Minutes from November 21st 2007 meeting

Meeting start: 7:00 PM
Meeting close: 8.30 PM
Attendees: Steve Cole, Donna White, Jennifer Huntley, Amanda Drewett,
Julie Croteau, Ozzie Ahmed, Richard Marcil, Roger Boettcher, Allison Wardrop,
Lisa McDonald, Lisa Hooper, Sandra Wheeler, Elizabeth Ney (recording minutes)
Next meeting: Wednesday December 12th @ 6:00 PM

2007-2008 Sources and Uses of Project Funds:
The final budget was voted on and approved by council. Richard reviewed minor changes that were made in order to reflect latest thinking on inflows and outflows. There was no news on the status of the 2006/2007 (outstanding) and 2007/2008 (in review) PRO grants. Roger confirmed that the pricing for the Alpha Neo Computers was in line with budget. Roger also provided quotes for a full classroom of Alpha Neo’s, an opportunity for the 2008/2009 school year. A motion to approve the budget by Richard was seconded by all.

Financial Update:
Ozzie provided a financial update to the group. In short, all was on track with budget. In terms of learning, it is suggested that cheques from parents get processed more quickly in order to avoid NSF cheques. We needed to increase timelines behind the Magazine Campaign and the Treasures Book as requested by parents, which resulted in cheques not being processed for 4-6 weeks. For future programs, interim deposits will be made to avoid issues.

Magazine Campaign:
Another successful Magazine Campaign has concluded with the final money raised at $6,501.54. This campaign has run several years at Clemens and parents have once again shown their support. Many thanks go to all who bought/renewed magazine subscriptions and to our campaign co-ordinator Wilma Miyasaki for countless hours of effort to get this off the ground and running. For the 2008/2009 school year, it was recommended that the Magazine Campaign be extended to the Thanksgiving weekend, and that a new supplier be pursued to facilitate promotional management (See Readers Digest QSP program @ www.qsp.ca).

Treasures Book Campaign:
The Treasures Book Campaign was definitely successful in its first year, and it was noted that it would not be hard to increase the sale of these books in future years. Currently the amount of funds raised by the Treasures Book which promote value added options to parents is $3,572.80. However, a significant number of books have not yet been returned to the school. It was noted that this campaign was rather labor intensive for the school secretaries and more of council or the supplier’s help will be needed in future. It was noted that Council could ask Kelly from Treasure Book to give an overview to council on the best way to simplify program execution. A big thank you to all the Clemens Mill families who supported this campaign and to Steve Cole, Amanda Drewett and Jane Barrett for making this fundraiser happen!

Move-A-Thon:
On November 1st the Clemens Mill gymnasium was filled with enthusiastic kids “moving to the beat”. This was the only fundraiser that was a “kid event”, and it raised $1,735.53 (net). Kudos goes to Jennifer Huntley and Tracy LeBar for all their efforts in organizing this event. While the Move-A-Thon did not raise as much funds as anticipated, children enjoyed the event – and particularly the younger groups. Council noted that this event followed two successful events (Magazine Campaign, Treasures Book) and parents were simply tapped out for the Move-A-Thon. Overall, it was felt that a significant amount of money was paid to Presswood for the event, and that the bar for fun had been raised by the school’s Spirit Days. For these reasons, Council concluded that the Move-A-Thon would not be repeated next year.

8th Grade Graduation:
Graduation for the current school year is June 25th, 2008 and concerns about the size of the school venue were raised. It was noted that there are 166 graduates, and with family guests, Grade 8 grad requires a space for approximately 700 or more people. Steve Cole volunteered to do some research into possible venues and report back to the next Council meeting. Teachers who plan the graduation will be given this information on possible venue options for their consideration at a staff meeting in January.

2008 Seminar planning:
Council plans to deliver value added seminars to the parent community with in 2008. The purpose and the opportunity for these seminars is to inform, involve and engage the parent community. One suggestion was to take advantage of these seminars and showcase the teachers and students involved in the development of relevant programs, e.g. seminar on internet safety and launch of the Clemens Mill website. Richard Marcil will send out a list of possible seminars by via email and review with Council at the next meeting.

