The end

Well, well, well, well, well.

It's the end of the year! How did that happen?

The school council met last week. We passed new by-laws, which include a new election process - more on that next year. There are 50 spots on school council, so please think about whether you'll have some time to join us next year. We'd love to have many, many, many of you - even if you can't join every meeting, we'll appreciate your inputs and help, advice and ideas whenever you can.

We also made a plan for a school-wide snack program next year, which will include fruit and other healthy snacks in every classroom throughout the year. It's a simple program designed to promote healthy eating and make sure no one at Clairlea ever goes hungry. This will require funding, so we'll welcome any eager new fundraisers who might like to help us achieve this!

Lots of other news, including the departures of our two longest-standing members, Ann and Laura. They've been dedicated volunteers for 15 and 14 years respectively, since their oldest children were in kindergarten. Now that their youngest children have completed grade 8, we bid them a fond farewell and thank them for their energy, hard work and dedication to making Clairlea a wonderful place to learn. I know you'll all join us in extending special thanks to Ann for managing pizza lunch lo these many years! Hers will be hard shoes to fill, but if anyone can do it, Wendy can; she'll be taking on the task of pizza lunch next year.

Mr. McGilvray updated us on next year's staffing, but it's all still in flux. That's why there were no room assignments on the report cards; it's too likely that the situation will change, leading to disruption and disappointment. We'll just have to be patient until September.

Thanks for a great year, Clairlea! Have a wonderful summer. See you in September.

Newsletter for parents of students in French

The French as a Second Language Advisory Committee (FSLAC) to the Toronto District School Board has published this newsletter... Click here for the full version.

For the full version (including remaining pages) click here  http://www.tdsb.on.ca/wwwdocuments/parents/parent_groups/docs/FSLAC%20Newsletter%20with%20graphics-%20June%202012.pdf   

School Council meets Wed June 20

The School Council meets next Wednesday, June 20, 7:00 pm at the school. All welcome. Childcare in the gym. If you are a voting member, please make every effort to attend, as a quorum of 50% +1 is required.

Fun Fairs and Silent Auctions

My apologies for taking such a long time to post this information, especially since some of you have asked.

I don't know how much the Fun Fair raised, but this will be reported at the school council meeting on June 20. The Silent Auction portion raised more than $1,000. Thank you to everyone who donated items and purchased others. I believe that the funds raised at the Fun Fair are meant to buy new uniforms for intramural sports. (Someone please comment below to correct me if I'm wrong.)

Christina included details of the School Council's activities over the course of the year in the May 2012 school newsletter.

2011-12 School Council purchases included:

• two "Elmo" document projectors for classroom use
• two iPads and covers for use in a special education class
• new digital cameras and memory cards for shared use (they live in the library and are signed out by teachers as needed)
• balls for outdoor / recess use
• a pull-down classroom screen for room 200
• nutritious snacks for students who are hungry ($100/month, funded from pizza lunch)
• chairs, rugs and other colourful enhancements for the library 
• supported Winter Activity Day to remove financial barriers for certain students
• pom poms for folk dance club to perform at Black Heritage Month
• Kobo e-readers and other prizes for Family Literacy Day
• indoor shoes for children who could not afford them
• 10 folding transportable tables for School Council events
• Clairlea shirts for new staff members
• four data projectors for assemblies and classroom use
• a DVD player
• Diwali lunch for staff
• fixed scoreboard in gym
• gardening supplies
• supplies for classroom lice checks
• treats & supplies for curriculum night and school concerts 
• graduation dinner and yearbook for the grade 8s (not sure if this has changed, as it was subsequently decided that the yearbook would be for the entire school)
• teacher's welcome packages for fall 2012

The other Silent Auction was the one held at the spring concert. That was organized by teachers to support some priority items within the school - I'm not sure exactly what. If the organizers are reading this and can tell us how much was raised and what it will be spent on, please post details below!