CHSS – Parent Council Minutes From Tuesday January 17, 2012
Members and Parents present: Laurie Langstaff, Jennifer Fleming, Marianne Menzies, Tracy Thompson, Carolyn Wood, Shelley Shepherd
Minutes from December 6, 2011 were read and accepted.
The meeting started with a staff update from Ms. Margery Holmes. Ms. Holmes runs the ‘Student Success Program’ at CHSS. The program was started in 2004/2005 as a credit recovery program and has since transitioned into a credit rescue program. Ms. Holmes tries to assist students during the semester to prevent them from getting to the stage of losing or trying to recover a credit. The teachers are very supportive of this program and assist by volunteering at the Tuesday lunch help program. All students are welcome to drop in for help in various courses where lunch is also provided for them. They currently can have up to 25 students turn out on a Tuesday.
Other key areas that Ms. Holmes is involved with:
-the extremely successful Challenge Day held annually for grade 10 students
-a program for the transition into high school that involves both teacher and peer mentors
A motion was made by Tracy Thompson and seconded by Shelley Shepherd to donate $600.00 to the ‘Student Success Program’ run by Ms. Margery Holmes.
Second on the agenda was a message via video from Mr. Ted Doherty, Director of Education and Secretary of the AMDSB. The message was on Strategic Planning for the next four years starting in the fall of 2012. He would like each school council to come up with five student outcomes that we as parents, would like to see our students graduate with. What do you want us to teach the students? What are the skill sets or qualities you would want our students to leave with? These are just a few examples but there can be many more. If you have any feedback or suggestions to go on our list of 5 please forward to them to Laurie Langstaff or the school parent council.
Laurie Langstaff presented her Principal Report with updating us on the latest news from CHSS. The ‘Grade 8 Information Night’ held this evening had a tremendous turn out with at least 250 in attendance for the spaghetti supper. It looks like there will be a great group of grade 9’s coming to CHSS next year.
Ms. Langstaff also mentioned there have been a three grants received to support various school groups. A $1000 ‘Speak-Up Grant’ was received to go towards the Photography Club & Show. This will help students print and frame their pictures to later be sold at a school fundraiser. A $900 grant was received for the Gay-Straight Alliance group, which had 21 students out to their first meeting. There was also a $1500 ‘Student Engagement Grant’ that was given to go towards Challenge Day 2011.
The last exciting news is that 30 ipads have been ordered to be used within the school. It was discussed of the priority of wanting to be able to provide students with the latest of technology. The more our students can learn about the latest technology, will only help them be successful at the next level, whether that is post secondary education or entering the into the work force.
The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday March 6, 2012 7pm and Tuesday May 15th 7pm.
Please come out and find out what’s going on at your child’s school.
Minutes prepared by:
Carolyn Wood
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Parent Council Minutes
From Tuesday December 6, 2011
The Parent Council of CHSS met on December 6, 2011; members present included: Laurie Langstaff, Julie Hohner, Conrad Kuiper, Marianne Menzies, Carolyn Wood, Jennifer Fleming and Sherri Cantelon.
At the beginning of the meeting members were shown the final draft of the new school logo by Laurie Langstaff and Conrad Kuiper. Members were provided with a brief update around the implementation of the new logo.
For staff news, Teacher Julie Hohner showed a video to launch the start of the Gay -Straight Alliance program that is beginning at CHSS. The program will be run by teachers and will provide support and resource with the first meeting being held on December 8, 2011. This program has been running at Exeter for the past 5 years. Ms. Hohner reports that she will be approaching the United Way for grant funds.
Teacher Julie Hohner spoke on behalf of the Student Rep and highlighted last week’s Prostate Cancer Fundraiser the “Shave Off” raised approx. $2270. Other events reported on included, the Semi Formal with an attendance of over 240 individuals in addition to another successful turnout for the October grades 6-8 dance hosted by CHSS. The recent movie night did result in poor attendance therefore the council is looking into how to make movie night a better success. Upcoming Student Council events reported included:
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Eva Olsson Holocaust Survivor Presentation on December 12, 2011
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Ugly Sweater Day
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OPP Hockey Game on December 23, 2011
Review of October 18, 2011 minutes occurred with discussion around the treasurer report which highlighted a $2603.95 balance. There was discussion around past accounts and allocating funds. A motion was made by Carolyn Wood to allocate $1000.00 to assist in the costs of the Grade 8 Parent Night/Spaghetti Supper on January 17, 2012. Marianne Menzies seconded the motion and all were in favour. A request for funds form will be completed to complete the transaction in January 2012.
