Parent's Council Meeting Minutes: October 11th, 2011

Minutes

Glen Cairn PS

PARENT COUNCIL

October 11^th 2011

7:00pm – Attendance Brian Herron, Julie Drapeau, Pat Furlong, Scott Blythe, Paul Warner, Rebecca Tibbits, Tracy Ahern, Megan Alink

Regrets: Amy DiRienzo, Jamie Oakely, Gwen Allingham

Minutes of September 2011 meeting passed

REPORTS

Treasurer

-       Roughly $5,300 in spendable cash

-       Pizza orders are down this year (139 slices ordered), cost per slice to council has increased due to 8 instead of 10 slices per pizza.  Pizzas are also smaller this year.

-       There is a cap of 50 cheques depositable per month without paying a ($15?) bank surcharge

-       There is a 2 week window to deposit cheques based on a policy put in place in February, 2003.

-       Motion to repeal the “cheques must be cashed within 2 weeks policy” put forward by Julie Drapeau, seconded by Paul Warner.  Motion carried.

-       Media carts will cost $1600.

-       Whisper phones orders still on the books, but haven’t been re-imbursed.  Order to be stricken from the purchase requisitions list.

OCASC

-       Good turnout at the OCASC meeting, lots of people

-       Facebook group for OCASC

-       Air quality concerns should be forwarded to the school

-       2 speakers from the board:

o    Healthy food policy seems to be per event.  If a popcorn night was held in the evening, would cupcakes in the morning count as a separate mark towards the 10 healthy food guideline exclusion?  Debate is ongoing

o    WELL – Wellbeing Engagement Leadership Learning

o    Castlefrank Public School had its music room broken into twice.  They were cleaned out.

Principal

-       October is a busy time for paperwork

-       Principal profile is due

-       Kanata ARC:

o    4 possible options for Glen Cairn will be presented at public meeting October 18^th at AY Jackson.  Please voice your opinions in the Cafetorium at 6:30.

-       Progress reports to be going home Nov 10

-       We have started the SIP process for the year.  Our goal is:

o    Through the inquiry/questioning model, by December 2010, students will demonstrate 10% growth in their ability to respond to (Kindergarten and Grade 3) and evaluate (Grades 4-8)(1.8) the author’s point of view (1.9), through either fiction or non-fiction.  Additionally, there will be a 10% increase across all divisions, in their ability to communicate their understanding of math concepts.

-       Individual Education Plans will be going out to the board for October 18th

-       Terry Fox raised over $1,000, Pat to be pied as a result

-       Monthly Health & Safety inspections are going well

-       New student council has been elected.  Lots of fun events planned out already

-       Remembrance Day assembly on Nov 11

-       November 21^st is a PD Day for interviews

Fundraising

-       McDonalds night is a go, date to be determined.  End of November?

-       Hawberry Farms or McMillans will probably proceed this fall

-       Cards By Me: Teachers send in the art, company prints the cards.  Parents order sets of 13 for $20.  School gets $6.50 per order – minus shipping costs.  Not too much teacher involvement required for this fundraiser.

-       School photographer also does Christmas cards.  Timing (turnaround times) and pricing to be determined.

Old Business

-       Motion put forward to buy a new media cart at $1,600.  Taxes may be additional.  Motion passed to allow up to $1,850 to be spent on a new media cart.

-       GLP class would like a field trip to the Bill Mason Center (outdoor education program).   Renting a bus will cost $200.  Pat to discuss with Ms. Milks.

-       Does Mairin have any requests that council

New Business

-       Appreciation night for OCASC, Thursday October 20^th

-       Council End of year report has been submitted

-       February we will host a seminar on the Arts.  Motion to use $50 from PRO Grant to pay for refreshments at the seminar, passed.

-       There is a waste free lunch challenge.  Glen Cairn strives towards this goal, but isn’t necessarily registered as an official participant.

-       Healthy School 2020 workshops are being held by Champlain Cardiovascular Disease Prevention http://www.healthyschools2020.ca/ Glen Cairn is a healthy school, and is working towards these goals.

