RPPS Home and School Association (School Council) Meeting

December 13, 2011

Library 7:00 pm

Attendance: Elise Zarkadas, Mark MacDonald, Marianne Harvey, Deb Woods, Juliana Nightingale, Joel Berger, Lisa Levia, Gillian Campbell, Sonja Latifpour, Trish Moss, Abby DeWolfe, Brinda Mohan, Michele Hayman, Seanna Kreager

Approval of Agenda:

Agenda approved.

Moved by: Mark MacDonald

Seconded by: Trish Moss

Carried

Approval of June Minutes:

Minutes approved.

Moved by: Sonja Latifpour
Seconded by: Elise Zarkadas

Carried

President’s Report

Elise welcomed everyone to the meeting. Elise said that the new play structure had been open for use briefly and that every class was given a turn to have the new equipment all to themselves. She said that an official dedication of the structure would take place in the spring and at that time it would be determined how to display the list of donors. She noted that a number of the donors may wish to remain anonymous.

JK/SK Yard Improvement Report

Julie Nightingale gave an update on the proposed JK/SK Yard Improvement plans which she received from Gaye Taylor who was unable to attend the meeting.

Gaye met with Chantal Goyette and they discussed the fence boundaries of the JK/SK yard and how they might be improved. Gaye said that she would bring a map to the January meeting. She noted that the new fence boundaries would make the LEAF garden slightly smaller and would also separate the recycling area/compost bins from the yard. Overall changing the fence boundaries would give the JK/SK yard a larger, less cut up, and provide more shaded space for the children to play in.

Gaye e-mailed Marianne regarding repainting the game lines throughout the main yard and said that Marianne would be passing along some info to her regarding past contracts/contractors so that she could get an idea of what sort of costs we could expect for the painting portion of the improvements.

Gaye also discussed with Chantal in very general terms the addition of a small structure/climber/slide that could be added to the JK/SK yard. Gaye noted that until the cost of repainting the game lines in the main yard and fence moving costs were determined the budget for this item could not be determined. She noted that she had contacted a company based in Picton who made structures specifically for this age group and that they were sending her a catalogue and price list.

RPPS Club House and Homework Club

Elise gave the report since Lucie Bohac was unable to attend the meeting.


Students in the after school programs at RPPS have been having a fun time with the science centre (exploring the scientific properties that exist in all sorts of everyday household items), the electronic centre (where they have been taking apart broken electronic devices to find out how they work and how to fix them) and the photography club (where they have been taking pictures of wildlife in the school yard). This combined with outdoor playtime, gym time and art projects has kept the club participants busy.

Elise noted that Lucie had a short wish list of items for the after school program as follows: lab coats and smocks, Monopoly or Risk board games, calculator, chalk board brushes, brown paper towels, karaoke machine, and a bin for lost and found items.

Principal’s Report

Marianne said that the Christmas Hamper programme got off to a slow start, but was now doing very well.

Marianne said that the new play structure was opened and then had to close for the first snowy day and then re-opened again so that all the classes could have their turn on it before winter set-in. She noted that the official opening would be in the spring. She said the kids are loving the new structure and extended a thank you to all those involved with the process of getting the new play structure for the school. She extended a huge thank you to Magalie, Gaye and Francisca.

Marianne mentioned this was the second year of progress reports and that the whole process went well.

Marianne said that during the Nov 19 PD-Day they were working of the School Improvement Plan and there was emphasis on math again this year. She said that they had a specialist come in to talk with the staff about how to make math accessible to children and how to tap into the different ways children learn.

Marianne announced that the environmental club had 65 children participating. She said that Sylvie Quessy had taken the lead on it. She noted that that there was going to be a program where children would be winning water bottles by class. Marianne said that the club would also be doing an audit of the contamination of the blue bins etc.

Marianne said that the grade 3 swimming program was a huge success. She noted that all of the grade three students will have had swimming lessons and that the program included transportation.

Marianne announced that RPPS was going to have full day JK and SK in 2015.

Deb Woods mentioned some of the professional development going on at the school including the use of technology websites, and instructional coaching. Deb noted that several groups of teachers from RPPS had submitted proposal to do research. Jane Baron (plus a group of teachers) submitted a proposal to look at education for boys versus girls and Sylvie/Normand/Tania submitted a proposal to look at use of the Smart Board to support French Language.

Marianne mentioned that Book Fairs proceeds had helped to fund a number of field trips that the students had participated in including: Proulx Farms, Science & Technology Museum, Parliament Hill, Governor’s Walk (singing performance), Museum of Nature, and MacSkimming. She noted that Book Fair funds had also been spent on a cricket workshop, JBPlus books, library supplies, math program materials, kindergarten math cart (manipulatives etc).

Marianne noted that in January a hip-hop dance group would be coming in to work with the students and that in February a drumming workshop would be happening school-wide.

Marianne said that a group of teachers and students from Queen Elizabeth School gave a presentation at RPPS today to the Grade 3 and Grade 6 classes. She said that on Tuesday January 24 there would be an open house for parents at Queen Elizabeth. Also, on Tuesday January 17 grade 6 students were invited to visit Queen Elizabeth. Marianne mentioned that she had participated in the district review of Queen Elizabeth and said that after three days of evaluating everything she was unaware of any behaviour issues at the school.

Financial Report

Mark MacDonald said there was not much to report. He noted that the pizza money would be deposited on Thursday.

Book Fair

Michele Hayman reported that the Book Fair cheque ($30,000) had been given to Marianne. Michele noted that as planned $5,000 was held back for the purchase of books.

Michele said that $4,000 worth of grants would be given out by Book Fair as well. Michele said that they asked the Board through Marianne which schools needed the extra help and of those which had not received a grant from Book Fair in the past three years.

Michele noted that the books have not been completely reconciled as of yet and that another cheque from Book Fair would be given to Marianne sometime in February.

Michele said that Book Fair was a great success and briefly mentioned the following. Olympians visiting the school fantastic, RCMP presence a success, birthday card organized by Deb fabulous, murals by Mme Julie and crew inspired, café a success, kids section a success, and so many incredible volunteers/parents/school staff that made it all happen. A huge thank you to everyone!

Seanna Kreager mentioned that Book Fair always needs help . . . even now. She said they were looking for volunteers who were able to work once a week for 10-30 minutes at a time (unloading bins and storing books).

Seanna said that next year Book Fair would have a Harry Potter theme. She noted that she would have more details for Council in the February meeting. Seanna extended a huge thank you to Michele for all her hard work. Michele thanked Seanna and all the contributors for the gift. She loves the cookbook with all the personal recipes.

Marianne extended a heartfelt thank you to Book Fair from all the staff.

Milk & Volunteer Coordination

Lisa Levia mentioned that the pizza forms went out and that they were due back on Thursday. She noted that the milk program goes to January 27. She noted the milk forms would not be given out until January.

OCASC Report

Joel Berger reported that a variety of issues were being discussed at meetings including: gay/straight alliances in school, funding differences between the boards, the $35 fee collected from every school (not spent on anything recently), and a new scheme for report card writing/protocol.

Motion to Adjourn

Moved by: Gillian Campbell

Seconded by: Michele Hayman

Carried

Next Council Meeting

Tuesday February 7

School Library 7pm