St. Eustache Parent Advisory Committee
Meeting Minutes
Ecole St. Eustache
April 15, 2015
In Attendance:
Doug Jeffrey, Chair
Erica Johnson, Co-Chair
Nichole Guthrie, Secretary
Dawn Bass, Treasurer
Lisa Legault, Rep. Mme Dueck (kindergarten)
Lyuba Solnik, Rep. Mme. Arsenault (grade 1)
Jennifer Hyra, Rep. Mme St. Cyr (grade 3)
Fay Pahl, Principal
Mme St Cyr
Cara Gillis
Claude Lechance
Regrets:
Dawn Bass, Treasurer
Keri Melnic, Rep. Mme Lavallee (gr 4/5)
1. 6:34 Doug called the meeting to order
2. All in Favor of approval of minutes from the last meeting.
3. Principal’s Report
Principal’s Report
April 15, 2015
Teachers would like to thank PAC for their kind contribution to class field trips
-there are some school-wide field trips coming up: Children’s museum on May 4,
Storytelling Festival on May 6th, and if it is a nice day, we hope to spend the morning at
Assiniboine Park (Nature Playground, Leo Mol Garden, Duck Pond); on June 8 – Lower Fort
Garry
-individual class field trips include Oak Hammock March (kindergartens and grade 3);
Human Right’s Museum (Grades 4/5/6)
-Students in grades 4-6 are busy completing their Invent an Alien projects, two projects from
each class (one by judges and the other being – most popular choice by peers) to be
represented at the Manitoba School Science Symposium Fair (April 24, April 25)
-initiated by a few teachers and our music teacher, the school is celebrating music month
– emphasis on French music (focus on an artist and vote for favorite song)
-we will be celebrating Earth day a little later in the month – April 29, but will highlight
conscience awareness activities – on Wednesday
-our teachers will be attending a conference with main speaker being a professor from
McGill – Roy Lyster – “A renewed look at Immersion Pedagogy”
-I will be attending my staffing meeting with the board office tomorrow; the school has
been allocated 8.6 staff for 2015-2016 school year.
-interviews began today for the term positions that have become permanent (one is full
time and the other at .9)
-the school received a letter of resignation from Marissa Gertridge who was on a
maternity leave this year. The position has been advertised.
-interview for EA candidates will happen on Tuesday, April 21
-during the week of May 11 – May 15, we will welcome once again author Karin Adams
who will continue her residency with us. We hope to continue this partnership next year
as well.
-our Book launch is scheduled for May 27 – all students from grades 1 – 6 will launch
their book, sharing their story with the public. The evening will be a celebration of our
student writers and focus on the writing process.
-we have 21 students registered for Kindergarten next year; our Welcome to Kindergarten
event will be held on June 3, invitations will be sent out beginning of May
-Next year, the board has approved Strong Beginnings across the division. Schools need
to select two days in September to gather information (data) from students. (share policy
found on divisional website) In May, at our early dismissal, teachers will discuss what
information they would like to collect, the dates, etc.
-calendar has been approved for next year; it seems that Student led conferences will
continue to be on Wednesdays; a noted change is that the divisional inservice has been
moved to the beginning of the year (beginning of school year – school PD day and
Divisional day – side by side)
Claude added:
The .75 increase in teacher allocation is above and beyond the
calculated number because of the immersion aspect of the school.
The school board decided the Strong Beginnings program is
worthwhile policy to implement in all schools.
At 25 students the school division will look at splitting the K class. The
max 20 students is to be implemented for the 2016 school year.
EA’s – Fay will meet to discuss Monday. Due to bussing the need for
supervision affects the schools needs.
4. Financial Statements – Dawn sent a written report via email prior to meeting.
Playground fund has been set up in a new account and is sitting at $1563. Co-op
rebate cheque was $48.50. PAC account is sitting at $4286.90. All approve.
5. A request was sent into the school to allow outdoor play equipment at recess. The
teachers surveyed their kids to determine what was needed, some of the lists have
come back in. Reg Piche will help with some of the purchases.
PAC will also consider contributing to outdoor recess equipment.
Hoola hoops, soccer balls, mini sticks, skiping ropes, etc will also be noted as items
the school would appreciate being donated
At recess the 1-3’s are generally separated from 4-6’s, discussions are taking place
to include whole school in play.
6. Playground report:
We have been making many inquiries this past month!
I.
II.
We contacted the operations Manager for PRSD, Kevin Affleck, and received
direction from him including that we need to write a letter to request approval from
the PRSD to start fundraising. Also, to fundraise through grants we need to show
that the school board is allowing us to do so. This fundraising is different from other
fundraising as:
a. Funds raised are ear marked specifically for playground revitalization
components
b. It may involve applying for grants where multiple signatures may be
required
components have to conform to CAN/CSA standard Z614-14 Children's play spaces
and equipment (natural elements are acceptable with design assistance from
evergreen etc.)
a. Private monetary donations may have tax receipts issued if set up through
the school division
b. Invoices submitted to and paid through the school division (through funds
raised) may qualify for GST rebates
III.
We received written approval from Kevin Affleck to start fundraising on March 10,
2015.
IV.
