Valleyfield Parent Council Minutes - April 12, 2017

Valleyfield Junior School

Minutes of School Parent Council Meeting

April 12, 2017

The meeting began at 6:20 p.m. with opening remarks from Jason Martin, Co-Chair.

The Agenda for the April 12, 2017 meeting was approved. 

Janet Churchill moved to have the minutes of the February 8, 2017 meeting adopted, seconded by Lorraine Vasilaros. Motion carried.

There were no matters arising from the minutes.

Principal’s report

Ms Drimmie Miller explained the process for the projected number of students per grade and how many teachers will be required for 2017/2018 school year.  Based on the data given, the following allocation will be made for 2017/2018: 3 kindergarten classes,  1 class of grade 1, 1 class of grade 2, 2 classes of 2/3 split, 1 class of 3/4  split, 1 class of 4/5 split. There will also be an additional teacher for a ½ day to reduce size of morning teaching for junior classes. There will be one French teacher per grade for French Immersion.  There will also be ½ a teacher for ESL, ½ day of library support and ½ day for extra help for children needing extra assistance, together with one  1 teacher for special education.

There are a few upcoming family events. Family skate night will be on April 24 and on May 9^th there will be a math literacy night, held at the school and hosted by the staff.

A percussion group, “Torque” will be coming for a school performance for all grades on May 3.

Ms Drimmie Miller and staff have committed to training in “Zones of Regulation” which is a program designed to teach children to regulate their behaviour.  The teachers were finding children at Valleyfield in need of this training, especially the Grade 2 children.  Children are taught to identify what emotional state they are in and then moving into a zone where they can learn best and behave best. The children are enjoying it.

Grade 5 and 6 Graduation is scheduled for June 28 in the morning at Valleyfield.

The Dance a thon was very successful and raised $4,452.25. Three classes had a pizza lunch for top fundraising.  The children learned dances in advance and then showed them off at the Dance a thon.  There was line dancing as well. There was a committee that decorated and did a terrific job.

Ms. Drimmie Miller advised that the new sound system purchased last year with fundraising money is great.  She thanked the Council.

There was a discussion around Council about giving an award at graduation.  Jason suggested that a special award be given by parent council to a top student.  Ms. Drimmie Miller cautioned that if council does adopt this award, to ensure that the award is based on character trait awards, or school marks, so it would be easy to back-up the award on paper, in case a parent ever challenged.

A parent suggested that council give all the graduating children a momentum instead of one award as parents are not directly involved with the children and it would be hard for them to judge who would get an award. It would be better if everyone received the same thing, ie. Flower, chocolate, yearbook.

There was a discussion about using Council funds for a graduation luncheon and yearbook, however no decision was made.

Teacher report

Ms. Vasilaros advised that clubs and teams are going strong.  There are currently girl’s junior soccer, track and field, primary reading club, puzzle club, dance club, yoga club, and lego club. 

Ms. Vasilaros advised that the kindergarten classes are going to the aquarium next week.

Graduation plans are being made.

Discussion

At this point in the meeting a discussion took place between Jason Martin Co chair and Michelle Drimmie Miller Principal with respect to the dance a thon funds.  Michelle maintains that the funds should remain as school funds because there was no participation of parent council at the dance a thon.  Jason maintains that he was unaware that this would be the case.  He would have been prepared to come and help, however he was told that Mr. K would be DJing and school was looking after things. 

Another discussion then took place between Jason and Michelle about the parent council bank account.  The parent council funds from last year’s dance a thon (2016) have been kept in the school account because council does not currently have a treasurer.  Michelle advised that two weeks ago Lisa the school secretary was added as a signing officer to the parent council bank account. A cheque was then signed to cover the expense of the silver birch books that were purchased by the school without any notice being sent to the co-chairs or council. The question was asked by Jason as to who signed the cheque. Michelle advised that Lisa and herself signed the cheque.  Jason was outraged that a signing officer was added to the council account without his knowledge.  Michelle advised that it was stated at a previous meeting that Lisa would be added as a signing authority.  Janet agreed that she remembers being told that Lisa would be added to the account.  Jason reiterated that he wasn’t aware of it and the fact that Michelle was also added without him being aware. After a lengthy back and forth discussion, Michelle left the meeting because she did not like the tone that was being taken by Jason.

After Michelle left, another discussion took place about why at the February meeting volunteers weren’t asked to assist with the dance a thon.  Lorraine explained that a lot of work was done by teachers in preparation for the dance a thon.

It was agreed that there was a miscommunication between council and the school about ownership of the dance a thon.  The Co-chair was unaware that the school was taking over responsibility and therefore would be holding the money in its fundraising account instead of handing money over to council.

Janet suggested that the discussion was becoming unproductive and that the meeting should move on.  Jason stated that he had nothing more to say.  Janet suggested adjournment and the parents agreed.

