St Matthews School Council

St. Matthew School Council

SCHOOL NOVEMBER 18TH , MINUTES: DRAFT 7:00 PM LIBRA 2014 RY

MEETING Council Chair: Joe Knott CALLED BY NOTE TAKER Brian Carley Ann Koritko, Joe Knott, , Lisa DesVignes, Evelyne Borwankar, Marian Smith, Maria Liao, Jason Tadros, Adriana Flores , ATTENDEES Eddy Leverock, Suzanne Nagy, Brian Carley, F Parsons, Hugh Comerford

Regrets: Lisa Hotchkiss, Roci Freeman, Tricia Dantes, Rachel Weldrick,Inka Ellenbrand Agenda topics APPROVAL OF PREVIOUS MEETING MINUTES JOE KNOTT  Jason motioned to approve the minutes from the September 2014 meeting. Eddy seconded. All were in favour. PRINCIPAL’S REPORT Nancy Guerin presented Dream Box Math Learning program to Council. This has been purchased and teachers have been trained via Lunch and learn and Webinar sessions. This program is targeted to grades 1,2 and 3 for now and letters have been sent out to parents. The objective is to improve Math skills in these targeted grades.  This week is Bullying Awareness week and program is part of School Improvement program  Two new programs have been implemented. Roots of Empathy, whereby a 3 month old baby and mother come and visit regularly with Grade 8 students. The second is the PALS program, which is a four day, full one hour, training program for student leaders who work with the primary students.  Extra Curriculum:  There are capacity issues for gym space with all the activities going on, especially at lunch time.  The School Choir will be visiting and performing at the mall and Tansley Woods retirement home. Grade 4 will be going to West Oak retirement home in December.  Loyola: ANN KORITKO  The Loyola visit for parents of Grade 8 students took place on Nov. 12 and went very well. It seem to be better organized than previous years and more successful. A Cross-Panel with Loyola an feeder schools will take place with a focus on Math. For example the High School students will be drawing up Math questions for the Grade 8’s as a way of exchanging expectations. The Loyola band will be visiting the school on Monday Dec. 2 to perform. Cashless: The Board is moving to a Cashless system online.3 schools have already moved to the system and the response is positive. There is training planned for the Principals and Admin via Webinar. St. Matthew’s is targeted to be online by February. More information can be found on the Board website. Maintenance: Concrete work is being done in the sidewalk in the FDK area and there are several draining issues to be corrected. Healthy School: Halton Health will not send in nurses for Healthy Hands program as they do not have a specific school program. Decision was made not to pursue. Discussion was held on the idea of a Vaccination Education evening next spring. This will be further investigated. A letter has been sent to healthy Snacks requesting funding. PARENT PARTNERS  Change to Panego Pizza has been very well accepted by students and parents. The quality, variety and service are much improved.  There are many loads of free mulch arriving in the next couple of weeks and volunteers are needed to spread it amongst the flower gardens. Either parents or High School students looking for community hours are welcome. MARIA LIAO  Chapter’s night has been moved to December 2 and the Shopping Spree is now Dec. 16  Discussion was held in regards to the idea of moving the BBQ to the spring rather than the tie-in with the Sept. Curriculum Night. Further examination will take place and tabled again at the Feb. meeting. LISA MARKETING/COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE HOTC  Nothing to report HKISS

EDUCATION HEALTHY SCHOOL COMMITTEE See Principal’s Report SOCIAL JUSTICE AND OUTREACH  Winter Clothing drive was a tremendous success and thanks to all parents and ADRIANA volunteers. FLORE  The Angel Wreath e-mail was sent out this week outlining the process for S participation.  The Christmas tree will be set up in the lobby on December 1st. FINANCE COMMITTEE LISA  Latest estimate of actual and planned versus Budget are attached. DESVI  Most of the “big ticket” items have been ordered and/or delivered to ensure their use GNES is maximized in this school year. OTHER BUSINESS  Council of Chairs Meeting was attended by Eddy and Ann K. and they reported that it was quite successful. JOE KNOTT  The Chairs of the Loyola feeder schools will be meeting to share best practices,  Next meeting is Tuesday Feb. 3 at 7:00 pm.