October 2nd Parent Council - Meeting Highlights

Introductions & Overview:

• Parent Council is a venue for the collective voice of the parents and is mandated by the province

• Principal Ms. Valerie Black welcomed all parents to the first Parent Council meeting of the year

• The objectives of the council were discussed, along with the process flow, the number of meetings scheduled during the calendar year and the time commitment involved.

• Meeting agenda: 1) Parent Council elections and 2) School Statement of Need

• Parent Council Executives were nominated to represent the Parent Council

• Our Executives for the 2012-2013 Calendar Year at Valleyfield Junior School are: 

• Co-Chairs: Sarah Ali and Michelle Nasraoui (Minott)
• Co-Treasurers: David Marchione and Bettina Stebnar
• Co-Secretaries: Ozma Mirza and Nicole 

• We'd like to thank last year's executive, especially Hazel, Rahima and all of the volunteers, for all of their hard work for the school and for our children.

• Please welcome this year’s executives and get to know them by forwarding any suggestions/ideas/concerns that you want addressed.

School Statement of Needs:

• This form is completed by the school council/parent representative of every school each fall

• It outlines the parent/community priorities for the school that the superintendent will use to identify a principal if one needs to be appointed.  It is a record of the main priorities of the parent community and the school board for that specific school.

• The form is to be completed and submitted to the Board by November of this year

• You can get a copy of the form on the PIAC website at www.torontopiac.com

• If you would like to see last year's copy of the 'Principal Profile,' please contact the office.

• The Parent Council has been given the task to complete the School Statement of Needs

• Each Council member will review on their own as to what the community needs, what each would like to see at Valleyfield as a school and bring forward 5 suggestions.

• When documenting a school need, make it specific enough to target the community's need.

• Examples of school needs include 'My child's school is a safe and healthy environment," and 'my child reaches their full potential in numeracy and literacy.'"

• The Council will collaborate to create and complete the School Statement of Needs at the next Parent Council Meeting.

Update on Scout About Program:

• Scouts Canada offers an in-school or after-school program for boys and girls (25-30 kids / session)

• The program is offered to Valleyfield students at a subsidized rate.

• The sessions will be held once a week for 10 weeks.  

• Children will go directly into the gym after school and then they will be sent home on the late bus.

• The school is working on finalizing the scheduling of this opportunity

Critical Parent Issues Discussed:

• The issue of student safety and school bus transportation was raised by several parents

• Parents have observed students on the school bus who do not follow safety guidelines and who are a disruption to other student riders and the bus driver

• There was an active dialogue amongst parents around the addition of school bus monitors

• Mrs. Black explained that no new bus monitors are being hired.

• Ms. Black explained however that Valleyfield is actively addressing safety concerns by establishing one school bus monitor for the Junior/Senior Kindergarten students and a Buddy system where senior students buddy up with junior students.

• While the school is doing what it can to address busing concerns, specific bus issues need to be addressed directly to the transportation companies involved.

Lunch Program:

• There was discussion around moving forward with a lunch program that offers pizza lunches to students on Friday’s for a nominal fee.

Other:

• Mrs. Black reminded the Council that she can be e-mailed [Valerie.Black at tdsb.on.ca] for both Council business and / or if we have specific concerns regarding our children.

• Our School Trustee is Chris Glover

Next Parent Council Meeting is scheduled for Tuesday November 6th 2012 at 6:30 pm.  Hope to see you all there!

2012 - 2013 Parent Council Executives
Name	Email	Parent Council Executives
Sarah Ali	Sarah.Ali.Anderson at gmail.com	Co-Chair
Michelle Nasraoui (Minott)	Realinvestment101 at gmail.com	Co-Chair
David Marchione		Co-Treasurer
Bettina Stebner		Co-Treasurer
Ozma		Co-Secretary
Nicole		Co-Secretary