Springfield PS School Council Meeting
Springfield PS School Council Meeting
Meeting: Wednesday, Nov 29, 2017
6:30 pm, Springfield PS Library
In Attendance:
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Robert Stancu – Principal
Dave Martin – Teaching Rep
Hamada Elmoursi – Chair
Christine Chung - Member at Large
Laura Naismith- Member at Large
Erin Caitness- Member at Large
Maja Bissoondial- Pizza Coordinator
Safeena Khatoou- New Parent
Moiz Khan- New Parent
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Absent:
Maryann Baran – Non-Teaching Rep
Melanie Raven – Treasurer
Ellen Wang – Member at Large
Minutes prepared by: Sabine DiSumma
Distribution:
All listed above
1 Welcome and Introductions – Hamada Elmoursi
1.1Hamada Elmoursi called the meeting to order at 6:30 pm.
1.2Agenda was approved
1.3Minutes were approved.
2Pizza Update–Maja Bissoondial
2.1Distribution is going well and Maja has consistent volunteers who alternate weeks.Maja will be able to continue to coordinate pizza days for the upcoming term, but the day may change depending on her availability.
Cash online has been problematic for coordinating pizza orders, especially when combined with manual cash orders. It has created a lot of work for Maja. In an effort to simplify the process, families will only have the option to place the same order every week for the term, either cheese or pepperoni, same amount of slices. The price will increase to $2.50/slice. Maja conducted a small survey to determine whether the kids like the pizza. Out of 143 students, 85 like the pizza and 58 do not. Maja will keep the same vendor for now as there currently are not many other options.
2.2The idea of finding an online company to take over the coordination (ie Lunchbox) was
brought up. Christine will be looking into this in more detail and report back to council.
2.3Christine will also look further into the cash online process and see if there is anyone
that could provide more information on how to make the system more user friendly.
3Principals Report – Robert Stancu
3.1Springfield PS has received a grant of $3200. These funds will be used to enhance the kindergarten yard and make it more appealing. The proposal includes smaller items such as adding outdoor chalkboards and whiteboards with equipment for kids to use. The plan also includes reaching out to our local community banks for further funding. With more funds and approval from the school board, the plan would include removing some of the existing inner fencing to court off a larger area to possibly plant a garden or add a mini creative playground and even change the concrete to rubberized outdoor flooring.
4 Update from Dave Martin
4.1Borden Ball for Grades 4-6 is underway. 96 kids are participating.
4.2Scooter Ball for Grade 3 students is also underway with 60 kids participating. This event is run by the sports council.
4.3The first skating day went well. 30 Junior students also signed up for the Hockey which takes place after the regular skating sessions.
4.4Mansfield Forms have gone home.
4.5The Outdoor Education Grant of $3200 has been received- still to determine how these funds will be used.
4.6Dave would like to take kids to see the movie “Wonder”. The movie would be a private showing, only for our school. The potential date would be Dec 20. Council discussed which grades would be included in this excursion (Gr 4-6 with the possibility of Gr 3’s), bussing and subsidies. Dave will provide council with more details on cost and logistics to determine the feasibility.
4.7The Recess Cart is coming back. Dave has placed an order for supplies and the sports council will monitor it to ensure items that are signed out come back.
5Treasurer Report –
No Treasurer Report was given as Melanie Raven was absent from the meeting.
6Nutrition and Healthy Eating- Stefanie Bogles
6.1Stefanie met with a Public Health Nurse to discuss options for promoting healthier eating, fitness and wellness within the school. They will be submitting an application to the Green Apple Grant which offers $1000. The idea is to engage the students and use the older students to help facilitate better nutritional habits which would eventually not only improve healthy eating at the school, but also at home. Stefanie requested from council ideas on how to promote better nutrition and healthy eating. Some suggestions included training lunchroom supervisors how to run snack and breakfast programs, having specific days promoting foods (example, Fruity Fridays, Milky Mondays, etc), fruit and veggie taste tests, having a fruit bowl in every classroom (and other healthy options) for kids to eat. Erin mentioned a Ministry Grant that could potentially provide a substantial amount of funds which could be tapped into.
6.2A subcommittee consisting of Stefanie Bogles, Tracy Martin, Erin Caitness and Christine Chung will meet to discuss further strategies for implementation.
6.3According to the Public Health Nurse, Springfield PS ranks as high risk for dental needs. 39% of our students present with some form of tooth decay. Through the nutrition and health eating program, SPS hopes to be able to stress the importance of drinking water which could in turn help in battling tooth decay. Laura Naismith will also forward information on “Healthy Smiles Ontario” to Robert who will post this information in the upcoming newsletter. This program is government-funded and provides treatment services for children and youth in low income families.
7 Teacher Appreciation Dinner- Christine Chung
7.1This year’s Teacher Appreciation Dinner was once again a huge success. Thanks to all the parents who contributed an amazing variety of entrees and desserts. There were 4 tables full of food. Ellen Wang delivered all the left-over food to Open Door. A special thanks to Christine Chung for spearheading the event.
8 Library Funding Request- from Elizabeth Peck
Elizabeth is requesting council funds for author visits. This would include all grades and it would also include both languages, English and French. Council was not provided with any details on pricing but Robert suggests approximately $1500 should be sufficient to bring 2 authors into the school. Council is requesting pricing and author details from Elizabeth and also needs to confirm the status of the budget with Melanie in order to continue discussion. This will be tabled for the next council meeting in January, 2018.
9 Activities for 2017/2018 School year
9.1 Move-A-Thon: The goal for this year’s move-a-thon is to allocate the funds towards
several items - 2 trees, author visits and class subsidies ($15 per student). The tentative date is still set for March 2, 2018.
9.2 Movie Night will be re-scheduled to the new year.
10Other Items
10.1 Hamada requested that Robert look into providing a French Club in the school.
Robert will ask teachers if anyone would be interested in leading such a club as well
asa Math Club.
10.2Hamada requested for Robert to update the school website with council
information including the minutes.
11Other Carry-Forward Items:
Principal and Vice Principal Profiles: Robert to forward to Hamada, council to provide feedback to Hamada online.
Marathon Club: Dave- possible subsidy request
Staff Wish List: Robert
Juice: What to do with all the Left-over Juice
12Next Council Meeting:
Next council meeting will be held on Thursday, January 25, 2018 at 6:30 pm in the
Library.
13Adjournment: Meeting was adjourned at 8:30 pm.
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