GUARDIAN ANGELS SCHOOL COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES 2014-2015
MINUTES of the meeting of the School Council Meeting held in the Library at Guardian Angels Catholic Elementary
School, 62 Heatherdale Drive, Brampton, ON, on Wednesday March 25, 2015.
Present:
1.
Mark Cassar, Michelle Thompson, Daniela Cordi-Nardi, Jennifer Estevao, Sandra Joaquim; Sandra
Rachner, Maria Parris, Suzette Psaila, Kimberlee Rizun-Glynn; Nunzia Rositano; Lori Saroli; Karen
Sivasankaran and Josephine Wilson,
Opening Prayer
Mrs. Wilson started the meeting with an Opening Prayer.
2.
Welcome and Acknowledgements
Mr. Cassar welcomed everyone for attending. A special welcome back to K. Sivasankaran who is not only a
member of council but also a very important part of the staff at the school.
Acknowledgement was made by Mr. Cassar to all the council members for working together with the staff to
have a successful parent engagement evening. Approximately 280 people were in attendance. It took a lot
of preparation time and it was very successful due to promotion, offering of dinner and the ability to bring
and involve your children. The feedback from staff and parents was very positive, even other teachers from
other schools were following on Twitter. Thank you and congratulations.
Regrets from N. Arghittu, S. Dal Dosso and A. Saunders-George.
3.
Approval of the Minutes from January 17, 2015
Copies of the draft minutes were distributed. No changes were identified.
A motion was made by N. Rositano, seconded by J. Estevao, to approve the minutes dated January 17,
2015. Motion carried.
4.
Approval of Agenda
A motion was made by M. Parris, seconded by K. Sivasankaren, to accept the agenda. Motion carried.
5.
Treasurer’s Report – Council Account
N. Rositano, presented the treasurer’s report.
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Opening balance: $7,435.63. Closing balance: $9,170.12 (less $4778.00 & $1000.00)
Parent Engagement Evening Expense - $1,084.80
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Pita Funds Revenue (4 months) - $517.00
Spirit Wear Revenue - $274.87
Smart Board Expense - $4,778.00
Shrove Tuesday Donations Received - $688.25
Shrove Tuesday Expense - $598.90 less $299.45 given at the school
Other Expenses - $123.32
N. Rositano was able to reverse the NSF charges.
A motion was made by J. Estevao, seconded by J. Wilson to spend up to $1,000.00 for dance-a-thon
expenses. Motion Carried.
A motion was made by J. Estevao, seconded by J. Wilson to approve a further cost of $84.80 for the
Parent Involvement evening expenses. Motion Carried.
A motion was made by L. Saroli, seconded by J. Wilson to approve a further cost of $278.00 for the
smartboard purchase as the cost of purchase is $4,778.00. The previous approval was $4,500.00. Motion
Carried.
6.
Parish Report
The Parish Report was presented by J. Wilson and a copy was attached to the meeting package.
J. Wilson said a Prayer for Lent
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Stations of the Cross – Taking place every Friday at 7:00 p.m. followed by Holy Mass at 7:30 p.m.
Confessions – In preparation for Easter, confessions will be heard on Friday March 27 between 6:00 8:00 p.m.
Sunday Missals (2015) - Still available for purchase after weekend Masses. They cost $5 each. Post
cards with a picture of the future Guardian Angels’ Church are also being sold for $1 each. Proceeds go
toward the Parish’s Building Fund.
Building Committee: The next building committee meeting will be held on Wednesday April1, 2015 at
7:00 p.m. upstairs at Fortinos.
Parish Hall: Construction on the parish hall has begun with June being the anticipated completion date.
The roof was recently completed and work is currently being done on the masonry.
Easter Egg Hunt – The fifth annual Easter Egg Hunt will be done on April 5th, 2015 after the 10:30 a.m.
mass. All children, up to 12 years old are invited.
