School Council Minutes – May 2018
Westminster Woods P.S. School Council Minutes
Meeting Date: Monday, May 7th, 2018
Present: Allison Stoffman, Tim Dickieson, Cherise Johnson, Beth Greenfield, Angela Popofski, Valerie Jameson, Jacquie Hulm-Mehagan, Lucy Oates, Jennifer Li, Melanie Taylor, Melissa McEachern, Marcy Lillard and Lulu Zwingli
Welcome: Meeting called to order at 6:30 p.m. by Beth
Review and Acceptance of Past Minutes: Motion to accept the minutes of April’s meeting by Melanie, seconded by Beth
Principal’s Report:
Staffing:
– Morgan Rufalowski hired 0.2 for Alyssa Hutchings
– Loren Armstrong returned from maternity leave
– Next year: 4 Kindergarten classes, 9 primary classes, 9 junior classes and 6 intermediates classes
– very early in the staffing process and our student numbers are changing every day
Events:
– Thank you for the Family Picnic and Open House, very well attended and lots of positive feedback
– Thank you for coming out to help with mulching and yard clean up
– Skills Canada
– Earth Day assemblies
– Grade 5 Elder Visit
Upcoming Events:
– Youth Mental Health Week this week: Daily activities are planned
– Jump Rope for Heart on May 18
– Shark swim for grade 3 and 5 – see website calendar for dates
– Track and Field May 28 for Junior
– EQAO starts on May 22nd for grade 6 and May 29th for Grade 3
– Kindergarten Orientation on May 16th
– Special Olympics on May 16
– many classes have field trips planned, be sure to look at the calendar
– talent show preparation is well underway
Curriculum:
– on the April 27th PD Day, staff participated in Math learning, shared their USLN updates, reviewed the need for visual schedules and bin systems, School Self-Assessment, and learned about the variety of technology (Microbits, OZbots, Bloxels, Makey Makey, etc.) that can be used in classrooms
Treasurer’s Report:
As of April 30th, 2018
– $720.00 in milk sales
– $1384.08 paid to the Dairy Depot. Current milk balance is $11 605.67
– Community building current account balance is $4032.88
– Current Fundraising and Special Projects account balance is $504.61
– reimbursed Beth $88.07 for purchase of brooms to sweep the kindie yard
– $217 in pizza sales for the family picnic
– pizza will be paid for out of the Fundraising & Community Building Account
– picnic information will be included on next month’s report
– Future Schoolyard Improvements current account balance is $15 538.96
– Motion to accept the treasurer’s report made by Marcy, seconded by Lucy
Fundraising Report:
Fall Tulip Fundraiser:
– Kindergarten teachers would like to take this fundraiser over to purchase new toys for the kindie yard
– We will still proceed with purchasing bulbs for the students to plant in memory of a loved one
Late Fall Fundraiser:
– QSP rep dropped off brochures with different fundraising ideas
– Should we try to do fewer fundraisers next year?
– Ideas : garage sale, silent auction, Big Box, chocolate bars (or other consumables)
– Silent Auction – we could approach local businesses for items/services
– Angela to get info from Booster Juice on having it available for students to pre-order for delivery once a week/month
Basketball Net Fundraiser:
– Will cost ~ $1500 for a building inspection by a structural engineer
– Motion to use $1000 – $1500 from the Playground and Greening account to hire a structural engineer to inspect the school building in order to mount the basketball nets by Cherise, seconded by Beth
– Motion to spend ~$200 at Walmart to buy skipping ropes, soccer balls, hula hoops and other items for outdoor play by Cherise, seconded by Lucy
Playground & Greening:
Butterfly Garden Update:
– Cherise and Allison met with two landscapers
– The plan is large and would cost ~$30 000; therefor the area of the project was reduced to a 60′ X 40′ plot on a flat area behind the portable
– Neither landscaper has previous experience working with a school but would keep the budget in mind and use cost effective materials
– One landscaper said he would try to get his quote in at $12 000 and suggested the project be completed in phases
– Their suggestions included using either a limestone or interlocking stone path, trees (x7 @ $300/tree), low maintenance rain garden and Armour Stone seating
– One of the landscapers (Ryan) was willing to start in August before school starts
– Will obtain a third quote and decide on how to proceed in June
– Will post online what the fundraising money from this year was used for
Milk Program:
– Running smoothly
Community Building:
Family Picnic Report:
– Good feedback from those who attended
– Pre-organized packages of tickets were great
– Food trucks showed interest in returning
– Angela will write a letter to be sent home asking parents/guardians if they have a business/talent/skill that help out at the next year e.g. the family picnic
New Business:
Fall Open House:
– September 27th
– Could book the food trucks again (Mel)
– Look into getting an ethnic food truck (Mexican, Indian, Thai…..)
– Popsicle treat truck?
– Silent auction
– Bulbs – plant them in class and take home a certificate (I planted this bulb in memory of……)
– Need to purchase bulb planting kits
Old Business:
Staff Appreciation Luncheon (June 14th):
– Sign up to bring food and/or volunteer
PRO Grant Application (Mental Health Awareness):
– Application submitted by Angela and Marcy
– Focus on mental health, feeling safe and general well-being
PIC Spring Event:
– Speakers included two reps from People for Education
– Topics included the top things for parents to be involved and how to get the community involved in your school
– Can’t base parent involvement solely on the number attending council meetings
Adjournment: 7:56 pm
Next Meeting: Monday June 4th @ 6:30 pm
Categories: School Council