Valleyfield Junior School

Minutes of School Council Meeting

June 23, 2016

The meeting started at 6:30 p.m.

Janet Churchill moved to have the minutes of the April 20, 2016 meeting adopted, Renee Hewer seconded.  Motion carried.

Business Arising

The Healthy Drinks Exchange will be brought forward to the September meeting.

Principal and Teacher’s Report

Ms Drimmie Miller was proud to report that the school raised $4,000 for the Heart & Stroke Foundation through Jump Rope for Heart! They had set the fundraising goal for $1,200 but blew that away.   There were a lot of incentives for kids to raise money - Mr. Grayson dyed his hair pink;  Mr. “K” – shaved his head;  popsicle day, pizza party, teachers dancing and a student to be “vice-principal for a day”.  The Grade Six Class did fundraising in High Park and raised money on the spot.  They won the top fundraising class.

Play day was a big success.  The children had a lot of fun.

The Grade 5 English class and Grade 6 French class did a graduation trip to a Blue Jays game, they also had an overnight trip to Albion Hills.

STEM programming -  One class Skyped with a bee keeper and learned about bees.

Graduation is on Tuesday.  A year book is in the works for the graduating students.

Technology – Grade 3 parents are logging in to check children’s work.

Classes are using the CromeBooks; they are being used for coding, as a precursor for software engineering.  They are hoping to expand this into robotics.

Staff changes – two teachers will be leaving on maternity leave.  Two surplus teachers are coming in to cover.  A new teacher for 2/3 – Ms. Gandi.

More children are registered for kindergarten in September than last year.

The Grade 6 class hosted a wonderful orientation day for the children joining French Immersion Grade 4 in September. 

Treasurer’s Report

Bank Account:

·         The closing balance from May 31, 2016 was $5257.40

·         Current balance is: $5069.58 (as of June 21, 2016)

·         Disbursements:

o   May:

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

o   June:

§  Chq#43: $1957.00 – Student Technology (STEM) Supplement - Chromebooks Cart

o   There is currently one (1) outstanding cheque as follows:

§  Chq#44: $90.35 – planters for front of school

·         Deposits:

o   June:

§  $1769.18 – balance remaining from Dance-a-Thon revenue (transferred from school account)

·         Projected account balance after cheques clear: $5167.05

Remaining school year obligations (actuals):

·         Gym sound system: $2537.42 – paid by school with Dance-a-Thon revenue  

·         Blue Spruce and Silver Birch reading books: payment pending invoice (cheque left with Principal Drimmie-Miller)

Fundraising Updates:

·         Net revenue from the Dance-a-Thon: $3961.25

·         Amount transferred to the School Council’s PACE account: $1769.18 (see deposits above)

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NOTES:

The $500 that was earmarked for Teacher and Staff Appreciation Day is re-allocated to cover expenses for the Grade 5/6 Graduation Ceremony.  The money will be used to offset the cost of awards, year book and food.

Ms. Drimmie Miller asked that Council consider funding new games for the rainy day activity bins.

Chair Report

While working within the context of the school, The Parent council has an enormous role to play in ensuring that our child/children receive the best education possible. This role is not limited to just coming to the school and hearing about things, but also to voice our concerns and to have an active say at the table regarding our child’s future.

We must note that even though we have this huge responsibility and authority, it is not to be wheeled like a magic wand. But more importantly, we are to partner with our school to ensure that we achieve our goal and mandate issued by the council and the TDSB, making sure that our kids get the very best.

The school year started out rocky for all of us, and had us at a point of nervousness, as with the pending strike in place we had to wait patiently to hear and see what was happening. This delay affected our initial program “Curriculum night” which would have given us an opportunity to meet our parents and to set the framework for parent engagement.

 Once everything was settled, it was a period of working through the learning curve to understand the role and responsibility of the Parent Council.

-          As such I would like to thank Kofi Sankofa for the tremendous help that was given to ensure that we understood our role, and was able to carry out our task effectively.

-          To our Principal Michelle Drimmie-Miller and teacher representative, and Ms. Vasilaros , we thank you for the support we received from the school and the manner in which you guided the activities.

-          To Janet Churchill & Renee Hewer you made the council and the events we undertook a success. It was truly an honour working alongside you both.

As we look back to go forward, there are a number of events and action items that will require the attention of the new council coming for September 2016. Some of these items that are now regular or annual events will require early advertisement and notices and to pull out all the stops to ensure that we have maximum support.

These are:

1.       Math night

a.       This is to look at our EQ scores and to understand how the program works

2.       Curriculum night.

a.       The outgoing council is required to provide resource (physical support) for the night in question

3.       Bus Shelter for Islington Bus stop.

a.       There has been ongoing dialogue with the stakeholder concerning the feasibility of having a bus shelter setup on the TCHC site at 2067

4.       Dixon/Islington Transportation issue: Our previous meeting note the outlining challenge that the location is faced with during the winter months and as such they have asked the council for support. The request being made is to relocate the stop at MacArthur to Dixon-Islington for ease of access and mobility. This will require further dialogue with the principal and the bus company as the changes will depend on the number of persons registered for this particular stop.

5.       Family skate night: the council will need to do more to ensure that we have a much better turn out. This will require us to start advertising in December. We will also help to provide suitable skaters to assist the kids on the ice, and to provide a warm drink during the night.

6.       Financial Literary Night-This was a success! The presentation was very good, however, we lost out on the numbers as the program was planned at the start of the Islamic month of prayer, “Ramadan”. We must ensure that other meetings are not planned within this time frame.

7.       Teachers’ day – this was a first time event and it turned out to be a remarkable experience for both teachers and parents. We look forward to next year and hope this will be an annual event to show appreciation to the teachers.

8.       Our constitution – This is in the draft state and requires for the council to meet and deliberate and approve so that we can have clear operating guidelines as to how we handle some pertinent issues.

In closing we thank all those who have worked to make the journey a success and look forward to things that we need to amend, such as our meeting times to every other month instead and on the off month to engage parents more with the hope that this will draw them closer to the table for discussion. We also look forward to a new school year with the desire to use a lot more of the communicational tools that exist, like the newsletters from the trustee’s office and from the principal desk.

All in all it was a good year.

Model Schools Report

The Financial Literacy Night held on June 6 had low attendance.  A reason for this may be that it was the start of Ramadan.  It was suggested that next year we have busing available and more notices going home.  Next year the PRO Grant will be used for STEM.

The meeting was adjourned at 7:20 pm