-       Pat to look into Sporty Kids for this school year

-       CHEO Connects - October 24^th, in partnership with OCDSB pertaining to the first year of your life.

-       Getting a Good IEP session being held as at Rideau High on Saturday October 21th 10:00-noon.

-       Ontario is one of the few places that has been able to sustain education growth.  Ontario is looked on favourably at the global educational level.

-       Secretary for next meeting: Megan Alink

Meeting adjourned 8:00 p.m.

Next meeting November 8^th, 7pm

September 20th, 2011 Meeting minutes.

Glen Cairn Public School
Parent Council
September 20th, 2011
Attendance:
Julie Drapeau Herron
Brian Herron
Scott Blythe
Jeff Ross – Rossj1@algonquincollege.com
Rebecca Tibbits – aiken_rebecca@yahoo.ca
Amy Direienzo – mickeymouse13@rogers.com
Deb Hickey
Paul Warner – glebite@rogers.com
Pat Furlong
Tracey Ahern

Skipping of the reading of minutes from last year.
We went around the table introducing each other.
Message from the Principal:

•  Pat talked about the meet the teacher night,
•  enrollment numbers have dropped
•  Jeff will be talking about the ARC
•  Pat talked about the EQAO results:
•  Pat mentioned how the results were skewed
•  But factoring out the Special and General students:
•  Grade 3:
•  60% Reading
•  67 % Writing
•  67% Math
•  Grade 6:
•  71% Reading
•  65% Writing
•  59% Math
•  first fire drill was held – the first of three
•  we did a really good job
•  there are two lockdown drills in the future
•  Monarch release on Friday
•  Sept 28th – Terry Fox
•  Sept 27th – School Photos
•  Hep B shots – Sept 22
•  First Assembly – Sept 30

Jeff Ross reporting on ARC:

•  there haven’t been any votes yet but the 7/8 model is being suggested
•  an architect said that the building improvements would be impossible to upgrade water fountains, etc...
•   MFI – this could add 200 students to Glen Cairn
•  There was a suggestion of John Young run as a K-3 English/French Immersion, Glen Cairn would become a 4-8 English/French Immersion.
   Pat expanded upon this with a description of the problem: too many students for the buildings in Kanata North and just right numbers for Kanata South (with some shuffling).
   The public meeting will be in October – Pat will include it in the newsletter.
   The message is to get parents involved with ARC as well as their input
   The ARC recommendations are supposed to be implemented in 2012
  New Business:
   Brian walked through the positions:
   Chair;
   Secretary;
   Treasurer;
   OCASC Rep;
   OCDSB Rep;
   Fund Raising Coordinator;
   Picnic Coordinator.
  Election of officers:
  
  •  Pat indicated that Gwen could not attend the meetings but might help.
  •  Paul volunteer for OCASC;
  •  acclamation
  •  Brian for OCDSB;
  •  acclamation
  •  Rebecca for Treasurer;
  •  acclamation
  •  Julie will chair;
  •  acclamation.
  •  Assign secretary – that way everybody gets to share the joy;
  •  Holding off on Picnic Coordinator – going to circulate that one for a bit via email just in case someone in the email list who'd like to join in
  Suggestions for the calendar this year:
  •  Cupcakes in February (Valentine's Day)
  •  Picnic in June
  •  McDonald's Night(s)
  •  Home Hardware needs to be advertised more!!!!
  •  Starbucks Day???? or contributions from them???
  •  Hawberry Farms - Fall
  •  McMillans - are we going to bring them back?
  •  Possibly Regal or Innisbrook?
  •  Scott brought up Cards By Me again - he'd be happy to look into it.
  •  Amy discussed Sendoutcards.com - huge selection of cards, regular cards, gifts, and everything is done online
  •  Amy will get us more information
  •  Cheese sales is an option
  •  Pizza!!!
  • Pat is going to look into continuing with Pizza Pizza
    
