St. Joseph Secondary School
School Council Meeting
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
Minutes
Attendees:
Council Members: Jennifer Meier – Vice Principal, Josie Scioli – Chair, Rita Malatesta – Treasurer, Charles
Dombrady – OAPCE Representative, Kelsey Fernandes – Student Council Representative, Cristina Izquierdo –
Teacher Representative, Lina Cosentino – Parent at Large (Minute-taker), Rami Zabanah - Parent at Large
Parents: Dalila Tome, Fatima Antunes-Cardoso, Kim Tatone, Janet Miles, Shirley Tan, Michael Marchese,
Dominic Fernandes, Anjum Siddiqus, Rubina Rehman,
Regrets: Jeff Quenneville – Principal, Helen Galvao – Co-Chair, Rose Ruscetta – Parish Representative,
Judy Borges – Secretary, Barb Carcary – Fundraiser Representative
Welcome and Opening Prayer:
Meeting called to order at 7:03 p.m. Prayer: School Council Prayer
Student Representative Update: Kelsey Fernandes spoke of selection of class representatives to assist with
student council initiatives such as Spirit Week, Fear Factor, Terry Fox Breakfast. Movie Night will take place
on December 12.
Presentation: My Blueprint Presenter: Mrs. Marg Smits
myBlueprint 4.0, is an online tool for students to keep track of their credits as well as assists students to career
plan. It is now mandatory for every student in secondary school to complete this online every year. Students
will log into High School Planner where students can pick new courses for next year. It is available to students
now for course selection, and in December, they will submit their selection through the My Blueprint website.
“Religion” courses will be found under “Social Studies and Humanities” section. Changes to course
selection are still to be made through the Guidance Office in writing. The Student’s password will be
personalized using student’s OEN number (located at the top of their Report Card), and their Birth date. All
courses along with marks are posted on the student’s webpage. There are also selections where students can go
to assist them with career planning. For information: info@myblueprint.ca
**Saint Joseph Secondary is one of the high schools in DPCDSB who is piloting this project. This year, all
Grade 8 students belonging to one of Saint Joseph Secondary’s feeder schools, will also be completing “My
Blueprint’. All other students not belonging to any of the feeder schools will still have to complete a paper
version as they will not have access to the online version.
Mrs. Smits will advise if Summer school courses will be included in the My Blueprint website.
Approval of Last Meeting Minutes: Minutes from October 22, 2013: Charles Dombrady noted misspelling
of Mr. Zabunah’s last name. Minutes approved by Rita and Charles.
Staff Rep Report: Christina introduced herself to the group. She is an English and ESL Teacher. She spoke of
The Good News Report. The Good News Report is printed in pink to mark this week as Anti-Bully Awareness
Week. The Virtue of the Month is Conscience. She went on reading the different sections such as News from
the Department, Extra-Curricular Activities, and Physical Education and Sports Sections. Among the many
initiatives mentioned, Christina informed that $12,000 was raised at the Terry Fox Breakfast and Concert. Jeff
and his band provided the musical entertainment at the Breakfast which was a huge success. Cristina also spoke
of a former student needing a bone marrow transplant for a rare disease. Most of the Grade 12 students
volunteered for Donor testing to see if they are a match. Pink STOP T-shirts are on sale for $10.00. Mike Neuts
will be hosting an anti-bullying presentation to the Grade 9 students on Friday, November 22. Culture Shock
will be held this Thursday, November 21. The school newspaper, The Mirror, is back in production. Christina is
taking on the lead for the newspaper and handed out copies to all present. She asked that any students interested
in being a part of the Mirror (writers, photographers) can go see her.
Parish Report : Rose sent the committee members a copy of the Parish Report.
1. Saint Joseph Church and The Archdiocese of Toronto are accepting donations for Philippines Typhoon Haiyan
– Humanitarian Relief following the November 8, 2013 typhoon in the Philippines. Cheques are to be made out
to St. Joseph Parish – Philippines Typhoon Haiyan – Humanitarian Relief. The government will match donations
between November 9 to December 9.
