HARROW PUBLIC SCHOOL INVOLVEMENT COUNCIL

MONDAY, DECEMBER 5TH, 2016

In Attendance: Lindsey Kopka, Ashley Vigneux, Karen Livingston, Allison Whitehead, Lori Hugli, Adrienne Reaume, Krystle Martin, Karen Capstick, Shelbey Pillon, Cathy Franklin, Casey Harnadek and Mark Angus (12)

Call to Order: 6:05 p.m. *Vice-Chair, Ashley Vigneux, conducted this meeting*

Approval of Last Meeting’s Minutes: Shelbey motions, Lindsey seconds. Approved.

Outstanding Business:

  • Holiday Shopping Spree
  • Karen is hoping to have the student forms go home with students next week.
  • Money should be in by December 16th as the volunteers from last meeting (Ashley, Allison & Sierra) will be counting with Karen on this date.
  • Karen has already started buying the gifts, based on last year’s numbers
  • Grade 7 & 8 students will be helping out with the event. Possibly helping to wrap gifts, or running the different gift tables, bringing students to the event etc.
  • There was talk again about putting further restrictions on who the gifts can be purchased for and how many gifts (extended families). While in the past there have been a few issues, overall, it is not abused and since we may be changing the event for next year, all were in agreement in keeping it the same for this year.
  • Event will be held from 9:15 am-2 p.m. on Tuesday December 20th & Wednesday, December 21st
  • This event will either be held in the gym or the library. When brought up to staff, they very much liked the idea of having it held in the gym, so as not to take away the library from students/teachers. Lori will be checking to see if there are any rentals in the gym on those days, and if not, the partition will be put up and half the gym will be used for the Spree.
  • A call for volunteers will be put up on the Facebook page.

Chairperson’s Report: Lindsey Kopka

  • PRO Grant
  • Lindsey met with some of the staff last week regarding our Math night and quite a lot of staff was willing to help out with the event.
  • The date is set for February 22nd, 2017, which is also the same night as the Kindergarten registration. Event is slated to take place from 6-8 p.m.
  • Two math manipulatives that a lot can be done with are; dice and cards. Therefore, the participating teachers will have programs going on in their classrooms using these manipulatives.
  • Goodie bags will be sent home with families with activities that can be done at home, as well as dice and cards.
  • There will be food at this event (possibly pizza?), raffles (a tablet is one) and a speaker (yet to be determined)
  • The Math Magician we had hoped to get is unavailable on that date, but Lori will be looking to bring him in to the school for a different day.
  • Ashley will also be participating in the event through her role with the YMCA program.
  • Lindsey gladly welcomes any suggestions on how to make this an amazing night for families and the school. We want a lot of activities going on and anyone with suggestions can contact her via the Facebook page or other means.

Vice-Chair Report: Ashley Vigneux

  • Fundraising/Lottery Application
  • Unfortunately, we won’t have the lottery license in time for the Christmas Concert next week. Karen and Ashley are working on the application, but it should be ready to go in the New Year.
  • This license will be good until HPS PIC council changes. It is simply an account number issued from the Town.
  • There is no limit as to how many events we hold with a lottery theme
  • There is no fee for the license and no percentage given back to the town.
  • Spirit Wear
  • Forms are due back next week. A reminder will be put out on the website
  • Ashley has deposited some of the cheques she has received for the Spirit Wear-she didn’t want the money just sitting.

Treasurer’s Report: Karen Livingston

  • Report Distributed to Council (Few Corrections were made verbally by Karen to council. Corrections have been fixed and report signed by Lori)
  • 6 deposits for a total of $2538.56
  • Interest$0.11
  • Walking Taco Day$525.40
  • Interest (Nov 30th)$0.05
  • PRO Grant$1000.00
  • Drive 4UR School$620.00
  • Spirit Wear Fundraiser$393.00
  • 6 cheques written for a total of $1921.28
  • Laurie McMahon – Taco Day Food Wrappers$92.91
  • Sierra Shaw – Taco Day Food Supplies$147.52
  • Shelbey Pillon – Taco Day Food Supplies$221.42
  • Stacey Amiot – Taco Day Food Supplies$28.92
  • School Speciality Canada (2016/17 Agendas)$1405.73
  • Cheryl Sellick – Taco Day Lettuce$24.78
  • Balance on Hand as of December, 5th 2016 $5,759.04 – with $558.47 of that being leftover Holiday Shopping Spree Money and an additional $528.72 being outstanding cheques;
  • Jody Shepley – Flower Fundraiser$40.67
  • Cheryl Sellick – Godfather Pizza – Panzerotti Day$488.05
  • Karen has asked that someone should contact Jody Shepley about the outstanding cheque from April, as it is soon to be void.