The meeting was adjourned at 7:22 p.m. due to conflict between the Co-chair and Principal.  No further meeting date was set.

Valleyfield Junior School

Minutes of School Council Meeting

February 8, 2017

The meeting started at 6:10pm with an introduction from the co-chair Patresia Bartley.

Janet Churchill moved to have the minutes of the October 20, 2016 meeting adopted,  Patresia seconded.  Motion carried.

Business Arising

Draft Parent Council By-Laws will be brought forward to the April meeting.  Jason Martin will ensure that a draft copy will be forwarded to council members in advance of the meeting.

Principal and Teacher’s report

Dance-a-thon planning is underway.  The Dance-a -thon is the only fundraiser that the school does. It will be Friday, February 24, and teacher - Mr. K will DJ.  Mr. K. acted as our DJ last year for the event and it was a great success.   Staff is working on different aspects of the fundraiser.  They have chosen a theme of “Too Legit to Sit”.  The Dance-a-thon runs throughout the day and there are two classes participating at a time in the gym for 40 minutes.  This year line dances will be taught.  Students will be able to request songs in advance.  Staff will supervise and participate.  A letter will be going home soon with instructions how to raise money. Two pizza lunch prizes (one for primary class and one for junior class) will be awarded for the class that raises the most money.  This year there will also be a photo booth where students can have their photo taken.  The photos will be posted in the hallways of the school.

Teachers and staff have provided a wish list for funds raised:  scientist in the class room workshop; recess bins contents need to be replaced; glockenspiel; class reading books; enrichment presentation; Smartboard or other technology items to supplement the school’s teaching and learning technology.  Parent Council also suggested Electronic keyboard, STEM presentation. Ms. Drimmie Miller is still waiting on some more input from the staff and will put forth the top four items for parent council to approve.

15 iPads have been purchased for the kindergarten classes. Money used was taken from school budget.

Report cards are going home on February 14. Parent Teacher Interviews will be February 16 and 17.  There is a PA day on February 17. 

Families are reminded to check radio and TV to see if the buses are cancelled on inclement weather days.  Please also be reminded that if you personally drop your child to school, you must also pick them up at the end of the day.  The buses do not run for the whole day.

There are many clubs currently running during the lunch hour – Math Club, Cursive Club, Puzzle Club,   Boy’s Basketball, Girl’s volleyball, Yoga Club.  Madame Henri has been running a Spike ball tournament. Skating has started.

Some students will be attending Greg Le Rock French concert on February 16. Grades 4/5/6 are going.  A grant was applied for and was used to cover a portion of the cost.

Bus issue – sometimes parents miss picking their child up from the bus stop on time and the bus has to return to the school to drop off the child.  The office is closed at 4pm. Sometimes the bus with the child comes after 4pm and the school is concerned that the principal may be at a meeting away from the school site.  The bus company’s rules are that the child is supposed to be taken to the police station.  No one wants their child to experience this.  Please ensure that your child is picked-up on time.  When you are late to pick up your child, it also makes the bus late for the next school it is supposed to be at. 

Please also be reminded that when you receive a call from the school, please listen to the message that is left.  The school is swamped with calls being returned, which are unnecessary if you were to listen to the message.

There has been a staffing change; Madame Cameron has left early for her maternity leave.  The current teacher covering is Monsieur Snack.  Madam Dacres continues to cover for Madame Bruce while she recovers and Ms. Sankat is covering Mr. Choudhri’s teaching duties until further notice.

Treasurer’s Report

Council does not currently have a treasurer so Lisa the school secretary has been looking after the money.  Lisa needs to have the signatures changed on the account and provide a balance for the account.

Chair Report

Islington bus has been coming earlier to the stop so everything seems to be orderly for now.

Family Skate Night will be in April.  Ms. Drimmie Miller will call in March to get a date. 

STEM programming– Ms. Drimmie Miller advised that the support material for a Lego robot called DOT is being considered for purchase by the school to teach the children coding.

Teachers and Staff Appreciation Day will be on Wednesday, May 10 from 11:15am to 12:15pm.  Parents will be asked to bring food for a luncheon for the teachers, as well as help set up and take down. 

Council wishes to thank Probahar for organizing the pizza lunches.

Model Schools Report

Safia was not in attendance this evening. 

We need to determine if Safia has applied for the Parents Reaching Out Grant.

Discussion/Questions

There was a question from a parent about why all four teachers are in attendance at the parent/teacher interview, she found it overwhelming.  Ms. Drimmie Miller explained that it is because they all wish to discuss the progress of your child in the various subjects they teach.  Ms. Drimmie Miller suggested that this parent could write a note to the teacher suggesting she would like to meet one on one at the interview.