    •  Tracey says that 1 for 1 pizza meets the guidelines
    •  Pat will follow up with the pizza.
    Pizza Sub Committee:
    Rebecca, Brian, Pat, Tracey
    Long term goals:
    
    • - Play structure - Pat wants to see what the outcome from the ARC decision until February
    • - Julie was asking about the larger play structure - apparently it's been worked on by the school despite being owned by the city
    • - it is inspected every day because it is being used by the school
    • - Scott suggested a day trip to the NAC as he received a portfolio for it
    • - HipHop did quite well - perhaps another couple of events this year
    • - Square Dancing did okay
    • - We'll ask Jill to fire up the HipHop people coming in
    • - Media Cart is one thing that could be brought in to help
    • - Pat will come up with prices for Document Camera and the Media Cart
    • - Parent involvement fund...
    • - put our meetings in the newspaper
    • - $500 grant from the school board - we should use it
    • - Deb suggested using google groups to email out to restrict email advertising and gets past the 100 email limit imposed by yahoo.ca
    • - Rebecca needs to be a signing authority
    • - Gwen
    • - Brian
    •  Julie
    Paul had a question about the Cross Graded Class (3/4/5)
    
    • - cross graded group
    • - nothing from the Ministry
    • - a lot of studies and links provided by Pat:
    • http://www.mun.ca/educ/faculty/mwatch/win2000/mulcahy.html
    • http://www.ericdigests.org/pre-9221/teaching.htm
    • http://php.scripts.psu.edou/dept/jrre/articles/v3,n3,p111-115,Pratt.pdf
    We were then encouraged to eat cookies.
    Meeting Adjourned at 20:30.

ebay fund raising

Ebay items up for sale for fund raising!

Silver Bracelet
Pearl bracelet #1
Pearl bracelet #2

Bid away if you want these items - it's going for a good cause!

Glen Cairn Parent Council March 8, 2011 Minutes

Glen Cairn Parent Council March 8, 2011 Minutes

In attendance: Paul Warner, Amy DiRienzo, Pat Furlong, Mike Hickey, Deb Hickey, Gwen Allingham, Brian Herron, Scott Blythe, Andrea Hoyt
Regrets: Julie Drapeau, Chris Mollison
Call to order 7:05 pm

Approval of minutes from last meeting

Reports

Treasurer (Deb)

•  cheques were ordered a few weeks ago and were supposedly sent to Deb's home address and wouldn't be there until the 16th of March, 2011. Deb hopes that they will come in before Friday to get them signed;
•  Deb didn't get the pizza information from Tracy until the time when the bank statement was going to be ready so all of the cheques except for council members in order to prevent an extra
• service charge – those will be put in for March 26;
•  We have nearly $5000 available for spending;
•  Sporty Life has been delayed as our contact is no longer associated with the association;
•  We now have a standard means to raise money for OCASC – the system will not allow this to be forgotten in the future;
•  Deb has a friend who is willing to count Campbell's Soup Labels;
•  John Young is performing a recycling fund-raiser

OCASC (Mike)

•  a couple of schools were asking about head lice and how to avoid events. There was a fair amount of feedback;
•  There are a 3 part discussion series regarding teenagers: March 10th at Merivale High School – no charge, Social Networks, May 5th Drugs, and Safe Young Drivers (May 24th);
•  April 18th, 19th - Aboriginal Conference – first come first serve;
•  Kindness Programme – 613 835 4201 – Jennifer Snell – she brings in a dog and talks about kindness towards animals and allows for the children to interact with the child;
•  Saturday April 2nd – there is a meeting coming up to discuss IPRC and IUP ;
•  The main meeting was about OCASC and PIC (Parent Involvement Committee) and how that there will be more involvement of PIC with OCASC or other arrangements;

Fundraising (Gwen)

•  Gwen looked into the Cards By Me programme – but would have to be started up in the Autumn;

Principal (Pat)

