Barondale School Council

Fallingbrook Parents’ School Council Meeting Minutes Thursday, October 3, 2013 (6:00 pm)

Present: Janet Jackowski, Principal Nergish Khandke Trixie Vasilakos Kyritsis, VP Walaa Sabih Dominique Perrot-Chartrand, Teacher Tanzila Shahid Alba el Baz Janet Spencer Jennifer Chen Eunmi (Emmy) Tegart Kiran Joshi Shahbano Wajih Ingrid Kemraj

Next meeting: Thursday, November 6, 2013 (6:00 pm), School Library

Approval of Agenda Agenda distributed, and accepted as is.

Agenda Items

Welcome and Introduction Happily there are several new faces at the table. Everyone takes turns introducing themselves. We welcome new parents to the community and to our council meetings.

School Council Election The following people volunteered and have been accepted into these executive positions: Co-Chairs – Walaa Sabih, Shahbano Wajih Treasurer – Jeannie Banker (second term) Secretary – Janet Spencer

Principal’s Report (Janet)

a) Jungle Sport Permission forms went home in the agendas. For a nominal fee few students opt out of this program that challenges students in new and exciting ways. For two weeks in September, Jungle Sport qualified instructors transformed our gym into rock and rope climbing courses. This is part of the regular physical education classes. School Council supports/subsidizes this annual program that cost about $8,500. b) Open House September 25, 2013 open house yielded tremendous turnout as students and parents purchased hotdogs and snacks, tried out the Jungle Sport apparatus, and visited their various teachers and classrooms. c) Class reorganizations (confirm completeness) We may be expanding to add a new teacher and reorganize our grade 8 classes. d) Intramural Sports (confirm completeness) Flag football e) Student Leadership (confirm completeness) 50 – 60 positions are available. Students have to apply and interview for peer leader positions, including FALT (?), recess leadership at Sherwood Mills, library crew, etc.

Newcomer Centre of Peel (Monica) Centres provided services community support, counseling, english language training, employment assistance. Monica is in our school on Mondays, integrating, assisting new families with orientation of new school systems, and providing workshops.

Fundraiser Fallingbrook has historically sold Lamontagne chocolates as a fundraiser. The campaign usually goes for 2-4 weeks (is defined as 2 weeks, but often takes 4 weeks to finalize). Based on historical data, the fundraising target is $6,000. Participation is optional. Students may sell chocolate or simply collect donations. Students earn chances to win prizes dependant on the amount of chocolate sold. It is suggested that prizes should be extended to students who collect the same value of donations.

Casual Discussions a) Computers in the School Fallingbrook is one of the first schools in the roll out of a new Office software platform called Office 365. Discontinued computer lab as technology is being integrated into the regular classroom. Bring Your Own Device (BYOD). b) Integrated Studies Middle schools are embracing the integrated studies philosophy of junior school. Where there is less class rotation for different classes. This allows subjects to crossover (for example language to be integrated with social studies lessons). It means students have more stability as homeroom teachers teach more subjects. Students still rotate for at least gym, music, and French classes. It means teachers can develop stronger connections with a smaller pool of students.

The idea of class rotation was supposed to prepare students for high school. In middle school students study all subjects throughout the school year. If they had a different teacher for each subject they could have (8) eight or more teachers at any time. However, in high school (4) four subjects are studied per semester and therefore students don’t rotate to more then (4) teachers at any time.

For teachers integrated classes mean more front end preparation for each different subject taught, but on the back end they have fewer students to evaluate and grade.

Meeting adjourned 7:10 pm