September Parent Council Meeting Minutes: September 12, 2013

Present: Mary, Cindy, Jan, Sandy, Nancy M., Mark, Linda, Nancy S, Nana, Adam, Bobbie, Cathy

Regrets: None

• Sandy Zidner called meeting to order at 7:11 p.m. and a quorum was in attendance.
• Minutes from the last meeting – June 5, 2013 were adopted and approved by all committee members.
• Financials reviewed and approved.  In the last minutes we agreed to contribute 50% to the capital campaign.  Cheque to be presented at BBQ.  Adam to advise student council to purchase one BBQ. 
• Roundtable discussion

• Dr. Shirley Bryntwick, our school psychologist, has taken over the admissions department so Howard Bernstein is focusing more on growth of Chisholm Academy.  Adam will continue to focus on fundraising / fund development.
• Chisholm Academy took in 36 new students this fall 2013.
• Cathy Saytar: Chisholm is working on a Grade 12 transition plan for the students going to post-secondary institutions in the fall 2014. 
• Cindy: Dragon software isn’t working as well because students need to use Dragon software all the time to see the benefits. There are other options - Read and Write Gold. 
• Microscience Centre offers books on DVD and computer version.
• Adam: Chisholm is having compatibility problems with Smart Sync.  They are dealing with this issue as it’s becoming a critical problem for the school.
• Jan: The Grade 12 students have four year old computers that are not working as well as they should, i.e. crashing crashing, not working, no access to the internet at times (especially at home) and with Smart Sync.  This leads to productivity problems for students when completing assignments. 
• Sandy would like to see what strategies have and have not worked on report cards instead of a repeat summary of ongoing problems/struggles.
• Strategies for IEP need to be documented for each student.  The purpose of the document would be to capture all the effective strategies for each student – this would be accessible by all teachers, and would be a living document with on-going comments as the child progresses through the grades and teachers
• Me to We – amazing agenda.  3 spots for teachers.  24 spots for students.  Three more spots available.  School supplying t-shirts. School will make t-shirts available for purchase
• Cindy to speak at parent/teacher BBQ – will ask for anybody who would like to join committee, fundraising event, education events, present cheque to Howard for capital fund.
• Need to have sub committees, fundraising, event planning, etc… – discuss at next meeting
• Parents requested that Rubrics be added to the new homework site.
• School trip update – grade 7 and 8 – to be discussed in the future.  Destination in Ontario or Quebec in May.  Grade 9 to 12 – Italy and Greece.  March 13 to March 23.  Fly into Florence, Rome, Athens, Delphi, cruise Greek islands.  Price includes airfare, accommodations, tours and some meals (breakfast and dinner).  $2,795 plus departure taxes ($640) plus insurance ($110) plus gratuity ($50).  Parent meeting on September 26. 
• Hosting education events for parents – Cindy to mention at BBQ.  Ask parents for ideas for topics.  Nutrition, physical activity related to learning disabilities. Crackerbarrel format with several tables of experts on different topics.  Send ideas to Nancy Stewart.
• YMCA Peace breakfast – on November 21, 2013 at Oakville Convention Centre.  The tickets for the event go on sale on Monday, September 16, 2013.  The tickets this year are $20.00 per student and $180.00 per table.  So the Chisholm Parent Council group decided to purchase two tables this year for the event and Cathy Saytar and Adam Bernstein will decide what teachers and students will attend this year.  Jan Nevins to book two tables and pre-pay for the tickets.  Jan to be reimbursed by Chisholm Parent Council bank account.
• New Student Clubs – everyone agreed that the new Chisholm Academy student clubs for 2013-2014 list was great.  Some new clubs were added, students had input into the new clubs.  Students and parents are thrilled about the new student clubs.
  Grade 12 students will be attending the university fair on October 3, 2013 and the college fair on October 22, 2013
• Cathy to check for student survey results from the event last year
• Next meetings – Wednesday October 9 (Chisholm), November 13 (Chisholm), December 11 (Jan’s).  All meetings start at 6:30 for food and 7:00 for the meeting.