School Update:
Roger Boettcher and Alison Wardrop provided an update on some of the happenings in the school. Needless to say, it’s been a busy year though all was running smoothly.

November Dolphin Newsletter

2007-2008 Council
Thanks to all the parents who visited us at the school Open House as well as attended the first Council meeting of the year. 2007-2008 promises to be a busy year for Clemens Mill Public School and Council. The majority of the time of the first Council meeting was spent on electing new members, who will spearhead the development of value-added programs and services, their delivery, and fundraising efforts. Your 2007-2008 Council is:

Executive:
Richard Marcil, Chair
Elizabeth Ney, Secretary
Ozzie Ahmed, Treasurer
Roger Boettcher, Principal
Alison Wardrop, Vice Principal

Parent Voting Members:
Sue Brydon
Steve Cole
Julie Croteau
Julene Duncan
Jo-Anne Hennig
Lisa Hooper
Jennifer Huntley
Tracy LeBar
Lisa McDonald
Cassandra Mitchell
Shaheen Sheikh
Sandra Wheeler
Donna White
Yvonne Wood

Should you have any questions on the above or council in general, don’t hesitate to attend any of the meetings (always help on the 3rd Wednesday of the month) or ask Mr. Boettcher at the school office. Get involved, have fun and make a difference!

October 19th Meeting
The second Council meeting of the year is scheduled for Wednesday October 19th at 7PM. At this meeting, Council will focus primarily on priority setting and budget allocation. It’s an important meeting in that much of the 2007-2008 activity gets locked over the months of October and November. We will also begin brainstorming value-added programs and seminars for the second half of the school year. As always, all parents are welcomed to attend and participate! A detailed agenda of the meeting will be available Monday October 17th at the school office.

Zehrs Save-a-Tape Program
Did you know that Clemens Mills Public School received $350 from Zehrs Markets last year for participating in the Zehrs Save-a-Tape program™? This is easy money for the school, and contributes nicely to ongoing fundraising efforts. You can drop off your Zehrs tapes/receipts in a specially marked box at the entrance of the Cambridge Centre Zehrs, or collect your tapes/receipts and bring them to school. Special thanks to Zehrs Markets for their continued community support!

Campbell’s Labels for Education
Much like the Zehrs program, Clemens Mill Public School can benefit from participating in the Campbell’s Labels for Education™ program. This program awards free educational equipment to schools in exchange for proofs of purchase from the Campbell family of brands. And with cold weather rapidly approaching, this is another easy means of fundraising for Clemens Mill! Special thanks to Campbell’s for their community support.

Minutes from October 17th 2007 Meeting

Meeting start: 7:00 PM
Meeting close: 9:30 PM
Attendees: Steve Cole, Jo-Anne Henning, Donna White, Julene Duncan,
Jennifer Huntley, Tracey LeBar, Amanda Drewett, Lisa McDonald, Lisa Hooper,
Joan Rundle, Julie Croteau, Ozzie Ahmed, Benedictus Soga, Richard Marcil,
Roger Boettcher, Allison Wardrop, Elizabeth Ney (recording minutes)
Next meeting: November 21st @ 7:00 PM

2007-2008 Sources and Uses of Project Funds

• Several fundraising activities planned this year in a very short time period when the school year is very busy getting started.
• Having several fundraising activities has provided parents with some options as to how they may want to support the school.
• In future, council may want to plan ahead a bit more with communications going out to parents to optimize programs, increase time between fundraising campaigns, provide value added fundraising options, and carefully consider how student fundraising incentives are encouraged.
• Communicate to the parent community that fundraising is done to provide financial support for the next school year, clarifying the fact the council may have a significant bank account at the beginning of September, which is designated to the current school budget and allows for timely spending/investment.
• Re-enforce to the school community how money is spent within the school.

