École John English SAC

Respect yourself. Respect others. Respect the community.

John English SAC Meeting Minutes April 8, 2021

  This virtual meeting was held online via Google meet.

Welcome 7:03 – 7:05

Welcome to the meeting by Jennifer Zakrzewski

  • Acknowledgement that this year has not presented a lot of opportunities to complete our regular annual business, but we are thankful for these meetings
  • Reminder that the SAC is here to support admin/parents/teachers/community members
  • Any Additional agenda items?
    • None added at this time
  • Plan to have one additional SAC meeting before end of year (booked for Thurs May 27)

Principal’s Report 7:05 – 7:23

  • Acknowledged that school staff, teachers and administrators feel very supported by SAC and thankful for collaboration between the school and families
  • Pivot to online:
    • M. Gélinas has received emails from parents about the overall positive pivot with minimal downtime
    • Teachers have worked hard to be able to switch from in person to online
    • We now know who to provide technology with, and have worked hard to get devices to them quickly
  • HEPA filters
    • We have received filters for every room that is occupied by 
    • This is a board program for all schools
  • Playground
    • Committee met, with input from parents, staff, students
    • Milestones were sent into the board
      • Next step: the board will present the ‘ask’ to the vendors
      • Following that: we will get proposals which the committee will evaluate
  • Construction/renovation plans for the school
    • June 14, 165 windows will be replaced in the Mimico portion of the building (the newest part of the building) as a board-led project. 
    • These windows will be similar to what we have.  Room 224 currently has one as a showcase for the school community to see.
    • Question: will this project continue with a result of the Stay-At-Home order? 
      • Not sure at this moment, but they are following strict COVID guidelines
      • Will start with rooms that are not occupied, so it should not have a large impact to instruction and will limit interaction with students
    • The floor in Gym 3 is being resurfaced with a vinyl covering (heavy duty, should be good with tables for lunches on)
      • Named: ‘Pulastic Classic 90, by Robbins
      • Teachers are designing the lines for this space
    • Our Head Caretaker brought forward a safety inspection was done in the auditorium (this was completed several years ago)
      • The issues this brought up will be addressed to ensure they are resolved
      • Several items on the list have already been dealt with by existing caretaking staff. Examples: emergency door not clear, locks to be fixed, etc. 
    • Can it be done internally? 
      • Caretakers can complete some of this work, which is why some are already done, otherwise work orders will be initiated (example: metal work or carpentry)
      • Some costs could be covered by the caretaking budget, some may be needed to come from school, but nothing from this list has been assigned to school yet 
    • Field may be done by this summer as well.
    • School will be used for summer school as it has been in the past.
  • 2021-22 Staffing Model presented: 
    • Projected at 815 students (this would be approximately 100 more than right now, and about 100 less than in the past) 
    • This would result in 43 teachers (15 in English/18 in FI the rest in prep coverage including music, HPE, drama/dance, 0.5 librarian and resource for ELL) 
    • 3 positions are also devoted to Spec Ed
    • Next step: teachers create a ‘wish list’ of teaching assignments for next year 
      • Priority for these decisions is:
        • Students (both academic and social needs)
        • Every grade level has at least 2 possibilities to allow classes to be built that are fair and equitable
        • Teacher strengths as well
        • Cautious about possible realignment (if virtual school is going to exist next year) depending on ministry guidelines and class sizes
      • QUESTION: are classes capped? 
        • 1-3 is capped at 20 (with a 10% leeway Board wide) 
        • Junior grades work on board averages ~27-28 – Board wide
      • QUESTION:
        • How is the librarian allotment decided? 
          • This is at a board level, all TDSB schools have 0.5 (except for 2-3)
        • Librarian role requires an additional qualification of the person in that position
        • Hoping it will be a teacher-librarian
        • Partners In Action approach has allowed greater depth of collaboration between the librarian and classroom teachers
      • The rest of the assignment distribution an allotment to ensure teachers all get planning coverage as required.

