Last week's school council meeting

A few notes from last week's School Council meeting...

Fundraising

• The Fun Fair is coming along nicely! Eglinton Square donated 8 truckloads of holiday-themed items, including Santa's chair. Silent auction donations are needed - can you help? 

Principal's report

• The grade 6 FI teacher is now full time - good news for those students. This resolves the last of Clairlea's open staffing issues. 
• Clairlea continues to benefit from the presence of several college and high school students, including child and youth services students from George Brown, a nursing student, three education faculty students, and many high school volunteers and co-op students. 
• Mr. McGilvray continues to pursue funding for a nutrition or snack program, and is seeking advice form the public health authorities. In the meantime, School Council has allocated a portion of the proceeds from pizza lunch to the purchase of healthy snacks for kids who don't have their own. 
• The clarified yard areas and ready-entry programs he reported on in November are working well. 
• A quick-and-quiet hallways campaign is working well. 
• Facilities improvements: Fire alarms have been tested and found to work well. Some wall repair and painting will take place where needed. 
• Jan 26 is French Immersion information night.
• Feb 10 is Winter Activity Day for grades 4-8: skating and skiing. Skates are available for those who need them. 
• Report cards will come out Feb 13 and that Friday (a PA Day) will be set aside for parent-teacher interviews. 

Teacher's report

• The food drive generated 800 items! 
• Jan 26 is a beach-themed spirit day. 
• The grade 7s and 8s will be participating in Future Build, a free, hands-on construction and labour day at the Better Living Centre. 
• Grade 7s are working on i-cubed, a program of The Learning Partnership, in which they invent, design and build something missing from everyday life. Inventions are showcased in the downtown business district. 
• Family Literacy Day is Jan 27. Students will be encouraged to participate in literacy activities at home. There will be great prizes. 
• The African Heritage Assembly is Feb 24. 

Spending

• Mr. McGilvray put in a number of requests for funding, of which the following were approved (check against minutes to make sure I have this correct!)
• 2 iPads, primarily for use in special education programs
• running shoes for students who have none
• soccer balls for outdoor / recess 
• prizes for family literacy day - gift certificates and e-readers
• pull-down classroom screen for room 200
• support for Winter Activity Day
• library enhancements

Your fundraising dollars support the above purchases, so THANK YOU for participating in pizza lunch, magazine subscriptions, fun fairs and more.