January Newsletter
Astral Drive Junior High School
238 Astral Drive, Cole Harbour, NS B2V 1B8
Telephone: 462-8700 Fax: 462-6047
http://astraldrivejunior.ednet.ns.ca
Principal’s Message
February is Registration Month in the Halifax Regional School Board and it will be extended this
year due to the Halifax Canada Games. Students currently in grade 6 will register for grade 7 in their
elementary schools and grade 9 students will register at ADJH for grade 10 at Auburn High. If a student would
like to attend a school other than Auburn Drive High, parents are to obtain an Out of Area Request form from
our school. These forms have to be filled out and submitted in person to the school of choice no earlier than
April 1st, 2011. School principals will make their decisions and inform parents by June 30, 2011.
For parents who are interested in registering children for the Late French Immersion Program
(grade 7, 2011-12), we will be having a Parent Information Meeting on February 2nd at 6:00 pm in rm. 172
at ADJH. This meeting will give parents the opportunity to get an overview of the program and to ask
questions of the French Immersion Staff and students. This meeting is not intended for parents who currently
have students in the Early Immersion program at Astral Drive Elementary. We will have a meeting for all
grade 6 parents later in the spring.
For current F.I. students at ADJH, I will be sending home a letter later asking parents to indicate their
intentions for their children for 2011-2012. If anyone is planning to withdraw from the program, we have to
know in order to have adequate staffing in place for September.
If you have a child beginning grade Primary next year, you should register him/her at your community
elementary school. The HRSB requires that you provide birth certificates for students entering Primary;
students must be five years of age as of December 31, 2011.
.
B. Forsyth, Principal
TRAFFIC CONCERNS
Parents are reminded to please observe signage when dropping off and picking up students. There have
been vehicles backing into and blocking private driveways on both Astral Drive and Lakeshire –please
be respectful of our neighbors. Please observe all traffic signs to ensure our children remain safe. Please
do not block or drop your children off in school driveways or driveways of private homes.
The snow, ice and street conditions have created additional safety concerns. For the safety of all
students, we ask drivers to refrain from using these unauthorized areas at arrival and dismissal times. If you
are coming to the school to pick up a student, for an appointment or illness, please park on the Lakeshire
side. Thank you. More information, including a map of designated parking areas, is available on the school
website.
Also, due to safety concerns and winter temperatures, we request that children are not dropped
off or sent to school before 8:10am. We appreciate your cooperation in keeping our students as safe as
possible
Safe Arrival
Parents are reminded to call messages regarding student absences and lates to the following number:
462-8700 ext 1. Due to their teaching schedules, many teachers are not able to retrieve voice mail
messages early in the morning.
THIS IS AN OPPORTUNITY YOU SHOULDN’T MISS!
Dear Parents:
The Guidance Department would like to invite you to attend a special event as part of The Parent Information
Series being held at our school on Wednesday, March 2nd at 6PM. Dr. Stan Kutcher is an internationallyrenowned expert in the area of adolescent mental health and a national and international leader in mental
health research, advocacy, training, policy, and health services innovation. Dr. Kutcher uses his considerable
expertise building awareness and knowledge about mental health in young people through the development
of programs that address adolescent mental health promotion, education and research, locally, nationally and
internationally. Dr. Kutcher is a nationally and internationally active speaker, reviewer and technical consultant
in psychiatry and mental health. We welcome your questions. If you would like to submit a question for the
presentation, please forward them to jzelios@hrsb.ns.ca or dransome@hrsb.ns.ca and we will request that
Dr. Kutcher address the question during the evening.
Parents of Grade 8 students
A Parent Report with results from the CAT4 assessments that were administered in October, 2010 is being
sent home with this newsletter. If you do not receive this report, please contact Mrs. Bona at 462-8700 ext 0
for a copy.
Flu Season Update
Now that the regular flu season is here, we would like to remind everyone to continue to protect themselves
against illness by washing hands in warm soapy water, coughing and sneezing into shirt sleeves, and most
importantly, staying home if you are feeling sick.
