Agendas/Minutes
October 22, 2024 – 6:00pm
Present: Nicole, Ela, Christine, Shannon, Athena, Amber, Nancy, Emma, Danielle, Mandy, Caroline
1. Welcome
2. Land Acknowledgement and Opening Prayer– Danielle shared with us the prayer that is being used for National Truth and Reconciliation Week.
3. Principal’s Report
Operational:
• Progress reports went home and interviews were completed. Thank you to Parent Council for the last minute sponsoring of pizza.
Parking enforcement is in the area- there was a community complaint regarding safety on the street.
Caring Culture and Wellness
• Crunch day was a huge success and ND was second in the city for most funds raised.
• Chew for Chalice is underway! Parent council expressed that we really loved! Cookies are going to be added for the kids that don’t chew gum.
• 12 Days of Christmas will begin on December 5th. Communication will come home soon.
• Christmas concert is in full on planning mode! Information will be coming home very soon to let families know details.
• Advent begins on December 1st. Prayer liturgies will happen weekly.
Student Achievement-
• Culture, Caring, Wellness
• Student Achievement
• Grade 3 and 6 teachers are working on priority math school. Extra support from the board is coming in, and intermediate students are going to start working on some additional math projects.
4. Finance Update-
TREASURER REPORT
Sitting in the bank total $15,157.56
Lotto $1800
Dance came out 1638.50
Deposit 152.15 for bracelets at the dance
Fun fair deposit came out for inflatables for just over $1000
Cost for pizza for teachers also came out
Art stuff- still $285 to come out
Library books are still on back order so funds haven’t come out yet.
Pizza days still need to come out.
Prior years we have spent:
Grad 1000
Fun fair 2500
Christmas dinner 1500
5. Council Business
· Events: Halloween Dance
· Christmas Lunch- December 16th
· Fun Fair- June 5th 2025
· Rocks and Rings
· Dance classes
· Pancake Tuesday- March 4th
· Sign making Family Night- April 10th
Halloween dance– Was a huge success! It was loved by the students and teachers. Amber brought forth how we can be more inclusive towards students who do not enjoy the bright lights and loud music. Next year we will keep the music a bit lower and keep the lights on if students need it.
Action Item: None
Christmas Lunch- Gillies is booked to provide our Christmas Lunch this year. Since all students are provided a meal Parent Council had a conversation about what the best way to offset these costs was. Parent Council would like to ask parents to cover the cost of the meal and ask for donations for students who cannot afford a meal. Those who donate towards extra meals will be entered into a draw for front row seating at the Christmas Concert.
Current Volunteers:
Nicole
Kaitlin
James
Kristina
Mary
Mandy
Christine
Emma
Caroline
Amber
Action item: Mandy to confirm 12Pm drop off and see if gravy is gluten free.
Nicole- Check for paper for tables, plates, napkins, cutlery, take out containers and replace anything needed at GT French.
Ela/Danielle- Put call out to other parents who might want to help out
Volunteers Day of- Mandy and Nicole to help set up in the morning. Remainder of volunteers to come at 11:30.
Pancake day– Planning to happen in January will look into Our Kitchen and Mama’s Grill as options for these
o Fun Fair Update:
None provided. Sub committee meeting date TBA.
Action Items:
Next Sub Committee meeting:
TBA
Guest Speakers/Cultural Education opportunities: Not discussed this meeting. Plans ongoing with teachers/the board.
Fundraisers
Major: Krispie Kreme- April 9th. We will only be able to get 400 dozen so we will have to put it up on School Cash online to prevent overselling.
Minor: Pizza Day Wednesdays have started.
This year our other options will be Lil Louie’s on April 16th and Gillies on May 21st.
Dominoes pizza night- Nicole has booked for January 27th 2025. They will be sending us graphics to use to promote it on social media/newsletters.
Action items: Mandy to book Gillies and Jodi to book Lil Louies.
Mabels Labels is ongoing
· Additional Business
Rocks and Rings– Danielle heard more from them. They are able to do 9 sessions in one day with 32 students per group. It will be a cost of $235 per day plus tax plus a $35 travel fee. Council voted in favour of bringing this back to the school as the students loved it.
