Notes from last week's school council meeting

Here are a few things that we learned at last week's school council meeting.

Staff news

• We have a new school secretary: Karen Redmond. Michelle Carson has taken on the role of office administrator.
• Professional development is underway, with a focus on literacy (making connections: text to text, text to self, text to world).
• Staffing models will be prepared in March/April once next year's enrollment projections are known.

Events

• JK English registration Feb 23. Currently closed to people outside the catchment area.
• Grad photos coming up for the 80 Grade 8 students who will graduate this year
• In June , the grade 8s will go to Wahanowin in Orillia for their one-week grade 8 grad trip. It will involve outdoor education, water, kayaking, canoeing). Grade 8s will be selling chocolates to help offset the $390 fee.
• Grad and ceremony at 140 Borough Drive: Flippers Fish House and White Shields Banquet Hall
• Feb 26 will be a Panther assembly and pyjama day
• French Immersion registration March 2 & 3 - if you received an offer from Clairlea, please come in to register on those dates
• Spring concert will probably be May 12 at SATEC (to be confirmed) - Music from around the world. 18 acts will include African drumming, ukuleles, Bollywood. Many thanks to the superintendent for funding some of the training, which will happen in April.

Treasurer's report:

• $3257 available to spend

Fundraising report: 

• Pizza lunch goes to twice-monthly starting in March for a three month pilot. Dates are March 9 & 30, April 13 & 27, May 11 & 25.
• Popcorn Friday starting this Friday - bring $2! Flavours are butter-salt and white cheddar. Look for Joanne outside the gym at lunchtime. First come first served.
• Movie night raised $250. Next movie night will be Friday March 4 at 7pm - Hotel Transylvania 2
• Spirit Wear received roughly 80 orders. Fittings are happening over the next little while and you may receive an email with a recommended size
• Fun Fair for Fitness. This summer's fun fair will raise money for outdoor sports equipment. Possibilities include additional basketball nets, tetherball, Frisbee golf. Hold the date: Thursday June 16, in the evening. Please email clairleacouncil@gmail.com if you can volunteer.

School Council - some thoughts on the March meeting

We had a good turnout at our School Council meeting last week, about 16 people. We've got a terrific group of thoughtful and energetic contributors, but more ideas and diverse opinions are definitely welcome - let's see if we can get even more people out to our April 17 meeting. Even if you're not a voting member of School Council, you are more than welcome to participate. We'd love to have your perspective.

Minutes will be forthcoming. Check the blue bar at right - I've added links to the minutes from all of this year's meetings.

In the meantime, here are a few things I learned at this month's meeting:

• The woodworking workshop was fantastic. (Actually I already knew that, as my son was one of the participants. But it was great to hear all the other parents agree.) The workshop was given in French to the French immersion kids, which is rare and fantastic. The organizer offers programs for older grades too, and the school is looking at that for the future.

• Our fundraising is fantastic. Karen Shah and the many volunteers who work on fundraising projects, including Wendy Whittle and her amazing pizza lunch crew, are doing a fantastic job.

• A proposed staffing model will be ready next month. That's where the staffing committee takes the projected enrollment and allotment of teaching staff and makes a plan of how many classes of how many kids we will have next year, including how many split-grade classes. It's more complex than you'd imagine. A few things are non-negotiable, such as the caps on primary class sizes, and a mandatory 3/4 split in the English stream, and the fact that a split class must have at least 4 children in each grade. Plus, it's almost impossible to have a 6/7 split because the number of instructional minutes changes in grade 7. 

• The labour situation has impacted the school more than most of us realize. For example, we learned this month that the monthly assemblies no longer include character instruction. It used to be that there was a monthly performance, led by a different grade or class, on the character trait of the month as determined by the TDSB as part of their character education program. But it turns out that organizing those performances was considered "volunteer" work on the part of the teachers, and it doesn't happen any more. 

• We also learned that professional development has been really challenging this year. The labour situation has prevented the school from implementing the kind of math and literacy pathways that Clairlea has benefited from in previous years. As Mr. Frenette explained in the 2011-12 school year, these pathways were designed to improve the quality of instruction at Clairlea through co-planning, co-teaching and moderated marking.  

• However, the administration is doing its best to keep things moving along. The character assemblies have given way to monthly Panther assemblies, and the grade 8 graduation trip will proceed although in a different form. 

Stay tuned for a more detailed account of the meeting in the form of draft minutes. 

Thanks for a great year

Well, here it is...the last day of school! A big thank you to all the teachers who work so hard to put the report cards together and to give feedback in a positive and constructive way. But more than that, thank you to those same teachers who work so hard every day to teach and guide and encourage our children. For many kids, you are their first voice of authority outside of their family, their first role model and guide aside from parents. You're introducing them to the world and you're shaping their future. You play an incredibly important role in our children's lives and it's easy to see how much effort and heart you put into the job. On a personal note, thank you to everyone who made our family feel welcome in this, our first year at Clairlea. And to Mr. Puopolo, Mr. Knierim and Ginnie for supporting this blog with content, technical support and enthusiasm. Finally, congratulations to all the grade 8's who graduated yesterday! You worked hard and we hope you had a terrific celebration. A number of volunteers spent many hours putting the graduation together so a big thank you to them, too. (If anyone wants to write a guest post on graduation, send me a note at clairleacouncil@gmail.com.) Have a great summer, everyone!!! Thank you for reading this blog. :-) Catharine

Kindergarten graduation

The kindergarten graduation last week was just lovely! It was so nice to see all the girls in their party dresses and boys in their best shirts, and so many proud parents marvelling at how big our babies have grown.