School Cancellation
The Halifax Regional School Board takes great care when making the decision to alter the normal operations
of schools in the event of severe or inclement weather or other exceptional circumstances (loss of
water or heat, extended power outages, etc.). Decisions on school closures and/or bus
cancellations are posted on the board’s website at www.hrsb.ns.ca , on Twitter at
www.twitter.com/HRSB_Official, recorded on 464-INFO (4636) and communicated to all
local radio stations.
For your information, Astral Drive Junior High is a member of the Auburn Drive Family of
Schools. In the event that busses are cancelled, classes at Astral Drive will be held as
usual. While we have only a handful of bus students, parents must use their own discretion
with regard to sending their children to school. An occasion might arise when school will be
cancelled mid-day. In such instances, students will be dismissed to their homes or to a
location pre-determined by you, unless you have identified otherwise on the school
registration form. If you are interested in learning more on how decisions regarding closures and
cancellations are made, visit http://www.hrsb.ns.ca/content/id/1137.html .
Yearbook
Grade 9 students who are interested in having a baby grad photograph included in the yearbook are asked to
please bring a snapshot with their name and homeroom listed on the back. These should be handed in to
Mrs. Kavanaugh by February 1st.
Boys Basketball Team
The boys’ basketball team travelled to PEI on Friday January 14th to compete in the Paul Nogler
Invitational Tournament at Stonepark Intermediate School in Charlottetown. The boys played very
strong defensively and showed excellent teamwork throughout their four games.
Each team was awarded a Player of the Game. Astral’s players of the game were: Fares Diab,
Charles Hart, Andrew Beaulieu and Collin Cluett. Andrew Beaulieu also won tournament All-Star, and Kellan
Duke won Most Valuable Player for the tournament. The team received compliments from referees and
tournament organizers for their behaviour on and off the court. This is the second consecutive year the boys
have won the Paul Nogler Tournament. The team hopes to return to PEI next year to defend their title.
Game scores were as follows:
Astral vs. Summerside: 57-40
Astral vs Stonepark: 68-52
Astral vs Pugwash : 70-47
Astral vs Whitney Pier: 57-22 (Championship game)
Fantastic Friday Phone Calls
Fantastic Friday Phone calls for the Week of October 29th:
Aaron Godfrey
Jonathan Mason
Jacqueline Dunn
Peter Opra
Fantastic Friday Phone calls for the Week of November 12th:
Rachel MacVicar
Chris Hamilton
Emily Copeland
Maggie Slaney
Gloria Bullock
Fantastic Friday Phone Calls for the Week of November 19th:
Noah Attwood
Shawn Heisler
Megan Colborne
Jonathan Adams
Sarah O’Neil
Victor Lamoureaux
Mitchell MacVicar
Heather Tan
Sarah Mason
Autumn MacDougall
Bianca Toulany
Jacqueline McPherson
Josh Swain
Rachel MacVicar
Kristin Myers
Nicole Collier
Jared Hamilton
Haley Cote
Amy Jones
Patricia Gemmell
Ryan Hipson
Brett Picco
Jessica Leclerc
Matthew Arnold
Gavin Barro
Fantastic Friday Phone Calls for the Week of December 3rd:
Meghan Sullivan
Lauren Chase
Devyn Holmans
Sophie Vautour
Sherri Patterson
Caitlyn Parker
Deanna McPhee
Kieran Walker
Savanna Hackney
Charles Hartlen
Alyssa Hiltz
Derek Degaust
Chris Barrett
Colton Richardson
Bailley Fraser
Josh Ballard
Sydney Carroll
Kim Dietz
Andrew Mosher
Andrea Creer
Makela Rodriquez
Gloria Bullock
Erika Ellsmere
Megan Gosse
Corey McMillan
Kathryn Pumphrey
Fantastic Friday Phone Calls for the Week of December 10th:
Jacob Swan
Gloria Bullock
Morgan Robertson-Tran
Justin Bruce-Sheppard
Fantastic Friday Phone Calls for the Week of December 17th:
Nick Waldorf
Umara Hansen
Nick Zalipyatskikh
Sarah Mason
Mairin Hogan
Emily Chian
Colin Cluett
Bradley MacMaster
ACADEMIC AWARDS
TERM 1 – 2010 / 2011
PLATINUM ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT – Students in this category have an A in every subject on their
Term 1 Report Card.