Financial Update

• Opening Funds: $26,703.27. The playground is expected to net an additional $2,900 credit, primarily from a GST rebate (not forecasted in 2006-2007). Final expenses to be processed this month include $3,584 for the playground borders. It was suggested that Council hold back this money and apply it to future maintenance of the playground. There was agreement by members present.

2007-2008 Budget Review:
Discussions around current year budget review began with listing the criteria council will follow in deciding how to spend school council funds. The following were given:

• School ownership for items purchased
• Money spent must benefit the kids
• Durability and value of the spend
• Spending meets the Board’s initiative for school communities, the goals for Leaning and Caring
• Each spend is monitored with additional discussion throughout the year if necessary.
• Mr. Boettcher consulted teaching staff and provided a list of items for the 2007-2008 school council budget. An item-by-item discussion was held by council members noting the following:
• A discretionary fund, to be managed by council, was added to the budget list.
• Mr. Boettcher will provide more information on costs/usage of the Alphasmart Neo minicomputers for the next council meeting. Council members suggested that the purchase of 12 Alphasmart Neo minicomputers could be done this year and additional units purchased in future years.
• A request to the Assembly of School councils and or the Board will be made for insights on council spending considerations.
• Council appreciates the budget input received from teaching staff, and will send a note to that effect to Mr. Boettcher.
• The final budget will be voted on at the next school council meeting held in November.

Magazine Campaign:

• Another successful magazine campaign has concluded with the final money raised over $6,000. Kudos to Wilma Miyasaki for leading this ever-popular program.

Treasurers Book Campaign:

• This was the first year council sold Treasurers Coupon books promoting value added options to parents. Approximately 189 books have not yet been returned to the school and a reminder letter will be sent to these families. The total money raised should be available for next council’s meeting. Kudos to Steve Cole for spear heading this first time initiative which brought money saving options to Clemens Mill parents while also providing financial support to the school.

2007 PRO Grant Applications:

• Education Minister Kathleen Wynne has announced the Parents Reaching Out (PRO) program for 2007 that includes provision of grants to help school councils increase parental involvement. Under this program, school councils can submit project proposal to the Ontario Ministry of Education to apply for $1,000, with the deadline October 26th. Council has submitted an application for the seminar programs.

8th Grade Graduation:

• Graduation for the current school year is June 25th, 2008 and concerns about the school venue were raised. Council discussed how they could provide support to teaching staff for this event. It was decided that council would come up with a proposal that would be presented to the teaching staff for their consideration.

School Update:

• Roger Boettcher and Alison Wardrop provided an update on some of the happenings in the school.
• Several extra curricular activities are in progress in the school.
• Information for a Music Band has gone out.
• School’s goals of Learning and caring, which include development of a student’s higher order thinking skills, and promotion of a whole child to include physical and environmental, including increased parental involvement.

Minutes from September 19th 2007 meeting

Meeting start: 7:00 PM
Meeting close: 9:00 PM
Present: 17 parent voting members + Principal
Next meeting: October 17th @ 7:00 PM

2007/2008 Council

• Elections took place and we filled the chair, co-chair and treasurer positions leaving only secretary position vacant; the number of voting parent members also increased over 2006/2007 as the council welcomed new parents.
• Richard Marcil discussed the role of the council and emphasized that is should be a fun, relaxed and productive council. Code of ethics was discussed and he will send out a copy of them to everyone.
• Council requested the presence of a teacher rep. especially for next meeting coming prepared to talk to the teacher’s wish list on what their priorities might be and why.

School Update

• Roger Boettcher stated that it was a good solid start to the school year. Lots of activities and committees already under way for various aspects of school enhancement ie CARE.
• New tracking system in place to better manage students and issues that arise in classrooms that will keep teachers, office staff, students and parents all on the same page streamlining it so that no one falls through the cracks right now it is a paper system that hopefully becomes computer based in the future
• CMPS will try to set up a sports league with Saginaw.
• CMAC program just started and there was an overwhelming response. The school will try to use students not picked for CMAC through out the year in various projects to also enrich their school year.
• Roger talked on reading and writing skills provincial results are in and the results were very positive in some areas but with room for improvement in others
• The school will be running a UNICEF program this year with the help of council to count, process and deposit funds as required.