Chair Jennifer Fleming brought forward the topic of the Challenge Day for discussion. This was the 4th year of providing Challenge Day to the grade 10 students and once again reports were very positive of the tremendous impact this experience has on the students. The school is looking at selling t-shirts with “Love is Loud” as the message to piggyback the Challenge Day content and keep the thoughts and emotions going for the future. The school is also exploring additional guest speakers and ideas to act as a continuum for the Challenge Day experience.
New Business included discussion on attracting future students to CHSS. The Grade 8 Parent Information/ Spaghetti Dinner Night is set for January 17, 2012 @ 5pm. Lori Langstaff reviewed projections and changes in Grade 9 enrollment as well as graduating classes. Discussion occurred around present interventions utilized in attracting Grade 8 students noting Grade 6-8 dances, movie night, technology days and sports programs offered to the feeder schools certainly are beneficial to the future students in transitioning to Secondary School. On November 23rd and 25th of this year CHSS hosted 190 Grade 8 students for Tech Day. The Grade 8 Parent Information Night\ Spaghetti Supper was also flagged as very beneficial in assisting with both students' and parents' comfort and knowledge levels with the secondary school system. Marianne Menzies provided positive feedback around the benefits of Grade 9 students returning to their Elementary schools and speaking with the Grade 8 students. Carolyn Wood and Jennifer Fleming suggested linking feeder Elementary School Councils to our Parent Council as another technique.
Laurie Langstaff provided her Principal Report indicating that Wednesday, January 25th 2012 is the first day of exams and students will have a condensed class schedule. Laurie reiterated the success of the Tech days and Challenge Day and upcoming school events including guest speaker Eva Olsson and the Christmas Assembly on December 23, 2011 with the OPP /Student Hockey game fundraising for the OPP Charity of Choice.
The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday January 17, 2012 @7pm. It will take place in the school library.
Minutes prepared by:
Sherri Cantelon
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CHSS School Council Minutes
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
The Regional School Council meeting, chaired by Trustee Robert Hunking, was hosted in the CHSS Library at 7pm .
The Regional meeting focused on continuing communication between school councils and the newly developed website for parents. www.parentvoice.ca. All are encouraged to check it out.
Immediately following, eight members attended CHSS Parent Council.
In Attendance: Marianne Menzies, Shelley Shephard, Cara Stoll, Conrad Kuiper, Carolyn Wood, Matt Chalmers. Laurie Langstaff, Jennifer Fleming
Matt Chalmers reported on behalf of the students. Spirit Week, Movie Night, Grades 6, 7, 8 Dance Oct 21. Ontario Secondary School Leadership Conference(OSLC) being held in Niagara.
Laurie Langstaff reported that $5500 was raised at Clinton Raceway's Challenge Day fundraiser.
The new Pheonix logo is under development.
Meeting Adjourned. Next Meeting November 29, 7pm RESCHEDULED to Tuesday Dec 6, 7pm , all welcome
Minutes prepared by Jennifer Fleming.
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September 13 School Council Minutes
The School Council of CHSS met on September 13, 2011 with nine members present. We reviewed a short video on police protocol within the Secondary Schools. Laurie Langstaff, Principal, presented the principal’s report which highlighted the school’s activities, plans for the coming year and a short discussion about the school’s new logo. Lexi Cook attended the meeting as the Student Council representative and gave a report on the activities the School Council is currently pursuing.
Marianne Menzies, Chair of the Parent Council, thanked everyone for attending and for the opportunity to serve as Chair for the past four years. Jennifer Fleming was introduced. She has agreed to become the new Chairperson for CHSS. This was supported by a unanimous vote by the members present. Many thanks to Jennifer for taking on this new responsibility.
The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, October 18, 2011 at 8:00 p.m. following the regional School Council meeting which runs from 7-8 p.m. Everyone is encouraged to attend either one of these meetings or both. It will take place in the School library.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Minutes prepared by Marianne Menzies
