School Council Minutes – October 2017
Westminster Woods P.S. School Council Minutes
Meeting Date : Monday, October 2 nd , 2017
Present: Jennifer Li, Melissa Murphy-Adams, Jacquie Hulm-Mehagan, Marcy Lillard, Stephanie Baird, Lulu
Zwingli, Angela Popofski, Donna McMillan, Tim Dickieson, Allison Stoffman, Cherise Johnson, Beth Greenfield, Melissa McEachern, Suzanne Chafe, Melanie Taylor, Valerie Jameson, Natalie Thomas and Mahrukh Syed
Welcome: Meeting called to order at 6:30 p.m. by Beth
Review and Acceptance of Past Minutes: Motion to accept the minutes of September’s meeting by Natalie, seconded by Angela
Principal’s Report
Staffing Information
– Congratulations to Donna McMillan! At last week’s Board meeting it was announced that she will be moving to Harris Mill PS as the Principal, effective October 23 rd
– Welcome to Tim Dickieson who will become our new vice-principal. Tim is currently the VP at Taylor Evans PS.
New Staff
– Contract: Gregg Josias- grade 6
– LTO: Carla Cruttenden Grade 3 for Melissa Brooks
– 0.5 LTO for Mrs. Reimer is in the process of being hired
– EAs: still waiting for 0.5 permanent to be hired
Updates
– Lego League-a lot of publicity, newspaper, CBC radio interview
– Terry Fox Walk/ Run on September 28- raised over $5500
– Open House on September 21 st – good turn out, great opportunity for parents and teachers to meet
– Sept. 29 PA day: Morning was focused on developing goals based on our data, pm Health and Safety Training
Events in October
– Grade 5 Focus on Nature (Sept. 28 and today)
– Grade 3 CCAT- Practice tests this week and testing Oct. 10-13
– Fire Drills: 3 upcoming this week
– Oct. 5: World Teachers Day
– Oct. 3: Intermediate Cross Country
– Oct. 12: Grade 8 Career Pathways
– Oct. 6: Spirit wear Day
– Oct. 10: Ottawa Trip Parent Info night
– Oct. 13: Character Education assemblies
– Oct. 17: Photo Day
– Oct. 17: IEPs sent home
– Oct. 19: Ryan Laird Presentations
– Oct. 27: PD Day
EQAO Data
Grade 3 at or above the provincial standard
Reading – 82% (B: 71 %, P: 74%)
Writing – 82% (B: 71 %, P: 73%)
Math – 68% (B: 58 %, P: 62%)
Grade 6 at or above the provincial standard
Reading – 95% (B: 80 %, P: 81%)
Writing – 95% (B: 78 %, P: 79%)
Math – 80% (B: 48 %, P: 50%)
Treasurer’s Report
– $500 transferred from Community Building to replenish Funds for Friends (FFF) as requested by school council
– $10 967.61 zeroed out of milk and transferred to Playground and Greening account for future schoolyard improvements
– $10 727.09 collected from term one milk sales less $386.86 paid to the Dairy Depot
– Received a $44.46 HST rebate
– Motion to accept the treasurer’s financial update as of September 30 th , 2017 as accurate by Suzanne, seconded by Natalie
Fundraising Report
– Jennifer Li is now the chair of the fundraising committee
Big Box of Birthday Cards
– changed the rollout date to October
– Big Box company presentation held on October 4 th during two assemblies
– box is sent home with the youngest or only child on Wednesday October 4 th
– the school will receive 1/3 of the total profit from the fundraiser
– aiming for $10 000 to be used to purchase a chromebook cart and additional iPads/tablets
Farm Fresh
– not participating in a Farm Fresh fundraiser this year
– may go forward with this next year or move forward with a different event that incorporates fresh local produce
QSP
– order form will be sent home later in October
Planet Bean
– slated to begin in November
– company has provided product samples in previous years
Guelph Storm
– fundraising opportunity suggested by Angela
– would be scheduled for the afternoon of November 12 th
– discounted tickets would be available for $18/person with $4.00 coming back to the school. Ticket price would include a one hour skate before the game.
– require a minimum of 100 people
– people would purchase tickets through School Cash Online
– there was some question as to whether the school could sponsor and profit from an event where there was alcohol available for purchase
– would we be covered by and need to purchase insurance?
