DCJA Newsletter

At Donald C. Jamieson Academy, our staff and students are certainly having a fun-filled winter season! Please take some time to view our March Newsletter to see just how much fun and learning is taking place here, as well as to stay up to date on some exciting upcoming events!

Kindness Month takes place each February. It is a time dedicated to promoting acts of kindness and spreading positivity. Here at DCJA we use this month to encourage our school community to practice compassion, empathy, and generosity.

This year, the DCJA Acceptance Club, under the leadership of Ms. Amanda Broomfield & Ms. Melissa Herridge, challenged each class to complete 3 Acts of Kindness. These Acts of Kindness can be completed any time between now and the end of the school year. Our students have embraced this challenge with enthusiasm and are diligently working to spread kindness within both our school and the broader community. Below, you can see some of their impactful projects.

Please see this important memo regarding the Term 2 Reporting Period. In particular, please note these important dates:

• Monday, March 10, 2025: No classes for students to accommodate teachers taking part in Professional Learning.

• Tuesday, March 18, 2025 - Term 2 Report Cards released.

• Thursday, March 20, 2025 - Family Teacher Conferences. Students will be dismissed at 11:40 AM on this day.

There will be no school for staff and students on Monday, March 17, 2025 to accommodate a scheduled NLSCHOOLS holiday.

When students return to school on Tuesday, March 18, 2025, it will be Day 5 on the schedule.

**Further details regarding the Cultural Fair will be shared when they are available!**

Easter/Spring Break is scheduled from Thursday, April 17, 2025, through Monday, April 28, 2025.

Students will be dismissed at their regular time on Thursday, April 17, 2025. Classes will resume on Monday, April 28, 2025, and it will be Day 4 on the schedule.

To ensure a smooth and safe dismissal process, all early student pick-ups must be completed before 2:00 PM. After this time, the bus loading zone must remain clear for arriving and departing buses. Families arriving after 2:00 PM will not be permitted to pick up students early and must join the regular pick-up line to wait until dismissal at 2:30 PM.

For the safety of all of our staff, students & school community, this rule will be strictly enforced.

We appreciate your cooperation in following this policy to maintain safety and efficiency for all students.

School Development Surveys are conducted annually to collect feedback from students, staff, and parents/guardians. The results of these surveys will be shared with our school and used alongside other data to assess strengths and areas for improvement. Based on this analysis, our school will develop and implement a targeted plan to build upon successes and address identified challenges. Please be assured that all survey responses are anonymous, ensuring that individual responses cannot be linked to any participant.

The family surveys are now open and the deadline to complete the survey is Friday, April 4, 2025. The survey can be accessed here.

We encourage all families to participate so that we have the most accurate representation of family perceptions at our school. If 100 families complete this survey, our students will be treated to an ice cream sundae party!

In collaboration with the local RCMP Detachment, DCJA is inviting members of our school community to express interest in participating in a "Coffee with Cops: Building Community Connections" session.

This session would entail a casual and engaging conversation with local law enforcement officers in a welcoming and relaxed atmosphere. It would be an opportunity for families and community members to meet police officers, learn about their role in the community and discuss how they can work together to support student safety and well-being. Coffee/tea and a light snack would be provided.

If this is a session that you would be interested in, please let Ms. Baker know by emailing kristabaker1@nlschools.ca.