Talent Shoe and Karaoke Night – Another event to be held on Saturday April 25, 2015 from 7:00 p.m.
to 10:00 p.m. at St. Edmonds Secondary School. Tickets are $10.00 per adult, $5.00 per child and
$25.00 per family (2 adults and 2 children).
First Holy Communion – Will be held on Sunday June 14, 2015 at 3:00 p.m. at Our Lady of Fatima
Church.
Confirmation – Will be held on Saturday May 30, 2015 at 5:00 p.m. at St. Edmond Secondary School.
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7.
OAPCE Rep Report
The report was attached to the package distributed at the meeting. Any parent of a catholic school student
can attend. It is held by the OAPCE council. It is voluntary attendance at the meetings.
8.
Staff Report
Mrs. Parris presented the staff report. February and March has been very busy with activities together with
upcoming events. A big thank you to all the staff involved.
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9.
Shrove Tuesday/Pancake Breakfast
Ash Wednesday Liturgy
Lent
March Break
Confessions
Rosary Apostle
21st Century Learning –parent engagement evening
Tablets still in good use
Junior girls and Boys Soccer tournaments
Chess – tournaments will be held at our school in the gym
Junior girls and boys basketball tournaments
Black History month celebrations
Trips – Silvercreek, Living Arts Centre
School Mural in progress
Spirit Week
French Café
Easter Mass
IPads have arrived
Chair’s Report
a. Council By-Laws – As of June 2015, all school councils are required to have a set of by-laws in
place to follow. Copies of draft by-laws dated March 25, 2015 were made available to all in attendance.
L. Saroli reviewed each page in detail and answered questions.
A VOTE was taken to make a change that removed item B3:7 from the proposed by-laws. The vote was 7
out of 7.
A VOTE was taken to make a change that removed item B18:1 from the proposed by-laws. The vote was 7
out of 7.
A motion was made by N. Rositano, seconded by J. Estevao to accept the proposed by-laws dated March
25, 2015. Motion Carried.
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b. Updates
i. Parent Engagement Evening – Feb. 26/15 – Overall feedback was positive and we thank
the staff for their involvement and planning. With such a great turnout, the event planning was reorganized to include classroom workshops as well as the gym presentation. Next year’s planning will
include registration; or a survey allowing parents to choose workshops on their own; or smaller more
intimate evenings.
ii. Volunteer Dinner – The month of April is the national month of volunteer so the volunteer
dinner has been set for Tuesday April 14, 2015 in the school library. Invitation forms will be sent
out to those parents who have volunteered this school year. Deadline date for RSVP is April 7,
2015. The parent involvement fund grant of $500.00 will be used to expense the dinner.
iii. Dance-A-Thon – N. Rositano updated the council on the dance-a-thon which will take place
on Friday April 24. Prizes have been purchased and displayed in the lobby cases. More
donations are forthcoming. Large prizes include an IPAD tablet and bicycle. Pledge forms will
be sent home by March 30, 3015. Minimum pledge for draw prizes is $10.00.
A motion was made by N. Rositano, seconded by J. Estevao to spend up to $1,000.00 for dance-a-thon
expenses to include prizes and DJ. Motion Carried.
c. PRO Grant Application 2015/2016
i. Parent Night Feedback – For the year 2015/2016 application, we will consider some of the
parents’ feedback that was received at the parent engagement evening. Some of the topics
include health and physical education updates, 21st century learning, motivational speakers,
hands on learning, social media, and helping kids with special needs. These suggestions will
be considered when applying for the grant.
ii. Online Survey – An electronic survey is being prepared to send out to parents requesting
feedback. A suggestion was made to also include surveys about current events such as pita day.
d. Snack Days – It was agreed to offer Freezies to students on Fridays starting the end of May. The
approval cost will be made at the next meeting.
e. Church Building Fund Contribution – A cheque in the amount of $1,000.00 will be presented to
Father Jan at the Easter Mass on Wednesday April 8, 2015. $768.25 was collected from Shrove
Tuesday donations. Out of that amount there were $80.00 in cheques payable to Guardian Angels
Parish.