A parent suggested that a way to have more parents attend council meetings would be to have an art show before a meeting so the parents could come to see their children’s art.  Janet advised that Jason Martin was always looking for suggestions and help with parent engagement and asked if Jason could get in touch with her directly.  She agreed.

Patresia moved for adjournment and the meeting was adjourned at 7:20pm.

Next meeting: Wednesday, April 12.

Valleyfield Junior School

Minutes of School Council Meeting

October 20, 2016

The meeting started at 6:10 p.m. with greetings from the Chair, Jason Martin and introductions.

Jason advised that Council is looking for a parent volunteer to fill the treasurer position on council.

The Agenda for the meeting was distributed.

Principal’s Report

Michelle Drimmie Miller reported that the teachers have had a staff planning meeting to develop the School Improvement Plan. They discussed a great deal of data on student achievement at Valleyfield including EQAO results for Grade 3 and 6.  The teachers will be implementing a plan focused on achievement in math, well-being and equity.

Michelle advised that she did not receive a response from any parents requiring a ride to the council meeting tonight.  She suggested using taxis instead of buses as the cost would be lower and the taxis more efficient.

Michelle shared that many class trips are in the planning stages and the JK/SK classes are taking a trip to Downey’s Farm this week.  Other classes will travel to the ROM and the Science Centre.

Michelle discussed a partnership the school has developed with the police services and the Somali Neighbourhood Network to enrich the after school hours of the children. Through this the school is able to offer 8 week after school multi-sport camps for Junior and then Primary children.  Later there will be a Make and Take Club to teach wood working to children.

Eco Team is up and running.

On October 21, there will be a bus safety presentation for the students.  Also Richview Library will be onsite to talk to children about programs at the library.

Family Math Night letter went home this week.  It is on Monday, October 24.  There will also be active Math Games during the day for each class to participate in.

Michelle advised that several children applied to be School Ambassadors and those children have now been selected.  They were trained last week in the “PALS” program, where they will be running outdoor games at recess, once a week and will be role models for positive play.  This group will take on most of the school leadership activities.

Public Health will be conducting a free workshop for parents on November 16 and 30 for a program for parents called “Kids have stress too”.  This is offered at the Richview Library and parents are to sign up at the school.

Trevor Brown a retired math consultant will be at the school on November 23 to teach parents how to help their children succeed at math.

Michelle has asked if council will consider designating some funds to the purchase of new outdoor play equipment, books to support our Forrest of reading Club and indoor games for the Rain Day Bin for each class and a play equipment kit which assists the PALs leaders.

Michelle also advised that Madame Bruce has been off due to illness for several weeks so she has had to apply for a temporary contract person to cover the Grade 5 French Immersion class.

Michelle has asked that parents please pass on the message that when they receive a telephone call from the new call system at school, to please listen to the message and not call the school.  The school secretary is being overwhelmed with calls that were not necessary.  Please listen to the message first, and then call if you have any questions.

Teacher Report

Ms Vasilaros reported that she has held auditions for the annual talent show.  The talent show will be some time in December during the day.  Kids in Grades 1 to 6 are welcome to audition; there will be more auditions next week.

Ms Vasilaros also advised that the Grade 4&5 classes will be visiting the Science Centre on November 9 and the ROM in January. 

Committee Reports

Fundraising

The Dance A Thorn is scheduled for February 24.

Parent Council By-Laws

Jason advised that by-laws have been drafted and he wants council to review them at the meeting in January.

Council Sub-Committees

Jason is looking for volunteers to assist Safia with Parent Engagement.  He needs suggestion on how to engage parents to attend school gatherings.  Michelle suggested having a parent representative for each class that would network with the parents to pass on information.

 Busing

Jason has been working with volunteers to help with safe boarding of buses at the Islington bus stop.  There will be a training session on Friday morning with the assistance of public health to help parents monitor the children getting on and off the bus in a safe fashion.  Jason wants all parents at the bus stops to be vigilant with safety for all children, not just their own.

Michelle reported that the busing situation is getting a little better, however the Dixington bus is still arriving late.  She is working with the bus companies and the Board to get service improved.

Model Schools Report

Safia Ahmed introduced herself as the new rep for Model Schools at Valleyfield. Safia advised that her role is parent engagement.  She helps parents navigate the school system.  She passed out information on community training sessions coming up in the next few weeks.

Safia has received a few questionnaires back from parents and has compiled them with the results.  This will help her with programming at Valleyfield.

Open Discussion

One parent asked what the daily snacked consisted of.  Michelle advised that it is always three food groups: dairy, grain and fruit/veggies.  A sample snack may be white milk, crackers and red peppers.  The fruits and vegetables are always fresh.

Meeting Adjourned at 7:12 pm.

Next meeting date:

Thursday, January 26 at 6 p.m.