AuroraHigh School Advisory Council

September 15th, 2010

Minutes of Meeting

Attendance:Maria Maiato, Janet Anderson,Goetz Milcke, Valerie Ourumis, Andre Nemat, Ginette Dénommé,Frank Hood, Carmela Vecchiarelli,Susan Linley,Beth Hayes, Nancy Knapp,Dr. Deborah Park, Moe Kostesky, Kim Currie, Leona Rodall, Janis Shean, Kristi Woolsey, Catherine Zilli, Tony Zilli, Roger Rotilio, Susanne Stewart, Steve Sutherland.

Meeting Chair: Goetz Milcke chaired.

Approval of minutes of meeting: Approval of the agenda for September 15th, with the omission of Item 4 and the moving of the Staff Update to follow the Guidance Update permanently, and of the minutes of the June 2010 meetingwas moved byCarmela Vecchiarelli, seconded byJanet Anderson, and carried.

INTRODUCTION OF AHS ADMINISTRATION:

  • Goetz Milcke welcomed the new administration team:Maria Maiato, the new principal; Frank Hood, the new vice-principal, and Ginette Dénommé, returning vice-principal. The new team then gave a brief introduction of themselves. This was followed by a round-the-table introduction of council members.

GUIDANCE UPDATE – Michelle Notaro, Head of Guidance:

  • Goetz Milcke commended the Guidance Department on the sterling work that they do in our school.
  • Ms. Notaro introduced her team by name and gave a brief overview of the work that they do over and above expectations.
  • There has been an efficient and timely start up to the school year with almost all course changes having been done within two days.
  • On September 16th, Guidance staff will make a short presentation to all Grade 12 students during Period 3about the Post-Secondary evening and preparation for the post-secondary application process. Grade 12’s will be given a handout detailing all college and university fairs taking place this year.
  • The Post-Secondary Evening will take place on Thursday, 23rd September from 7 – 9 p.m. in the school cafeteria.
  • Our school, together with G. W. Williams, will be organizing a university fair on October 21st which will take place at G.W.WilliamsSecondary School.
  • Guidance is compiling a list of all Grade 12 students’ email addresses so that they can be informed of ongoing school events and important issues.
  • During October, every Grade 12 student will be interviewed individually by Guidance staff to make sure that everything is in order for post-secondary plans.
  • The Ontario University Fair will take place at the Toronto Convention Centre on 24 – 26th September.
  • On Tuesday, October 5th, Neighbourhood Network will make a presentation to all Grade 9 students to inform them about community involvement.
  • Night School registration has closed, butVirtualSchoolregistration is still open.

STAFF UPDATE, Deb Park:

  • Athletics activities are gearing up for the new school year.
  • Dr. Park talked about the Special Services Department, of which she is head. There are about 300 identified students this year and the department has been very busy updating IEP’s. Learning Strategy classes are offered in each grade to help students be successful.
  • Dr. Park will address students and parents next week at the Post-Secondary evening about the transition process to colleges and universities specifically for identified students.

PARENTS REACHING OUT FORUM, Janet Anderson:

  • For the benefit of new council members, Janet Anderson explained what the forum entails and what forums have been held in the past.
  • The forum this year will be held in the fall. The topic will be similar to last year’s topic which is Mental Health and Substance Abuse.
  • A sub-committee will be formed which will work on the organization of this event and council members are invited to email Janet Anderson to indicate their interest in serving on this committee. Janet Anderson’s email address is

ELECTION OF NEW PARENT ADVISORY COUNCIL

  • Existing co-chairs, as well as the recording secretary, stepped down from their positions.
  • A motion was carried that council will continue to have four co-chairs.
  • The new co-chairs for the 2010-2011 school year are: Carmela Vecchiarelli, Moe Kostesky, Steve Sutherland and Janet Anderson.
  • The position of recording secretary will be shared by Nancy Knapp, Beth Hayes and Kristi Woolsey.

BUSSING

  • Some bussing issues were discussed, but the school is not responsible for solving any bus related matters.
  • Parents of students who live in the Oak Ridges area should take note that there is a YRT School Special Bus 429 which goes to Aurora High in the mornings only. There is place on the bus for more students, should you wish to take advantage of this transportation. Click on this link for more information:

Report from Stakeholders:

Administration,Maria Maiato:

  • Enrolment numbers are as follows: Grade 9 – 276; Grade 10 – 296; Grade 11 – 329; Grade 12 – 412. Fifty Grade 12 students returned this year. AALEP, the alternative education program, is now housed in the AHS building and there are approximately 18 students registered at present.
  • On September 7th, the Grade 9 Orientation Day went well.
  • On September 13th, Grade 10 – 12 students attended Safe Schools assemblies where the Safe Schools policy was explained to them. Parents need to sign the Safe Schools Policy and Technology Policy documents and return them to the school.
  • Photo Day will take place on Friday, September 17th.
  • Safety Week will take place on 20 – 23rd September. Among other activities, there will be a fire drill and a lock down drill.
  • Grade 9 students will enjoy Tabloid Day and a Blue Jays game on September 22nd.
  • The Post-Secondary Information Evening will take place on Thursday, September 23rd from 7 – 9 p.m.
  • The French Trip to Europe will take place on October 1 – 10th.

Administration, Ginette Dénommé:

  • The Weekly Bulletin is sent out every week. Please contact the school if you are not receiving this document.
  • School Attendance Reports will be sent out weekly from the end of September.
  • Numerous emails have been sent out to keep parents informed over the past weeks, but some parents have reported that many of these have not been received. Problems have been identified including theintermittentblockage of certain common email services such as hotmail and Bellnet accounts. Many members of the Council have missed such correspondence.
  • It was suggested that if at all possible, parents provide email addresses which are not on hotmail or similar email providers.
  • Ms. Dénommé agreed to investigate the recommendation of the Council to establish an archive of all school community electronic correspondence on the school website so that parents have the option of checking on the website to find correspondence that may have been missed or 'filtered' by various email systems.
  • Council also expressed that if email correspondence from the school simply included a link to the full document, there might be less filtering of messages and at the link, the entire message could be read. The Weekly Bulletin was given as an example where simply a short email notifying parents that a new Bulletin was available and a link provided to the full Bulletin would likely get through email spam filters. The Bulletin archive on the school website would also be a niceresourcefor parents.

Parents:

  • Roger Rotilio asked about eligible activities for community service. Any paid jobs do not qualify for community hours for graduation purposes.
  • Janet Anderson thanked Goetz Milcke for all the hard work he has put in during his term as co-chair of the Advisory Council.
  • It was suggested that the minutes of the Advisory Council meetings be put on the AHS website. Administration will look into this possibility.

Dates to note:

  • September 17th– Photo Day
  • September 20 – 23rd – Safety Week
  • September 22nd – Tabloid Day and Blue Jays game for Grade 9
  • September 23rd– Post-Secondary Evening
  • September 24th– PA day – no school
  • September 24th- 26th – OntarioUniversity Fair, Metro Convention Centre, Toronto
  • October 1 – 10th – French Trip to Europe
  • October 6th – Enrichment Band

New business:

  • If you have any proposals for the next meeting, please submit to co-chairs of the council so it can be included in the agenda and time allocated. Please make your submission concise and well organized.

Next meeting to be held on Wednesday, November 3rd, 2010 at 7:00 p.m. in the Library

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