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casc meeting tuesday october 12, 2010

Submitted by Education Committee on Sun, 05/08/2011 - 17:02

CASC Meeting

Tuesday October 12, 2010

7 pm

Secretary: Janet Sheehan

Welcome by Dave and Introduction of those in attendance.

Approval of minutes and Agenda.

Moved by Donna Weldon Seconded by Kevin O’Donnell

CASC Positions for 2010-11 were outlined by Dave Fornier. The following positions were approved.

4. Principal’s Report

Megan Egerton gave her report on what is happening in the school.

Cross Country

Megan thanked Russell and Cheryl for all of their work on the cross country team. All of the children who attended the meet had a wonderful time. Many other teams commented on the sportsmanship of our team.

The Terry Fox run was a great success and grades 1-6 had a great time. The money is still being counted and will be ready by Friday, October 17.

Lego Robotics club is going well. Please donate Lego if you can.

Schlocky boards are not able to be stored under the stairs. It is a fire hazard. Therefore, 2 boards will be frozen to the ground in winter and the other 2 stored. Sticks will be stored in the office or in Russell’s class.

Playground.

Departure off the playground must happen by 3:15 during daylight savings time and 3:00 after the time change. Students without a parent are not being spotted and are not coming to inform the teachers as they are playing with other children. This is a big safety concern. Clearing the yard will ensure these students are found and a call home made. Students who walk home are asked to leave the yard immediately, bring their backpack home and return to play if they wish. Teachers will discuss this with students in class and more will be in the newsletter.

We have an opportunity to stay in touch with an astronaut in the space-station this year. More info to come.

Sandra Burton will be heading up United Way. More information to come.

Progress Reports will be coming out in November and will look different. The familiar format will continue in February and June. Visit the ministry website to learn more.

Kids CASC will begin. A student (on a rotating basis) from each grade will sit on the committee and meet with Megan once a month.

5. Teacher’s Report

Heather Gilman presented the teacher’s report.

Teacher’s would like to re- start having class meetings. This used to be done in the past and worked well. Children will have a forum to voice concerns and discuss what is working well.

Physical Contact

There is a lot of hands on activity on the yard and in the halls. There will be a blitz of “hands off” and “stop it, I don’t like it”

Media Cart

The school would like 1 media cart per floor which will contain an Elmo and laptop.

Food Drive

There will be a food drive/Fundraiser . Every kilogram of food collected as donation will equal 1 dollar from the community. 500 kg= $500

Lockdowns will be happening over the next few weeks. There will be discussion in classrooms and possibly an electronic voicemail delivered. Mandatory fire-drills will also be taking place.

IEP’s are due by October 19^th.

There will be a Smartboard in the Library soon and it will require some moving of shelving. It will be for all classes to use.

Russell is organizing skating.

A new EA, Heather Sommerville, will be joining the school staff. She has a lot of experience and worked on an autism unit for 2 years.

Tara Philips is on maternity leave and Cheryl will take her place full time.

Shelley will now work half time with one full day per week.

A thank you to parents for wearing nametags when in the schools. Teachers are ordering personal nametags and will also wear them.

Michelle White will be running UNICEF this year.

Field Trip Permission Forms

Forms must be sent in 2 days in advance. Concern was that there is not enough turn-around and notes are sent out late or replies stay in students’ bags. It was suggested that maybe the Communications team could help in this matter some way. Volunteer coordinator could help by calling or website could hold it to print out.???

Cheques

There is a problem with cheques being signed to the wrong recipient. CASC and Churchill Alternative School are often mixed up on cheques. It is requested that all cheques be in a sealed envelope with labels.

Check with Janet V. to see if money can be combined for milk and pizza.

Clear instructions for parents are needed.

Stairwells

No paper is allowed to be posted in the stairwells. It is a fire hazard.

Framed School of Rock T-Shirts are now in the gym….take a look.

Trip Volunteers

If parents volunteer for a trip they should consider themselves committed to going. Parents requested to know ahead of time that they are needed.

Committee Updates.

Safe Routes

An update was given by Wallace Beaton. The focus this year will be a School Travel Plan. This plan will be drafted and sent to the regional team for input.

A walking school bus is being established.

Canbike courses ( a program to help students understand bike safety) are offered to students.

The first survey that parents did allowed us to receive $1000 for our school. The second survey (due out this year) will bring in another $1000.

Safe Routes Committee is asking for $3000/year from CASC.

Angie Heibert raised a concern that some students feel guilty for driving or taking a bus. Churchill has a large catchment area and bussing is necessary.

Arts Committee

Petra Bokowski gave the Arts report.

A detailed outline of this year’s plan was handed out. Some of the events included a Baobob Tree performance, School Art Show, Famous Painters’ Wall, School of Rock and Primary Choir. She also talked about an Elective Day on November 19^th. Students will have the opportunity to choose an activity they are interested in and engage in that activity with a variety of other “like-interested” students for the afternoon. The Arts Committee is asking CASC for a minimum of $3,685 and a maximum of $4,930/year.

Education Committee

Dan MacKinnon gave the Education Committee report.

The goal of the Education Committee is to provide activities for parents, staff and students at Churchill.

The main event this Fall will be a Family Literacy Night (part 1 and 2). This night will highlight literacy at home. The first part will invite parents and children to come and learn how to tie activities to books at home. Parents and children will learn to felt a character from a chosen book, bringing the book alive for young readers. Part 2 will have a speaker from the Ottawa Public Library.

Communications Committee

The Communications Committee report was made by Janet Sheehan

The newsletter will be going out each month along with the school newsletter. It was decided it would be sent out by email as a PDF to families and linked to the website if possible. All submissions are due on the second Tuesday of the month. The newsletter will come out on the third Thursday of each month. Please send pre-edited blurbs by email to Janet or Sara. Megan Egerton is the staff representative on this committee.

7. ASAC

The next meeting will be at Grant on October 18, 2010. The report was given by Dan MacKinnon. Frank Wiley is our new Superintendent. He was a former principal at Canterbury. The committee will be looking into the closure of Manor Park.

Lady Evelyn has suggested an Alternative School Conference and an Alternative Sports Day.

Discussion was around how to promote the alternative program as well as the Ottawa Parents Education Network, Our Ottawa and OPENS.

OCASC

Stephen Kurelek gave an update on OCASC. This was presented at the beginning of the evening as Stephen was not well and had to leave.

The 2 main focuses for the year will be communication and outreach. Stephen gave a detailed update of some of the new initiatives by the board such as Chalk Talk; a forum for parents to raise concerns to the board, Mathletes; a math competition for grades 4-6 as well as initiatives to deal with vandalism on playgrounds. If interested in learning more, the full minutes of the meeting are available on OCASC.com

8. Treasurer’s Report

Donna Weldon presented the treasurer’s report. There was lengthy discussion in regards to the budget. Due to the late hour of 10pm, it was agreed that there will be a subsequent meeting to look at the budget and review it by Friday, October 17, 2010. It will be emailed for approval to those in attendance.

9. Other Business

Due to the late hour, other business was moved to the November meeting.

The next CASC meeting will take place on November 9^th at 6:30pm in the Staff Room at Churchill Alternative School.

Attached

1. CASC Positions for 2010-2011

Arts committee planned proposal.

Education Committee Family Literacy Night proposal.

Profit and Loss Budget Overview.

1. Committee Representatives for 2010-2011

Active & Safe Routes

Wallace Beaton - wbeaton2@sympatico.ca

Michael Richardson - mcr@sandelman.ca