ECI School Council Meeting - Minutes
Tuesday January 21, 2014– 7:00PM – 9:00PM ECI Library
Present: Madeleine Arsenault, Larry Thomas, Kathy D’Angelo, Pradeep Pachai, Cassie Connolly, Chris Glover, Michelle Kaske, Karen Yates, Marc Solby, Julie Maciura, Andrea Morra, Cathy Phee, Michele Broley, Yvonne Fullerton, Liz Perovic, Jamie Lloyd, Jackie Pardy, Robynne Ostry, Anna Farinaccia, Jennifer Quintal, Heather Gordon, Tammy Greeley, Meredith Tuck
1 – Opening Comments (Larry Thomas)
Welcome to the first School Council meeting of 2014.
We are delighted to have two guest speakers this evening: Chris Glover, our TDSB Trustee, and Michelle Kaske, ACL for Special Education at ECI.
News and Updates
Seven Grade 11 & 12 students from ECI’s Business Club (lead by Sarah Jackson, ACL, Business and Computer Technologies) will be competing in the Provincial Championship of DECA Business Case Study Competition. The competition is like speed dating for marketing cases. Students have 10 minutes to read a business and prepare their marketing recommendations which they then present to independent judges. Having been a judge at the City championships this past fall, I have witnessed first hand the creativity and enthusiasm of these students and they are impressive to say the least. Each participating school is required to supply judges. The Provincial Championship is scheduled for Feb 10th (all day) at Sheraton Centre. If you are interested in being a judge, please contact Sarah Jackson at for more details.
On January 31st the Rotary Club of Toronto West will recognizing Dave Dryden, an ECI Grad and brother of Ken Dryden, with its Lifetime Achievement Youth Impact Award for his ongoing work with the Sleeping Children around the World Foundation. Murray Dryden, Dave’s father and founder of SCAWF, was the first recipient of this award 15 years ago. Congratulations to Dave!
We are pleased to announce that our Anonymous Donor has agreed to continue to support our RAI$E-A-RUCKUS! Campaign for 2014. We are in the throes of identifying additional needs within the school for investment and the Fundraising Committee will be providing an update on the new “Legacy Initiatives” within the next month. If you’d like to help out on the Fundraising Committee please contact Madeleine Arsenault at .
Your School Council is pleased to announce the launch of a new initiative in 2014, Parents’ Workshop Series. The Workshops will be designed to address important and relevant issues facing parents and their teenage children. Guest experts will provide insightful overviews on the issues and offer a variety of parenting strategies to help indentify and better manage the issues in question.
The first Workshop, which will be delivered by professionals from CAMH, will address: Mental Health, Anxiety, Depression and Stress as well as Substance Use & Abuse. All ECI parents will be invited to attend the Workshop and invitations will also be sent to parents at ECI’s feeder schools within the community. Please let us know if you have suggestions regarding subjects and/or speakers for future Workshops. You can send your suggestions to me at .
Lastly, we are delighted to inform you that Jamie Lloyd, ECI Class of ’08, has joined the Community Engagement Committee and will be the Alumni Liaison. Jamie, along with other members of the committee, will be developing new initiatives and activities to further enhance the relationship between ECI and its Alumni as well providing the opportunity for Alumni to reconnect with each other. If any parents are ECI Alumni, I know Jamie would love to hear from you and get your input. Please contact Jamie at .
2 –TDSB Update (Chris Glover) TDSB Trustee
Chris has been our Trustee since being elected in the municipal elections in 2010; he represents the interests of all 27 junior, middle and high schools in the Ward 2 at the TDSB Board. If you have questions or concerns about TDSB, Chris is your go to guy, he can be reached at .
Chris tries to make at least one school council meeting/school; throughout the year and we are pleased to have him with us this evening.
Many schools were affected by the ice storm; ECI being one that was particularly hard hit. The TDSB Facilities Department worked closely with the affected schools throughout the holidays and all of the facilities were ready for the Jan 6th opening.