A motion was made by J. Estevao, seconded by N. Rositano to process a cheque in the amount of
$920.00 to Guardian Angels Parish. Motion Carried.
10.
Principal’s Report
Catholicity Community and Culture-Mrs. Thompson
a. Living Our Faith Awards – The next awards will take place on April 28, 2015.
b. Lenten Mass: Took place on March 13th. Thank you to grades 2 and 3 for helping prepare the
mass.
c. Communion – Students are preparing to make their Communion on Sunday June 14, 2015.
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d. Confirmation – Students are preparing to make their Confirmation on Saturday May 30, 2015.
Father Jan determines the location of where the sacraments are done. This year it will be held
at St. Edmond’s Secondary School.
e. Reconciliation - Will be held on May 15, 2015. Crowing of Mary is scheduled May 5, 2015.
f. Graduation – The graduation will take place on June 22, 2015. Students will be having a lunch
at the Mandarin followed by a Dance on another scheduled day.
g. Easter Mass – The Easter Mass is on Wednesday April 8, 2015. All parents are welcome to
attend.
Learning Environment-Mr. Cassar
a. Black History Month: Many events took place within the school.
b. High School transition: Grade 8 students have been transitioning with the high school on a
regular basis. Tours and classroom visits have been done and a parent evening event was held
school.
c. Eco Schools: Challenge winners were presented last month. Eco members continue to walk
the school during recess and lunch time and tally points for efforts in energy savings and
disposal of lunch. Brampton City has also done some workshops in classes on recycling,
energy conservation.
d. Tablet Pilot: The Del tablets continue to receive good use. The school has just received a
station of 30 IPad Tablets to use for educational purposes. These will also be available for
teachers to sign out.
e. Smartboards – Six new smartboards will be purchased this year with one being paid by
council. That leaves a remainder of four classrooms without smartboards.
f. EQAO assessment, after school tutoring – Grades 3 and 6 will be completing the testing.
Assessments start May 25th and tutoring starts tomorrow.
g. New York Trip – A package was sent to parents this week. All events are booked. There are
85 students and 12 staff attending.
h. Orlando Bowen – This former CFL Football player now works with students to discuss bullying
respect and motivation. He will be working with Grade 5 students.
i. Njacko Backo – A four week black history celebration taught by Njacko Backo will include
grades 4, 5, 6. A dance showcase will be performed at the end of the lesson.
j. Staff professional development – The staff have done a lot of work around promoting 21st
century learning and improvement of student voice.
k. Peel Police presentations – Workshops continue and include cyber safety, street proofing and
safe school.
l. ShareLife – Will take place the week of April 13th. Activities include arrest of staff, rolling
quarters and Zumba class.
Community Engagement-Mr. Cassar
a. Parent Engagement Night: A huge success held on February 26, 2015.
b. Classroom Trips: Classroom trips continue.
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c. Welcome to Kindergarten Night – This evening is scheduled for Wednesday April 15, 2015.
Presentation will be in the gym and workshops will be set up in the FDK classrooms. Council will
set up a welcome table.
d. Kiss and Ride: An average of 150 cars use the kiss and ride in about 6 minutes. Parents are
asked to not leave their leave their car unattended at any times. If necessary, quickly leave the
car only when parked next to the curb to pick up your child from the fence where the teacher
can release your child to you and return back to your car. Do not exit your vehicle when
stopped in the kiss and ride in the staff parking area. Wait until a curb space is available should
you need to get out.
e. End of Year BBQ and celebration of learning, talent show – This event is tentatively
scheduled for Wednesday June 17, 2015.
11.
Other School Council Business
No new business.
DATE AND TIME OF NEXT SCHOOL COUNCIL MEETING
The next regular meeting of the School Council of Guardian Angels Catholic Elementary School is scheduled
for Wednesday May 13, 2015 at 6.30pm.
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