Parent Council - Jean Vanier - March 2nd, 2015
Attendance - SammiKhachi, Emil Mlinarevic, Rodolpo Rivas, Karen Ditoro, Lily Gall, Lenie D'Souza, Noreen Palermo, Joanne Jones, Kalani Tandon, Angela Jordan, Lee Weare and Mr. Daly.
Minutes of meeting
Opening Prayer - SammiKhachi
Principal Report - Mr. Daly
School Year 2015-16 - for 2015, Labour Day is Sept 7th, school will be starting later this year on the 8th. The proposed school year calendar will go to the Board of Trustees at their next meeting.
In the proposed calendar, March break 2016 is closer to the Easter holiday, with only one week between March break and Easter holidays.
Enrollment / Scheduling - option sheets are due starting today. The deadline is this Friday March 6.There are 885 students enrolled right now and for 2016 we are anticipating 960 to 1000 enrolled which will require hiring additional staff.
45-50% of grade nine students this year and anticipated for next year come from outside of HCDSB . Mostly due to growth of Milton and transfers.
DECA update - number of schools in our Board with DECA chapters. JV had13 students who went to Provincial, 2 day competition. Two students were selected to attend the leadership program which is a prerequisite for a student to be on the executive for DECA. This year, one grade 12 student made it to the top 15 in the competition which is a great achievement with over 4000 students participating.
Upcoming Events
School play is this week
Feeders school matinee this Wednesday
March 12th is progress report card date
March 26th - literacy test for grade 10 students
March 26 - family of schools meeting.
Chairs Report - SammiKhachi
March 26th, family of school meeting at Queen of Heaven (Savoline north of Derry), regarding Mental health concerns for students. Rosie Public Health nurse will be sending some information out ahead of time.
Agenda to be forwarded, and anticipating 70+ people from FOS Parent Councils to attend
Selection criteria for school principal select.
Collaborative approach to completing the survey for the Board at the end of the meeting tonight. Due March 13th.
School Pro Grant money - SammiKhachi
- open ended for parent engagement. Looking for suggestion on what we can spend the money on this year.
- mental health always a concern usually around student anxiety, stress, feeling stressed certain times of the year, Principal surveys indicate Mental Health as number one issue. Follow up on this item after the March 26th FOS meeting
Cultural Night update - April 17th. - Lily Gall
-Donations are coming in from the community (info sheet provided at meeting and available for dissemination)
-Sale of the tickets (pre-sale only) 375 tickets only in total, and will start rolling this out to the students.
-Spread Sheet on google doc who have tickets and all committee members can add to this, we are also looking for community donations.
- Feeder school have been provided with a flyer and we are promoting within the schools
- Continent tables set up in hallway - students will be serving the food which will be set up in hall way, buffet style
- students will be volunteers and be given student hours for this event.
- another meeting to follow up as we get closer to set specifics for the event and seeking volunteers from parent council to attend that evening and work.
Possible promotional initiatives
- flyer home with progress report on March 12 advertising the event
- church bulletin - third week of March from the Parish
Milton Champion community event sections - free for community event
- Cogeco - possible free advertising on their community events channel feed
- Champion / Snap notification for a story to be printed ahead of time and to attend the night of the event for a follow up story
- poster or flyer distribution on the Dome due to the volume of people attending there between now and April 16.
Career Day - Mr. Daly
- Secondary level - classroom, leadership opportunities, field trips, guest speakers are all part of career path planning
- students are being asked to fill out option sheets now, but we must recognize that some students may not know what interests them at this age.
Consequently, planning a career education day on May 5th.
- Discussion of format included- career fair in the gym, with tables and booth set up during the day and perhaps the evening or would be more effective to have people attend into the class rooms for 10 - 15 minute discussions in a smaller more controlled environment (preference for classroom setting to promote an interactive environment and generate discussions.
- do we rotate kids through different career options
- 60 teachers on staff - and perhaps they can identify persons they know who may have a particular field of interest.
- perhaps discussions on how individuals ended up in their careers
- tenacity, hard work, remain positive and continued effort is required to succeed (motivation)
- need to think about Trades - plumbing, electrical, HVAC, etc.
- should consider inviting potential future apprentice partners within Milton.
- format of presentation on how to conduct these presentations
- perhaps panel discussion with a couple of reps from a perspective field in attendance to generate interest and discussion
- Parent Council to find appropriate community members to participate on May 5th. perhaps they should be available for 3 to 4 presentations of 10-15 minutes with parameters on how they got to the job, typical day, routines, expectations, between 9 and 11 am.
- Council members to report back on April 7th - with potential volunteer list
Mr. Daly to forward a cover letter explaining the process and intent of the day.
Council of Chair meeting - Lily Gall
Parent volunteer award - not a member of the board and have volunteered for at least two years.
CPIC Catholic Parent Involvement Committee Elections - 2 positions for Halton north are available if anyone is interested.
Nextmeeting - April 7th at 630 pm.