GHS Memo to Families Sept.18-26

• Tuesday, September 29th, 2026 - School picture day
• Wednesday, September 30th, 2026 - National Day for Truth and Reconciliation - No school for staff or students
• Friday, October 2nd, 2026 - Last day for current AP students to complete AP contract and pay AP exam fees on RYCOR
• Wednesday, Oct 7th, 2026- Scholarship Night 7:00- 8:00 pm LRC
• Friday, October 9th, 2026 - PL Day - No school for students
• Monday, October 12th, 2026 - Thanksgiving Holiday - No school for staff or students
• Wednesday, November 11th, 2026 - Remembrance Day Holiday - No school for staff or students
• Thursday, November 12th - Wednesday. November 18th, 2026 - Midterm Exams
• Wednesday, December 9th, 2026 - PL Day - No school for students
• Wednesday, December 23rd 2026 - Sunday, January 3rd, 2027 - Christmas Break - No school for staff or students
• Monday, January 4th, 2027 - Classes resume for staff and students (Day 2)
• Monday, January 25th- Friday, January 29th, 2027 - Final Exams
• Friday, April 9th - Thursday, April 15th, 2027 - Midterm Exams
• Monday, May 3rd - Wednesday, May 19th, 2027 - Advanced Placement Exams
• Friday, June 11th - Thursday, June 17th, 2027 - Final Exams

We have finalized all course change requests from students at this time. No other course changes will be permitted at this time unless it is deemed necessary and approved by administration.

Any Grade 12 students completing Advanced Placement (AP) courses or challenging any AP exams will need to complete the AP Contract and pay the appropriate fees in Rycor found in the Parent PowerSchool portal. Only those students registered in certain AP courses will be able to access the AP Contract in their parent/guardian’s PowerSchool portal. All AP Contracts must be signed and fees submitted no later than Friday, October 2nd, 2026. All AP exams will be written between Monday, May 3rd and Friday, May 19th, 2027.

Any Grade 12 French Immersion student who would like to challenge the AP French exam is asked to see M. Kinsella and add their name to the list.

All AP students should have already created an AP account (using a different email address than their nlesd one) and have already joined their AP classes using the join code provided by their AP teachers.

We have started the distribution of textbooks. We will continue this process this week and should have all textbooks distributed by the end of this week. If you have any textbooks from last year that you still have not yet returned, please do so as soon as possible to avoid getting a bill to replace them.

The upper parking lots are for staff use only. Students are NOT permitted to park in those parking lots. Students may park in the courts lower parking lot, the side parking lot by the field and the back parking lot by the cafeteria. We encourage students to carpool or avail of bussing as much as possible throughout the year as parking is very limited.

All NL Schools buildings are scent aware sites. Many of our staff and students are sensitive to certain products that can cause allergic reactions and respiratory distress. All staff, students, and visitors are reminded to not wear or use any scented/fragranced products while inside any NL Schools building.

Picture day will take place for all students on Tuesday, September 29th. Information on Graduation photos will be sent out when it becomes available.

It is important to note that student photographs taken on Picture Day will be added to the student’s PowerSchool record and may be used by authorized school and student transportation personnel for school administration, student identification, and transportation-related purposes.
This may include helping confirm a student’s identity when arranging or providing student transportation services. Access to student photographs is limited to authorized personnel who require the information for their role.

If you have questions about the collection or use of student photographs, please contact the school administration.

Gonzaga will be using the NLSchools RYCOR system to be able to make forms available to be completed online by parents. Due to a few technical difficulties, this should be available next week. As soon as the problem is resolved, we will send out instructions for parents / guardians to complete the forms. Parents need to have their own parent PowerSchool account.

For more information on this system please go here.

Certain grade 12 students have Instructional Support classes in their schedules. These are free periods designed for study and preparation for their courses. Students are asked to go to the LRC or leave the building if they have permission to do so. Students are NOT permitted to remain on school grounds due to supervision concerns. If you are a parent/guardian of a Grade 12 student with a free period, please complete the following form if you give your child permission to leave school grounds.

Grade 12 Instructional Support Permission Slip.pdf

Please note, the Loran Scholarship deadline is October 15th, 2026 at noon ET. Applications are available online here and if you have any questions, please contact Mrs. Tracy Gardiner at tracyanngardiner@nlesd.ca.

JA NL is a member of JA Canada. Founded in 1985, JA Canada is the country’s largest youth business education organization. JA works in partnership with educators, volunteers and businesses to educate students about financial literacy, work readiness, and entrepreneurship. JA is a registered charity and is a trusted partner in the Canadian school system. With a network spanning six continents, operating in over 100 countries JA Worldwide has in the last school year delivered over 23 million student learning experiences.

Our team will be back in touch regarding our other JA programs which focus on financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and work readiness. However, we wanted to reach out early to you to ensure students have ample time to sign up for the Company Program which starts in October. Please see more information found here.

We have over a third of our graduating class who have not completed their volunteer hours or handed in their volunteer hours sheet to the office. ALL students must complete these hours in order to graduate. We encourage all students, especially Grade 12 students, to make sure that their hours are completed. If you are looking for hours, many volunteer hours can be completed here at school. Please see our guidance counsellors or our athletic department to find hours.

A reminder to all parents and guardians of children who have life threatening allergies and require EpiPens to please fill out the Anaphylaxis Emergency Form and return it to the main office with a second EpiPen that can be housed in the office. Please remember to check the expiry dates on the EpiPens.

We are working hard to schedule all tryouts and will be announcing tryouts and sign ups according to the sport competitions schedules. Thank you for your patience while we work through all the teams and practice location bookings. Interested athletes must sign up using the link in the bio of our social media accounts in order to attend tryouts https://linktr.ee/gonzagaathletics. Stay tuned to our social media for all athletic updates!

Gonzaga's 2025-2026 Yearbooks have arrived! If you have ordered and already paid for a yearbook from last year, please pick up at the office.

Just as a reminder, vaping, smoking, and or drug use on school grounds is not permitted.

For planning purposes, Gonzaga will be holding its school leaving/prom event for all level 3 students on Saturday, June 5th from 4:30 - 10:00 pm. A venue has already been secured. We will be holding a parent volunteer meeting in late October, more details to follow on how to sign up for this meeting. The Class of 2027 Celebration/Cap and Gown ceremony will take place on Thursday, June 24th at Jack Byrne Arena from roughly 1:00 - 4:00 pm. More details will follow later in the year.

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.

Have a great weekend,

Andrew, Gillian & Peter