Donna Quan is now officially the Director of Education at TDSB. She has a detailed knowledge of all the schools within the TDSB and is committed to addressing head-on the issues facing the Board from budgets and facilities to staffing. We are optimistic she will bring forth positive change in the years to come.
There will be a Budget shortfall this year, approximately $15M, slightly less than anticipated. Not surprisingly the projected shortfall was somewhat mitigated due to the fact this is an election year. Unfortunately, schools will continue to be underfunded until a new funding model is introduced, when that might take place is anyone’s guess.
The ongoing marketing strategies of the Catholic board to directly target students within the TDSB for recruitment purposes were raised. This is particularly frustrating given the longstanding funding model in place which gives the TCDSB preferential access to funds sourced from commercial development within the GTA. This is a sensitive issue with all provincial political parties but a fair question to raise with candidates during the upcoming Provincial election.
It should be noted that Development charges are sourced from commercial developers to help fund a variety of services but the funds allocated to Education go exclusively to the TCDSB and not to TDSB. The attached booklet will provide a high level overview of the process, the amount of money collected and where it is allocated.
The Ward 2 Council also hosts Special Education Forums where parents and staff meet to discuss issues pertaining to Special Education.
A list of dates for the Ward Council meetings and Special Education Forums can be found on the ECI website.
3- ECI Special Education (Michelle Kaske) Assistant Curriculum Leader
Over 25% of the students at ECI have an IEP.
Once a student has been identified with specific needs, an IEP is customized for the student. The teachers then modify or accommodate the student as the need be.
The IEP is a legal document listing strengths and weaknesses and has a transition plan for future education. Accommodations include: instruction, environmental, assessment etc. Modifications e.g.: changes to the program are made as require, the VP and Principal at the end of the year decide if a credit is granted dependent on the student‘s work and progress. Currently our Spec Ed department has 3 fulltime and 2 EA’s on a half time basis.
Please see the link to Ms. Kaske’s power point deck to see her complete presentation. Any questions you might have regarding Special Education at ECI can be directed to Michelle at .
4- Principal’s Report (Caroline Rath)
VP – Tammy Greeley
The 2nd report card (not Provincial) just an update on marks, will be sent home on Jan 31st. Parent teacher interviews are scheduled for Feb 6th. Please go to the school website to book your appointments.
Please update the school regarding any changes to your contact details, in particular cell phone numbers as this is very important in case of medical situation.
VP – Meredith Tuck
Bleachers are being priced out, instalment requirements and costing details for the new electronic sign are being finalized and we are investigating compliance issues as they pertain to the municipal by-laws. We have purchased additional Macs for the music lab and the Weight Room equipment has been ordered.
LOFT (Leaders of Tomorrow) our new Leadership program to be launched for next year – will be specifically targeted to incoming Grade 9’s but will also be available for all students. Details of this new program are being finalized and will be shared with parents at an upcoming School council meeting.
It is course selection time for students going into Grade 10-12 and My Blueprint is an important tool to use to review the course selections and choose the student’s desired academic pathway be it university, college, co-op or vocational endeavours. It was suggested that an information session be held for parents to help them better understanding the process in particular given that we are going to a semester school in the fall.
Key upcoming dates: Feb 4th is a meeting for dual credit (co-op and college course). Option Fair is on Feb 10th. Black History Month is February and on Feb 20th, White Pine assembly Jan 22nd for those who want to be leaders.
Teachers’ Report (Sam Webb)
The teachers are currently preparing for the report cards in preparation of the January 31st distribution.
Sam asked what would be helpful to parents regarding information on courses, teachers, and what bridge do you want to have with the teachers?
Suggestion from the floor: Parents would like to be able to contact their children’s teachers directly via email. Some teachers have provided their email but not all have, could Sam raise this with the teachers, Sam will report back at the next meeting.
