement divider.
Please wait for the vehicles in front of you to drop off student(s) before moving forward (do not pull out and pass please).
Through traffic (vehicles going to MDE) stay to the left.
Ms. Osmond and/or Mr. Squires will be out (rain, snow or shine) each day to help direct traffic.
Note: Only staff and alternate transportation should travel around the building during peak times (morning and after school).
There is absolutely no turning right at the STOP sign by the student entrance. If you need to access the front of the school please go around the school. It is one way traffic.
Page 8 MAY 6, , 2016
Parents/Guardians,
The Newfoundland and Labrador English School District makes every effort to ensure the students of our province are provided with the safest educational experience possible and in doing so partners with local police forc-es for various safety-focused initiatives.
This memo is to advise you that throughout the month of April, the District will be partner-ing with the Royal Newfoundland Constabu-lary to focus on student transportation (busing) efforts on the Northeast Avalon. Police will be monitoring vehicle activity around school bus-es and will focus on traffic violations including (but not limited to): speeding; passing a school bus when the stop sign is deployed; distracted driving; and other offences under the Highway Traffic Act.
During this initiative it is possible that your child’s school bus may be closely monitored by a police officer and/or a police vehicle. If you should notice a police presence near your child’s bus, we urge you to not share via social media, as it may impact the ability of the RNC to get an accurate picture of typical school bus interaction with traffic.
Should you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact the school administration.
Thank you for your cooperation.
Yearbooks
You can now pre-order yearbooks for the 2015-2016 school year. They are availa-ble at a cost of $20. Order forms are available at the office or from Ms. Quann or Ms. Sauvé .
ALL MDJH STUDENTS are included in the yearbook. It is a nice keepsake for all junior high students that highlight school events and memories. Our yearbook includes all school events from September 2015- June 2016 and are delivered next fall.
Yearbook Photos
Many school groups and activities ongoing. An-yone having a team or group photo to submit to the yearbook can please email their photo to [email protected].
Photography Club
Next Photography Club meeting will be held Wednesday, May 11th. The photography club is interested in taking a variety of pictures of any groups or clubs at MDJH to use in this year's yearbook. All we need is some notice and a schedule. Please email Ms. Quann ([email protected]) or Mr. Trevor Wragg ([email protected]) to advise of practice times, events or games and we can arrange to have your group's picture taken.
MDJH Breakfast Program:
MDJH Breakfast Club continues to feed approxi-mately 300+ students daily. We would like to thank our grade 8 parents for their donations. We are still accepting donations of the following items:
-Granola bars (nut free)
-hot cereal
-jam
-Cheese strings
-apple juice tetra-pack
-orange juice tetra-pack
-Cheerios
-Honeycomb
-Corn Flakes
Monetary donations are always accepted at the school office.
Thank you for your continued support
Page 9 MAY 6TH, 2016
MDJH students did very well at this year's Regional Science fair. 13 projects received medals, Honourable mentions and special awards.
Physical Science
Honourable Mention - Intermediate
Marie Kelly 9-9 - The Effect of Speed and Temperature on Bernoulli's Principle
Bronze Medal - Junior
Nathan Young 8-5 - Est-ce que les Balles de Golf Plus Cher Vont Améliorer Ton Jeux de Golf?
Silver Medal - Junior
Madison Noseworthy 8-7 and Anastasia Ivanova 8-7 The "Sweet Spot" on a Baseball Bat: Batter Up.
Martha Snelgrove 8-5 and Daniel Gosse 8-5 - The Relation Between the Salinity of Ice and its Static Friction
Samuel Sheppard 7-6 and Maxwell Brown 7-6 - L'effet du sable sur la temps que sa prend la neige a fondre
Silver Medal - Intermediate
Andrew Ross 9-2 - Water Filters
Life Science
Honourable Mention - Junior
Jack Goldsworthy 7-3 - How Strong Do You Need Your Coffee?:The Effects of Caffeine on Plant Growth
Bronze Medal - Junior
Perros Mathioudakis 7-1 - Whiten and Brighten! Which Toothpaste Works Best?