•  Student's survey is back on – there will be a letter coming home to discuss privacy concerns – this will be taking place April 13;
• The ARC committee is still meeting – please get involved!!!!!
• March 24th – information night;
• Fabulous Flag display – a huge thank you for Mr. Watts;
• Grade 8 Celebration Date on the 29 of June;
• Looking into Grad Photo retake days;
• Spirit Day coming this Friday – dress as a super hero;
• Shave for the Brave – rallying for a student – he is collecting money for charity and will have his head shaved;
•  LLI programme is working quite well for improving reading;
•  Marge Duncan has asked for juice boxes for Jump Rope – she also thanked us for the dress-up clothes for the Kindergarten students;
•  Marge Duncan has also asked to look into the Toyota Greening programme;


Business arising from last meeting

•  McMillan's update: 120 in profit so far, 40 units sold, 8 orders in as of Tuesday; there is going to be an award for top class/top student;
•  Sporty Kid's Status
•  Ebay Auctions: we have an account, we need to just set up a pay pal account; Brian will set up an account and use it in conjunction with the Treasurer for the next 12 months;
•  Helmets from Lowe's: there was some confusion over the donation; we may have to reimburse Pat for her purchase from the GC account; it was suggested that the fund be named after Steve;
•  Home Hardware (at Bridlewood) is set up. Just let the cashier know the purchaser is from GC

New Business

•  Cotton Candy – Amy has a contact for the machine and will confirm the price;
•  sold for $2.00 last year and $180.00 for supplies – got the machine for $50.00
•  Picnic

•  everything is lining up for the picnic;
•  Gwen presented bouncy castle like structures as a possibility;
•  the entertainment is lining up;
•  Paul has contact information and has been in contact with the Karaoke lady;
•  Paul will follow up with food possibilities in the next few months;
•  Volunteers will be lined in the month prior to the picnic.

Meeting adjourned 8:35 pm

Next meeting, April 12th, 7pm

Sad news...

Glen Cairn Public School Parent Council is sending condolences to the family of Roger McEwen, the father of Payton and Hailey, who passed away on Monday, March 21st in his 43rd year.  Friends may pay respects at the Kelly Funeral Home, 580 Eagleson Road Kanata, Thursday March 24, 2011 from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m.  A Service in Memory of Roger will be held Friday, March 25, 2011 in the Chapel at 11 a.m.

Additional Donation System for Glen Cairn

Thanks to the Manager and Owner of the Bridlewood Home Hardware we are eligible to receive donations based on a percentage of pre-tax tales.

Here's how it will work: when an employee or student family member from the school purchases products from Bridlewood Home Hardware, a percentage of their pre-tax sales will be donated back to the Glen Cairn Public School's Parent Council. 

It is important that at the time of purchase, that people participating mention that they are from Glen Cairn Public School.   A duplicate receipt will be printed out and saved for the fund.  Every two months a cheque will be sent for that time period.

Note that this program is exclusive between Glen Cairn Public School and Bridlewood Home Hardware 90 Michael Cowpland Drive (at Eagleson).

Here is the contact information for the Bridlewood Home Hardware store:

http://www.homehardware.ca/en/dealer-microsites/1435-0/contact-information.htm

Announcement regarding Little League registration.

In the spirit of keeping our children active and healthy with fun and games, the Kanata Little League Baseball Assoc. (KLLBA) has a couple of upcoming registration dates.

 

They normally hold registration at KRC which is just off of Terry Fox and the 3 dates are as follows:

 

Saturday March 5, from 10 am - 2 pm

Wednesday April 6, from 7 pm - 9 pm

Saturday April 9, from 10 am - 2 pm

 

For further information:

www.kllba.ca

 

ebay account set up for fund raising!

The Glen Cairn Public School Parent's Association now has an ebay account set up on: http://www.ebay.ca for the purposes of kicking off additional fund raising. 

This will become more relevant once the PayPal mechanism is set up.

After that, we'll have to come up with protocol for item submission, description, and shipping.