Programs

• Lots of fundraising activities mostly frontloaded. Some concerns over the timing of some of the events i.e. magazines maybe too early and possibly lost in the mass of paperwork at the beginning of the year.
• Special lunch program has the wheels turning already. Talks of altering for various dietary needs are outweighed by the logistics of it all. The lunches are more of a complete meal this year.
• Richard talked about the role of student council. It should be 1/3 fundraising 1/3 service to students and 1/3 value add. Focus on the needs of the school/students.
• Lots of great ideas and initiatives, we lack the bodies to execute lots of these ideas
• Steve talked about the Treasures book. This is a value added service to parents lets pump it up as that. Lots of discussion as to the logistics. We need to finalize the wording on the letter that will go to parents. We need to keep it as simple as we possibly can. Target timeline to execute is Oct 1 through Oct 8.

Financials

• Roger asked staff to make a wish list. That list was submitted to council unaltered for their perusal. Richard is asking everyone to please review that list before the next meeting and be prepared to offer input on what we will or will not support.
• The Alpha Neo project is still being worked on and hopefully the final numbers can be confirmed and delivered to council in the October meeting.

Other

• There was some confusion as to the rules of for the new playground. Roger explained that due to liability and lack of resources to supervise dictated the no playing right before or after school. Roger will revisit the issue and possibly amend so that children can play as long as there is adult supervision. Signs will be posted to reflect the final position the school takes.
• Concerns of safety due to vehicular traffic going along side to the back of the school after dusk will be revisited and the school will try to get police involved.
• Grade 8 graduations were briefly touched on and the idea of changing venues was tabled as to better facilitate the whole process. Due to time constraints the topic will be carried over to next council meeting for further exploration

Welcome to the 2007-2008 school year

The Clemens Mill Public School council is getting ready for the 2007-2008 school year. The first part of this process consists of school council elections scheduled for Wednesday September 19th at 7:00PM in the school library.

The primary roles of the school council are to facilitate student achievement and to support school priority-setting. At Clemens Mill, school council has done so by working closely with the school administration and staff in order to support and deliver value-added programs and activities for both students and parents. It’s a truly rewarding process, one that all parents are encouraged to participate in, and one that does not require an inordinate of time.

For the upcoming elections, nominations are sought for:
- Parent Representatives
- Chair
- Co-Chair
- Treasurer
- Secretary

For additional information about the role of school councils, you can visit the Waterloo Region District School Board 's website and look in the Information for Parents section.

In short, school council provides a terrific means of getting involved in school activities, having fun working with parents from our community, and making a difference.

2006-2007 – A productive school year

The 2006-2007 school year proved to be very productive and rewarding for the Clemens Mill Public School council. Meetings were held on the third Wednesday of each month, where school council tackled a number of school-related issues and opportunities. The meetings were, of course, open to all and encouraged input from parents and other members of the community.

Key achievements included the development, delivery and/or support of:
- Special lunches
- Tuck shop
- Turn off TV week
- Guest speakers, presentations, concerts and resources
- Computer network access for classrooms
- AV equipment and safety equipment
- Playground contribution
- School website

A number of fundraising programs allowed us to do so much in 2006-2007. These were:
- Magazines
- Move-A-Thon
- Craft sales
- Zehrs Save-A-Tape

Of course, all of the funds were managed in accordance with Waterloo Region District School Board policies. Minutes of meetings held and financial records are also available at the school office.

Thank you for your continued support
We wish to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of the many individuals who volunteered their time to contribute to the success of the school council last year. We hope many of you will participate in the 2007-2008 school council and attend the upcoming school council elections. Again, school council provides a terrific means of getting involved in school activities, having fun working with parents from our community, and making a difference!