Regency Acres Public School
School Council Minutes
October 21, 2009
Attendance
Cathy Martino-Porretta, Becky Knowles, Maggie Thompson, Susan Roy, Shelley Rose, Gayle Palmer, Sheila Johnson, Laura Parkin, Lesley Switzer , Nancy Meredith, Ilse Dunlop
Regrets: Vicki Dietz, Larry Green, Kim Hosmer, Maria Maiato, Terry Hampson
Welcome
Shelley began the meeting at 7:10 p.m.
Approval of the Agenda
The agenda was approved as circulated. The motion was made by Sue, seconded by Nancy and carried unanimously.
Approval of the School Council Minutes for September 22, 2009
The Minutes were approved as circulated with the amendment that Chris VanderPloeg will be sharing the Council position with his wife, Lesley Switzer. The motion was made by Sheila, seconded by Ilse and carried unanimously.
Old Business
Community Representative: Larry has agreed to be the Community Representative for School Council.
Hospitality Chair: Vicki Dietz and Susan Roy have agreed to be the Hospitality Co-Chairs for School Council.
Volunteers: Shelley organized a sign-up table for volunteers at the Meet the Teacher BBQ. An email was sent to parents regarding volunteers for the distribution of mulch on October 10th.
New Business
There was no new business to report.
Financial Report
Sheila distributed the Treasury Report to Council and reported that the bank balance is $49,023.11. The total committed funds are $36,245.22 which leaves $12,777.89 available to spend. The funds raised so far from the magazine drive are not reflected on this report.
It was noted that new walkie talkies and playground equipment have been purchased for the school.
Principal’s Report
Grade 8 Awards: Cathy recommended to Council that a motion be made to amend the School Council Expenditure Funds of September 22nd to include the Grade 8 graduation awards for the amount of $850.00. Nancy made the motion, it was seconded by Sue and approved unanimously.
Eco Ceritification: The Board recommends that all schools be certified by 2012 and Cathy would like our school to be certified by the end of this school year. Maria is leading this initiative and is working with Mrs. Sergeant. A meeting will take place soon with Shelley and Gayle.
Lego Workstations: Becky showed Council the Smart Board in the library. Council approved the purchase of four Smart Boards last year. Every division has a Smart Board in a classroom and other classes in the division can use the boards as well. Becky explained that she would like Regency students to become involved in Lego robotics, specifically in the Lego Robotics Challenge, which has been in existence for eight years. In the challenge, robots are constructed from Lego at workstations. The Lego NXT workstations (to be used by up to 4 students) cost $466.61 each, so the total cost of four workstations would be $1866.44. Sixteen children would go to the challenge but more children could be working on the activities prior to the challenge. Becky would be in charge of supervising the students as they work. This activity would include students from grades 4-8 only. After the challenge, the workstations would be used again by students. Gayle made a motion for Council to spend $2000.00 on the Lego Mindstorms NXT Workstations. The motion was seconded by Sue and approved unanimously.
Playground: Cathy reported that during the September monthly inspection of the primary play structure, it was found to be unsafe and therefore it is not being used by students pending inspection by the Board this week. Council will discuss options for the play structure next month once the Board has released its findings. In preparation for our discussion, Gayle and Nancy agreed to take a look at playground equipment catalogues and they will share their information at the next meeting. The Board may contribute up to $5000.00 for new playground equipment.
Teacher Wish List: Cathy will bring the teacher Wish List from the staff to our next meeting to discuss.
Committee Reports
Fundraising Committee
The magazine fundraiser has been going well and so far approximately $8000.00 has been raised. Pat Morton will be running the spring fundraiser (mini marathon). Gayle reported that bake sales/cupcake sales are as follows: Oct. 23 (cupcakes);Nov. 20 (bake sale); Dec. 11 (cupcakes) ; Jan. 22 (bake sale); Feb. 12 (cupcakes); April 16 (bake sale); May 21 (cupcakes); June 25 (bake sale).
Hospitality Committee
Ilse made a motion for Council to spend up to $1300.00 for the staff dinner on December 3rd and the staff luncheon in May or June. The motion was seconded by Lesley and approved unanimously.
Kids Care Committee
The Halloween Loot Bags initiative is underway and the committee is in need of candy and novelty items. The bags will be assembled next Thursday. Letters requesting items have been sent home with families and an email has been sent out asking for requests as well. Gayle will give an additional letter to the teachers regarding requests for candy and/or novelty items to be sent home. Cathy will make an announcement to students as well.
Holiday Heritage Committee
So far, volunteers have not come forward to join this committee. Shelley will email Kim and ask her about the status of this committee.
Environmental Committee
Several families, including new families to Regency, helped lay the mulch in the back garden on October 10th. Maria took pictures that may be put on the school website. Gayle asked the town for additional mulch for the front garden. It was sent and Gayle and Shelley put it in. Shelly and Cathy will write a thank you letter to Jim Tree (he is involved in the maintenance department for the town of Aurora) for the mulch donation.
Mail Bag
Rose of Sharon: The organization’s Christmas Wish List was given to Cathy.
Teacher Excellence Awards: The nominations for “Excellence in Teaching” awards were given to Cathy.
Frozen yogurt fundraiser: Shelley will keep this information for future reference.
Board Superintendents: If anyone is interested in knowing the contact numbers for the Board superintendents, please see Shelley.
Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 8:49 p.m.
The next meeting will take place on Tuesday, November 24th, 2009 at 7:00 p.m. in the library.