Catholic School Advisory Council (CSAC)
Minutes of the May 29 th , 2012 Meeting APPROVED
In Attendance
FOBA & CSAC Staff/Students Bishop Allen Community Aoife Humphreys Adrian Della Mora Janice Genova Mary-Jo de Quintal Ed Koenig Mark Kelly Krystyna Dix Mary Keenan Judi Calado Costa Deidre Mackintosh Carlos Fiel Denise Williams Connie Gemma Valerie Devine Venita Indewey John Grassby Anne Walsh Audrey Butrimas
Silence is the virtue of fools. SIR FRANCIS BACON
Opening Prayer Meeting opened with a prayer.
1. Adoption of Minutes from the April 24 th , 2012 Meeting Deirdre motioned to accept the minutes and Aoife seconded.
2. Student Report (Carlos Fiel) Successful Multicultural Day. The student body was able to re-imburse students funds paid for purchasing the food - which totalled approximately $300. Acoustic night was extremely successful. Canned goods were collected for charity. BA spirit wear is currently being handed out to students who placed orders. New student government (STUGO) selected for next year 2012/2013. This is a 3-day process. Individual student with the most votes is the President and follow up vote totals are assigned the Vice President role. - 2 - Carlos thanked all parents and CSAC for all their support this year on behalf of all Bishop Allen students. 3. Teacher Report (Mr. Walker and Ms. Keenan) Please refer to Appendix A
4. CSAC Chair’s Report (Valerie Devine) The “Understanding the Teen Brain” event, paid for with our PRO Grant funds, was very successful with a very large turn out. The topic was very well received. It was very interactive and the attendees asked a lot of question and the three presenters were very engaging. A suggestion was made to increase the time to 3 hours, if we ever do such a presentation again. Another suggestion is that we should start on time. The stories shared were very impactful where everyone could relate and appreciate. This event is tied in to the BA “Stop the Stigma” week. Valerie has submitted the PRO Grant Report Back form for 2011-2012 which outlines how the funds were spent. Valerie has applied for $1,000 in Pro Grant funds for the 2012-2013 school year. We intend to spend these funds on an event similar to the “Understanding the Teen Brain” event. Valerie thanked the current CSAC members and attendees for a successful year A very special ‘thank you’ to Aoife Humphreys who has been on CSAC for at least, the past four years and who will be returning in a few years when her youngest attends BA. Aoife was Vice Chair this year and has been the voice of reason at the CSAC table. Another very special ‘thank you’ to Venita Indewey who, like Aoife has been on CSAC for at least, the past four years and also, like Aoife, will be returning in a few years when her youngest attends BA. Venita has been a diligent Secretary and another voice of reason at the CSAC table.
5. Principal’s Report (Mr. Della Mora) Walkathon was a success and generated $41,000 in funds. Ed Koenig put a great deal of effort to run this and the student’s were very supportive. It was a fun day. We will be able to purchase 45 new desktop computers for the library and other spaces. Pictures were shared at the Grad assembly there was a picture of the students on the front page of The Etobicoke Guardian. Homes in the area were complimentary of the way our students behaved on the Walkathon. The balance of funds will be spent on other types of technology (computers and software in the tech (drafting and design) room. We hope to do the Walkathon periodically. Next year we may be able to return to the golf tournament fund raiser. Planning will begin in the fall. Library is going to be painted and re-carpeted over the summer then reopened in the Fall with a dedication to the former Principal, Pat Gravelle Compressed Math program is scheduled to begin in September. Student results will be tracked to see if this semestered program in Grade 9 is more effective than the all-year Math program in Grade 9. It was not an easy decision to go with the Compressed Math program. With this program, the students will have semestered Math from Grade 9 to Grade 12, inclusive. As the BA field is so bad, CSAC should try and get on the agenda at a TCDSB meeting, to present our request for a new field. The Board is already aware of our needs and there - 3 - are already 2 options on the table: 60’ x 100’ with a 5-lane track oval OR 50’ x 90’ with a 5-lane track oval. The school preference is for a field with the 60’ x 100’ dimensions. Mr. Della Mora outlined his expectations for the graduating students. The students are well-aware of these expectations. The following activities have been scheduled: Grad Assembly, Grad Picnic (students are bussed to a secret location), Grad Mass, Grad Breakfast, Grads can add to the Memorial Wall in the Cafetorium, the Grad Prom (Le Jardin on Highway 27) on June 21, followed by the Grad Ceremony on June 28. Mr. Della Mora briefly reviewed the process for nomination and selection of various awards
6. Open Forum John Grassby asked about a more formal commitment to the protocol for measuring Math performance of Grade 9 students next year when the grade 9 Math programme is put back into semesters to measure the outcome of that change. Mr.Della Mora said we would have to give the change some time to allow for tracking the success of the change. He said the school would track Math outcomes to determine if the change is effective. Mr. Della Mora reassured CSAC that the decision to make the change was not made for the sake of administrative convenience.
7. Adjournment Motion to adjourn by Valerie Devine and seconded by Aiofe Humphreys.
The next meeting will be held on September 25th, 2012 at 7 p.m. in the Library.
Appendix A - Teacher Report Teacher Report
CSAC Parent Report - May 29, 2012-1..do