Meeting Minutes February 8th, 2011

Glen Cairn Parent Council February 8, 2011 Minutes

Attendance: Julie Drapeau, Brian Herron, Scott Blythe, Pat Furlong, Paul Warner, Deb Hickey, Mike Hickey,
Jocelyn Mackenzie, Susan Kuruvilla
Regrets: Gwen Allingham, Tanja Campbell, Amy DiRienzo, Chris Mollison, Andrea Hoyt

Call to order 7:05 pm
Minutes of January meeting passed.

• To further clarify, there has not been any discussion at any level to move GCPS 7s and 8s to AY. They are looking for interim solutions for two specific schools overcrowding issues-Stephen Leacock and Katimavik.

Reports

Chair

• Judy Ovington has resigned from council due to scheduling conflicts

Principal

• Financial audit beginning Feb 9th, 2011.

• Book Swap very well received. Most classes went through twice, only one small box of books left to be dropped off at public library. Worth doing again, but only once a year in honour of Literacy week.

• The Grade 8s have had their initial attempt at signing up for their Grade 9 classes online for AY Jackson.  AY will come back next week to go over the process to clear up certain problems and misunderstandings.

• Report cards have gone home, no interview days scheduled but teachers are available to discuss any concerns.

• Phase 2 of the School Improvement Plan is coming up. The first phase was very effective; the results are available in the January newsletter.

• Superintendent Jill Bennett came to visit.

• The school’s flags are being replaced by a caring and concerned parent; there will be a bit of a ceremony for it.

• Kevin Frost, a blind athlete and motivational speaker will be coming to talk to the 6/7/8 classes.

• The NAC is coming for a visit

• February 15th is Twoonie Tuesday raising funds for students in need.

• February 15th is the seniors dance, raising funds for Twoonie Tuesday

• Crazy hat day was great fun.

• February 18 is a PD day, February 21st is Family Day.

Treasurer

• Financial statements presented.

• Parents of the 3 pizza orders whose cheques were returned have been notified. Replacement cheques for $30 and $60 respectively requested. Brian has contacted the parents for follow-up. Brian to follow up with Pat for unknown contact information.

• Available funds $3684

• Nothing has been received from Sporty Life yet. Scott to follow up with Mr Blauer

• Music stands purchase completed.

• Tchoukball arrived today, bill to be forwarded to Deb.

• Quikbooks CD has arrived and is going into envelope to be passed on to successive treasurers.

• Income from McDonald’s listed under ‘Projects’

OCASC

• Mike presented bill to Deb for OCASC membership fees of $35.00. Council passed vote to pay OCASC membership fees.

• OCASC representatives discuss board policy, diversity initiatives, fundraising and have guest speakers

• Minutes available here.

• At chalk-it-up, there was discussion on implementing the Green Bin programme, ski trip insurance and fundraising for play structures.

• No Fundraising to report at this time.

Old Business

Gift items/silent auction

• Deb to talk to her contact at the bank about opening an account specifically to manage EBay/PayPal funds. This will isolate the account and hopefully prevent any unauthorized fluctuations in payments being reversed/returned affecting our operating funds.

Book Swap

• Not too much work in setting up. Posters and slips went out the week before announcing date. Julie set up the library the evening before: books on the tables, chairs pushed to the sides reducing access to school library books. Books that came in the day of the exchange were placed that morning by Pat. For next time, ask teachers to bring their students offerings into the library the day before.

Entertainment Pack

• In reviewing the terms of the contract, Brian has a few questions concerning lost/stolen/damaged books, minimums and penalties. He will set up a time with his contact and Pat to meet and discuss. Pat is reluctant given the results when the band did the Book. Mike suggested doing pre-orders and then then the books come, it is just a matter of selling those books instead of each child getting a book to sell.

New Business

OCDSB

• Brian is unable to attend the meeting February 10th. Asked council members to attend in his place. No- one at table able to commit.

Library Funds

• Mrs Aranoff did not get any funds from the Board to purchase books for the library this year. She had already asked for a book case and is reluctant to ask for funds for books. As council, we can offer her funds to purchase books without her requesting them.  Proposed $500 to purchase books for school library. Passed unanimously.

