School Council – October 24th, 2016

Agenda / Notes
Opening/Welcome / Welcome to Ross. – Meeting commenced at 7:10
Lisa Miller-Wood (Principal)
Norma Dwyer (VP)
Luisa Spiers (Teacher)
Vivian Avotri (Sec)
Jayesh Patel (Chair)
Alton Brooks
Satnam Sahl
Yvonne Robinson
Manpreet K. Dhaliwal
Reading Previous Minutes and
Adopting of Minutes / Ms. Dwyer read the minutes
Minutes were passed by: Jayesh
Matters arising from previous minutes / Questions came up regarding cookies and the sale of them. The school is leaning towards purchasing a vegan option that is sweetened with apple cider.
Questions came up with milk program. That hasn’t been started yet, but the school is looking into it.
Parents wondered if we can pay quarterly for items the school sales – the school is part of a pilot program for paying online. Hopefully that will start in February, 2017.
Principal Report / Open House
Mission, Vision and Values of Ross
Staff discussed what is valued in the community. Leadership team created the vision and then staff had their input. Leadership team is composed of one teacher from each grade.
The Mission/ Vision was handed out to council.
Mission is for all students to THRIVE, LEAD and SUCCEED
This message is revisited every September (check in and revamp where needed)
Ross Trivia – How much do you know about Ross Drive Public School? / Trivia Challenge
This is a new game we will be trying to take part in each meeting (it was fun J)
Health Initiative / Lisa to share regarding the trip to the soccer centre
As a School Council, how can we help?
Brampton residents are twice as likely to have Type 2 diabetes and 40% more in our South Asian community.
Type 2 diabetes is mostly preventable and so as feeder schools to Harold Brathwaite, we are participating in healthy choices in lifestyle, food and activities.
25 students went to the kick off at the Soccer Centre. They had fun while learning about healthy choices.
The school is asking for council’s help because the school can manage the students, but how do we reach out to the community and get them involved?
Jayesh thought of a recipe book to help parents in creating healthy lunches and snacks.
Doing a fit night (activities in stations)
Encourage walking to school (even in the rain) – even the bike (do we need more bike racks? Will they be utilized?) Peel public health used to do a bike rally?? Maybe go for a hike or a bike ride on a Saturday soon.
Could we do a family hike? Nature walk? Admin will look into some options
A Kick Off activity night could include the fit night
Fundraising using Recipe/ Cookbook option – students would submit their best healthy food recipe and we could compile it together and then sell them to encourage healthy living.
Mental Health and Well Being vs. Mental Illness / Norma to briefly share the difference
Mental health and mental illness are very different. Mental health is a priority for Peel. Mental health is about all of our well being – they work hand in hand.
Mental health working group within Ross Drive will spearhead this initiative. Monthly reports will be given to parents whenever the opportunity arises. It affects all of us and our children (anxiety of tests, hyperactivity, fear of failure, etc.) – we want students to know that no matter how they feel – it’s okay because we will support them.
New Business / Jayesh has agreed to take on Chair
We are no longer offering Catering for Kids lunches at Ross.
Traffic in the parking lot – can we put pylons there to prevent parents from running the ramp. The school was given a note from City of Brampton saying that cars will be ticketed if they are parked there for more than 30 seconds. Mrs. Dwyer used to go out at 3:15 to prevent the blockage. She will try to get out again and help manage the traffic
Council can try to get a crossing guard installed at Ross – Speed limit reduction on Dixie… does anyone want to help Ms. Dwyer organize a letter/ petition to the City? (Vivian offered)
Questions came up about monthly assemblies where students are recognized – school may end up having that but we haven’t got there yet (Character assemblies) – new this year is House Teams where they will take on the traits each month.

Meeting Adjourned at: 8:05PM