École John English SAC

Thursday, November 25, 2021

Welcome 7:05 – 7:06

• Links to agenda and budget posted to meeting chat
• David: Introduced the SAC and his role as Co-Chair with Jen
• Any additional agenda Items? 
  • None at this time.

Principal/Vice Principal’s Report 7:06 – 7:35

• Lots of activities and learning happening
• Report cards have gone out.
  • We look forward to having families back into the schools to connect with teachers, but for now things must remain virtual. 
  • Question to families: How did the interview process go?
    • DF: the meetings went smoothly—both virtual and telephone meetings were meaningful and without any problems.
  • We have been using the online system for a few years to book appointments, families seem able to navigate it well and coordinating with multiple teachers appeared to work well
• We did a kick-off to our WITS program (Walk away Ignore Talk it out Seek help is an anti-bullying program that focusses on grades 1-4)
  • This program provides language for students to identify and use when they are having problems in the yard or class, and will provide them with skills and language as they grow 
  • The components for grades 4-5 have leadership portion to the program as well 
• Playground project
  • There has been a delay from the manufacturer (due to production issues) the playground equipment will be delayed
    • Was supposed to be delivered early Dec, now scheduled for Dec 22^nd 
    • This will be too late to be installed as the ground will likely be frozen
    • The TDSB is continuing construction of the in-house pieces like the lobster trap
      • These should be finished and useable before the spring though we do not have an exact date at this point 
      • When construction is complete, will then need to be inspected and cleared so that area can be used by students
  • Question: Some of the figure 8 was damaged will it be repaired? 
    • Will ask the project leads.
  • Question: The sand pit has been damaged as well, will it be restored to as it was before they arrived? 
    • Will ask the project leads.

• Question: will bunkies be accessible by teachers? 
  • Initially they were accessible, and there will hopefully be a way that they can be again. Because the whole construction site is cordoned off, we will have to see, or perhaps move the equipment. Will follow-up with the project leads.

• Safety: We sent info to grade 7 and 8 families about students going too far during lunch. 
  • Students are taking TTC to go to Starbucks, etc. 
  • Is it preferred that students stay within walking distance of the school during the school day. So far, the response has been quite good. 

• Social Media: Students are making some poor judgement in regard to social media use. With Ms. Gorman’s leadership there was an assembly with the impacted classes to provide additional education on appropriate use
  • A communication will go to parents 
  • This involved inappropriate language/photos of students and staff without permission
  • A reminder that as a school we work in cooperation with students/parent/admin and staff so we have a fulsome way of dealing with these kinds of issues. 

• Swipe cards are coming to the school
  • Will allow staff to access several doors of the building with swipe cards

• Professional learning
  • Staff are taking part in a book club
  • There was an initial a selection of 7 books for them to choose from
  • Open the door for some anti-oppression thinking, in the hopes of having a more inclusive and equitable environment to the school

• Budget: 
  • The school budget is available through the TDSB website
  • Our total budget is just over $136 000 
    • Much is allocated already
    • The TDSB has identified several priorities: 
      • Board-wide goal of grade 1 students reading at grade level
      • There is a budget supplement available for anti-oppression and anti-racism materials
      • Musical instruments rehabilitation
        • Covid means we cannot share instruments between students
        • We have a good library but need some repairs and cleaning
      • Technology and computer supplies
        • The school is slowly getting computers back after they went to central offices to be cleared for in-school use again
      • Grad/special events
        • There is a $5 000 allotment for this area

• Question: technology-at the beginning of the year there was a plan for students to have access to a device from grade 5-12, is this separate from this budget?
  • The TDSB 1:1 program is separate from the school budget. 
  • This will provide students in grade 5 at our school with access to a computer.
  • The board increased our computer numbers by 90 (the number of grade 5 students we have at JEJMS) and those have been distributed.

• Final comment: TPH has been in touch about hosting a vaccine confidence presentation, focused on 5-11 year olds, and is about 45 minutes long. Could we do this as a part of a meeting? Its own event? 
  • DF: Would be a great on event on its own. Have just watched one recently and it was really well done. Definitely worth it. 

• Question: Are we going to have our own vaccination clinic?
  • We have not been approached to host one at this point. 
  • Would happen after school, not during school hours. 

• Do we have any info about Rapid Testing kits going home at the holidays?
  • Nothing more has been shared yet.
  • We still have the saliva tests and the program has been well received, and are collected daily. 

