North Park School Council
Meeting Notes
Date: September 20, 2012 - 7:00 PM
Attendees:
Pat Geale, Kimberly Jones, Al Miller, Beth Chisholm, Leigh Schultz, Chitwan Kuar, Azmina Hirani
Agenda Items
Chairs Report (Al Miller)
a. Review Role of NPSS Parents Council
The chair provided a brief review of the role of the parent council at NPSS. Specifically, the primary role of the NPSS Parents Council is to facilitate two-way communication between the parents of children enrolled and the Administration at NPSS.
The success of the Parents Council is dependent upon the support from the parents and some discussion ensued on methods to enhance parental support. In addition to communicating meeting notices and to those parents that have previously signed up for email notices, it was decided that the chair will attend the parent night on October 25 to seek additional support.
b. Future Meeting Schedule
In the past, the Parents Council met about 4 times per year. The following dates have been set aside for the 2012 / 2013 school year:
· Thursday November 29, 2012
· Thursday February 21, 2013
· Thursday May 23, 2013
Additional dates will be decided at the time, any need is identified.
Principals Report
Food Allergies in the School (Pat Geale)
While food allergies are always been a concern, the introduction of a student with severe food allergies this school year has resulted in a heightened awareness. Pat reviewed the steps that the school has taken in educating staff and students. This not only includes special training for staff, but will include periodic reminders for students on the impact of nut allergies.
Late Policy (Kimberly Jones)
In an effort to reduce the disruptiveness of late arrivals for the first class of the day, the “Late for Class” policy was reviewed by school administration. As a result of this review, the Administration has:
1) Reinforced the impact of arriving late along with the outlining the existing policy with students and
2) Made internal process changes that will allow them to better identify chronic problems in order to take the steps necessary to rectify the problem.
While an improvement in the overall situation has been observed by School Staff, further changes may be forthcoming based on feedback from teachers, students and administrators.
Impact of “Putting Students First Act” on NPSS (Pat Geale)
A one page update on the impact of the “act” on extracurricular activities at NPSS was provided. While there has been some impact to activities, at the time of the meeting, some activities such as Commencement are expected to proceed as planned. It is expected that the situation will evolve over time and School Administration is committed to informing parents should the situation change significantly.
While some parents questioned whether parent volunteers could be used in lieu of teachers to ensure activities proceed, it was identified that a school staff member is required in attendance for these types of activities.
Community Culture and Caring Program (Kimberly Jones)
An overview of the status of the program for NPSS was given. As part of the program review a new creed crest is being developed through a design contest. Twenty-five to thirty designs were submitted by students and are being evaluated. It is expected that voting on the new crest design will begin shortly. The school will be looking for help in completing / implementing the final design.
Upcoming trip to Uganda (Kimberly Jones)
A status update of the Uganda trip that was introduced last May was given. Mrs. Moore will be escorting eleven students from NPSS to Uganda March 12 to 17. The program is being run by “Give International” a “Canadian charitable trust that supports relief and development projects” in certain African nations.
The students will be performing duties by volunteering at hospitals and orphanages as well as distributing Family Kits.
Based on the outcome of this trip it is hoped that this will become a bigger event in future years at NPSS
Give International http://www.giveintl.org/
Review of NPSS web Presence (Pat Geale / Al Miller)
An overview of the NPSS Web presence that would be on interest to parents was given. Specifically highlighted were aspects of the Calendar, the Parents Web, the Departments, the Quick links and the What’s New pages.
Conversations centered on the:
1) Parents Web on how to register and the information available to the parents on the child status , and
2) Calendar.
It was noted that the “Important Dates” cards that were distributed in the past will not be done this year as it was found that they quickly became out of date. Rather it was noted that the electronic calendar and the “This Week in Pictures” under “Student Life” tab, which be updated regularly become the source for information.
It is anticipated that first few slides of the latest “This Week in Pictures” will identify important events to students and parents. It was suggested that the school may want to consider using thier subscription service to notify parents when these slide decks are posted.
NPSS Calendar http://schools.peelschools.org/sec/northpark/AboutUs/Calendar/Pages/default.aspx
This Week in Pictures http://schools.peelschools.org/sec/northpark/StudentLife/WeekInPictures/Pages/default.aspx
Academic Assistance (Pat Geale)
An overview of the academic assistance program “Counting on You” was given. This is an after school program for students in grades 9 and 10 who need extra help. The program focuses on skill building in the areas of literacy and math and runs outside of regular school hours, every Tuesday and Thursday from 3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Further information can be found at:
http://schools.peelschools.org/sec/northpark/Pages/Article.aspx?psb-art-id=32&psb-art-comm=False\
University / College Fairs (Al Miller)
The University Information Fair runs Sept 28 to 30 at the Metro Toronto Convention Center. Most universities will be represented. More details about this fair and the University Information Program can be found at; http://www.ouf.ca/
Ontario College Information Fair runs October 23rd at the Direct Energy Center. More information can be found at: http://www.aprod.com/ocif/
A parent identified the Go Eng Girl an opportunity for Grade 7-10 girls to visit their local university to learn about engineering which runs October 13. More information can be found at: http://www.ospe.on.ca/?page=eng_comm_geg
The Destination Conference at NPSS is scheduled for Nov 8 for Grade 11 and 12 students.
Any Other Business
Questions about the requirements and dates for the EQAO and Literacy test were raised and addressed.
The next meeting is scheduled for November 29, 2012. It is anticipated that the meeting will include an outline of the registration process for College and university will be included. If any parent has another item that they would like to see on the meeting agenda, please send an email to:
Adjournment - 8:30 PM