Victoria Terrace Public School
School Council Meeting Minutes
Monday January 11, 2016
Regrets:
Jenna Heseltine, June Perry, Lynn DeBartolo, Jennifer Kentner
Attending:
Kim Kowch, Deb Wilson, Laurie Vonk, Patsy Collier, Meggin Fitzpatrick, Tara Armstrong, Michelle
Onifrichuk, Laura Holmes, Chris Jess, Kim McComb, Shannon Kelly
Minutes from November 27 meeting approved
Changes:
– Barb Evoy unable to attend today, but will be present for March 7 meeting instead. Be ready with
any questions, or discussion topics.
- Total from MacMillan’s is actually $1196.50 profit.
Naturalized Playground and Kinder yard enhancements
- Laurie put together a flow chart and rough guideline. Ideally, there would be a few different
stations that allow for creative play. Sand box seems to be the biggest draw.
- Discussion about the naturalized class room, which will be set off to the side of the school
around the back of the kinder area. Amphitheatres are generally a primary set up, but it was
decided that a better learning environment would be created with a series of tables and stools
Action items for playground:
- Get committee together
- Find out Ministry guidelines - Karen Epps is contact at Board for project management.
- Need more student voice, poll teachers and students to find out what they want.
- Prepare and submit grants
- Determine who approved contractors are – Earthscapes is approved for sure.
Fundraising Plan
- Online Auction –Meggin to contact Lynn to confirm plans. Email to go out to council members
at a later date.
- MacMillan’s spring fundraiser is taking place
o Forms returned by April 13, 2016
o Pick up product May 19, 2016 at 1:00
- Mighty Motors
o Confirmed for June 4, 2016
o Stagger the vehicles again
o Is there a way to have music for the full event?
o Keep the same posters as last year.
o Michele and Tara to spearhead the advertising campaign. Keep the same Facebook
event/page – give Michele and Tara permissions.
o Make a copy of the contacts from last year
o Jenna to talk to her dad RE: snow fence
o Food? Optimist for sure. New Orleans? Pita Pit?
Action items for Mighty Motors:
- Email Jenna a contact name, phone number and the vehicle you have firmed up.
- Get a copy of the list of contacts from last year.
Treasurer’s Report
- Closing balance is $8,929.25 - $1295 (Scientists in Schools) = $7,634.25
- We donated the money from Santa’s workshop
- $160 was donated to Syrian refugees
- $40 went to the board for the Syrian Fund.
- New Treasurer elected – Shannon Kelly
Principal’s Report
1. December was a short, but busy month with extra special activities – Jingle Mingle, school-wide
skating twice in the last week, and daily carolling in the gym. A special thank you to Ms. Pedersen’s
mother, Marsha, for accompanying on the piano for all our singing once again. What a great way to
build a sense of community!
2. A huge thank you to the Elora Pentecostal Church and Walmart for supporting some of our families
with their generous gift donations at Christmas.
3. A couple of staffing changes to report – Mrs. Lake has begun her maternity leave and Ms. Kaur is
taking her place, so will be with Mrs. Robinson in KA full-time until the end of June. Mrs. Novosad has
gone on leave, and Ms. Billings was hired over the holidays as the classroom teacher for Grade 2/3.
4. We said goodbye to two families (3 students) in December, and have welcomed one new student to
the DL class last week.
5. Hockey has started outside for Junior students who bring back a signed permission form and wear
the goggles provided. Ms. Pinkney’s Gr. 5/6 class has begun curling weekly for 3 sessions, and Mr.
Pellar’s class takes their turn for 3 sessions in February. Our first Scientist in School was today with the
Grade 2s – thanks to School Council for sponsoring this learning opportunity once again! Ms. Pedersen
and Mrs. Pinkney will be taking a group of Junior students to the volleyball tournament next week, and
then the Gr. 5/6s will be involved in a one-day Google goggles project, presented in conjunction with the
Board’s IT department and Google. Mrs. Pinkney and Mr. Jess are running a Junior Cooking Club in
February (4 sessions) as part of our Board’s Student Success initiative, and we are once again
participating in the Lions’ Club Skate-a-thon on Thurs., Feb. 11th in the morning. Lots of wonderful
learning opportunities outside the classroom, too!
6. Teachers are busy working on report cards for term 1 and IEPs for term 2 – reports will go home on
Thurs., Feb. 11th.
7. Kindergarten registration for any new JK students for September 2016 will take place on Feb. 1-5;
however, Mrs. Wilson will take new registrations at any time, and four schools within the Board are also
offering evening registrations for JK students at any school. Forms are on the Board website.
8. Teachers will also be starting a book study after report cards on Essential Questions, and will be
looking forward to doing a school-wide inquiry on “Energy” in the spring as part of our ECO school
initiatives and Earth Day. Next Meeting March 7, 2016