Markville Secondary School Council

 
 

 

 


Participants:

Nancy Elliott, Arjan Samtani, Maureen Weaver, Stephen Bewcyk, Lee Carwana, Janet Wellsman Thomson, Marguerite Ennis, Sandy Moriarty, Raj Seth, Joyce Chan

 

Minutes

 
 

 

 


Monday February 11, 2008

7:15 p.m. – 8:48 p.m.  Library

Welcome & Introductions

Stephen

Approval of the January 14th Minutes – deferred

Outstanding items - Admin team:

1)     Bill 212 Safe Schools information to council – workshop attended by Stephen and Maureen in October

 

 

Joyce/All

Maureen

A powerpoint presentation was made to council highlighting the following:  roles and responsibility changes for teachers, and principals; bullying is now under the same umbrella; this bill is for all school boards;  and the management of expelled pupils was covered.  Go to www.ontla.on.ca

 

Treasurer’s Report:  expect to receive in the near future the $500 for the Parent Engagement activity; and will need to set aside some  funds for a couple of microwaves for the student cafeteria; Steve to advise council on the amount, timeline, and if there are enough electrical outlets; council will take a vote on the purchase of the microwaves in the next meeting; given board safety guidelines, microwaves need to be purchased through the board

Nancy

 

Student Speaker & Department/Guest Speaker

Department Speaker:  Doug Gillespie, Assistant Dept Head – Mathematics

A quick presentation on the available computer studies:  begins in Grade 10 with the Introduction to Computer Science; and for both grades 11 and 12, Computer Engineering, Information Technology in Business, and Computer Science courses are available.  At the grade 10 level, the focus is on hardware, for example, making and programming a joystick.  At the grades 11 and 12 levels, the focus is on preparing students for post-secondary.  A new course, Computer Game Development is planned for the spring.

 

COUNCIL REPORT (Joyce/All)

Parent Engagement Night: 

Possible topics suggested by the parents were as follows:  ADD attention deficit disorder, community police presentation on gangs and substance use, career planning, and cyber safety.  This week the community police officers gave a presentation to the staff; Steve to issue contact information to Joyce as a possible choice.  A call out for a subcommittee will be made, and details such as the topic selection, length of time, promotion, etc will be covered.

 

Character Matters: 

Council noticed the signs on the waste bins advocating character matters traits such as empathy, honesty, and integrity. The committee is comprised of 6 staff advisors and 12 students.  One of the inititatives is Habitat for Humanity.  The parents commented positively.

Teacher development & appreciation:

An enquiry on what council can do for teachers, admin to let them know that council is appreciative of their dedication to teaching, coming to council meetings and presenting, etc.  This was positively received, and a call out for volunteers to implement this will be made.

Substance Abuse:

The Parent Engagement activity will cover this topic

Dress Code:

Deferred to next meeting

 

PARENT REP REPORT ()

Please send your agenda items to the Chair joyce@ophea.org

 

 

SCHOOL REPORT (Admin team)

Bill 212 Safe Schools:  refer to top of the minutes

Report Cards and Newsletters:

Report Cards went home along with the newsletters.  Given that most of the newsletters never reach parents from their children, it was recommended that the newsletter be posted onto the website; this recommendation is feasible as it would leverage existing systems and save on printing dollars; in fact, an alternative to paper communication with parents, and/or email communication with parents, has the potential to be replaced by postings onto the website.

 

ACTION ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING (All)

Admin team:

1) Issue documents for parents to sign for resource centre property signed out by students

2)     Profiles of the administrator – tailor it to Markville SS

3)     Constitution

4)     Character Matters and Bullying – potential to combine the two clubs/groups – and to have a presentation to council (date?)

 

1) Outstanding from September meeting

 

2) Outstanding from September meeting

3) Outstanding from the January council meeting – the council will customize it to Markville SS

4) Outstanding from the January council meeting

 

 

 

Next Meeting:   Wednesday February 6th, 2008  7:15 p.m. – 8:45 p.m.  School Library

LINKS:

School’s Website:  http://www.markville.ss.yrdsb.edu.on.ca/

York Region District School Board, School Councils Home Page: http://www.yrdsb.edu.on.ca/page.cfm?id=SSC000001

Markville Secondary School Board Trustee:  Elizabeth Richardson
Email: elizabath.richardson@yrdsb.edu.on.ca