GOLD ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT –
Students in this category have A’s and one B on their First Term
Report Card.
SILVER ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT –
Students in this category have A’s and two B’s on their First
Term Report Card.
BRONZE ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT –
Students in this category have a minimum of five A’s and have
passing grades for all subjects on their First Term Report Card.
GRADE 7 ACADEMIC AWARDS
PLATINUM
Nicole Boutilier
John David Brown
Hannah Bruce
Jillian Conrad
Allyson Cruickshank
Andrew Furlong
Kassandra Kelbratowski
Kristin Myers
Andrew Noel
Christina Torrealba
GOLD
Kyle Armstrong
Holly Bellefontaine
Nicholas Belliveau
Justin Boutilier
Sydney Carroll
Dawson Copeland
Brendan Cove
Kelsey Hagen
Hannah Leonard
Thomas Nickerson
Samuel Norton
Benjamin Wright
SILVER
Katherine Budden
Gloria Bullock
Gregory Connolly
Andrea Creer
Brett Crossley
Ryan Hipson
Haley Knudsen
Victor Lamoureaux
Kylie McDonald
Timothy Noye
Laura Pedersen
Morgan Robertson-Tran
Rachel Ross
Dylan Shears
Dylan Stead
Sarah Weir
BRONZE
Adam Cameron
Robert Campeau
Lauren Chase
Nicole Collier
Jordan Conrad
Emily Copeland
Bailey Currie
Erika Ellsmere
Cooper Emin
Nicholas Fairbairn
Bailey Fletcher
Megan Gosse
Christopher Hamilton
Umara Hansen
Nicholas Hofmann
Kaitlyn Jones
Ryan Leslie
Jessica Lowe
Bradley MacMaster
Rachel MacVicar
Jonathan Mason
Marie Mason
Andrew Mosher
Chase Murphy
Sarah Murphy
Victoria Parker
Cecilia Payne
Mykala Ransome
Makela Rodriguez
Shelby Ryan
Claire Sollows
Claire Walker
Sarah White
GRADE 8 ACADEMIC AWARDS
PLATINUM
GOLD
SILVER
BRONZE
Andrew Beaulieu
Emily Campbell
Madison Campbell
Mairin Hogan
Jillian Johnstone
Michael MacLeod
Sarah Mason
Jenna McNutt
Angela Mosher
Hannah Perry
Kathryn Pumphrey
Meghan Sullivan
Joshua Swain
Sophia Vautour
Richard Walmsley
Stephanie Walmsley
Brent Wilkins
Leah Campbell
James Creaser
Katelyn Graham
Alexa Johnson
Rachel Kent
Emily Langille
Tomas Lockerby
Lee-Ann Martin
Jordane Poulin
Alison Purcell
Jordan Sollows
Andrew Wallace
Andrew Beaton
Noah Connolly
Cameron Dalzell
Haylee MacCallum
Jenna MacLellan
Benjamin Myrer
Holly Prest-Smith
Matthew Rafuse
Thisuri Ranepura
Josh Roberts
John Siteman
Rachel White
Joshua Collins
Madeline Connors
Joshua Dort
Joella Fletcher
Jared Hamilton
Nicholas Haverstock
Amber Horton
Joel Ingram
Connor Longaphy
Autumn MacDougall
Kerri Mason
Micala Melanson
Kirsten Millar
Nicholas Monk
Amanda Murnaghan
Nicholas Naugle
Rachael Peters
Sarah Richard
Brett Richards
Mickayla Robar
Emma Sencabaugh
Holly Tanner
Nicholas Waldorf
GRADE 9 ACADEMIC AWARDS – in descending order of average mark
PLATINUM ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT – An average from 95 – 100% in eight subjects.
GOLD ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT – An average from 90 – 94% in eight subjects.
SILVER ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT – An average from 85 – 89% in eight subjects.
