Valleyfield Parent Council Meeting Minutes

April 20, 2016

The meeting commenced at 6:10 p.m.

Janet Churchill moved to have the minutes of the January 28, 2016 meeting adopted, Renée Hewer seconded.  Motion carried.

Business arising – Teacher appreciation lunch date.  See below.

Principal’s Report

The ski trip was a tremendous success. The bus was full.  The children had lessons to learn how to ski – they were so brave and had a lot of perseverance. 

The school celebrated Earth Hour - we powered down the whole school for one hour and talked about what we can be doing at home and in the neighbourhood to reduce consumption.

Earth Day will be honoured this Friday with “Walk to School Day”, then a full school yard clean-up as well as cleaning up the park area beside the school and an assembly run by the Ambassadors and the ECO Club.   

Lots of field trips have been taking place - a number of grades went to the Sscience Ccentre, the ROM, and the Grade 5 and 6 French Immersion students went to see a French movie - Le Petit Prince.

Silver Birch reading club was well received by students.  All students that participated in Silver Birch by attending book talks and completing their books are getting rewarded with a pizza lunch this Friday. French Immersion students that read English books will be going to the Silver Birch fair at Harbourfront.

As part of the Eco Club there will be a garbage audit performed by the students and teachers this week to see what is being thrown out and what can be recycled.  This brings awareness to all of what we throw in the trash.

The monthly Character Education program is a big success. Children get an award when staff notice them doing something positive, also their name goes on the bulletin board.  At the end of month Character Assembly, each class nominates two students to get the character certificate and all kids who get an award are entered in a draw for gift baskets. This program has been great for self-esteem and encouraging positive behavior.

Toronto Public Health has been on site doing “Rethink what you Drink” program encouraging children to be aware of their beverage choices.  It is suggested that a “Healthy Drink Exchange” be set up where children could exchange their unhealthy beverage with a healthy one (i.e. Kool-Aid for an all fruit juice box).  Parent council has been asked to fund this.

The Toronto Public Library has been onsite promoting visiting the library.  They are encouraging families to use the library and to use the programs in the summer months.

Groove education was a program brought into the school on a grant received to promote good mental health.  Children were taught dance and mindfulness – helping them to calm themselves when anxious, helping them to be aware of their mental health.  This program was offered to all grades.

TDSB has installed a new phone system for school, and it is run through wireless internet.  This will cut down on the TDSB expenses for telephone lines.

The final phase of the school roof replacement will be covered for free, along with the installation of solar panels.  There will be a parent information night to talk about the new roof and solar panels.  There will also be a question and answer period about the new health curriculum with lots of opportunity to ask questions and to become comfortable and confident with the new curriculum.

The Grade 6 class is going to leadership camp – three days and two nights at Albion Hills.  M. Tahir, Mme. Henri, Mme. McLean will be attending with them and Ms. Drimmie Miller will be spending a day as well.

The school spring play is coming up, on May 12 at Scarlett Heights in the auditorium around 6pm.

Humber College is coming to present Jazz in Schools on May 13.

EQAO – will be on May 25, 26, 31 and June 1 for Grade 3 and 6 students only.

The Grade 5 and 6 classes will be visiting Hilltop Middle School on May 31 to see what their new school will look like.  They have a new principalle at Hilltop who is really great named Ms Farina. 

HUB is a group of schools that share a community.  Valleyfield shares a HUB with Hilltop, Elmlea, Millwood, Rosethorn and Westmount. The schools work together on an area of focus related to the curriculum and this year they are following up with math.  All 4, 5, 6 teachers attend workshops and work together on specific strategies.

The new Grade 4 French Immersion students for next year will be visiting on May 20.  The Grade 6 class will be hosting and providing an information session as well as providing a school tour.    The school has been blown away by the popularity of the French Immersion program. It is a great success.  The program is currently fully waitlisted and many students have had to be offered placements at other French Immersion sites. 

Eco audit will take place on May 24 and the school is trying to enhance its eco initiatives.  Board reps come in to assess practices and award a level to the school, either platinum, gold, silver or bronze.