MacMillans

• Julie in contact with MacMillans to fundraise with them. Given the OK to proceed conditional on there being no minimum orders, that delivery dates do not conflict with March Break or other events. Julie to confirm details and email information to council

Home Hardware

• The Home Hardware in Bridlewood has offered us a percentage of sales whenever parents come in and let them know that they are from GCPS. Paul will confirm our interest , update blog and provide blurb for the newsletter.

Pizza

• Only $300 left outstanding in the pizza P.O. Re-order forms should be coming out shortly.

Parent Involvement

• There will be a play in May. Pat to solicit parents for council.

• We could ask Public Health or the WOCRC if they have any speakers that could come and give grade specific talks, then hold meetings directly after the talk. It would make for long council meetings, but may increase participation and build community.

Picnic

• Paul is developing a Picnic Kit. Yay!!! It will hold information on contact numbers, volunteer requirements, tasks and timelines. That way it can be passed on from year to year without losing important information.

• Karaoke person has been contacted but has not yet responded.

Meeting adjourned 8:05 pm
Next meeting, March 8th, 7pm

Glen Cairn Parent Council January 11th, 2011 Minutes

 Glen Cairn Parent Council January 11th, 2011 Minutes
Attendance: Paul Warner, Amy DiRienzo, Julie Drapeau, Scott Blythe, Andrea Hoyt, Jocelyn MacKenzie, Brian Herron, Mike Hickey, Deb Hickey, Chris Mollison
Regrets: Gwen Allingham, Pat Furlong
Call to order.
Minutes of December 14th, 2010 meeting passed.
Reports
Principal –presented by Scott Blythe

• PD day Jan 14th for report card writing. Report card day is February 2nd. There are no parent interview days scheduled. If parents have concerns about the report cards, they will need to contact the teacher directly.

• Lock-down drills planned for later this month. Children may share their experiences but it is just a drill at this time.

• February 18th is a PA day. There are workshops being held at the Congress Centre. Five invitations to the conference were offered to Parent Council.

• ARC meeting planned for January 17th at AY Jackson. Might be contentious. All parents are welcome.

• We have a new superintendent - Jill Bennett.

• The teachers will be getting some specific training using Smart Boards for mathematics.

• 260 tins were collected by student council for the food drive.
• We were offered the opportunity to have a fundraiser of black polar fleece scarves. $2.50 each, plus embroidery. Parent council not very interested.
• ARC information available online here
• Treasurer
• Mrs. MacOdrum’s wish list still needs about $30, not completely confirmed, unable to ok funds at this time.
• Banking: account manager did not know why NSF cheques weren’t returned. We can now do online banking and ATM deposits which should reduce our fees
• 3 of 4 payments for pizza are still outstanding. 1 of the 4 requested a refund; their refund cheque of $49 was not cashed - to be contacted directly. This family has not been receiving pizza. Brian to contact all 4 families.
• Gwen and Brian to sign cheques for QuickBooks purchase
• Chris and Deb have been in contact. Chris is being trained in the software
• Approximately $3,400 is left in the bank. First term pizza raised $2,000. Will need about $1,000 available for picnic outlay. Picnic made about $200 last year. Cotton Candy was a great deal.

OCASC

• Very short meeting, http://ocasc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/minutes-2010-12-16.pdf

Old Business

• John Young has been supporting us to keep the 7/8’s in our school instead of sending them into the high school.
• We would like to invite Glen Cairn’s ARC committee rep to coffee
• Pizza for next few months: Getting better pizza raises the cost, thus lowering the profit. Amy will continue to approach pizza places for next year’s orders. Food guidelines are available here
• Literacy book swap day is going ahead. Children to get notices Wednesday for the following Wednesday’s book swap. Will be using library tables
• For future literacy days, do we want to invite authors in to read to the children? We’d be willing to pay them to come in.
• Entertainment pack: Are we willing to sell them? Yes. We will pay only for the books we will sell. We’ll do entertainment pack sales in the fall. Brian to confirm with Diane Theron.
• Silent Auction/raffle: we would need a raffle number if we were to go ahead with that. Silent auction is a sale, we don’t have enough items to move ahead with an auction. Can we create an EBay account and put items on it? We will ask Pat if there are any rules we need to follow. Paul will confirm PayPal account requirements.