Vice-Principal’s Report 7:23 – 7:26

  • Library 
    • Some funding has come to the library and some resource material has been purchased
      • This is a combination of board/school/ministry funding 
      • 2 teachers attended a virtual library fair today to make purchases for the library
      • The focus of these purchases is to increase diversity of our library holdings
  • Student council
    • Students put together a full school BINGO game that focussed on character traits, several TDSB cultural heritage months as well as wellness 
      • Classes worked together to complete their BINGO cards and posted them in the hallway for others to see
    • We are now in the middle of Spirit Week
      • Themes were selected that everyone who wanted, could participate, removing as many barriers as possible
    • The students are now brainstorming ideas for May for an activity 

Teacher’s Report from Mme Smith 7:26 – 7:30

  • Today was crazy class photo and class is working on the jigsaw
    • The kids who are helping to organize this really do take it seriously and they are doing a great job as leaders
  • Acknowledge that kids are also working hard and quickly got back into the rhythm of remote learning
    • Kids are always helping teachers and each other with technology issues
  • This week the 6-7-8s attended a virtual spoken word presentation with Britta B
    • Got students excited about the creativity that comes with the spoken word
    • A message from the presentation that resonated: “One hour of reading is an hour of learning how to write” 
    • students were excited and engaged with what she had to share
  • Last time we chatted we spoke about a book that is being compiled for Mr. Howe
    • Deadline is not yet certain, but you can email a page to Mme D’Sa who is collecting them Monique.dsa@tdsb.on.ca 
    • Plan remains to present it to him in the summer

Board Business                                                                                 7:33–8:13

Programs

  • No active programs at this time.  
    • Virtual field trips: a few teachers have—one has come to SAC so far
    • Note from M. Gélinas that divisions also had a sum of money to spend and may have field trips in that budget so it may not all go through SAC’s offer to support

Fundraising

  • New: SAC/Student Council Kahoot Game (online) to support playground development
    • What is this? A fundraising opportunity specifically toward the playground initiative 
    • This would allow us to start to fund some upgrades to the base models
    • Would be targeting the student population but also at parents
    • Could include 3 diff age groups (K-3, 4-8, parents) with generational content that would be targeted to that group
    • How would this raise money? 
      • Voluntary contribution through SchoolCashOnline 
      • Contribution level does not impact participation at all
    • Would be fun to offer prizes (gift cards to local businesses) 
      • 1 prize to the top three of each game
      • Hope to also offer 3 door prizes for people who participate 
    • Idea to involve the student council to build the questions
    • Note that we would have to purchase a paid plan to Kahoot 
      • The packages have a lot of cool features that could be handy for the school overall including for classes
      • The subscription would be $100 for a one-year plan
    • If this is successful, the SAC could potentially run this as a regular school engagement event 

Other Business

  • Grade 8 grad committee
  • There are several parents interested in seeing something happen this year
  • At a minimum, parents would like photos and hope for a socially distanced grad event
    • Parents are eager to help, ensuring that it meets covid protocols 
  • Liz is helping to organize grad hoodies
  • M. Gélinas: There was a grad committee meeting today
  • Spoke about hoodies and the photographer
  • TDSB cannot officially book the photographer until Toronto is in the Red Zone
  • The photography company will show teachers/students how the use yearbook software to allow students to get some kind of yearbook to document their time at JEJMS
  • If we cannot get photos, kids can get photos with a gowned filter, at the very least
  • Did photographer supply the gowns and caps/coloured sashes? 
    • Yes, the past they did
  • Teachers were talking about a virtual ceremony as well, with classes/valedictorians/awards, etc. 
    • There is a goal to at least recreate a similar event to last year if we are not able to do more
  • Budget for the grad items: 
    • In the past hoodies were paid for by parents while composite photo, yearbook, dinner and dance was supported by the school
    • Last year hoodies were paid for by the school
      • If there is grad money in the budget that would have historically supported other celebrations, maybe this could be shifted to support grad hoodies instead? 
      • Does it set a precedent? 
        • If the school supported other celebrations, this doesn’t seem to be a new tradition
        • Would use most of the budget per person ($50)
  • Call for a Treasurer that is needed for next year and beyond
    • We have been very lucky to have Liz in this role and are grateful for the work she has done on behalf of the SAC. 
    • She is offering to support the incoming Treasurer next year
    • This role needs to be filled to allow board business to continue
    • If you are interested, please email sacinfo@johnenglish.ca 
  • SAC’s Contribution to Mr. Howe’s Thank You book
    • Jen spoke to Mme D’Sa and will arrange for our contribution to be in the book
    • Want to be sure that Mr. Howe’s award is covered in the book
    • If anyone wants to contribute, please do think about it, everyone is welcome to participate in this project
  • Playground Revitalization Steering Committee – welcoming others to help! If you would like to participate, please email sacinfo@johnenglish.ca

Meeting Ends 8:13

Final SAC Meeting of this school year: May 27 @ 7:00 pm

Ward 3 School Trustee: Patrick Nunziata can be reached at Patrick.Nunziata@tdsb.on.ca or 416 996 5572, sign up for e-newsletter at www.tdsb.on.ca/ward3/Ward3.aspx or follow him on Twitter @NunziataPatrick