Gonzaga Memo to Families

A huge shout out to the Gonzaga Vikings Hockey Team. They made a $785 contribution to Peace and Justice, who in turn will distribute gift cards to families to alleviate some of the financial stresses that occur during the holidays. This amount was combined with donations made by the students and staff at Gonzaga. Thank you to all.

Thank you to all those who participated in the engagement survey. The consultation received robust engagement and feedback from over 13,000 participants, of which over 40 per cent were students, as well as the Newfoundland and Labrador Teachers’ Association and other key educational partners.

A new NLSchools Responsible Student Use of Personal Electronic Devices Policy will come into effect when students return from holiday break on January 6, 2025. The policy aims to reduce the impact of inappropriate personal electronic device usage, such as cell phones, on learning.

Under the policy:

• Students in grades K-6 are encouraged not to bring personal electronic devices to school and will not have access to devices during school hours.

• Students in Grade 7 to Level 4 who bring a personal electronic device to school must switch it off and store it out of sight during instructional hours. Students can access their devices during recess and lunch breaks.

Individual exemptions to the policy may be provided for medical and educational reasons. The application for exemption form will be posted on the NLSchools website later today.

The policy is available on the NLSchools website here. To support fulsome understanding of the policy, a frequently asked questions document for students and parents/guardians is also available on the NLSchools website and is linked below.

Responsible Student Use of Personal Electronic Devices Policy

Frequently Asked Questions – Students, Parents and Guardians

All clothing orders have arrived and have been delivered to students this week. If there is an issue with your order, please contact Play It Again Sports. Any items that were not collected this week can be picked up at the office in the New Year.

Cafeteria service will resume on Monday, January 6, 2025.

Gonzaga’s Final Exams for Semester 1 will be taking place from Monday, January 20th, 2025 to Friday, January 24th, 2025. Given the fact that students have the option of rewriting their midterm, each exam could be 2.5 hours in duration. Therefore, regular classes will not continue during this time. However; any and all students are welcome to attend study hall in the LRC throughout the day. A detailed schedule with room locations for each subject will be provided after the holiday break. Any room disruptions will be posted on the classroom doors. The Final Exams schedule can be found here.

For students requiring accommodations, an individual schedule will be provided directly to them by a member of the Student Support Services team.

Semester 2 will begin on Monday, January 27th and it will be day 4 on the schedule.

Our Gonzaga Community is happy to note that the PUPS 2025 team is hard at work again this year. We are currently accepting gently used prom dresses, suits and shoes. We are also accepting prom-style jewelry and purses. The volunteer team has been working hard collecting, cleaning, repairing and organizing our current stock. Plans are underway for the first date and time for our for open house for all NL high schools students. If you have any items, please drop them off at the main office Gonzaga.

Please find the following opportunity from the Historic Sites Association for students in grades 7 to Level 3.

From June 27th to July 7th, 2025, the Historic Sites Association of NL and its

partners are taking 100 students from across Newfoundland and Labrador
on the trip of a lifetime. They’ll head to France and Belgium to participate in
a First World War battlefield tour, visiting significant sites where the Royal
Newfoundland Regiment fought. AND they’ll spend time in the five
communities that are home to the Newfoundland Regiment’s bronze caribou

monuments.

The deadline is January 26, 2025. If you have any questions, email atbrand@historicsites.ca or call 709-631-0464. For more information please see here.

We would like to thank you for your continued support and if you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact a member of the administrative team.

We wish you all a healthy & happy holiday season,

Andrew, Gillian & Peter