St. Anthony of Padua Catholic School Council Minutes

October 2, 2017

(6:30pm-8:00 pm)

Present: (Parent Reps)Barbara Jancetic-Jelecanin, Tara Romero, Jill Mayo-Singh, Catherine Briganti, Lisa Brown, Frank Pandullo, Deepa Jones, Francine Countryman, Susan Febbraro and Adriana Berrocal

Regrets:Jennifer Jones

Parish Representative: Catherine BrigantiPrincipal: Kelly Cascone-BrownVice Principals: Christopher Hawken, Michelle Litniansky

Teaching Representatives: Giancarlo De Rosa, DalmaZambri, Kelly StephensNon-teaching Representative: Jean DuCharme

Item / Discussion / Action Required
Welcome, Introductions, Prayer / Led by K. Cascone-Brown
  • Spoke about Council and why we are here. Need to put our own needs aside and work for the common good of the whole school. We need to build community and advocate on needs of school and work towards mission statement.
  • Touched on St Anthony of Padua school by-laws.

Council Commissioning Ceremony, Declaration and Pledge / Led by K. Cascone-Brown
K. Cascone-Brown explained the process and the role of council and being a member on council before signing declaration.
  • K. Cascone mentioned that C. Briganti has been appointed Parish Representative.
  • After discussing positions on council, there was an opening to elect the following:
-L. Brown nominated B. Jancetic-Jelecanin as Chair and T. Romero second the motion and B. Jancetic-Jelecanin accepted.
-B. Jancetic-Jelecanin nominated T. Romero as Co-Chair and T. Romero accepted. / Need to determine everyone’s role on Council
Council Agenda Item (Halloween Dance-a-thon) / Led by B. Jancetic-Jelecanin
  • Open discussion regarding if we will once again proceed with
having a Halloween Dance-a-thon as the main fundraiser again this year. Council members present were in full agreement that we should move forward in having this event again.
  • Halloween Dance-a-Thon ticket plan.
  • Grand Prize is “Gift of Flight” from WestJet.
  • WestJet employee J. Flynn is able to “donate” prize in exchange for his volunteer hours with the school.
  • Discussed options for raffle/tickets.
  • B. Jancetic-Jelecanin suggested since grand prize requires a raffle draw, we would need tickets with a suggested price of $5 for 1 ticket. Forms would be given out before Thanksgiving and parents would be able to raise money and parents to use cash online to purchase tickets in relation to how much money they have raised. J. DuCharme to get printout from cash online and using reference numbers, we would put those numbers in a draw.
  • K. Cascone-Brown advised that according to board policy this would not work. If done this way, dance-a-thon would not be possible. Instead, as an example, every $5 raised, 1 ticket would be earned to get a chance to win grand prize. Council would be responsible to collect and give out tickets.
  • J. DuCharme explained how you can donate through cash online.
  • K. Cascone-Brown mentioned that in order to captivate competition between divisions, 4 other prizes would be a pizza party for each classroom who raises the most money.
  • All council members agreed that this is a good idea and to move forward.
/ Form to be sent out to all students along with pledge forms for Dance-a-thon before Thanksgiving
Need to determine Due Date for pledge forms/money
Reporting / Principal’s Report Led by K. Cascone-Brown
  • Shared the SGF (School Generated Funds) reports via school website. Ended up with a surplus. The report showed the intended use of proceeds: use for technology purchases. More laptops are needed. The current ones are worn down and need 10 laptops to be used in classes. Money is needed for graduation and sacraments, team uniforms, apps/digital textbooks, instruments ($1,500), playground balls/renewal of yard, pro grant, arts night.
  • Christmas wreaths fundraiser? Continue for this year? (At the end of meeting, council agreed to continue for this year but perhaps do something different for next year).
  • Liturgy Schedule every month with each class/grade level presenting. Readers/presenters of the specific celebration.
  • Board budget – grew a grade 4 class (30 textbooks of everything).
M. Litniansky– St. Anthony of Padua (“SAOP”) Website Tour
  • No monthly newsletter. A bi-weekly update on site will replace this. Parents can subscribe to Calendar and get notifications. T. Romero and L. Brown advised that notifications/alerts are not working. M. Litniansky thinks that there are possibly too many notifications so need to adapt as we go. Was advised that Holy Rosary Parish information is not up to date on website.
C. Hawken – EQAO (TheEducation Quality and Accountability Office) Data
