Education Committee Meeting
Monday December 12, 2006
Attendance: S. Bartlett-Lewis, J. Killingbeck, H. Solomon, S. Williams-Rae,
J. Zemanovich, R. Fazio, M. Sherman
Regrets:D. LeSieur, D. Flook, L. Bulgarelli-Vero, P. Whitham
Other Commissioners:A. Nolet, R. Murphy, B. Freeston, D. Rae, A. Jardim
Administrators:V. Croubalian, N. Perez, K. Elliott, J. Simoneau-Polenz,
E. Speyer, K. Meldrum, P. Pedroso, F. Dupuis
Recorder:G. Clemenza
Invited Guests: Ann Quesnel(GRICS), Nathalie David (Forest Hill), Marc Tramblay(I.S.), Katherine Mikic
The Education Committee met on December 12, 2006 at the Lester B. Pearson School Board. The meeting was preceded by two presentations.
To thank E. Speyer for her service to education a plant as well as a cake were presented to her on the occasion of her retirement.
Presentation – A Presentation was given on the portal . F. Dupuis and Nathalie David, teacher at Forest Hill, gave a presentation on the portal and how it has been implemented in classrooms since the beginning of the school year. Anne Quesnel from Societé GRICS also presented an on-line video streaming application that is now available to schools. F. Dupuis informed the members that we are embarking on a pilot with John Rennie High School on the portal. The presentation was very informative and well received by the committee.
A second presentation was given on Ethics and Religious Culture. Katherine Mikic presented a power point which demonstrated the aims of the program. She informed the members that this was a new and working document and will submit this power point for posting in the Education Committee kit for December under Item 6.1 as an attachment.
Report Card Update:
E. Speyer informed the members that changes made to the report cards will
reflect the guidelines from the MELS. Committees with teachers will be
reconveneed in January 2007 outlining the new directions from MELS. Changes will be implemented for next year. This year the report cards will remain status quo.
Digital Learning Project:
K. Elliott reported that during the last two weeks, meetings have been held with the ped. tech. representatives of each school to distribute the lap tops to them. Digital projectors will also be made available to them. Each elementary school will be receiving a SmartBoard and the high schools and adult centers will receive 2 SmartBoards each. Release time will be used to train the ped. tech. leaders in each school.
Safe School Policy Update:
The committee will be meeting in January and will be devoting a significant amount of time in order to finalize the policy.
Educational Services Update:
E. Speyer reviewed the attachments which were included in the kits and gave a
brief synopsis of each. Topics included:
- Professional Development
- Exam Schedule
- School Board Assessment
- Enriched Activities Pearson Interactive Community Partnerships
Student Services Update:
J. Simoneau-Polenz gave a report on drug awareness week, training for screeners involved with Foster school-based program, FSSTT, adopt an Alouette program and peaceful schools.
Summer School 2007:
On a motion by S. Bartlett-Lewis it was moved that for 2007 Summer School Programs, be held at the following 3 schools:
Beaconsfield High School
Beurling Academy
Pierrefonds Comprehensive High School, and
between the July 2nd and July 27th, 2007.
CLC Project at Riverdale High School:
An executive summary of the school project proposal which was presented to MELS regarding the CLC project at Riverdale was presented.
Common Testing in High Schools (LBPSB Entrance Exam):
This item was brought up under varia and deferred to the February 2007 meeting of this committee.
Respectfully Submitted
Ruben Fazio, Chaiperson
November 22, 2006