2. St. Joseph Sunday Missals are now available for purchase. The cost is $5.00.
3. Offertory Envelopes 2014 are now available for pickup.
4. Doctors without borders. Any donations of used glasses are to be brought to the parish office.
5. Shepherd Trust collection envelopes are available at the church.
6. Campaign Life Coalition will be selling pro-life Christmas Cards and cakes after each mass Nov 23-24.
7. Mass for the sick will be celebrated on Wednesday November 27 starting with 6:45pm confessions ending
with mass and prayers from 7:30pm -9:30pm.
8. Knights of Columbus and CWL hosting Family Christmas Party on Saturday November 30 from 10:30am to
4:00pm
9. The 9:30am children choir will be singing at the Voices for Christ concert on November 30 at Cristo Rei
parish.
10. The church will be hosting a luncheon for the Missionaries of Charity on December 15 in the parish hall.
Treasurer Report: Josie informed school has received another $500 from the Ministry which now brings the
total to approximately $1800.00
Fundraiser Report: Fundraiser is away, therefore no update today.
OAPCE Report: Charles gave an overview of the different councils. Charles is the Regional Council Chair.
Each school has a parent representative. The objective is to disseminate information from across the province and
to get parents involved in Catholic Education. Each school will receive a package explaining the role of OAPCE.
On November 27, there will be elections for 2 Director Positions taking place at St. Valentine School. Parents are
encouraged to go and vote. On January 15 there will be a speaker: Dr. J. Lombardi, at St. Anne School to talk
about Faith and the Adolescent Mind. The annual OAPCE Conference will be held May 24 and 25 at Philip
Pocock High school. Charles passed the flyer around to the attendees. The Ministry of Education is interested in
feedback on the state of Catholic Education. The Ministry Website has 7 questions asking for views and opinions
on Catholic Education. Great Excellent: – parents are encouraged to read and respond to this report also on the
Ministry website. Catholic Education is consistently under fire. This is our opportunity to speak out and show the
Ministry we care about Catholic Education and the importance of OAPCE. The Report Card was changed
because parents in OAPCE spoke out and now Report Cards are easier for parents to understand. Josie thanked
Charles for the very thorough report.
Chair Report: Josie would like to know of any speakers you would like to have come and make a presentation at
our council meetings. The school website has been updated. The vice-principal will follow-up to ensure all
minutes are on the website. The website is easier to navigate and Josie commends the school librarian for all the
hard work put into updating the school website.
Josie spoke of student safety outside of the school setting. Spoke of two incidents that had occurred in the past
two weeks. Encouraged parents to speak to their children about safety and walking in large groups as opposed to
only one or two in a group.
Vice-Principal Report: Jennifer said Jeff sends his regrets. She introduced herself to being new to the school
having come from St. Joan of Arc school and teaching the Social Sciences for 13 years. Spoke of the First
Robotics Competition. Mr. Van Hout is seeking sponsors to donate funds toward the purchase of equipment for
the Robotics Club as our school is at an unfair disadvantage over other high schools with more technology
equipment. Flyers were passed out to interested parents who may have a source who will donate funds to our
school for the Robotics Competition.
Looking to get Michael Reist to come and speak to parents. He is well known on how boys and girls learn
differently. He is also a parent. John Kostoff the Director of Education seeks our voice to respond to why
Catholic Education is important. The Catholic system has been under fire for the last 5 years.
Other Questions: A parent asked how we can better inform parents of the Council meetings as a call the day
before is not enough. He expressed concern not being able to access the website nor the office for the dates. The
Vice Principal informed him that our new website is now up and running and is more user friendly. The Parent
Council information is posted on the first page for easy access and the Minutes section will be updated.
The next school Council meeting will take place on Tuesday, December 17, 2013.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:10pm.
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