Sir Ernest MacMillan School Council 2019-2020
February 3, 2020 – 6:30 p.m. to 7:45 p.m.
Present: Chris Row (Principal) Andrea Howard (Staff)
*Sharon Kearney *Jenna Burnham
*Karmyn Bokma Diane Leclerc
*Gail Blakeley *Rosanne Kendall
*Ann Morgan *Douglas Emerson
*Voting member
Council Goal
To help bring the community together to support a small school and improve the student experience, creating a positive learning environment where kids want to excel and where they find reward and fulfillment, and where families feel they are part of a positive culture.
Chris welcomed everyone.
Treasurer’s Report
Ann reported that we have $6,244.52 of spendable money in the bank. (It was $4,744, but it turns out that the $1,500 we had set aside to pay for team uniforms ended up getting paid out of school funds instead, so that extra $1,500 is still spendable.) We've made $6,740 on pizza so far this year (that includes term 2 orders, but those orders haven’t closed yet, so the final number may be higher). The movie night made about $40.
Principal’s Report
Chris began his report by taking the group to see the new soft-sprung gym floor (which includes new lines for all the different games they play in gym class, plus the school logo in the middle). We also got to see the new sensory room, which is becoming very popular with many of the students. It helps with pre-test anxiety, ASD sensory stimulation, calming down after meltdowns.
Chris gave an update on the big Learning Commons project: the school board has agreed to pay for a new floor in the library. They will rip up the old carpet and replace it with soft laminate-style flooring, hopefully over March Break.
Chris commented that term 1 report cards have been cancelled, but reminded everyone that as a parent, you always have the right to ask your children's teachers how they're doing.
With regards to the PRO grant: we've been given $500. It’s been decided that we will use that money to have someone come in and teach parents how their kids are learning math nowadays (manipulatives, etc. – different from when we were in school).
Movie Night
Chris recommended that we consider having another movie night to support a sense of community togetherness. Frozen 2 is coming out on DVD on February 25. After discussion, it was agreed that we will have a movie night on Friday, February 28. Sharon won't be here that night, but will still serve as point person for the event. Jenna offered to help.
NOTE: last time the pre-order page said “large” pizza, but what came were mediums. So we need to work with Little Caesars to either drop the price and say they're mediums, or arrange to get actual larges. Most families would prefer a large. Sharon will talk to Little Caesars about it.
Chris will ask Lana to set the movie night pre-orders up on Cashless, and will mention the movie night in the Mustang Messenger. Council needs to put up posters. Ann will order the pizzas – she will get the pre-order numbers from Lana so she knows how many pizzas to order.
Spring Fling
This year’s Fling is being held on Tuesday, June 9. What are we going to do this year? Bouncy castles and cake walk for sure. No book sale. Should we have a photo booth?
Chris suggested we look into hiring Professor Jamz, a DJ who does the grad parties for the school Also does magic tricks etc. We could have a dance floor instead of a photo booth. After discussion, it was agreed that we should look into this further. Chris will contact Prof. Jamz.
Rosanne commented that the colouring station (wooden shapes) was the most popular craft after the holiday concert. It was agreed that we could do it again at the Spring Fling. Rosanne will bring the markers left over from the holiday concert, and buy about $25 worth of wooden shapes from Tahl Craft Warehouse.
Chris proposed that council pay for the bouncy castles again this year, to level the socioeconomic playing field for all the students. Everyone agreed.
With regards to food at the Fling: Chris suggested we look into asking Harvey’s to come. They bring their own BBQs, sell the combos, do everything. Jenna will call Harvey’s to liaise with them. She will find out about prices, whether drinks are included in their combos, etc.
There was discussion about whether to have a basket auction this year. It’s always a big hit, but a bit complicated to pull together. Also, in previous years, it's been hard to get enough stuff brought in to fill all the baskets. It was proposed that we have fewer themes this year, and then we can combine whatever stuff we do get into fewer baskets. (But the kindergarten classes bring in lots of stuff, so we can still have them do one basket per class.) We agreed to finalize basket plans at the April meeting.
Should we offer space to vendors at the Fling? Let's finalize that at the April meeting.
Karmyn will contact Niagara Inflatables. Douglas moved that we set aside up to $3,000 of Council money to cover the cost of the inflatables. Ann seconded. Motion carried.
Should we have an ice cream truck? There’s a local lady who came to the Fling 2 years ago. Rosanne will contact her via Facebook. She could park her truck from 4-7 p.m. and just sell ice cream. Apparently she made a donation 2 years ago as a thank-you for inviting her.
New Business
Douglas returned to a comment Chris had made earlier in the evening, to the effect that we have more kids in the school who need support this year (socioeconomic disparity). Douglas asked whether this was something Council should be looking at providing additional tangible assistance with. Chris replied that the school has just received a Halton Learning Foundation grant in the amount of $5,000, which will go toward the library, phys. ed, literacy, music, etc. As a result, Chris feels the school is currently doing okay in terms of being able to support students.
Grad photos are coming in March. The date has been booked. Chris will put the info in the next Messenger.
On the topic of photos, Rosanne mentioned that the class photos this year were pretty low quality (imperfect Photoshopping of background). Chris commented that he hadn't heard any other complaints, but would keep it in mind for the future.
Karmyn moved to approve the minutes of the November meeting as written. Ann seconded. Motion carried.
Rosanne moved to adjourn the meeting. Diane seconded. Motion carried, meeting adjourned at 7:45 p.m.