Meeting Close: 8:00 PM
Attendees: Richard Marcil, Roger Boettcher, Ozzie Ahmed, Kimberly Namespetra-Sullivan, Donna White, Elizabeth Ney, Jo-Anne Hennig, Lisa Hooper;
Budget Update:
- Richard informed the Council that we will be receiving a Parent Involvement Grant of $500.00 that will be used toward the cost of the BBQ.
- No cheque for GST playground carryover has been received to date by the Council or the school.
- Richard’s idea for alternate special lunch days was given the green light by Roger for Thursday, May 14, 2009. Richard will talk to Lunch Lady about possible menu ideas.
- Roger let the Council know that the purchase of a Dolphin Mascot will be pushed to the next school year.
- Roger will continue to look into the installation of a projector screen in the gymnasium, as this will be wonderful for the Grade 8 Graduation presentation.
School Choir Funding:
- Council agreed to donate $1000.00 to the School Choir in order to alleviate some of the cost of attending the Trills and Thrills Competition trip to Canada’s Wonderland. Council has requested that we receive a short write-up reference the logistics of the trip, as well as a quarter page write-up for the Dolphin newsletter.
Volunteer Survey:
- Library Aide, Zehrs Tape Program, Milk Program, Tuck Shop, Educational Seminars/Workshops, Magazine Fundraiser Volunteer were retained on the survey, while Special Lunch Aide, Parent Volunteer for French, Parent Volunteer for English, and Move-a-Thon Volunteers were taken off the survey. A volunteer request for Treasures Books and the School BBQ will be added.
- Under the ‘Community Events’ heading, Christmas Adopt a Family Program was dropped as the students and teachers managed this on their own this year. The Terry Fox Run and Jump Rope for Heart volunteer requests were retained and volunteers for the Skating Races were added.
BBQ Planning:
- The School BBQ will take place on June 17, 2009.
- Steve will be taking care of ensuring we have a permit from the City of Cambridge.
- Lisa has booked the BBQs, chafing dishes, extra tins at the same price as last year. She also booked the field (Junior Field), and Dominoes Pizza who will bring an extra person and canopy.
- Last year the water and chips were purchased from Sam’s Club. Richard suggested looking into a deal with the new Metro Store.
- Donna is waiting on a reply from ‘The Beat’ regarding having the radio station attend the BBQ for entertainment.
Parent Seminars:
- End April 2009 is the suggested timing for a Parent Seminar to be conducted in the School Library.
- ‘Building Character, Building Self-Esteem’ was chosen by the Council as a topic for the evening.
- We are expecting approximately 40 people based on last year’s numbers, however, Richard would like to use some of the extra money budgeted for the night to advertise the event really well.
School Update:
- Humane Society Food Drive currently taking place for Kindergarten to Grade 8.
- Report Cards will be distributed on March 30, 2009.
- Grade 7/8 vaccinations for Hepatitis B2 and HPV 3 will be administered by the Health Unit on March 31, 2009.
- April 3, 2009 is a Professional Activity Day; teachers will be involved in Parent-Teacher Conferences during the morning, and Roger will facilitate a workshop in the afternoon on Equity and Inclusion.
- The Grade 8s will attend the Youth Symposium on April 16, 2009.
- Roger informed the Council that the school is expected to have declining numbers from the current 770 students to a projected 735 students in September 2009. This may mean that there will be one less class next school year, however until the teacher contract negotiations are completed things are still up in the air, as planning time changes will affect period lengths.
- OFIP Update – 85 occasional teacher days were gained by the school through this program in order that teachers have the opportunity to work through the model ‘Teaching/Learning Critical Pathways’ as divisions.
Other:
- Council asked about locking the new gate now that there is no need to plow snow. Roger will look into when this will happen.
- Council Members raised the issue of the Grade 8 transition to Grade 9 particularly in Mathematics as some parents and former Clemens Mill students have experienced great difficulty in this subject with respect to the curriculum. Roger is currently setting up meetings between Intermediate Teachers and Math Teachers at Preston High School to start to try to address this issue, as it has been noted by teachers and principals across the School Board; he will keep the Council updated.