We set up an email through the PRSD for comments and inquiries to be sent as
eseplayground@prsdmb.ca
V.
We set up an account for funds held in trust at PRSD through Lorraine Giroud.
VI.
We obtained the land survey for the school through the PRSD. For grant
applications we have to show the land is on school property. This verified the size
of the area and that our project is on school property.
VII.
We attended Workshops on March 24 and April 7 on planning and funding school
greening projects through Evergreen Foundation. The architect/planner is willing
to take a look at our application before we submit it.
VIII.
We have started working our way through an application by answering questions
and gathering the supporting documents (approval letter, school survey). The
grants also require an overall design plan. This plan can be changed as the project
develops and can even been drawings on a map! The purpose of such a design (or
drawing) is to make sure we are considering all aspects of the space and land use.
Breaking bigger projects down into smaller phases is a successful approach for
projects that will take longer than a year (more on that below...)
IX.
We need input from the school to make a design and will use any existing plans as
they come up. This can be a fun project for the school and could potentially be
incorporated into upcoming EARTH DAY celebrations and activities. We been
showed that grants applications have been successful when we can show teaching
linkages along the way.
X.
With the principal's consent we would like to distribute maps of the school's
playground to staff and classrooms to draw some designs and explain how the space
can be used. We will also distribute to the nursery. Maps will be used to highlight
possible renovations including:
a. A fall tree/shrub plant
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
XI.
A 2017 new play structure
a path / benches
Shade and natural seating areas
A berm
Maintenance and replacement options (ie, if we plant a row of saskatoons
who what do we do with the fruit, how can we get the community involved
(watering etc) OR ANOTHER EXAMPLE if we replace the sand in the
sandbox what do we need to do to winterize and what kinds of "toys"
should we have for learning and play OR if we build/buy tables for the
outdoor classrooms should they be permanent fixtures or something that
can be stored elsewhere
The options are (almost) endless!!!
A community member spoke about a design where a path was an option around the
space - there were talks of "marrying it" up with a community centre property path.
This is something to consider for longer term community planning with the rm, the
community centre and neighbouring towns etc. What great timing this was to meet
with a community planner... So
XII.
We met with Ken Keith of Community Futures. His organization can help us apply
for grants as it's a lengthy progress - he is inquiring on how his organization can
assist. We would like to form a working relationship with him.
XIII.
On April 9 members of our group met to discuss our next steps and prepare for mtg
with PAC:
XIV.
a.
We talked about how we should do short term fundraising to get some
funds for projects like an intro night in May/June or any fall activities. We
would like to do Mom's pantry product (we could right away! We looked
into this fundraiser as suggested in passing last PAC). We have a volunteer
that can take lead this week
b.
We would like to have an "Ice Cream night" or something similar in
May/june to raise awareness and funds for this project. Date/venue TBD.
We have another team of volunteers (more needed) to develop this. We
think this type of event would be a good time to present how the
community can become involved through ideas, time, service, and
donations in the following documents:
i. "Summer Challenge" for pictures of playgrounds we love be sent to
the email
ii. ""How can the community get involved by donating ideas, time, and
supplies" -email
iii. "Request for Monetary Donations" brochure we would like to
circulate to individuals -send to school
iv. "Business letter" we would like to circulate to business requesting
monetary and supply / equipment donations -send to school
c.
We discussed the roles and responsibilities of our subcommittee and its
operation under the umbrella of PAC constitution/guidelines and we see no
conflicting issues.
On April 10 some of our committee members met with Kevin Affleck at the school.
He confirmed there is potential for the nursery school to put up an age appropriate
climber/area on the grounds - also 0-2 yrs appropriate if we funding exists for it as
community has access to school grounds. We have been keeping Diane Legault
apprised on this info. Also, Mr Affleck will make the "call before you dig inquiries to
assist us with further planning at our request.
XV.
XVI.
XVII.
We made inquiries about advertising through the Cartier times on developing the
playground. It would cost approx $140 to advertise. We could discuss if an article
could include our email to contact on how to contribute.
We have brought info on :
a. grant apps
b. the workshop we attended
c. the google and site map of the school property
d. The fundraising documents: mom's pantry, brochures. Summer request,
business letter etc.....
We have yet to set our next meeting. We will set one soon at a publicly advertised
time/location as we are now have a good understanding of this project, what steps
are needed next, and how others can help.
Request for approval:
PAC approved the Mom’s Pantry fundraiser, it will be distributed immediately
Ice Cream Night – will get more details and bring it back to PAC, Fay will speak to the
teachers about the idea
Brochure and business letter will be distributed via email for approval.
7. Field trips & dances, etc were covered in the Fay’s report.
Fay also noted: Running Club has begun, & Mr Piche is encouraging kids to wear
white tomorrow (in support of the WPG Jets).
8. Claude:
Monday night the school board voted unanimously to re-envelope schools
It was the #1 request for Public Schools Finance Board.
The superstructure would be modernized for the division.
$150,000 has been committed by Prairie Rose School Division to be spent on
the building before that to fix the school (things the Public Schools Finance Board
won’t cover)
Engineer will be in to examine.
9. Next meeting will be set for May 7, 2015 @ 6:30pm.