BRONZE ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT – An average from 80 – 84% in eight subjects.
PLATINUM
GOLD
Jacqueline McPherson
Clara Long
Claire Richardson
Mackenzie Carr
Allison Banfield
Bianca Toulany
Izabella Opra
Emily Hudson
Cassandra Lockerby
Bailey Pedersen
Maegan Jones
Jordan Torrealba
Leigha Dort
Kristen Robinson
Alison MacKenzie
Alexander Cooze
Alyssa Hiltz
Peter Opra
Sarah Curwin
Delaney Henderson
Morgan Edwards
Allison Burke
Amy Jones
Lauren Crozier
Daniel Branescu
Olivia Raiche-Tanner
Noah Attwood
Kennedy Decker
Megan Colborne
Ranelle Abi Daoud
Gavin Barro
Hanna Sisco
Matthew Campbell
Melissa Wamboldt
Amanda Hiltz
Cody Stead
Jondavid Chambers
Owen Craig
Peyton Barney
Kellan Duke
Joy Chiekwe
Jenna Martin
Katey Carroll
Brecken Phillips
Alison Kinch
Patricia Gemmell
Martha Campbell
Amelia Bruce
Scott Graham
Christopher Morash
Megan Baxendale
Hunter Dolomont
Sarah O’Neil
Mitchell MacVicar
Colton O’Shea-Garnier
Justin Miller
Olivia Henwood
Alison White
Taylor Thibault
SILVER
Samantha Bell
Shannon Barry
Roman Bengert
Brandon Davis
Logan Tansley
Heather Tan
Arden Lausch
Stewart Fortune
Jeffrey Lewis
Nicole Conrod
Shelby Gowan
Kieran Walker
Kassidy Avis
Brandon Doucette
Zachary Hurley
Jessica Weir
Adrienne Irvine
Brendan Lawlor
Jana Zorychta
Liam Mason
Kenneth Norton
Allison Fraser
Derek Mugridge
Chloe Budd
Abby Stevenson
Ryan Fraser
Matthew Arnold
Bailley Fraser
Tomasz Hines
Colton Campbell
Nicholas Barrett
Savanna Hackney
Jessica Horne
Austin Bevin
Jacqueline Dunn
Kearah Davis
BRONZE
Julia Lester
Fares Diab
Jayde MacDougall
Liam Sheridan
Nicholas Kiley
Laura Alvear
Steven Renaud
Morgan Bentley
Angela Melissa Brace
Daniel Kiley
Kyle Pyke
Jeffrey Jorgensen
Liam Chisholm
Caitlyn Tobin
Grant Arnold
Mark Hagen
Ryan Mitchell
Kristen Hall
Zachary Smart
Devin MacDonald
ADJH SCHOOL CALENDAR
Thursday, January 27
School Dance (6:30-9:00)
Friday, February 11
Monday, February 28
Last day of classes prior to Spring Break / Canada Games Break
Schools re-open
Thursday, March 10
Monday, March 21
Friday, March 25
Monday, March 28
Wednesday, March 30
School Dance (6:30-9:00)
Public Health Immunization Clinic (Grade 7 & 8 only)
Professional Development Day (no classes)
Term 3 begins
Jazz Café
Friday, April 1
Thursday, April 14
Wednesday, April 20
Friday, April 22
Monday, April 25
Assessment & Evaluation Day (no classes)
Report Cards sent home
Parent-Teacher Conferences 1 – 3 & 5.30 – 7.30 pm
Students dismissed at 11:45 am
Good Friday (school closed)
Easter Monday (school closed)
Monday, May 2
Friday, May 13
Thursday, May 19
Monday, May 23
Music Monday
Professional Development Day (no classes)
School Dance (6:30-9:00)
Victoria Day (school closed)
Wednesday, June 1
Friday, June 17
Monday, June 27
Wednesday, June 29
Thursday, June 30
Spring Awards Band Concert – 6 pm
Public Health Immunization Clinic (Grade 7 & 8 only)
Grade 9 Closing Dance – 7.30 – 10 pm
Assessment & Evaluation Day (no classes)
Last Day of School