6. Next Meeting Dates 6 PM Notre Dame Staff Room
No Dec meeting
Jan 21
Feb 18
March 25
April 22
May 20
September Meeting minutes
Present: Erin, Jodi, Nicole, Mandy, Shannon, Ela, Christine, Nancy, Emma, Amber, Mekcal, Athena, Caroline, Danielle
1. Welcome
2. Land Acknowledgement and Opening Prayer- Danielle shared with us the prayer that is being used for National Truth and Reconciliation Week.
3. Principal’s Report
Elections were unnecessary for the positions listed below as there were no other nominations. The 2024- 2025 Parent council positions are filled as follows:
Co-Chairs:
Kristina Corrado and Nicole Callander
Treasurer:
Christine Storoschuk
Secretary:
Mandy Boomsma
Belonging and wellness-
Our board theme is Pilgrims of Hope for the 2024-2025 school year; teachers and staff will spend the day on October 8th learning more about this theme and how it will be incorporated into the school year.
Notre Dame will have its first school mass of the year on Friday, September 27th. A new Father will be a part of the school this year.
Operational-
– The school year is off to a great start! It has been very busy with many teacher changes and lots of new staff.
– Like every new school year the staff and students are working together to learn the rules and process of the school.
– Upstairs, the boy’s bathroom continues to be a challenge, but staff and students are working together to correct this.
– Notre Dame is again home to 16 classrooms this year. There has been a slight change in the Special Education department, and we are now home to the Primary Learning Strategies Class. This class hosts students in grades 1-3 who need additional learning support.
– Nancy will be our new teacher rep for the 2024-2025 school year. She teaches the Primary Learning Strategies Class and has spent many years with our board teaching Special Education.
– Pizza days will start in October. A volunteer sign-up sheet was circulated at the meeting. Thank you to everyone who makes hot lunch days happen!
– School fundraiser—Families have received an email with information for the school’s annual fundraiser. Chocolate bars seem to be well received! For those who ordered a case, they will be sent home the week before Thanksgiving.
– School photo day is happening on October 3rd 2024.
– Information about this year’s Spirit Wear will be sent home soon.
– Our school-wide Christmas lunch will be held on December 16th.
– Last year, the school implemented a change in how the school community celebrates Christmas with families. The school will alternate Christmas Concerts with Christmas socials. This year, the school will celebrate with a Christmas Concert, which will be held on the evening of Dec 18th. Information will be sent home once the details for the Christmas concert are finalized.
– The gym is booked for an April 10th parent council event. The parent council is still determining what this will look like. Stay tuned for more details.
– June 5th Fun Fair for both Notre Dame and Branlynn. Notre Dame parent council will reach out to Branlynn about collaborating on this exciting event.
Student Achievement-
– Teachers and staff are working hard to determine urgent learning needs within the school.
– We are a priority math school again, and Notre Dame students in grades 3 and 6 will have the opportunity for additional math support this year.
– The Ministry of Education has rolled out a new early reading screening. Year 2 kindergarten, Grade 1, and Grade 2 students will undergo this screening.
– The Terry Fox run will be held, but likely in October due to some scheduling issues. A staff rep is working on getting this set up and running. Details should be coming home soon.
4. Finance Update-
TREASURER REPORT
Approximate 12,000 together between Lotto and general
General 8000
Lotto 4500
Updates to previously approved expenses:
Last year, the council voted to support the school library by donating $1000 to purchase some new books. This donation was not spent last year because it was past the year-end cutoff. The librarian has an approved list of books that she will be ordering shortly. The council agreed that we are still willing to make this donation.
Each year the Parent Council offers to help support a student in need to go to Camp Celtic for their grade 8 trip. Danielle confirmed that this donation was not needed.
The Parent Council voted last year to help pay for student agendas. Danielle made this offer to the teachers, but they declined as they did not wish to use agendas.
A $1000 donation towards art supplies was extended last year. Danielle updated that some of the money was spent on restocking, but the teachers opted to save a chunk of the money for Christmas crafts.
The 2024 Fun Fair cost us 1473.00 after bracelet sales.
