2010 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
HIGHLANDS PARENT ADVISORY COUNCIL (HPAC)
Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010
AGENDA
I. CALL TO ORDER
II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF THE 2009 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
III. PRESIDENT’S REPORT - FOR APPROVAL
IV. ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT - FOR APPROVAL
V. VICE PRESIDENT’S REPORT - NO APPROVAL REQUIRED
VI. FUNDRAISING REPORT AND LIST OF FUNDRAISING/COMMUNITY EVENTS 2000/10 - NO APPROVAL REQUIRED
VII. TREASURER’S REPORT - FOR APPROVAL
VIII. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - FOR APPROVAL
IX. SCHOOL PLANNING COUNCIL REPORT - NO APPROVAL REQUIRED
X. MEMBER-AT-LARGE COMMUNICATIONS REPORT – NO APPROVAL REQUIRED
XI. ELECTION OF HPAC EXECUTIVE FOR 2010/11
XII. ADJOURNMENT OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
REGULAR MONTHLY HPAC MEETING TO FOLLOW AGM
President's Report June 2010
My first year as HPAC president has been an eventful one. The new school, coupled with new administration, created many unknowns for parents at the beginning of the school year. Because of this, September & October's HPAC meetings were extremely well attended. These meetings gave parents a much needed opportunity to voice their concerns regarding new bldg issues (such as people flow, stairs, entrances, etc.) to administration.
We held a successful HPAC planning meeting in June 2009, in order to get a general idea of how the 2009/2010 year was going to be structured. It made start-up in September much smoother. As well, a couple of time changes were implemented: the HPAC meeting time was scheduled for 7pm (½ hour earlier) and the HPAC exec meeting was scheduled just prior to at 6pm. Although, the HPAC Wednesday nights lasted longer for exec, it was one less meeting time to schedule every month.
The School Planning Council was also changed a small bit this year. Elections for SPC will now be held in October according to SPC bylaws. Many thanks to Karen, Cynthia, and Marian for their work on this year's school plan.
In addition to Lindsay & Carol's fundraising report, I wanted to say a brief thank you to a number of our committee heads. Thank you... (My apologies if I have missed any one!)
· Alison Patterson for spearheading a very successful Food Days program, most notably because of the new online ordering program,
· Denise Cook for coordinating the school's Emergency Preparedness plan,
· Sherry Grant & Cindy Diett for their continued efforts relating to traffic and pedestrian safety,
· Gina Lyon and the rest of the Green Team for designing the successful early days of the Highlands Green Team,
· Meredith Kennedy for the hours spent on formatting the school directory, and finally to,
· Sue Carabetta for organizing the class rep program. Sue has put thousands of hours into volunteering at Highlands School, and we will miss her terribly next year!
HPAC hosted Saleema Noon in January 2010. Saleema held an information night for parents, and the following two days, she was in the classrooms speaking to every grade. We hope Saleema will return in two years time. One suggested change would be to hold the parent night one week before the 2 days of classroom time.
The Olympics in February also mixed up the year a little. We did not hold an HPAC meeting in February, and because of Spring Break, there was only a March exec meeting. The Olympics created a wonderful opportunity to have an exciting Olympic-themed couple of weeks at Highlands. What a fun time!
The communication between HPAC and our parent body was exceptional this year – a big thank you to last year's exec team for setting up the current communication system. We tried our hardest to be as clear and concise in every email, and I am confident that few details were missed.
HPAC also circulated a survey this spring, in order to get feedback from parents on annual HPAC events. Only 57 out of approximately 300 families responded...a very low response rate. Regardless, we received valuable feedback, and we will assume that the families that did not respond are happy with the status quo. ;)
We will be holding the planning meeting for the 2010/2011 school year next month. A few topics we will be discussing are: HPAC spending goals (educational vs. non-educational (play-based) funding), recruiting volunteers, spreading the events evenly throughout the year, and possibly improving upon the landscaping & play areas around the school.
And finally, I want to thank the HPAC executive. Dianne, Erin, Cynthia, Carol, Lindsay, Meredith, Sylvie, and Jennifer...I appreciate all that you have done this year. I'm sure that the Highlands community would join me in thanking you for your time and effort. It's been a pleasure working with you this year.
Respectfully submitted by
Molly O'Callaghan, HPAC President
Vice Presidents Report May 2010
September Meeting: Very well attended because of the new Principal, school and lots of questions. I would suggest it being in the gym or music room next year, as it was very crowded! 3 babysitters, and they worked well in Mrs. Rustemeyer’s classroom
October: Very well attended because of Paddy Ducklow talking about parenting and emotional stuff with our kids. Library was full, but after the talk many people left, so we made it a very quick meeting.
November: not so well attended, but the social at Mosquito Creek was full!!!
January: I was absent.
February: 15 people or so
March: Dpac report was better attended maybe 20 people.
April: Budget meeting 20 people
May’s meeting moved to June
Notes:
I had hot water and various teas as drink, and no baked goods. Tea was well taken, but a few asked where the coffee went. So October’s meeting about 30 cups were made, and about 4 drinken. So making 10 cups of decaff was plenty. Nobody missed the snacks.
Each meeting had 3 sitters which worked very well, and I left the rules with them in the classroom. A few were late, but because there were 3, someone was always there to start. I spoke in the classrooms in September and got their names.
Thank you,
Dianne Speranza
HPAC Vice-President
HIGHLANDS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
FUNDRAISING REPORT
2009-2010
Despite the logistical challenges that came with the new school and ongoing construction of school grounds, over $36,000 was raised through fundraising (and several events are still to come as of the date of this report). This is almost double the amount raised in the previous year and $15,000 more than budgeted for! Next year, is sure to run more smoothlyas we settle into the new building and implement changesfrom our post event reports and survey results.We are excited going forward that we have tried to implement new ideas that will make these events better in the future and a continued success!
