Wilkinson School Community Council
Meeting Minutes
May 14, 2012
Present: Leasa Adams (vice-principal), Laura Bullard-Brezovsky, Bipasha Choudhury, Shauna Dobbie, Sarah-Jane Gillespie, Sharon Hennessey, Raihana Ingar, Kris Kearns, Allan Kelly (principal), Bruce MacDonald, April Moon, Alison Motluk, Emma Reid, Deanna Rosolen, Martin Saxton, Jill Spellman, Paula Weekes-Kahn (council chair), Karen Wiseman
Regrets: Liza Finlay, Susan Haney, Ruby Lederman, Kirsten McGoey,
Guests: Sarah Hoac (Dandylion Daycare), Janet Mann, Ms. Wareham (JK/SK teacher at Wilkinson), Lindsay Whitfield (JK/SK teacher at Wilkinson)
Recorder: Deanna Rosolen
Meeting called to order
1. Welcome and Introductions: Paula Weekes-Kahn welcomed everyone.
2. Approval of the Agenda: Agenda was approved.
Motion: Martin Saxton. Seconded: Bipasha Choudhury.
3. Approval of the Minutes from April 10, 2012: Approved.
Motion: Kris Kearns. Seconded: Laura Bullard-Brezovsky.
4. Principal's update - Allan Kelly.
A. Laptops: The Toronto District School Board (TDSB) has approved 30 laptops and one cart for Wilkinson. The laptops are ready for September.
B. Staffing: Wilkinson will have 28 staff, which is up from last year. A new Extended French class will be starting in September and a new extended French teacher has been hired.
The TDSB has approved Wilkinson's staffing model.
Allan and Leasa will be working on class placements over the next couple of weeks. Teacher placements are already complete but these could change.
C. Funding: The Reading Recovery program will be affected by funding cuts.
D. Spring Concert: The concert was a great success. The school collected $1,000, which will go toward the cost of the new risers. Council will mention this in the June newsletter.
E. Safety walk: Took place on April 12, 2012. The group saw far fewer issues this year as many were dealt with last year.
F. Safety and school grounds: With the warmer weather, more young adults are hanging about the grounds. Allan will speak with Wilkinson's community police officer and ask that they drive by and patrol more often. The school parking lot will now be locked overnight. The school will open the space for permit events.
With more discussion on this topic, Sarah Hoac said Dandylion Daycare may consider locking its parking in the evenings as well.
The young adults hanging about do linger sometimes overnight and on weekend evenings and there is drinking and drugs. This is a community concern and Allan asks that parents voice their concerns.
The community liaison police officer and school board security will continue to work with Wilkinson.
We do now have lights and a camera installed.
G. Education Assistants: Wilkinson did lose its EA allocation. So there will no longer be two EAs in the JK and SK program.
But Allan has made co-op students a priority. He's also made it clear that the school is looking for committed and responsible students.
H. Welcome to Kindergarten: Wilkinson has received the Welcome to Kindergarten funding this year. The funding comes from The Learning Partnership, a charitable organization that works to build a strong public education system. That means that each new JK student will receive the Welcome to Kindergarten Bag (which contains books, paper, a glue stick, scissors, crayons, magnetic letters, etc., and information for parents/guardians. The value of each bag is $35). Parents of new JK students will be invited to the school one night in June for a presentation on the JK program from the JK teachers.
5. Treasurer's Report: Treasurer Martin Saxton says the Parent Council's account balance is $16,179.95. Martin also reviewed the Council's profit & loss statement.
Council members discussed the fact that the amount is quite large to just be sitting in the account; it should be put to good use instead.
Paula, council chair, asked that the administration and teachers come forward with ideas that would benefit the whole school and community.
6. Funding requests: Craig Kasaval, the gym teacher, would like to purchase a new parachute. Allan will check on this first; there is a budget for school equipment.
7. Dandylion Daycare: Sarah Hoac says Dandylion's JK and SK kids have started helping out in the Wilkinson Garden. They've been working on garden clean up on Tuesdays and Thursdays. During the summer, the JK/SK, junior and school-age kids will work on the garden.
8. Childcare at Council Events: This discussion held over for June meeting.
9. Communication - staff changes: Parents Janet Mann and Bruce MacDonald voiced concerns over the many staff changes in their children's classroom this past year and how these changes were communicated to the parents. Both have children in SK in Room 2. Their regular teacher is Ms. Ault who was on maternity leave.