Valleyfield will participate in Jump Rope for Heart – teachers will be teaching skipping skills and games.  It will be a fundraiser for The Heart and Stroke Foundation and children will be asked to collect sponsors. Jump Rope for Heart Day is being co-ordinated by the teacher who was the D.J. for our Dance-a-thon.

Graduation is set for June 28, it will be held in the morning with a light lunch for families and graduates.

Treasurer’s Report

Bank Account:

·         The closing balance from July 31, 2015 was $5,658.88

·         Current balance is: $5439.39 (as of April 24, 2016)

·         Disbursements for April as follows:

o   Chq#40: $91.69 – reimbursement to Community Support Worker for (1) high viz vests for bus monitors and (2) food/snacks for school events

o   Chq#42: $42.38 – Glow bracelets for Dance-a-Thon

·         There are currently two (2) outstanding cheques as follows:

o   Chq#39: $22.92 – reimbursement to Ms Wu for Girls Club colour copies (Staples)

o   Chq#41: $25 – retirement gift card for Mrs. Cap

·         Projected account balance after cheques clear: $5257.40

Non-Board Financial Plan:

Previous school year obligations:

·         School banner invoice paid $219.74 on Jan 6, 2016

Current school year obligations (and projected amounts):

·         Replace gym sound system: $2,500 (max)  

·         Blue Spruce and Silver Birch reading books: $570

·         Teacher Appreciation Lunch: $500

·         Student Technology (STEM) Supplement - Chromebooks Cart: Pending quote

Added at April 21, 2016 Meeting

·         Planters (x2) for front of school: $60

Fundraising Updates:

·         The net revenue from the Dance-a-Thon is: $3961.25 – currently held in the School’s Budget.

·         Revenue to be transferred to the School Council’s PACE account.

Gym sound system – Jason to investigate a cost for this request. He will be speaking with Long and McQuade to get an estimate. 

Pizza lunch – the school will manage the money and whatever money that is left over will be turned in to Council.  A motion was moved by Janet Churchill and seconded by Renée Hewer that any leftover funds are to be keep by the school for the snack program. The motion carried.

Council has approved $60 for two potted plants to be purchased for the front door of the school.

Committee Reports

Model Schools Report

Kofi advised that he has met the Community Development Officer, Ann and will be booking a community meeting in May when Ann is back from holidays to discuss transportation issues, and community programming.  The meeting will be at 2063 Islington where the community room is.  More information will follow. 

CPAC – May 16-20 is training week.  Each day of that week will find them at different schools with different programs.  By the end of the week a certificate will be given to assist in finding employment.

The next CPAC meeting is May 11 and will reflect on the conference that was held at the Allstream Centre last week. 

A STEM program is being set up for a Saturday in June, it will be lead by parents at Richview Secondary School and it will be free. Flyers will follow.  Bring out the fathers, it would be nice to see them.

Parents Reaching Out Grant – needs to be applied for by May 20. 

Ms Drimmie Miller reminded that we have not yet used the grant we have received for this school year.  The grant was for Financial Literacy.  The school will host the event and Kofi will look into finding a speaker for either May 26 or June 6.  There is also a community member that has offered to be the guest speaker at no cost. 

As always, you can contact Kofi with any questions at kofi.sankofa@tdsb.on.ca

Teacher and Staff Appreciation Day

Date has been set for Wednesday, May 18.  A meeting between Jason, Renée and Janet will be set to organize and information will go home soon to the parents.

School By-Laws

The draft by-laws were presented and are currently under review by the Council. Jason will consult on Council composition, and let the Council know his findings.

Open Discussion

Reenée Hewer brought in a flyer from and organization called “Pawsiatively Pets” which teaches children how to care for animals.  They will come into schools for $245 for a two hour session and bring animals in with them for a hands on science program.  Ms Drimmie Miller said she would bring the idea forward to her staff for next year.

The meeting was adjourned at 7:45pm

Next meeting date:  May 2