Principal & Vice-Principal’s Report: Lori Hugli & Adrienne Reaume

  • Winter Concert
  • Concert will be held on Thursday, December 15th, 2016
  • There will be two (2) performances, one at 9:30 a.m. (dress rehearsal) and one at 6:30 p.m. Students should be at the school by 6:15 at the latest if they are performing.
  • The list of classes that are participating in the Winter Concert was sent home with students on the back of the December calendar.
  • Fall Fundraiser
  • Cake and Ice Cream party for the top 30 Fundraisers will be held on December 8th at the school.
  • SIPSA
  • The SIPSA brochure went home with students last month showing what the specific focus of the school is when it comes to Math. A lot of work was put into this, to find out exactly what tools and skills students need to move forward. HPS wants full transparency to show parents exactly what the kids are doing at school and how to make strong foundations for learning.
  • Book Fair is currently running in the library. It is proving to be very successful again this year.
  • Holiday Giving Tree
  • This is an idea that Ashley has brought forward to hopefully start at HPS.
  • A tree is placed in the front lobby of the school adorned with cards that have the gender, age and need of a child within the school. (I.e. Size 7 pair of boots for a boy, winter jacket size 2 for a girl etc.) Parents are then encouraged to pick one of these cards, purchase the item, wrap and then place back under the tree for that child. It is completely anonymous and unfortunately, it is needed for children/families in our community. Lori and Adrienne are frequently asked by parents looking to help, and this is a great way to do that.
  • It is too late to properly organize for the Christmas season this year, but the Harrow PIC council seemed overwhelmingly in support of this venture and hopefully it will be in the front of our school next Christmas season.
  • Allison did bring up perhaps not only restricting it to the Winter Holiday season as many families have need throughout the whole year. Perhaps having one at Easter or right before summer holidays with things like a day at camp, sunscreen etc. [credit to Karen C. for sunscreen idea]
  • Volleyball tournament was held last Thursday (December 1st, 2016) at HPS. We had 7 teams come to play at our school.
  • Another tournament will be held this week with Mr. Cornies organizing it again. A concession stand was run during the tournament where it is estimated that they broke even, but with another one being held this week, a few hundred dollars are expected to be made.
  • Character Development
  • Zones of Regulation
  • There are 4 colours, with each colour being associated with different emotions;
  • Blue Zone = Sad, Sick, Tired, Bored, Moving Slowly
  • Green Zone = Happy, Calm, Feeling Okay, Focused, Ready to Learn
  • Yellow Zone = Frustrated, Worried, Silly/Wiggly, Excited, Loss of some control
  • Red Zone = Mad/Angry, Terrified, Yelling/Hitting, Elated, Out of Control
  • Work is being done to work with students how to identify which zone they are in and subsequently (if needed) move into a different zone. These skills are being worked on in the classrooms with our CYW and Madame Bissonnette.
  • Also working with students on recognizing different sorts of problems. Kids often view all problems as colossal when many times, they are little problems.
  • Grade 8 Shadow Days
  • This program started last week with another one to take place tomorrow (Tuesday, December 6th) where they will be building dragsters
  • There are a few more dates scheduled throughout the rest of the school year
  • Kids are really enjoying it and have received special shirts

Teacher Report: Cathy Franklin

  • Staff Feedback
  • Cathy passed around a feedback sheet where Staff can leave comments, ask questions, place requests and they could also comment on Snack program/breakfast if they choose
  • Many teachers gave thanks for the activities going on in the school and for the vouchers for the book fair.
  • Kids and teachers really enjoy the Snack/Breakfast program
  • Possibilities for a Tri-Shooter in the Kindergarten play area?
  • Christmas Concert
  • Many feel that it would be too long of a concert if all classes participated.
  • There has also been an issue with parental behaviour during the HPS concerts, assemblies etc. There have been parents leaving in the middle of performances, causing distraction to those students on stage. This leaves a bad feeling for many involved in the productions as a lot of work has been done and it’s rude to leave in the middle.

Miscellaneous:

  • School Cash Online
  • 43% of the Panzerotti orders were placed online with School Cash Online
  • There were some issues…takes a couple of days for money to appear in the account, so totals didn’t match the number of orders. It was something new, and there are always hiccups when trying new ways.
  • The question was brought up if Parents can pay for the Holiday Shopping Spree using School Cash Online and Lori said absolutely. Ashley will be taking to Diana Humphries about setting this up.
  • The Harrow Public School Parent Involvement Council will have to merge their financial account within Harrow Public Schools account. It is something that is going to be mandatory within every school in the next couple of years and we will be doing it relatively soon.
  • Every class has their own account and PIC will be the same.
  • Ashley took a moment to give a ‘shout-out’ to Sierra (who was unfortunately absent) for the fabulous job she has been doing on the Harrow Public School Facebook page. Many PIC members commented on how she managed to know so much about what was going on! The whole council was wholly impressed with the job she has been doing on getting the word out. Well done Sierra!

Next Meeting Set for Tuesday, January 10th 2017 @ 6 p.m.

Meeting Adjourned at 6:52 p.m.