Joseph Howe Senior Public School

School Council Meeting Minutes – September 26, 2014

Present at meeting:

School administrators:

Janna Solman, Sherri Boland

Absent: Teacher representative

Parents (25):

Ameera Rushdi / Anusha Jesuratnam / Ashley Sondhi / Blane Saranchuk
Carolyn Dunn / Christina Pontzos / Colleen Lelievre / Dawn Meszaros
Deanna Toews / Eliza Kattsir / Helena Sioukas / Julia Zajac
Julie Hansler / Lucy Scanlon / Mark Zajac / Marla Wagg
Mary Chi / Mary Hadjiyianni / Meghan Willard / Melissa Davies
Michelle Salchi / Naseema Singh / Sandra Neal / Sherri Helwig
Thomas Le

Absent: Holly Allardyce

Welcome and introductions Eliza Kattsir

Last year’s council vice-chair, Eliza Kattsir, opened the meeting, and the school administrators and parents introduced themselves.

Election of executive committee for 2014-15

The following school council executive positions were acclaimed:

Vice-Chair: / Eliza Kattsir / Secretary: / Holly Allardyce
Vice-Chair: / Mary Hadjiyianni / Treasurer: / Melissa Davies

Principal’s report Sherri Boland

1.  Improving school–home communication and the middle school experience

School staff and administrators are launching initiatives to make the Howe environment more welcoming and to improve the experience of incoming Grade 7 students and their families. The jump from junior public school to middle school is a tricky transition for students and families, occurring at a time when students are increasingly “detaching” from their parents and are more subject to outside influences.

Ms. Boland acknowledged that in past, families have found it challenging for various reasons to keep tabs on information and events at Howe. She outlined several initiatives designed to improve both communication and the students’ overall experience:

a)  School website: The official school website (http://schools.tdsb.on.ca/josephhowe ), home to the school newsletter, is to be improved and revamped as a communication vehicle. In addition, a parent volunteer and the school tech club (under Ms. Hanson) will be working together to improve the school council portion of the website.

b)  Academic Workspace: Students can use their assigned student number and password to log into the school’s Academic Workspace (AW) to access assignments, textbooks, and other resources available from their teachers’ websites (for teachers using them).

c)  SMS/text reminder service: Newsletters and other updates from Howe do not always make it home with students. The school now provides a text message service to send families updates on trips, events, and other information via mobile phone. To sign up for this service, parents may send a text message to 437-800-2358 and include the text @josephh in the body of the message.

d)  Recognition assemblies: The school will be placing greater emphasis on character education activities, including a monthly recognition assembly celebrating the character trait for that month.

e)  Bullying prevention: Howe will be increasing its efforts in this area in response to past problems stemming from students’ use of social media and smartphones (among other things).

f)  Curriculum reorganization: The school has restructured some aspects of curriculum delivery to ease the Grade 7 students’ transition and reduce the number of subject teachers that students have. First, the students’ math, science, and technology classes have been folded into the STEM[1] curriculum, and are taught by a single teacher. (Note: Design & Technology/D&T classes are no longer delivered as a separate subject area; they were a Scarborough-only curriculum offering.) Second, students’ language, history, and geography classes are also grouped together and taught by a single teacher.

g)  Raising the bar: The principal noted that many Howe students are currently achieving a Level 3 academic standard , but have the tools, support, and potential to achieve Level 4.[2] The school will be increasing its focus on moving student achievement to a higher level.

2.  Roof work

Solar panels are to be installed on the school roof. The installation was initially scheduled for September 2014, but has been delayed slightly by the need to satisfy some outstanding requirements of the Ministry of Labour.

3.  Grade 8 graduation trip

Ms. Boland mentioned that the feedback and participation rate for the Grade 8 Ottawa trip in June 2014 were less than stellar. Feedback from students and families has indicated a desire to change up the jam-packed, museum-focused itinerary. The student participation rate was only about 55% (100 of 180 students), in part due to the high cost to families ($550), which some families were also disinclined to pay to send students to a place they had already visited many times. In previous years, Grade 8 students have also travelled to Camp Olympia for their year-end trip, but interest in this destination was also somewhat divided.

Ms. Boland has invited Brightspark Travel (a trip company not previously used at Howe) to present to parents at Grade 8 Transition Night, a heavily attended information night on the transition to secondary school (taking place October 23, 2014). In addition to the Guidance department presentation, the school will take this occasion to survey parent interest in various Grade 8 trip options. One proposal would involve a three-night trip, with two nights spent in Ottawa and one night in Montreal.

Treasurer’s report Anusha Jesuratnam

1.  Income and cash flow statements

The school council’s latest statement totals as at July 31, 2014 were as follows:

a)  The total inflow into the account for the 2013-14 school year was $13,268.10, consisting largely of fundraising revenues from pizza days and popcorn sales.

b)  The total outflow for the same period was $7,403.73, consisting mainly of the expenses of purchasing the goods sold in those fundraisers.

c)  A $6,000 disbursement was made to the school to be dedicated to areas of need such as the purchase of new computers and musical instruments.

d)  The school council bank account balance coming into the 2014-15 school year was $336.

2.  Fundraising activities

Parent participants reviewed some fundraising initiatives that had been successful in past, including pizza lunches, popcorn sales, and a basket raffle held at the winter concert. A sign-up list was circulated to establish a parent fundraising committee for the 2014-15 year, and it was suggested that this committee tap into the ideas of the Grade 8 Student Activity Council.

Ms. Boland said she would be determining the school’s specific areas of need for fundraising in 2014-15 in consultation with Howe staff.

New business Various

1.  Low student participation in non-curriculum-driven trips and events

Ms. Boland mentioned that last year’s school dance and WAIP Day were poorly attended, in part because some students opted to stay home on these days. It was not clear that this avoidance stemmed from any particular family concerns (such as an aversion to musical/dance activities), but some students perceived that their attendance was optional. The administration has addressed this perception among some school staff as well, and they are rethinking how future activities of this type might be offered.

2.  School council meeting schedule

In consultation with those present, Eliza Kattsir set the following school council meeting schedule. Meetings are on Monday nights from 7:00 p.m. to 8:15 p.m.

October 20, 2014 / November 24, 2014 / January 19, 2015 / February 23, 2015
April 20, 2015 / May 25, 2015 / June 15, 2015 (if needed)

** Meeting adjourned **

[1] STEM = Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics

[2] Level 3 means that the student meets the provincial academic standard for a given school subject and demonstrates “considerable” knowledge and skill. Level 4 means the student is exceeding that standard and demonstrates “thorough” skill and a “high degree” of knowledge (per The Ontario Curriculum Grades 1–12: Achievement Charts, www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/document/policy/achievement/charts1to12.pdf).