The parent council voted to host a Halloween Dance on October 31, 2024, during school hours. The cost will be $1400, and all students will have the chance to participate in a video dance party. The parent council will help support this by volunteering as needed. Since the dance is happening on Halloween, there will be no snacks sold at the dance, but we will offer glow sticks for a $2 donation to help fund more events in the future.
Action Item: Veronica to make a poster ASAP as new ministry requirements require the school provide 2 weeks notice of events.
5. Council Business
· Events:
This year, the Parent Council would like to focus on ways to enhance the students’ experiences at school by providing financial support for the school to offer special learning opportunities. We spent some time brainstorming some ideas that we would like to support this year.
Dance classes- This is something Parent Council provided to students in the older grades during the 2023-2024 school year. Parent Council would like to pay for this again for the jr and intermediates. Last year we provided 6 weeks of dance for jr and intermediates got some dance classes from different cultures that supported their dance unit for physical education.
Action item: Danielle will connect with the same company from last year to see if this is a possibility.
Rocks and Rings—This program was introduced into the school two years ago. It was originally supposed to be for select grades only, but the parent council paid for the entire school to try it out. We would like to offer it again if the program is still running.
Action item: Danielle will see if this program is still around and if they can accommodate doing something similar this year.
Parents Reaching Out Grant- This grant is provided to Parent Councils to host events for parents and families to help build a connection to the school. We can use this grant to provide guest speakers or use it for community building. In the past we have used this grant to host Sarah Westbrook. Parent Council discussed hosting a paint night as a community building event instead of a guest speaker this year. Applications for this grant are due December 16th and we will hear back in the new year if our grant proposal was approved. We will decide at a future meeting what we would like to use this grant for.
Discussion around starting a Drama Club: Danielle informed Parent Council that a teacher hopes to take this on. Parent Council offered support for bringing in a local company to assist with this if such a program exists.
Discussion around doing a clothing/coat drive- Danielle explained some of the external supports that she has access to for students at Notre Dame and expressed her desire to start a care closet. Parent Council would like to support this effort and will further discuss how we can help at a future meeting.
Christmas Lunch- Do we have someone booked? Do we get a new caterer?
Action item- Council will look into some other prices- Danielle will confirm if we have already booked Sherwood.
o Fun Fair Update:
None provided. Sub committee meeting date TBA.
Action Items:
Next Sub Committee meeting:
TBA
Guest Speakers/Cultural Education opportunities: Last year, the Parent Council suggested some guest speakers who would be great assets to a school assembly.
Shaun Mulraine
Qmack
Paul Davis
Drumming circle/ Woodland Cultural Centre
We decided to table this discussion until a future meeting as there were still a few more agenda items to discuss.
Action items: Danielle will investigate whether the board would approve Woodland Cultural Centre coming into the school to speak with classes/age groups individually.
Nicole will call Woodland to see what programs are available for elementary-aged students.
· Social Gatherings
Notre Dame Family Night (formerly Pasta and Games night) November 7th—We will try for Waffles and family night as last year the students really enjoyed the opportunity to run around the gym together. We will have board games available for those that would like to play.
Action Item: Mandy to call TK. SEE ABOUT GLUTEN FREE and if they are able to serve.
· Fundraisers
Major: Vendor Fair on April 10th- this will be planned by the events sub-committee and updates will be provided in future meetings. Vendor Sale in April- Would like to have a book swap table
o
o Minor: Pizza Day Wednesdays will be starting in October.
We had a discussion about other options that we would like to offer this year in lieu of pasta and subs. We have quotes from Gillies and Lil Louie’s. There were lots of other suggestions, we will look into these more in future meetings and decide how many weeks we would like to offer something other than pizza.
-Mabels Labels is ongoing; we have been sent $150 since we teamed up with Mable’s Labels last year.
· Additional Business
Grant Applications—Last year, Mekcal and Danielle worked together to submit a grant to assist with purchasing another smart board for the school. The grants have not yet been awarded but were slated to be awarded in the fall of 2024.
6. Next Meeting Dates 6 PM
Oct 22
Nov 19
No Dec meeting
Jan 21
Feb 18
March 25
April 22
May 20