6. SAC Report (Caitlin Monaghan)
Caitlin was unable to attend the meeting; she will provide an update at the next meeting.
7. PIAC Report (Virginia Ludy)
In Virginia’s absence – Chris Glover will report.
PIAC plays an active role in helping select “THE” right Principal for all public schools. The Superindent, Trustee and School Council Chair complete a customized Statement of Needs for each school that outlines the specific requirements for a Principal. The Statement of Needs is then used when recruiting for new Principals.
Virginia’s term is coming to an end and an election for her replacement will be held at the next Ward Council meeting 7-9PM on January 28th at Westway Jr. School, 25 Poynter Dr. All parents are welcome to attend.
On behalf of all the parents in Ward 2, Chris thanked Virginia for her commitment and contribution to PIAC over the past two years.
8. School Council Committee Reports
Communications & Engagement (Marc Solby)
Another newsletter will be going out by end of the month.
If you have any suggestions in regard to content or if you arenot receiving the newsletter please contact Marc at
Community Engagement (Karen Yates)
As mentioned previously, Jamie Lloyd has joined the Committee as Alumni Liaison. Jamie, his parents as well as many of his close friends are all Alumni of ECI.
We are working on a number of new initiatives designed to provide the opportunity forAlumni to reconnect with ECI and their fellow Alumni.
Activities include: basketball and hockey games as well as other sport activities such as mixed volleyball games and a golf tournament. Ideally these events would involve both Alumni and students; more to follow.
A note of interest, there are currently three ECI teachers who are Alumni of ECI.
We also looking at re-vamping ECI’s Gallery of Distinction process including reviewing & updating (if necessary) the criteria of the award and the nomination process. In particular we would like to reach out to the ECI Alumni community and have them nominate their fellow Alumni for this prestigious recognition.
Fundraising (Madeleine Arsenault)
The Crooked Cue Event (Dec 3rd) was a huge success, over 120 parents, Alumni and staff attended and we raised $15,000 in total! Thank you to Heather Gordon and her volunteer team for their hard work in organizing the event and importantly all the parents who came out and joined in the festivities. Based on the positive feedback received, we plan making this an annual event.
We want to thank the Anonymous Donor as his commitment to ECI and financial support has inspired us to continue on with our fundraising efforts. Each and everyone of us can contribute to the Campaign with time and /or donations both of which lead to the same outcome: a better high school experience for your children and all students attending ECI today and for the years to come.
The donations received to date have been invested in a variety of new items for the school such as: a new stage curtain for the auditorium, the gym has been fully refurbished, basketball nets have been purchased and installed, new camera equipment, computer lab, video equipment, music/media lab have been purchased. In addition, plans are to purchase and install and new electronic sign for the front of the school. To date, we have spent/allocated $125,000 of the funds raised.
We have 2 “ECI spirit” oriented items for sale: ECI car magnet to demonstrate your support for ECI ($7.00) and ECI RamJams - ECI logo pyjamas ($32.00). Magnets can be purchased at the Admin Office in the school.
Marketing (Susan Gillmeister)
Susan was unable to attend the meeting; she will provide an update at the next meeting.
Financial & Administration (Kathy D’Angelo)
We are currently at $105,000 which is $210,000 with the matching funds.
Since our last meeting, an article on ECI’s TDSB leading EQAO results has been published in the Guardian on November 22nd. In addition, snap’d published our article in their January issue on our Crooked Cue event, EQAO results, and our new leadership program not to mention many photos of the attendees.
9. Open Mic & Other Business
Please let Larry know of any subjects that you would like to see covered at upcoming School Council meetings.
Please note there are some changes to the schedule for the upcoming School Council meetings, the dates are now as follows:
School council: March 4th,April 22nd & May 28th.
Parents’ Workshop: March 20th.
Lastly,if you are interested in getting involved on the School Council either for the remainder of this school year or next year please let me know.
NEXT MEETING – March 4, 2014 at 7:00pm