Bronze Medal - Intermediate
Caroline Keats 9-9 and Jenna Evans 9-9 - Casseuse de bactèries
Silver Medal - Junior
Juliana Koen-Alonso 8-7 - Battle Against Cancer: The Effect of Ethanol on Cancerous and Noncancerous Breast Cells
Momin Anwar 7-3 - War on Bacteria/ Hand To Hand Combat
Silver Medal - Intermediate
Beth Hanrahan 9-7 - Are cats right pawed or left pawed?
Gold Medal - Junior
Aaron Sarkar 8-6 - la serre SMART: la lutte contre l"insecurite alimentaire dans les regions subarc-tique/arctique communautes autochtones
Special Awards
Memorial University Faculty of Engineering and Applied Sciences Award
Best project Process Engineering $200/project ($200 cash)
Andrew Ross 9-2 - Water Filters
Northeast Avalon Atlantic Coastal Action Plan Award
$50/project ($50 cash) Andrew Ross 9-2 - Water Filters
Page 10 MAY 6TH, 2016
YouNow: A Parent’s Worst Nightmare
There are a wide range of apps that connect teens to the outside world in today’s communication age. By just opening a social media app, your teen can connect to people all across the globe, but do they, or you, really know who is watching?
YouNow is a live streaming video chat app that allows anyone to film themselves via live video feed with their smartphone, tablet, or laptop camera. Signing up is simple, as you can login in just seconds with Facebook, Twitter, or Google. The problem with this is that teens can quickly sign up and host a web-show without a parent’s approval first. What starts out as small shows meant for friends from school turns into a large audience of unknown origin.
By using live streams, it becomes a way for teens to have a sleepover with thousands of people without eating all the food in the cupboard. The greatest concern here is why thousands of people want to hang out and watch your teen play truth or dare online with YouNow. Sharing pictures or videos that announce our location, our friends’ names or that reveal too much about ourselves can quickly turn into major mistakes.
Talking with teens about these subjects as a parent can be difficult at times. But it is important to have discussions in order to find out what is going on and determine if our children need addition-al guidance. Whether or not a child knows about a particular app such as YouNow is not as rele-vant as sending the message of being safe and responsible when using smartphones and tablets we have provided.
Make sure to check out every new app your child installs on a smartphone. Download it and try it
out and you will be able to come up with the right things to say to help keep them safe.
Smartphones, tablets and wireless Internet access may be simple to use, but they are not “grab
and go” toys. Smartphones are communications tools and parents must always be aware of how
they are being used.
Digital Awareness: What Every Parent Should Know
Page 11 MAY 6TH, 2016
Grade 9 students will complete their immunization needles this week. Many of the nine’s are done with the exception of a few student
TransKids NL:
A Study of the Support Needs of Transgender & Gender-Questioning
Youth and Families in Newfoundland & Labrador If you are: a parent/guardian of a transgender or gender-questioning child under 18 years of age; OR a youth between 12 and 17 years of age who identifies as transgender or gender-
questioning,
You are invited to participate in a survey about the health care and
Public Service Announcements
We’re on the web!
http://www.mdj.k12.nf.ca
PARENT NEWSLETTER
Macdonald Drive Junior High
110 Macdonald Drive
St. John’s NL
A1A 2K9
Phone: 709-753-8240
Fax: 709-753-1243
E-mail: [email protected]
Page 12 MAY 6, 2016
Eastern Health to Hold Information Sessions for Parents
Eastern Health advises the public that the Mental Health and Addictions Program will be holding information sessions for parents of children and adolescents who may be experi-encing mental health issues.
Sessions are scheduled as follows:
May 12, 2016 –Parenting in the 21st Century – 6:30 - 8:30 p.m.
Registration is required and additional details, including location, will be provided at that time. To register or for information, please call (709) 777- 4020.
Media contact:
Tracey Boland
Media Relations Manager
Eastern Health
T: (709) 777-1412
