April 1 minutes

SCHOOL COUNCIL MEETING
TERM: 2014/2015
DSBN
Academy
Meeting Date, Time, and Location
Wednesday, April 1st, 2015 at 6:00 p.m. in the DSBN Academy Learning Commons
Log on to connect.dsbn.edu.on.ca/academy
Invitees: WE WELCOME ALL PARENTS/CAREGIVERS TO PARTICIPATE IN THE
SCHOOL COUNCIL MEETINGS IN PERSON OR ON THE WEBCAST!
SCHOOL COUNCIL
Bob Asham – Chair
Charlene Lyndon – Co-chair/ treasurer
Jackie Harrietha - secretary
PARENT INVOLVEMENT COMMITTEE
MEMBERS & GUEST
C. Hunter, J. Harrietha, M. Palman, N.
Griffiths, B. VanDyk, L. VanDyke, Darcy,
V. Prince, L. Herbert, G. Brownstein, J.
Crawford, T. Papp, T. Hulme, Zach, D.
Dolinski, V. Chirico, C. Warner
DSBN ACADEMY REPRESENTATIVES
Mrs. L. Nazar, Secondary Principal
Mrs. A. Grieve, Elementary Principal
All Parents/Caregivers
1)
INTRODUCTION AND WELCOME
 Call To Order – B. Asham
2)
APPROVAL OF MINUTES – prepared for next meeting
 THAT: the minutes of the meeting on March 4th are hereby approved.
Moved By:
3)
Linda VanDyke
Seconded By: Bob Asham
DSBN ACADEMY GUEST SPEAKERS & INFORMATION
Darcy- For her class she had to do a poster to report their results from their research.
Darcy shared the poster she developed. She will send an electronic copy of the poster
so we can add them to the minutes. 20 people from her class did research, did it as a
fair- put up posters and all others walked around and were able to read the information.
A lot of her classmates were interested in the
4)
PRINCIPALS’ REPORT
 Secondary upcoming events- today grade 9s went to Brock university- bussed there- no
charge for the day, guest lecture- 2 professors from Geography, had to take notes, kids had
experience of a lecture, had lunch in the market, in the afternoon they had a lecture on cyberbullying and awareness and legal ramifications, and a different lecture style where it was
tiered, then students broke into groups and participated in different activities. Arrived back
just in time to board the buses. Gearing up for grade 10s to spend a night in residence,
classes and workshops the next day. Brock has been very supportive of our students no
matter if they choose to attend their or head to another postsecondary place". Reinforced
today the reason we exist as a school in Niagara due to the
 Track and field is underway. we have a track team that is gearing up for Track- really strong
showing at the York University track event last week. Neat to see our students running with
it. Encore- Secondary students picking up new options soon, grade 9 student in particular
bored with what he has, and he asked why do we need to have encore Anyways?" 15 yr old
boy feeling forced to stay- he didn't argue that getting involved is a good thing, stressed that
the time between after school and dinner is a very risky time for teens. Leadership skills,
keeping involved in positive things, and keeping them busy at a risky time of the day. He
shrugged his shoulders and said I guess that make sense. Very positive time of our day,
busiest time, very time consuming to organize but a keep part of what we do. Semi formal
next week- last year was one grade- and girls talking about dresses and boys talking about
asking girls to go with them. At Amicis banquet hall. Made it through the literacy test- went
very smoothly, won't find results until June.
 Elementary upcoming eventsLittle Caesar’s Pizza Kits delivered, Prom Project, Gr.8-10 at Welland Sportsplex, Crime Stoppers for Gr. 6, Gr. 7
Heritage Fair, Holocaust Symposium & Anti-Discrimination Day, Stacking Tournament, Track and Field, Dental
Screening, Grade 7 & 8 Vaccines, Spirit Wear Shirt Day, MADD presentation
DSBN Academy School Council Agenda – Wednesday, April 1st, 2015
Page Two
5)
SCHOOL COUNCIL DISCUSSION
 Little Caesar's fundraiser profit $660- counted the money on Monday, placed order on
Tuesday, will be here on April 8th between 12:15 to 12:45. Do have a couple volunteers
set up to be here at 12 o'clock- could use a few more. Please call the school and let
Paulette know that you are available. Basically it is distribution. Have about 150 orders.
Only had 50 people participate. Will have to maybe look at the large orders to contact
the parents to see how they are picking up the order. Andrea will do a browse of the
form forms to determine who to contact. Pick up starts any time after 1 o'clock. If can't
make it by 4 o'clock let us know- call the school.
 Parent Engagement- right now we have 2 conflicting dates in emails. One says must be
done by May 15th, other says June 30th- going to verify that. Want to do an end of year
BBQ come meet teachers, invite the new families to meet kids and teachers. Can meet
up with some of the parents your child is going to want to hang out with over the
summer. Looking to buy some door prizes, have $1000 to run this function. Passport
idea to be eligible for the door prizes, do a small scorecard for each student, has to be
signed by another parent, or another parents contact information. Try to get some door
prize that is enticing for the student to win. A big one and some other smaller ones. We
would need to think of an activity of our new grade 6 students. they wouldn't have friends
to introduce- maybe going to meet the grade 6 teachers, or have them make contact to
connect with 3 new friends. Main thing is we need to make sure we get enough
volunteers to run it- from the beginning to end planning, purchasing, set-up, clean up,
invitations. Make a schedule of the date for what we need- and can sign up for a set
time. Darcy will be around but out of town. She will come back to help. Hopefully we
know by tomorrow if we can push it into June. Office can help with the logistics, but
need to have enough parents ahead of time to do the organizing, planning, serving,
inviting parents. Date will be sent home through Remind and the School Connects.
People will be able to connect with Bob to let him know what they can do and he can
start scheduling.
6)
OLD BUSINESS
7)
NEW BUSINESS
Greg B- inspired by parent teacher interviews, as kids are saying they need to have the
internet to do homework, but often aren't doing homework. Brings it up as a point of awareness and
a challenge, doesn't know how to handle it- making sure the kids have the tools they need. Also the
need to be able to help students with homework.
- How do we overcome the problems? Math- there is the online homework help program.
- Biggest thing is communication with your child about what to do and what not to do- it is
harder to police. In secondary they use D2L as the platform for homework. Other challenge as a
parent is you aren't sure where they are stuck- and they want instant help with immediate and give
the answer.
- also have the extra time flexibility with the after school time.
8)
NEXT MEETING DATE
April 29th, 2015 @ 6:00pm
10)
ADJOURNMENT
→
Motion to adjourn
Moved by: Bob Asham
Seconded by: Greg Brownstein
THAT: The School Council meeting of Wednesday, April 1st, 2015 be hereby adjourned at 6:50
p.m.