Their point was that letters in the children's knapsack informing them that one teacher was leaving and a new one taking over didn't always make it home or they were often not seen until well after the change had taken place.
Their concern turned into a full council discussion on how the school communicates with parents.
Some suggested appointing a parent rep for each class. This parent would have all the e-mails/phone numbers of the other parents and could inform them of major news/changes. The teacher would only need to let the parent rep know.
Another suggestion was to use brightly coloured paper for major announcements/changes.
Another suggestion was to use our database of e-mails and organize them by classroom. If there was a major announcement/change in one particular classroom, the school could send out a message to the parents whose children were in that class.
The discussion went further into the pros and cons of the suggestions.
Allan said he would raise the issue at the next staff meeting to see what ideas teachers had.
10. New fall fundraiser: April Moon and Ruby Lederman are looking into ideas and a date for a fundraiser in the fall.
11. Parent Reaching Out (PRO) grant: Paula, council chair, discussed applying for the TDSB's Parent Reaching Out grant.
Each year, the TDSB offers parent councils a $1,000 grant, but it must go toward an initiative that increases parent engagement in the school. Each parent council can apply.
Since the deadline for grant proposals is June 8, 2012 and council isn't meeting until June 12, Paula e-mailed a copy of the proposal to the Parent Council on June 1, 2012.
She asked that all council members vote on it via e-mail.
Paula's proposal was for a Healthy Eating Workshop, which would take place in the 2012-2013 school year.
The workshop would include demonstrations and information on how to get kids to eat healthier using recipes and samples. The workshop would also complement Wilkinson's Healthy Eating program. Parents could use the knowledge gained from the workshop to encourage their children to eat healthier.
The workshop would take place at the school, potentially in the lunchroom. There will be discussion at the beginning with a nutrition educator and a question-and-answer period. Afterward, stations will be set up so parents can learn how to create different recipes and have the opportunity to sample them.
Motion: Seconded:
12. Year-end survey: Council would like to send out a survey to all parents/guardians before the end of the school year. Jill Spellman, communications chair, would like to develop it and will work with April Moon.
The aim is to find out what parents/guardians would like to see the Parent Council fund, and what direction they would like the council to take.
The survey will also provide an opportunity to show parents all the initiatives and activities the council does fund.
13. Kindergarten Play Yard Presentation: Lindsay Whitfield, a JK/SK teacher, gave a presentation on behalf of all the JK/SK teachers.
The teachers would like to help raise funds to add a kindergarten-friendly play structure to the north fenced-in yard, where the JK/SK students now play.
The school does have one main play structure but it is designed for children age 5-12, not for JK/SK children.
The fenced-in space is safe and large, but does not have enough activities for 80 children. And with all-day kindergarten coming in 2014, there could be up to 125 children. Lindsay also pointed out that the 2006 Kindergarten Programme has many expectations for children that could be met more easily with the addition of a kindergarten play structure.
Her research included photos of playgrounds in neighbouring schools.
Council discussed the issue further. What would the teachers like to see council do? Could we have a company come in for a free-estimate/review of the space?
Council fully supports the idea, but it comes down to funding. How would council fund the project?
Allan pointed out that the estimate for a play structure is approximately $30,000. Could council direct funding to the project? How would council create a timeline for funding?
Some play structures can be built in sections and added to over time.
Council asked for a funding plan.
14. Committee Updates:
A. Arts: No updates.
B. Communications: No updates.
C. Education: Paula, council chair, thanked Bipasha Choudhury (education chair) for her work on organizing the Internet Safety Workshop.
D. Fundraising:
Movie Night: No movie night in May.
Fun Fair: Planning is well underway. Wil-Kitchen is taking place on May 24 for dishes for Fun Fair.
E. Greening: Jill Spellman is heading up the Spring Clean-Up in the school grounds on May 19, 2012.
F. Health & Safety: See Allan's comments re Safety Walk and School Grounds in Principal's Update.
15. Report back/follow-up items: None to report.
16. New Business/Other items for future meeting: None to report.
17. Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 8:55pm.
Motion: Sarah-Jane Gillespie. Seconded: Karen Wiseman.