Countless people volunteered their time and energy to coordinate and help with the many fundraising events that Highlands PAC runs throughout the year. A heartfelt thank you to all of the hardworking event coordinators and many volunteers who gave up their time to work on all the fundraising events and PAC sponsored events throughout the year.
Parents are what make Highlands such an outstanding school, and we are indebted to them for their energy, creativity and dedication to our school. Congratulations to everyone on a fantastic fundraising year.
Carol Horn & Lindsay Lal
Fundraising 2009-2010
Welcome Back Barbecue and Cake Walk
This inaugural event in the new building was much anticipated by the whole community. Though there were plans for a ribbon cutting ceremony and address to welcome Mrs. Thompson, excitement overruled and once the line up had formed there was no sound system in place to get the, overwhelmingly large, crowds attention. Regardless, it was a beautiful night and the BBQ and cake walk set the tone for a most successful year!
M&M Meatshops graciously provided the hotdogs and hamburgers at cost to us and chips and drinks were purchased from Costco. Lines were long but moved relatively smoothly considering the short period of time to serve food. Families seemingly appreciated going back to the BBQ format.
The ever-popular Cake Walk was, as always, a bit hectic! Betty Perrett & Lindsay Lal coordinated this event with the help of some grade 7 students. The line up was long and kids rambunctious inside and out prompting a brainstorming of many suggestions to implement going forward. These will be posted on the website and next years event is sure to have a lot of the kinks sorted out! Parents and children prepared an amazing array of cakes, cupcakes, and treats. As in previous years the creativity and generosity was overflowing!
Although the emphasis of this event is primarily on bringing our community together after the long summer break, it raised a fantastic profit of $1303 this year.
Parent Dance
This brand new event came together quickly with a new format from previous parent dances held at the school. Erin Bird and Lindsay Lal coordinated the dance and silent auction, respectively, earning a whopping $7800 for a one night event!
Ticket sales, posters and location sought out by Erin were fantastic, eye catching and community based. The Mosquito Grill was hospitable and host these events often so well prepared for us. The silent auction was a last minute trial to see if doing this next year as a major fundraiser would be worth while. The effort involved and the outcome in funds suggests this is a great event to pursue.
Suggestions again will be on the website however, if the date is moved to the spring to lighten the work load in the fall it would be great to have classes participate by creating items to auction off. Donations were very easily acquired through the class reps and community. Given more time to collect auction items, this could easily have exceeded the 10 000.00 mark.
Gingerbread Houses
Head by Caroline Hanson and Carmen Farrell, this event was extremely well organized and came together nicely in the new gym. The tables were set festively and the room abuzz with music and excitement! The kids all left very happy and clean up was relatively quick.
This year the Gingerbread House event generated $1061! Corporate sponsors for this event were Save-On-Foods at Pemberton Plaza, providing a substantial discount on the bulk candy, and Westlynn Bakery discounted the icing they provided.
Both co-ordinators have offered to do it again next year with the suggestion that the date be moved ahead to December 3rd. A more detailed report of the preparation and tips for future years will be posted on the website.
Food Days
Friday Food Day program was once again the biggest fundraiser raising approximately $17,300 this year (revenues and expenses still to be finalized). Alison Paterson continued to run the program through the online ordering system. Pizza, Pasta, McDonald's and Hot Dog Days were again offered to the students. Our corporate partners in this program included Dairyland, Saputo Food, McDonald's, Cookies of Course, Booster Juice, DJJ's Wedge Pizza and McDonald's.
Family Photo Days
Family photo days once again proved popular, raising $1230 for the PAC this year. It has been approved to increase the cost of this event to $20/session due to increased costs from MJM. We had held it at $15 for many years and feel this is a reasonable increase.
Pumpkin Patch
Alison and Bill Tucker and Penny Jacobson organized an extremely successful Pumpkin Patch despite the logistical hurdles they faced this year. Most of the school grounds were still under construction and not available for use at the time of the Pumpkin Patch.
Despite this, it was a very successful event drawing participants from the Edgemont community as well as Vancouver and raising over $5400 for the PAC. It should also be noted that many Edgemont Village merchants and businesses generously support the pumpkin patch, especially realtor Shirley Clarke who donates the pumpkins.
Scholastic Book Fairs
Gayle Logelin and Jennifer Williams ran a very successful book fair at the beginning of the school year despite the reduced space available to them in the new school. The first book fair of the year raised over $1300. The spring book fair will be held June.
Ice Cream and Talent Show
Carol Patterson will organize the popular ice cream night, which will take place on May 27, before the Highlands talent show. She will try no presale orders this year with a hand stamp system. We will post a report on the website of recommendations for next year.
highlands parent advisory council
to: highland parents
from: cynthia ellacott, treasurer
subject: annual treasurer report
date: 5/11/2011
cc: hpac executive committee, Arlie thompson
Wow it is hard to believe I have been doing the Treasurer position since November 2006. As most of you are aware this is my last year as Treasurer for Highlands Elementary School Parent Advisory Council. For the last for year I have enjoyed seeing our PAC spend money on Computers, Klins, books and of course our wonderful new playground. I will still be involved with the PAC but as Assistant Treasurer.
In October 2009, the HPAC approved a spending budget of $37,103, which includes reading Kiln, Laminator, Area Carpets, Velcro Straps to hold gym mats, three Digital pro amp systems, Library books, Saleema Noon, Performing Arts. The HPAC is also ensuring that unused funds be placed in contingency account for our new school needs and for futher replacement of computers.