New Business

• When is the picnic? Picnic tentatively to be held June 17th. Andrea to forward Karaoke lady email address to Paul. Chris will ask her friend about spinning cotton candy.
• Skating Days at Jack Charron arena. Parent volunteers are always needed. Kids need snow/skating helmets, not biking or ski helmets. Must be CSA approved. We need to ask Pat about storing surplus /donated helmets and skates if we get donations.
• Kindergartener came home saying scarves were banned. There was a miscommunication, scarves are welcomed as it helps keeps the kids warm.
• Student council is doing a Valentine’s Day bake sale; we won’t be holding a cupcakes sale at that time. We may do one later in the year.

Meeting adjourned 8:30 pm
Next meeting, February 8th, 7pm

December 14th Minutes

Glen Cairn Parent Council December 14th, 2010 Minutes

Attendance: Julie Drapeau, Brian Herron, Scott Blythe, Pat Furlong, Amy DiRienzo, Paul Warner, Deb Hickey, Mike Hickey, Amy DiRienzo, Andrea Hoyt

Regrets: Gwen Allingham, Tanja Campbell,

Call to order.

Minutes of November 9^th, 2010 meeting passed.

Guest Mr Blauer introduced, to discuss Sporty Kids program

• The programme develops fundamental movement skills in a co-operative not competitive environment.
• It would be during the nutrition and activity break, 35-40 minutes, once a week.
• 8 weeks cost $82.50 per student, includes t-shirt to be worn in class.
• Mr Blauer’s contact believes the programme qualifies for the Ontario Activity Credit.
• The fees are paid directly to Sporty Kids, no money or administration activity for the school.
• The teachers are accredited in Physical Education.
• Grades 1-6 are invited and grouped by ability, not age.
• Asking Parent Council to subsidize a limited number of students for the introductory term.
• At Alta Vista, the programme began with just 10 students, in later terms, up to 100 students enrolled.
• Andrea asked how we control enrolment and therefore how much we are willing to subsidize. R. According to contact, interest in the Sporty Kids is low at the beginning. By capping the first enrolment opportunity, we can control how many students join. The recommendation to begin is a cap of 20 students.
• We cannot force children to enrol, so there is no sense in agreeing to subsidize the entire school, and that would also overwhelm the teachers providing the service.
• In past years, the skipping programme out of Ottawa U was successful and enjoyed by many students.
• Agreed that an initial offering to 20 students, not 20 families, with a subsidy of $20 per enrolled student would be acceptable; or up to 22 if a family is enrolled, for a maximum subsidy of $440.00 Passed unanimously.
• This is to be an introductory offer, not necessarily ongoing funding. If there is enough interest, we can revisit this in the new year and determine how much we are able to cover in the next session.

Reports

Principal

• ARC moving forward, next meeting for South Kanata on Jan 5^th, 2011. All interested members of the community being invited to attend. A community member will be joining Pat, representing Glen Cairn Public school. All aspects of school planning except closures will be discussed-programmes, boundaries, portables, etc.
• Levelled literacy intervention for Grades 1-3 will begin in the new year. It’s a 16-18 week, half hour/week programme to increase literacy, 3-4 children at a time. It was offered to all schools at a cost GCPS was willing to pay and had no bearing on our EQAO scores.
• Student Council is running a food drive with a goal of 500 items.
• Mrs. Fawcett has had to begin her maternity leave earlier than planned, Mrs Dean is replacing her.
• Hand bell choir to perform at upcoming School Board meeting, CTV and Citizen have both been contacted.
• Intermediate dance on Friday, PJ day on Friday.
• Finances to be audited again this year-every third year.

