St. Marguerite Bourgeoys Catholic School School Council Minutes
October 17, 2016– 6:30pm
Attendees: Carmine Minutillo, Anna Coe, Heather Toffolon, Colleen Clarke, Angela Alderson, Patti Evaristo, Sherri LaDuca, Alida French, Shelley Rizzo, Amy Martin, Amy Pullaw Stevens, Ana Rand, David Tofts, Heidi Gaudet, Ilse Contois, Jennifer Starkoez, Kim Wallace, Lindsay Macdonald, Lisa Thibeault, Melissa Markotich, Shyla Patterson, Molly Brunet, Natalie Strand, Ruth Spiridakis, Tanya Knapp, Tanya O’Quinn, Teresa Farrell, Chelsea Rots
1. Welcome Prayer- Carmine
Minutes Approved- posted on website
Agenda Approved
2. New/Old Business
3. Reports
Principal’s Report: Carmine Minutillo
Terry Fox ‘run’ took place September 29th. The goal was to raise $5500. Approx $6100 was actually brought in! Our school has managed to raise over $30,000 over the past number of years. Special thanks go to Ms. Lollar for her work towards this effort!
Open House- It went extremely well this year; very well organized. The school received approx. 800 people.
Jerseys- New jerseys and shorts were donated to the school this year! They’re a rare, gold colour, not worn by any other school in the board. Thanks to Heidi, and an official thank you will go to Caduceon Labs.
Peace Garden/Raised Garden- The Moniz family has been working hard to plant a vegetable garden in our peace garden area. It looks great, and will be wonderful in the spring. Thank you!
Eco Conference- The conference was held at the Frink Centre in Belleville this year. The groups come together to share ideas and take part in different presentations. Three members from our school went. SMB has, once again, received platinum certification. To date, we’re the only school that’s achieved this in our board!
Faith Conference- The junior conference took place at Holy Cross last week. One student from each junior class attended.
Bus Patrol Training- Tri Board transportation oversees all transportation in our board. They encourage student participation and help with patrolling the buses. This year, approx.14 kids went to the training, which allows 3 or 4 students to help out, per bus.
1 Child Abuse Awareness Day – Wednesday, October 19th. Students are encouraged to wear purple this day for this great cause.
Big Kids Entertainment- Wednesday, October 26th- A production of Hansel and Gretel will be performed at the school to help deliver the message of being accepting to all. The whole school attends the production, and afterwards, the performers go to classrooms to speak and answer questions.
Spookarama- Mr. Coleman’s class will put on Spookarama for the primary kids this season. It’s always a good time!
School Visit- On November 4th, an official from Ontario Eco Schools and MPP Sophie Kiwala will be visiting SMB to facilitate a profile on all the work the school has been doing towards this initiative. Nov. 4th. It’s quite an honour for our school.
Bus Safety Presentations- November, 8th. ‘Elmer’ the school bus will come to SMB and discuss school bus safety with our primary students. For the older kids, a game of jeopardy is used to communicate the message.
Volleyball- It’s volleyball time! The dates for the tournaments are: Junior Girls November 9th, Junior Boys November 10, Senior Girls November 14, Senior Boys November 15. The tournament will be held at Duncan McArthur Gym.
Soccer- Our school was very well represented this year! All teams did well, and our senior girls won! SMB was responsible for the canteen this year, and we did a great job. Thanks to Angela Alderson and her team of helpers who pulled it off.
Kingston Police Visit- November 9th, focus on mental health for grades 5 and 6. For this age group, there will be an emphasis on digital safety and technology use. Constable Kelly Reshnyk is our community officer.
Kingston Frontenacs Game- SMB night is November, 25th, which is also a PA day. The school choir and bucket drummers will be there to entertain!
Rube Goldberg Competition- November 24th, This event is for grade 8 students. Students need to create a machine that does a number of things in sequence, ie. knock over dominoes, flips switches etc. The goal is to get students using their creative minds and introduce them to the engineering design process.