– the majority of council members supported the event as either a fundraiser or as a non-profit event
– Angela was looking into how long we would need to have tickets sold before the game
Community Building
Wake up the Woods
– No date set yet in November
Movie Night at Pergola Commons
– theatre not available to rent in December as previously planned due to the release of Star Wars
– February was proposed as an alternate date but timing will be influenced by the movies being released at that time
– $900 to rent one or two theatres
– if we rent two one could show a movie geared towards older kids while the other shows a movie for the younger kids
– tickets will be available for a reduced price of $6.00/child and $7.75/adult
– it was proposed that we could fund the theatre rental using $1000 from the Community Building Account
Multi-Cultural Night
– possible date in early December
– different groups would set up booths in the gym and feature food, dancing, music etc. from that culture
– need to find out if we require a permit from the city if food is being served
– may have $500 to put towards the event
– both weeknight and Saturday times were discussed and it was decided that attendance would be higher if held on a weeknight
– a firm date was to be decided upon by the next council meeting
Playground & Greening
– considering options for development of a natural area by the teacher’s parking lot and new basketball hoops
– basketball hoops need to be of good quality to last
– hoops are expensive; will check with the City of Guelph to see what type/brand are used in the parks
– any profit from the Storm hockey game fundraiser was proposed to be allocated to playground improvements while funds could be topped up by applying for various grants
– need to research the costs of developing a new creative/learning space – contact people at Arbor Vista School to see how/what they had to do for their new playground
– is there a need to re-assess the kinder play area?
– safety concerns include a lack of mulch and broken logs not being used for their intended purpose
– one possible solution could be the building of a barrier to contain the mulch
– it was not known if the school board inspected the kinder area
Old Business
Milk Program
– Beth reported having order issues with the milk bags but was hoping to have new cooler bags soon
Tree Watering
– were invoiced $428.00 for tree watering over the summer
Spirit Wear Storefront
– store is up and running at https://urstore.ca/westminster-woods
– link will be put on school website under school council after the Big Box sale
– will send something home to let students and parents/guardians know about the store
– can do a group order to reduce shipping and a pop-up store with 5-12 items available at a reduced price
– items are available with one of two school logos and shirt colours are limited to black, white and two shades of green
– promotions will be advertised via social media
New Business
Council T-Shirts
– good to have when volunteering at school events
– motion to have school council pay for a set of council t-shirts by Beth, seconded by Marcy. All were in favour.
– Motion to have the proceeds from Spirit Wear sales go towards Community Building by Melanie, seconded by Cherise. All were in favour.
School Insurance
– expiring on October 31 st , 2017.
– Motion to spend $151.20 on renewing school insurance
Logo Trinkets
– to be used in welcome/good-bye packages for students/teachers or as fundraising items at the family picnic
– priced out various items available from Promotional Products Canada
– there is a set-up fee for each item
– $10.60 for 100 units each containing a water bottle, flashlight, drawstring backpack and lanyard
Planet Bean Tokens
– have approximately 25 wooden tokens good for a free coffee at Planet Bean
– will be given to the crossing guards, delivery people, mail people and bus drivers
PIC Meeting
– Live Free campaign for Children’s Foundation or a specific school
– could adapt it to donate to Food & Friends
– PIC meeting is open to all parents
School Council Bulletin Board
– needs some sprucing up!
– displays the minutes, upcoming events and meetings
– Melissa and Marcy volunteered to decorate it
The date of the April council meeting has been changed to the 9th
PIC Meeting
– approved for a $1000 PRO grant
– all school councils receive $500 to support parent engagement
– funds should already be in the school account
School Council Memo
– everything is on the Upper Grand website
– all school councils have an email address that chairs can access instead of using their personal accounts
Family & Children’s Services
– October is Child Abuse Prevention month
– October 24 th is Dress Purple Day to raise awareness
– https://www.fcsgw.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/131001-Purple-Ribbon-Media-Release.pdf
School Messenger Parent App
– Info and training session to come in October
Fall PIC Event
– Dr. Laura Markham speaking on November 8 th at Centennial CVI; 6:15-8:45
– “How to get your child to cooperate without yelling, threats or punishment”
– free event but you must register to get tickets @ http://www.ugdsb.ca/pic/
Food and Friends by Anita MacFarlane
– http://www.childrensfoundation.org/what-we-do/food-friends
– run a Scholarship Program, Food & Friends, Free to Play and Adopt a Family
– events: Trees for Tots and the Around the World Gala
– can plan a third party fundraiser i.e. Breakfast event
– Live Free fundraising campaign for our school runs from January 1 st – March 2 nd
– registration opens December 18 th
– every dollar raised in your school supports your Food & Friends program
– March 2 nd is Live Free day
Next Meeting: Monday November 6 th , 6:30 pm
Adjournment: 8:00
Categories: School Council