Publicly funded elementary and secondary schools are administered by school board districts overseen by the Newfoundland and Labrador school board Association. Working within the framework of the Education Act and its regulations, district school boards adapt provincial education policy to local situations. Trustees, as elected members of the board, represent the local community, providing a link between electors and the education system.

In Newfoundland and Labrador, all permanent residents between the ages of 6 and 16 must attend school. Most students continue to attend after the required period, to receive a graduation diploma in their twelfth year of school.

Elementary schools provide and Early Childhood Learning Preschool Kickstart Program as well as Junior Kindergarten and Kindergarten programs (for children aged 4 and 5) and programs for grades 1 through 8. Secondary schools currently offer programs from Grade 9 through to Grade 12. The high school program is based on a credit system. Students must earn a total of 36 credits to obtain a high school diploma; however most students complete 14 credits each year for a total of 42 credits after three years. 

In Newfoundland and Labrador, all permanent residents between the ages of 6 and 16 must attend school. Most students continue to attend after the required period, to receive a graduation diploma in their twelfth year of school.

Curriculum

In Newfoundland and Labrador, all publicly funded schools follow The Newfoundland and Labrador Curriculum. It describes what students are expected to know and be able to do in each subject area by the end of each grade. 

Due to the amount of detailed information on the Curriculum in Newfoundland schools, we were unable to provide all of it for you in this report. Detailed information can be obtained by visiting the Department of Education Curriculum. 

Children are introduced to formal education through Kindergarten, provided by all primary schools in Newfoundland and Labrador. The Kindergarten Program is designed for the four and five-year-old child. A child who is five years of age on December 31 in a school year may be enrolled in Kindergarten. Kindergarten is not compulsory in Newfoundland and Labrador. A child must start a school year when he/she is six years of age on December 31.

Registration takes place in the calendar year in which a child becomes four years of age before January 1. Parents/caregivers register their child in their neighbourhood school, or the school closest to their place of residence. 

Newfoundland and Labrador School Districts

There are two school districts in Newfoundland and Labrador:

• Newfoundland and Labrador English School Board
• Conseil Scolaire Francophone provincial de Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador