Last week's school council meeting - some notes

These are not minutes, just a few notes I jotted down during last week's School Council meeting. The official minutes will come out prior to the February meeting.

In the principal's report:

• Ms. Persaud noted that Robert Munsch very kindly donated some of his books to the school library when he was here to read to the primary classes. He also signed autographs. The students had a wonderful time seeing him. There was considerable media coverage of the event.
• Ms. Persaud thanked Starbucks for donating the hot chocolate at the recent bus loop safety event, and noted that Starbucks is generously willing to continue to support the school by providing hot chocolate to literacy-related events up to once a month. Please remember not to stop your car in the bus loop; it is not a safe place to drop off your children. Use the parking spots instead. 
• A new caretaker, Mr. Porter, started at Clairlea in December. 
• A card-reader will be installed at the bus-loop school entrance to increase school safety. 
• The cable television paid for by School Council will be available in the gym prior to the 2010 Olympics. 
• For Winter Activity Day on Feb 5, grades 4-8 will go skating, skiing, bowling or other activities. Accommodations will be made at school for students who choose not to participate. 
• At Literacy Night Jan 28, the focus will be on inferring. This means comprehending, predicting, anticipating, reading between the lines, and bringing one's own knowledge and experiences to bear in understanding a text. (Mlle. Dungo does a better job of explaining it on her new blog.) Inferring is an important literacy skill that is being emphasized at all grade levels throughout Clairlea, partly in response to the school's EQAO scores. At literacy night, parents will learn how the skill of inferring is taught. 
• Also in response to needs revealed by the EQAO tests, Clairlea staff have been meeting in groups in what is known as a teaching/learning critical pathway. This helps teachers develop and standardize the criteria they use to grade their students' work.
• Ms. Persaud also mentioned that the school will have an assembly in February for Black History Month. 

Ms. Skerletovic presented the teacher's report. She mentioned that the teachers and administration met recently to agree on a consistent response to different types of discipline issues at the school. The teachers brainstormed different types of behaviours that they have encountered at Clairlea and categorized these transgressions into major, minor and suspendable. The hope is that with more clarity and a consistent approach, students will learn to better respect the rules of the school. The school's code of conduct will be revised according to the outcome of this project.

Ms. Skerletovic also described an activity planned for Education Week in May. More information about this will be forthcoming, but in essence it will be a day to bring the school community together and showcase the interests, hobbies, talents and customs of different families and groups.

The Fun Fair will take place on Saturday, June 12, 2010. Planning is underway. Irit is planning the activities and Mary-Anne, the food. Catharine (that's me) would greatly appreciate any assistance in soliciting corporate gifts for the silent auction. Please email me if you would like to donate or help solicit donations.

Spirit Wear is now on sale! There are t-shirts in grey or purple, with regular or shiny-silver print, as well as toques and hoodies.

Our very own Tami Oudendijk is chair of the French as a Second Language Advisory Committee. The committee is providing advice as the TDSB rewrites the core French curriculum this year. Please contact Tami if you would like to join this committee or provide input. The French Immersion curriculum will be reviewed in 2012.

Treasurer Ann Silver presented the finance report. There were a couple of requests for funding:

• $50 for Scholastic gift certificates for the Jordan family, as a thank you for their wonderful story which  brought Robert Munsch to our school
• $100 for refreshments for Literacy Night

Volunteers were requested for Pancake Day, Feb 19. Please contact Tami if you are able to help out that morning.