St. Paul's Intermediate School

St. Paul's Intermediate School is a middle school in Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador. It is part of the Nova Central School District and has an attendance of more than 300 students.

History

St. Paul's has undergone many changes since 1961 when it first opened its doors. It originally housed grades 7 through 11 on Bishop Street in Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador. In 1976, a new high school called St. Paul's was built with a DREE grant. This new complex is situated on Magee Road, formerly Gander Bay Road. In 1982, the school began housing grades 7 through 12 as the whole province moved to a credit system. Grade 12 was offered for the first time. A joint services agreement between the Nova Consolidated School Board and the Gander-Connaigre R.C. Board was initiated in 1995 making St. Paul's an Intermediate School with grades 8 & 9.

As of the 1998-99 year, the school has been re-designed once more as a grade 7-9 Intermediate school. This school is now administered by the Lewisporte-Gander School District. Students in Gander attend Gander Academy for grades K-6 before entering St. Paul's. Upon graduation from St. Paul's, they enter Gander Collegiate for grades 10-12.

September 11 attacks

Following the September 11, 2001 attacks over 6000 passengers from grounded planes became stranded in Gander. To accommodate this influx of people students were sent home to allow passengers to stay in local schools. St. Paul's Intermediate School was home to hundreds of passengers during this time. Meals and bunks were provided as well as television coverage of events in the cafeteria and internet access was allowed within the school's two computer labs.

Sports

St. Paul's is the home of many teams that go under the name "St. Paul's Cardinals". The mascot is a cardinal and the team colors are red and black. St. Paul's currently has varsity teams for basketball, volleyball, and hockey with junior varsity and varsity for each.

There are 12 house (see House System) teams which take part in three sports, basketball, volleyball, and soccer. With 3 teams per house for each sport, these teams take part in round robin play to earn points for their respective houses.

St. Paul's gymnasium houses many activities unrelated to the school. Summer activities, tournaments, and other sports teams play and practice in the gymnasium.

House system

Starting in 2003 St. Paul's introduced a house system where students were assigned to one of four houses that could earn points throughout the year, the house with the most points at the end earning a prize which varies each year. The current houses are Phantom, Cobra, Intruder, and Star Fighter. Students are able to purchase shirts for a small fee at the beginning of the year with their house name and the school's logo on them. To earn points the houses take part in competitions through the year. Some of these include Winter Carnival & Spirit Day activities, taking part in public speaking, sports tournaments, and the Knights of Columbus freethrow and by dressing up for various theme days throughout the year.

See also

Gander Academy
Gander Collegiate

External links

• St. Paul's official website