School Council Meeting Minutes – December 2023
James McQueen School Council Meeting Minutes
Wednesday, December 6th, 2023 (VIRTUAL)
- Welcome
In attendance: Deanne Prins, Bronwyn Tolmie, Amy Shields, Lija Tovell, Seanna Murphy, Erin Longworth
- Land Acknowledgment
- Principal’s Report (see below)
- Treasurer’s Report
-Nothing new to add (no events since last meeting).
-Swag was put out during interviews as a pay-what-you-can. We are now down to 1 box of items left, from 4 boxes.
4. Spring Fling planning
-Tentative date of Saturday, April 27th. We will consult the board’s Equity calendar to make sure we are avoiding days of significance that would exclude some people.
-9:00am-12:00pm. (Silent Auction cut-off at 11:30am)
-Divide planning areas into 3 sub-committees: Volunteer coordination (Lija to take the lead; Seanna as alternate), Silent Auction (Bronwyn), and Pancake Breakfast (Amy to take lead)
-Between now and the next meeting, we will work on the list of potential donations/donors.
-In the new year, we can send out an email asking families if they could, or know someone who could, donate items/services/gift cards. Lija will confirm the date with Ange Billings about face painting.
-Deanne will look into the possibility of using a “Square” payment method instead of cash.
- Other Items / Questions
– Lija asked about Spirit Wear, whether we can set up an additional JMQ staff option.
-Deadline for Spirit wear purchases is December 14th. Link was on the facebook page but Deanne will send it out and Amy will add it to the flyer.
-Potential second round of movie nights: Thursday, February 29th and Tuesday, March 5th. Movies to be picked at next council meeting (Seanna to prepare a list of available titles ahead of the next meeting).
Next meeting: Wednesday, January 10th.
Principal’s Report – December 6, 2023
- Sincerest thanks to our James McQueen School Council and community for their generosity to the Centre Wellington Food Bank. We collected about 40 boxes of food.
- We are thrilled to welcome families to our Winter Sing-a-long the week before the break. And also to enjoy a whole “Feel Good” week
- Students are learning about the many celebrations taking place in December which include, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Winter Solstice, and Christmas
- Mme Bennett hosted a very successful Scholastic Book Fair.
- We welcomed FI planning teacher Kierstin Lee to James McQueen who is currently filling in for Mme TerHaar
- Dance club will continue into the new year
In the next couple of months we look forward to:
- Pottery-to-Go. The date for this is TBD. Thanks to School Council for sponsoring this initiative
- School presentation by UG Student Amaya James
- Continuing with yogurt, snack and breakfast program as well as pizza, and milk days. Thanks to Ange Billings for organizing our Food and Friends program, including yogurt days and a big thanks to the many parent volunteers who help out on yogurt days. Thank you also to Mrs. Mackenzie for organizing our pizza and milk days. We are considering adding a Bar Burrito day as well.
- Collecting gift cards to support families in need over the holidays
As a staff, we are continuing to work on implementing the science of reading and to move students forward who are struggling. Over the last quarter, we had the board support of a Math Support Teacher and Early Reading Teacher. Moving into the next quarter, we have an Early Reading Teacher who will be supporting students in FI and English and we have a reading tutor (Emma Whittaker) who will also be working with students to practice reading skills.
Thank you,
Deanne Prins
Categories: School Council