Ventura Park PS School Council Agenda
Thursday December 5th, 2024 6:30-8:30pm
Agenda
- Welcome
- Approval of meetings
- Appreciations
- Student Reps
- Council updates: budget/grad/speakers/trips/new constitution update/staff luncheon
- Teacher/admin updates
- Q & A
Action Items & Discussions
Danielle:
*Hi to everyone.
Acknowledgements:
*Tammy: thank you for the field trips
*Sheva: thank you for the trips
*Another parent says thank you for, funtastic forest trip
Sheva:
*Introduces student reps for, culture’s night may 12-16
Neha (student rep):
discussing culture’s night how the importance of it for mental health and showcasing our diverse make up at ventura.
*Jordan:
has been in touch with Forest Run PS that did this exact thing and it was successful. this is where the idea is from.
Speakers list
*Paul Davis on March 4th (with parents)
*Duane (D.O.) Gibson February 12th
*Brainable in April
*Sarah Westbrook may 7th
*Ventura Fest is Thursday June 5th
*Youth Speak came in October
*BORC trip is in January-February for Grades 2.4,7
*Trips require links to Ontario curriculum
*Metrolinx is coming next week to speak to the school-wideabout how to be safe on public transit and how to navigate through the city.
*Idea: There is an outdoor school in Woodbridge that can bringimaginative and creative lessons to your school.
Council Updates:
*Marni our treasurer isn’t here but she shared our monthly bank statement of what is in the school generated funds. There is around $19k in the account to be spent.
Grad Committee:
*We have a few fundraisers going on.
*Businesses are donating money and prizes / gift cards
*Candy grams/fun script
*Grad hoodies
*We have plans for the new year of fundraising
*Sheva asked if the sizing was resolved.
Staff Holiday Luncheon
*Sheva: student council would like to host the staff for a
Holiday Lunch
*Let’s move the lunch to Valentine’s Day big breakfast Thursday, February 14th
Action Items & Discussions
Naomi: went to, running an effective school council
*What do we focus on?
*What do your council meetings look like?
*Social evenings outside of council meetings
*Crucial to know your school community
*Movie night again
*Game night, bring your own games.
*Need opens lines of communication between all committees
*Share agenda and minutes with the community
*Promote movement around council to give others the opportunity to be involved.
*Overall we need to consider how we can ensure families are aware of what is happening in our school community.
School Council Forum
*Geetha and Noami attended the meeting
*the main take away is that: parents are part of the solution for our children. Asking kids about their media life, setting family rules, engaging in meaningful conversations, supporting balance. So if you take away the screen time you have to supplement it with something else.
*Math literacy night. we want our kids to say,
“I am a mathematician.”
*School council forum where there was a talk on mental health, screen-time and the harmful effects of vaping.
Ventura Park PS School Council Agenda framework to bring parents initiatives (trips or ideas) forward
*Geetha presents
*Parents would need to research all the necessary information for parent council to help offset the cost and ensure that it is well organized and meaningful/connected to curriculum.
*We want to have smoothly run meetings and ensure that all information is available at council meetings rather than presenting an idea then going off to research how to move things forward.
Constitution Updates
By Zarina who was absent, but presented by, Geetha
*Update the school constitution that has not been updated in a while.
*Members ensured that the by laws are accessible and in line with the laws.
*Discussion on re-establishing the way we elect council members and voting membership. Being accessible for more families to attend council meetings:
*Rotating the days of council meetings so more families can attend.
Teacher and Admin Updates
*Welcome Mr. D for his first meeting
*Jordan: shares a draft of our vision/touchstone (who are we as a school?)
*Mme. Tadrisi: we had a successful book fair this year selling $6,310 which means that we can spend $2,500 on refreshing our school library.
*We have many clubs running right now and there is a place for everyone.
*Mr. D: our intermediate concert is coming up next week
December 13th, wonderland concert in May/June, Markham Winds (used to be called, Music Alive)
*Classroom tech. asking for parent council to approve funds $4,425 and the board will match that so that we can purchase computers for the school.
*Council approved the cost sharing for $10,000 in cost sharing of technology.
Question and Answer Period
*A question from a parent: signs went up that the path, from the tarmac to Mulholland Drive, was not maintained during the winter. 70% of it is a city issue and 30% is the school’s responsibility.
*Parents would like to know the winter rules
*In the blog, can we ask parents to be mindful of where to park during school drop off and pick up.