Macdonald Drive Elementary 100 Macdonald Drive St. John's, NL · A1A 2K9 Telephone: (709) 753-6020/6021 Facsimile: (709) 753-3809 Principal: · Kim Leonard Assistant Principal: · Rhonda McKinnon QUICK FACTS Grade Level K-6 Electoral Zone Zone 9 Region Avalon East Enrollment 355 Wheelchair Accessible? Yes French Immersion? Yes, EFI (K) OTHER

Macdonald Drive Elementary is located at 100 Macdonald Drive, St. John's, and has a current enrolment of 355 students from Kindergarten to Pod 6. It is situated adjacent to Macdonald Drive Jr. High , with whom we share a school bus access driveway, and a soccer field. The school has 23 full-time educational staff, including16 classroom teachers and 4 Special Education personnel. There are specialist teachers in the areas of Guidance, Music, Physical Education, and Learning Resources as well as the support of 5 student assistants. The administrative team includes a Principal and an Assistant Principal. In addition to staff based at the school, we have access to District office staff including a speech pathologist, English as a Second Language teacher and an educational psychologist. The school also has a secretary, two custodians and a cleaner. A public health nurse provides weekly visits to our students. For 2006-07, the pupil-teacher ratio in Macdonald Drive Elementary was 16.2. This compares to a pupil-teacher ratio of 14.1 for the district and 13.2 for the Province. Our enrolment has decreased steadily for the past 11 years. An aging student population in our neighbourhood zone, and a major boundary shift when the city school zones were re-organized in 2000 have resulted in the decline. However, there has been a recent increase in the sale of existing homes in the immediate neighbourhood , which as resulted in young families moving into our school zone, and enrolling at our school. The design of Macdonald Drive Elementary is an open area concept. Children receive their instruction in an open area called a " pod" as opposed to a traditional closed classroom. Each child is part of a register group and has their own teacher. The pod program provides a unique opportunity for teachers to collaborate in planning and delivering provincial outcomes. In addition to the required texts and classroom resources, these curriculum outcomes are supported by a comprehensive library that has over 14,000 selections of children's literature and professional development material for teachers. Many of our students come from other countries. Given the nature of our learning environment, we take many opportunities to celebrate our diversity in the belief that this awareness will strengthen our contribution to students' academic and personal success.