Weekly Memo #21
February 8th, 2026
- Principal: David Baldwin
- Vice-Principal: Robert Leaman
- Vice-Principal: Kim Michelau-Jones
Monday, February 9th, is Day 3 on our SPJH Calendar
Day 3 & Staff Appreciation Week
- This week, from February 9th - 13th, we will be celebrating Staff Appreciation Week to honor educators' vital contributions to society, education, and community building.
- Teachers and staff at St. Peter’s Junior High dedicate countless hours to teaching, guiding, coaching, and planning activities throughout the year to ensure our students have a positive and meaningful Junior High experience. This is a wonderful opportunity to say thank you for all that St. Peter’s staff do for our students each day.
Has a teacher or staff member at SPJH made a positive difference in your child’s school experience? Staff Appreciation Week is the perfect time to say thank you.
The School Council is collecting short notes of appreciation from students and families. These messages will be shared privately with staff (placed in envelopes in their mailboxes) at the end of the week. They are a favorite part of the celebration!
😊 Please submit your note by Wednesday, Feb 11th
😊 You may submit notes for more than one staff member
😊 Click the link HERE to share your message of thanks.
Our “Shave for the Brave” Fundraiser is set for Thursday, April 2nd, 2026, and we are looking for:
- Support from students and staff to sign up as team members and take part in the Shave.
- Donations from community members to support this wonderful cause and exciting event. SPJH has set a school goal of $1500.
The document HERE includes all the information you need to know in order for a student or staff member to join our SPJH Pythons Team and methods you may use to Donate to the cause. LET's Go PYTHONS!!
Our school will observe this year's Janeway Day this Friday, February 13th.
Students are invited to wear school-appropriate pajamas and families are encouraged to donate to the Janeway foundation.
Here’s How to Participate in Janeway Day:
- NEW – Make an online donation HERE
- NEW – Text-to-Give a standard $5 donation by texting NLTA to 45678. From now until March 1, the $5 donation will appear directly on your phone bill.
- NEW – Parent Information Flyer
Requesting Parent/Guardian Support
SPJH Administration and Staff are asking for your support!! We are still noticing an awful lot of students bringing caffeinated and energy drinks into our school in the morning at at lunch time.
Outside caffeinated and energy drinks are not permitted in our school building. If students bring such drinks (i.e. energy, pop, coffee, tea, etc.), students will be sent to the office with them. They can pick them up after school.
- We are adhering to this to promote healthy food behaviors while minimizing additional work on our custodians with unnecessary clean up of sticky, wasted drinks.
- The NL Schools Provincial Food Guidelines can be found HERE:
- The SPJH Student Handbook 2025-2026 can be found HERE with emphasis on food consumption on page 8.
- All the information required to order a Year book is located in their flyer HERE
- The deadline to order is Friday, April 24th, and the cost is $25.00
Province Wide Breakfast Blitz
- On Thursday, February 26th, we are asking you to please send along a breakfast item or a donation to support our school’s Kids Eat Smart Breakfast Club.
- If you wish, you may make your donation online at www.kidseatsmart.ca and designate our school to receive your gift. Remember $20 is breakfast for a child for one month! It’s important that we fill our KES cupboards to ensure our children start their days well-nourished and ready to learn.
Subject: Request for Feedback – Family Survey
School Development Surveys are conducted annually to gather feedback from students, staff, and parents/guardians to inform the school development process.
The survey is anonymous, which means that we cannot connect your survey responses to you. We encourage our parents/guardians to participate so that we have the most accurate representation of family perceptions at your school.
Important: The parent/guardian (family Survey) will be online beginning Monday, February 9th, 2026 and all surveys are to be completed by Friday, March 20th, 2026.
Please complete the Family Survey survey HERE . If you do not have internet access contact our school. Note: If a parent/guardian has more than one child at the school, they will be asked to complete the survey for the oldest child.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding the school development surveys, please contact: schooldevelopment@gov.nl.ca
Thank you for your participation and for being a valued member of your school community.
Grade 9 Course Selection Information
It is that time of year when O’Donel High School (ODH) starts planning to welcome our Grade 10 students for the 2026-27 school year. This process starts with the course selection process for students. To facilitate this process, we wanted to share the following dates with you.
Course Selection Information and Course Selection Sheet
Wednesday, February 18th (8:22 AM-12:24 PM)
- Administration from ODH will visit SPJH to meet with all Grade 9 students (by homeroom) to review the graduation requirements, course selection process, and to address any questions students might have. During this meeting, students will be given a course selection sheet. This is to be reviewed with parents/guardians and subject teachers.
Wednesday, February 18th (6:30 PM- 7:30 PM)
- Administration from ODH will meet with families/caregivers to review the graduation requirements, answer any questions, and address any concerns. This will take place in the ODH Gymnasium.
Wednesday, February 25th, (9:00 AM- 2:00 PM)
- Administration from ODH will visit SPJH again to meet with all Grade 9 students (by homeroom) to oversee students entering their course requests for the 26-27 school year in PowerSchool. Please note that students can still request modifications to their selections at any time by contacting ODH administration: Mr. Sneyd (darrellsneyd@nlschools.ca), Ms. Blackmore (tinablackmore@nlschools.ca), or Ms. McGrath (joannemcgrath2@nlschools.ca).
Wednesday, February 25th, 2026
Pink Shirt Day, held annually on the last Wednesday in February (February 25th, 2026), is a global movement against bullying that encourages wearing pink to promote kindness, inclusion, and safety in schools and workplaces. The SPJH Theme for this day is "UPSTANDER".
Initiated in 2007 by Nova Scotia students David Shepherd and Travis Price to support a peer bullied for wearing pink, the day has grown into a widespread campaign.
- Monday, February 9th - Friday, February 13th: Teacher/Staff Appreciation Week and Education Week
- Monday, February 9th: Family School Development Survey Opens
- February 11th; and Tuesday, February 17th: Grade 7 and 8 Tdap Vaccinations (Tdap = Tetanus, Diphtheria and Pertussis Vaccinations)
- Thursday, February 12th: O’Donel High School Production of Grease
- Friday, February 13th: Janeway Day at SPJH
- Monday, February 23rd: Winter Break Holiday (School Closed for Students and Staff)
- Wednesday, February 25th: Pink Shirt Day: Students and Staff encouraged to wear pink
- Friday, March 13th: Teacher PL Day (Tentative Date - School Closed for Students)
- Monday, March 16th: St. Patrick's Day Holiday (School Closed for Students and Staff)
- Friday, March 20th: Report Cards (Term 2)
- Friday, March 20th: Family School Development Survey Closes
- Friday, March 27th: Teacher PL Day (Tentative Date - School Closed for Students)
- Thursday, April 2nd: Shave for the Brave
- Friday, April 3rd - Sunday, April 12th: Easter Break
- Monday, April 13th: School Re-opens after Easter Break
- Friday, May 15th: Teacher PL Day (School Closed for Students)
- Monday, May 18th: Victoria Day Holiday (School Closed for Students and Staff)
- Thursday, May 21st: Spring Music Concert (evening)
- Thursday, May 28th: Grade 9 Farewell Carnival
- Friday, June 12th - Thursday, June 18th: Final Year-End Examinations
- Friday, June 19th: Teacher PL Day (School Closed for Students)
- Thursday, June 25th: Last day for School - Students (Summer Holidays)
- Friday, June 26th: Last day for School - Staff (Summer Holidays)