Treasurer

• Financial statements presented.
• Approved numbers of speakers have been purchased for less than approved amount. Will be purchasing more speakers for new media carts with remainder of funds.
• Items approved in previous meetings (ie Tchoukball) did not include shipping and handling charges. As this is an increase in passed funding, it needs approval before we can pay for the full amount. Teachers are not currently including taxes and purchase costs in their estimates, and we then have to go back and pass new amount, creating delays in re-imbursements. Pat to ask staff to include all fees in the future.
• Deb has a call in for a discount on purchase of Quikbooks. This purchase will be made from account, not Parent Involvement fund, per Michele Giroux’s email to Cathy Curry November 9^th, 2010, as we have general funds that we can use for this purchase. We can transfer the license to new treasurers each year with a phone call provided Parent Council holds the licence and not an individual.
• Deb and Chris have conflicting schedules and have not been able to meet to discuss handover.
• Music Stands: Price shopping yielded no better prices at Dominics. Bill for music stands came in, 8 stands for approved amount, with an outstanding amount for the conductor’s stand. Are we willing to fund two more stands and the conductor’s stand, raising the amount of the outstanding P.O. to $575.00? Passed.
• Outstanding P.O. from 2009-2010 for chalkboard and markers handed in, needs to be approved for another 35$. Passed.
• Mrs MacOdrum’s list from last month was passed around, only more whisper phones and reading highlight strips added in. List total of $450.00 approved
  • Very cool math game
  • DPA CD
  • Classroom scissors
  • Reading highlight strips
  • Word family tiles
  • Social Studies resources
  • Whisper phones
• We have begun using last year’s funds-no longer using funds we have raised just this year
• Hawberry Farms raised $449.40
• Parent’s of the 5 pizza orders whose cheques were returned have been notified. Replacement cheques for $30 and $60 respectively requested.
• Deb to try and get appointment with bank manager to address concerns with returned cheques and other bank fees, on-line banking.
• PizzaPizza showed up on interview day in error. No charges made to us.
• John Young charges $2 a slice and 75c for milk vs GCPS at $1.75 and 60c. Put pizza on next agenda. Amy and Tracy to cost out other firms and hopefully ask for samples on meeting night

OCASC

• Mike attended November 18^th meeting. Most of the evening was spent discussing OCDSB concerns. Minutes of the meeting here.

Old Business

Raffle of gift items/silent auction

• Unsure if we are able to hold a raffle as there may be lottery rules/numbers to which we would need to comply. Pat to verify.
• Pat raised the possibility of having this fundraiser in time for Valentine’s Day. That’s a great idea, as we would have time to display the items in the display case, publicize it in the school newsletters and blog, etc. Pat will discuss the items at the seasonal concert. End dates discussed were the Friday the 11^th, Monday the 14^th and Friday the 18^th. If we can have a draw, it would be the 14^th, as a silent auction, then the 11^th to the 18^th.

New Business

People 4 Education Survey

• Completed. Discussed parent council’s major roles. One of the surprising things to us was council’s role in the school improvement plan. It is apparently something with which we should be involved. When the next opportunity arises, Pat will share it with us so we can be a part of the process.

Parent Involvement Funds

• To be used for encouraging parental involvement.
• Moved to ask Pat to submit receipts for her cookies that she buys for council meetings. Passed. No P.O. necessary.
• Not using any for purchasing gift cards for volunteers at the seasonal concert, but will use some for the end of year picnic.

Literacy Week activities

• Julie asked what kind of activities the school has planned to promote literacy day. Nothing as yet. Discussed the possibility of having a free book swap, where the children bring in books to a certain day then they get to choose a new to them book. Julie is able to work with Pat to get this going.

Mr Sedaka, the head custodian, is on leave with a rather serious concussion and may not return in January. At present, all the custodial staff are new to their positions.

Path from school to Oriole Avenue, past public pool is the city’s responsibility and maintained to city standards, not OCDSB’s.

Meeting adjourned 8:30 pm

Next meeting, January 11^th, 7pm