• Question: is there more info about the saliva test kit?
  • We are part of a pilot project, and we were provided with a pretty good supply of tests. Allows you to do the testing at home, and the kits are collected daily for lab processing.

• Question: Healthy Bites
  • Equipment is ready to go, and safety inspection is ready to go.
  • Meeting with staff and volunteers and the plan is to launch in the new year. 
  • Request to send info to parents if/when we have information about the launch date to allow parents to decide if they want to participate and to register.
  • The snack program took off well, but the healthy bites program is a much more significant restart. 

• No VP report today.

Teacher’s Report 7:35 – 7:42

• Thanks to Luc and the admin team for investing in the instrumental music program. 
  • The itinerant teachers who come are amazing and the program will be great once the instruments are ready to be distributed

• Mme Smith has a student who has asked if it would be possible to collect items to donate to Youth Without Shelter in North Etobicoke. 
  • New clothing items and food as well
  • Asking for donations from the school community
• A note from Mr. Poyser and Ms. Vashishtha who are organizing some extracurricular activities with grade 7 and 8 students 
  • Intramural sports which will take place at lunch and at this point will include: 
    • Co-ed volleyball and soccer
    • Grade 8 boy basketball will start with practice before and after school
  • A note that all provincial/local Covid protocols and policies will be followed

• At the staff meeting there was an initial discussion about potentially starting some clubs as well and we will share information about them should it become available.

• Question: are the clubs lunch/after school or both?
  • Intramural sports will be lunchtime activities 
  • Basketball boys will be before/after
  • Hoping to get to the younger grades, but are integrating the process slowly as well

• Question: does this mean external programs like art in action will be coming back?
  • That would be covered by the visitors’ protocol, so it is not currently possible
  • The activities that might open up will be run by teachers/staff already in the building
  • And worth noting that extracurricular can happen but a student can only select one activity to limit potential spread. 
  • And we do respect cohorts still, and access to sports and clubs will follow cohorting requirements.

Board Business                                                                                 7:42 – 8:25

Treasurer’s Report

• No active spend requests at this time
• A few small updates to the budget 
  • Kahoot! Virtual trivia night raised $810
  • A small deposit came in from a legacy QSP fundraising program
  • A small amount coming out for classroom support as well
    • We should see more of this coming out as the year progresses.
  • Ultimately this brings our balance to $8 241 
• We are very limited in what we can do as fundraising events. 
  • Kahoot! coming up 

Fundraising 

• Tuesday Night Trivia Halloween Edition – October 26
  • Total participation was up from the event in May
    • early session had ~50 players
    • late session had ~75 players
  • total amount raised ~$810
  • Great feedback from participants.

• Next event coming up is Tuesday Night Trivia Holiday Edition – December 14
  • This will continue to be a virtual fundraiser using Kahoot! as the platform.
  • Registration will be offered via https://tdsb.schoolcashonline.com 
  • Question: do we need more questions for the trivia? 
    • The more help the merrier! The only caveat is that if you help, you cannot participate in the trivia game! Anyone who does not wish to participate, you are very welcome to help organize!
• Active fundraisers include:
• Direct Donation to John English via Cash Online
• Deadline for this is Dec 3^rd, a reminder email will go out for a final push for this next week. 
• Indigo FlipGive & Mabel’s Labels https://johnenglish.ca/fundraising/shop/

Other Business 

• School Council Grant Opportunity – School Council Anti-Oppression, Anti-Black Racism, Anti-Indigenous Application, grant for up to $1500.  
  • Application due by December 3, 2021.
  • Info is available at www.tdsb.on.ca/Community/How-to-Get-Involved/Parent-Reaching-Out-Grants/School-Council-Grants 
  • What this can be used for is speakers to come into the school (virtually) and give a presentation/talk about anti oppression and anti-racism 
  • The grant would go toward speaker fees
  • If you are interested in leading this project please reach out to sacinfo@johnenglish.ca or to the school and we can work with you to get this moving. 

• PIAC Parent Conference (virtual) November 27 & 28 – registration closes TONIGHT (Nov 25) 
  • This free event provides speakers, workshops & networking focused on bridging gaps in our schools in Mental Health, Parent Engagement, and School Councils www.torontopiac.com/piac-conference 
  • People always come back and comment on the quality of learning that they get at this conference 

Next Meetings for 2022: January 20, February 24, April 21 & May 26

Meeting Ends 7:54