Rocks and Rings- November 9th, curling will be held in the school gym for students in grades 2 and up. There are 7 classes participating.
Tech Fest 2016- November 5th 8:30-2:30, will be held at Holy Cross again. Last year was the first year for this, and it was well received. This year, they’re hoping to get 400 people out. The keynote speaker will be Will Richardson. Sarah Fraser and Carter Pollock from our school will be presenting.
Progress reports- will come home on November 8th. Students in all grades except Kindergarten will receive one. Teacher interviews will be by appointment.
2 Costco Membership- The school felt it would be beneficial to have a business membership. Members can be added, as needed. The store will accept cheques written by the school for payment.
EQAO- Results will be presented at a later date. Our school is doing well. Still a bit of a struggle in grade 6 math area.
Website- The school website has been updated! It looks great and has updated calendar information! Families need to sign up on the website for communications. This is different from the email addresses the school currently has for communication. Newsletters will no longer be emailed out. It was brought up that we will need to have an alternative means of getting this information to families that may not have access to a computer, or will need the information formatted in an accessible manner for them. Carmine agreed that newsletters can be picked up at the school and that we would work with families that need access to the information. The website is consistently updated. School website has changed- we are in midst of updating- need to sign up on website for communications.
Hot lunch- Our new system is working out really well! The online system seems to be working out. We are down a few orders, but they’re still rolling in. Paradiso is doing a great job so far. In keeping with our eco school initiative, it has been stressed to teachers and students that we boomerang the boxes the personal pizzas are now delivered in. There was talk about the quality and size of the pizza being better than it was before, and that as long as we’re consistent with returning/recycling the boxes; we are still choosing the best overall value for our school. Thanks to Lindsay Macdonald for arranging all of this for our students!
Chair/Treasury Report: Colleen Clarke/Angela Alderson
No items to report
Treasury- Council has a healthy balance in the account to put towards initiatives for this year. Last year, Colleen prepared financial reports with input on fundraising goals from Sherri LaDuca. Budgets for spending were discussed and approved by council. This year, we will review the plan, make necessary adjustments and confirm our goals.
Schools do not pay bank transaction fees and are not allowed to invest the money. Dave Tofts might have some input here.
Teacher’s Report:
No items to report
Parish Report: Heather Toffolon
School Mass will be held at St. Paul’s on October, 19th.
Alter Server Meeting- Tuesday, October 18th. New servers are always welcome.
Fish Fry- Friday, October 21st from 3-6pm. $15 per person. Takeout available.
3 Fundraising Report: Sherri LaDuca
Last year’s fundraising totals were: poinsettias approx. $1600, spring fair approx. $3740, silent auction (held the night of the musical) $3200, Chapters night $1627 in gift cards. Well done team!
We were up about $1500 from the previous year. This could be the poinsettia sales.
A fundraising committee will be created after the Council meeting. A page was distributed for sign up. Fundraising topics will be discussed at the fundraising meeting and brought to council for report.
Chapters night will be booked soon to get the Christmas sales again!
The school will do the poinsettia fundraiser again.
All other fundraising will be discussed at the fundraising meeting and reported.
4. Election
Results:
Teacher Representatives: Melissa Markotich and Sarah Fraser
Non Teacher Representatives: Ms. Rots, Ms. Brown
Community Representative: none at this time
Fundraising Representatives: Sherri LaDuca and Ruth Spiridakis
Parish Representative: Heather Toffolon
Treasurer: Jennifer Stankusz
Secretaries: Catrina Moniz and Dave Tofts
Vice Chair: Ana Rand
Chair: Lisa Thibeault and Angela Alderson both in position to be elected. Silent vote took place with each speaking a little about their experience at the school, and why they’d like the position. Votes were counted by Carmine and Anna with Lisa being elected as chair for this school year. Colleen Clarke will assist as Co-Chair.
Carmine was looking for a parent representative to participate on the Ontario Association of Parents in Catholic Education. Tanya O’Quinn kindly volunteered.
5. Future Meeting Dates:
November 21st, 6:30
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