  • Push for Math/Gr. 6. They already have a renewed math strategy which is 10 sessions for teachers. They are concerned with overall levels in Math. The board released results. They could see kids like Math. They want 75% students to achieve 75% or higher (level 3 or 4). EQAO results are based on a 3-year cycle. Looking at what goes on in Math. Reading/Writing is ok but not transferring to Math. Same thing happening board-wide and across the Province. Can view results on SAOP website.
K. Cascone-Brown handed out a copy of the one-page School Improvement Plan/Mission Statement
  • Plan is to put one in every classroom in the school. Still need to work on plan and finalize, edit with colour. Welcome feedback on School Improvement Plan.
  • Liturgical Schedule – working document. Each grade is responsible for a theme/mass every month. Liturgies include FDK. Spilt into 2 sessions, FDK-Gr.3 & Gr.4-Gr.8.
  • Students this year are doing morning prayers instead of Admin. Grades 7/8’s started and did their own prayers.
  • Fire Department is coming in this week for Fire Drill. There are three (3) more drills to do in the Spring. Lockdown/Bomb threat drills to do.
/ Council to think of other options to replace wreaths and revisit for next year
M. Litniansky to update Holy Rosary Parish information on school website
New Business /
  • K. Cascone-Brown proposed that all meetings are inside of the school building. Mentioned one person from School Administration is happy to be present. Need to discuss if official council meetings will change from Mondays to another day. Can have more if need be.
  • B. Jancetic-Jelecanin advised that most parents want more information and communication. Unofficial Facebook group mentioned. School Administration is not a fan as it’s not “official”. A more traditional and official way of communication is required. School has a Twitter account and school connects email can go out. Can go out to a specific grade, class, etc.
  • Volunteer list needed early on in the school year. J. DuCharme advised it takes time to compile and it will be ready shortly.
  • It was discussed that members of the community are interested in having babysitting services made available during council meetingsso that they could attend the meetings. K. Cascone-Brown said she is happy to look into it, so to give her information.
  • All members of council agreed to Pro Grant Night date of April 26, 2018. Day after is a PA Day so it works well.
  • Dates council meetings are held was discussed. The following are the meeting dates for the 2017-2018 school year: November 8, 2017, February 7, 2018 , April 11, 2018, May 16, 2018 and Monday, June 11, 2018 (social) all meetings start at 6:30 pm.
  • Cookies for Christmas Craft Night – MacMillans cannot accommodate our numbers this year in providing a nut free gingerbread house. Council needs to source another vendor. Terra Cotta Cookie Co. is an option, as well as Costco and Sobey’s. Terra Cotta Cookie Co. is able to provide gingerbread teddy bears to decorate.
  • Went over process of submitting council minutes. Need to be put into a template then submitted to Principal within a week to a week and a half of the council meeting. K. Cascone-Brown to approve and then send back to Council Secretary who can then forward them to all Members of Council.
  • Went over who prepares Agenda for Council Meetings. It is the Chair that needs to prepare. The agenda is to be given to the Principal a week before meeting. Typically, no adding to agenda unless there is something really pressing that parents want to address.
  • Council Members would like school connects email to go out to let parents know that meeting is coming up. Parent in attendance, A. Cetra, suggested asking staff on Twitter to re-tweet what SAOP tweets regarding Council meeting coming up for more exposure.
  • K. Cascone-Brown advised that a meeting usually happens between Chair and Co-Chair and herself before meeting to touch base. Can be in person or telephone conference.
/ J. DuCharme to volunteer send list to B. Jancetic-Jelecanin/T. Romero once ready
Gather information/ideas on how to have babysitting services availableduring Council meetings and provide to K. Cascone-Brown for approval
Need to look into quote from Terra Cotta Cookie Co, and look into Costco and Sobey’s. Parent volunteer, A. Cetra, to get quotes
School Administration to send email through school connects reminding them that a council meeting is coming up and to ask Staff on Twitter to re-tweet that a meeting is taking place (closer to date of upcoming meetings)
  • Meeting adjourned 8:19 pm

Upcoming Events /
  • Dance-A-Thon- Tuesday, October 31, 2017
  • Christmas Craft Night

Next Meeting / Wednesday, November 8, 2017 - 6:30 pm