École John English SAC

This virtual meeting was held online via Google meet.

Welcome

Called to order 7:03 7:00 – 7:04
Introductions

• Jennifer Zakrzewski introduced the meeting, added that virtual meetings make introductions difficult so meeting continued.

Additional agenda items

• agenda shared in meeting chat 
• no additional items added

Principal Report 7:04 – 7:36

MR HOWE: 

• School photography: he had reached out to a photographer who is ready to take school photos, but the TDSB has limited who is allowed in the building and no photographers are being permitted in schools at the moment
• Meet the teacher: did not have a virtual meet the teacher, but he did speak with teachers about sharing classroom info/curriculum expectations/class contacts
  • Different teachers are approaching this differently (emailed slideshow, virtual meeting, BrightSpace updates)
  • If you have not heard from your teacher and would like to, reach out to them.
  • At the time we were also pretty close to the parent interview night so that can also provide insight to families
• Recognition of Diwali and sending good wishes to those families for a safe celebration
• Kiss and Ride volunteers are appreciated, and staff have spent some time at the Central St. dead end encouraging people to use the Kiss and Ride instead. Note: The Kiss and

Ride goes through the school’s parking lot – cars enter one driveway, children exit the

car (with volunteer/teacher near car & school door), and then the children walk through the building and into the school yard. Cars then exit out the second driveway.

• School lunchtime supervisor Ms Missetta has retired after 20 years of service in our school—and she will be missed!

• Update on COVID at JEJMS

• 2 classes are home (grade 7 and 7/8) due back next week
• if a student tests positive, TPH determines which classes are impacted.
  • if a student is at school 2 days prior to symptoms or testing positive, then classes are impacted
  • board procedures encourage a very cautious approach so the school does not wait for TPH before sending classes home. Those classes will then receive direction from TPH.
  • If a student was not at school in the 48 hours before symptoms or testing positive, there would not be a class sent home. (ex: at school on Friday, symptoms show on Monday but they are absent from school, their positive test would not result in a class being impacted).
• TPH nurse is willing to do a virtual meeting with families to provide some information about COVID and school communities.
  • Suggestion that we partner with area schools under the same nurse portfolio to get a wider area involved and higher turnout.
  • Suggestion to submit questions for the nurse ahead of time to be sure the information shared is valuable to families.
• There is some confusion with class isolation protocols and with sibling requirements
  • Mr Howe clarified that the close contacts of a confirmed case are to isolate, and there is attempt to be made to clarify these roles in the school communications to be sure the right people are isolating.

• TDSB Health Pass: 
  • There is a feeling that the value of the forms is being watered down with a daily signing—would rather have a one-time blanket waiver instead of doing it daily. Has this been discussed?
  • The idea was to get people into an awareness that they need to be diligent for symptoms before coming to school. The school has seen people following health protocols and not attending when they are unwell.
  • Also note that this is a TDSB/TPH decision, not school level.
  • Interesting to add older kids have a higher app uptake, but concern that they are clicking through the screening questions. 
  • we may be getting to the point where everyone knows that if you have any symptoms you should not come to school, which is what we want.

• When families are in isolation (not entire classes) teachers are working hard trying to keep students engaged. Note that this is easier for older grades than for younger ones, as more school work is online as you get older. 
  • If you are having difficulty or concerns about this, please reach out to the teacher.

• Progress reports:
  • Progress reports will go home on November 17 they will come home likely as paper forms 
  • The TDSB is starting to look at ways to send them home electronically 
  • Until we hear otherwise, the school is preparing to send them home as paper forms. This may change with upcoming reports.
  • Bottom line: you will get progress reports for your kids though they might look a little different than usual, especially with the increase of absences because of our current situation.
  • Based upon what admin have seen, teachers have done a great job trying to capture where students are in their individual learning.

• Parent Teacher Interviews:
  • This is a good time to pose questions to teachers
  • The link should be open now for people to register for interviews
  • Interviews are offered either by phone or virtually, advantage of phone is that it is harder to ignore/forget your phone ringing vs showing up for a google meet link.
  • They will be 10 mins long, but if you find you have more to talk about, please ask the teacher to schedule another meeting. If you are late to your appointment, it may need to be rescheduled to respect existing schedule.
  • The link to sign up will be sent this Friday in the Weekly Update (November 13)

• Computers:
  • a number of computers were reassigned in the spring (120 of them, 40-50 ipads)
  • TDSB said they would replace, then said we would get 18% replaced so we got 27 
  • We now have 10-15 computers in each class
  • The iPads just arrived, and will be out in Kinder to grade 2 classes right away
  • Can SAC do anything to support more access through communication with our TDSB representatives
  • The TDSB has heard it from many sources, and just don’t have the money to purchase
  • Historically we have not used SAC money to purchase computers, so it doesn’t become a SAC issue.
  • The school has just received word that an additional 77 computers are being provided to the school so class allocations should increase.

• LOCKERS
  • Initially we weren’t using lockers this year following TDSB protocols.
  • About 3 weeks ago, the school got permission to use them for boots/coats
  • Staff are developing routines to distance while using them for boots and coats which might look different for different classes, but a common goal of maintaining distance.
  • The positive is that kids won’t need to sit inside class with boots and wet coats at their desks through the winter.

• CCAT
  • This is the time of year that is typically given to all kids in grade 3 in the board
  • The TDSB is hoping to be able to deliver this still , but is trying to figure out how to do this with virtual school kids as well. 
  • More information will hopefully come out on this.

• French Immersion
  • The application for French Immersion for the 2021-22  school year is open with a deadline of Nov 27.

Teacher’s Report 7:36 – 7:43

MME SMITH

• Remembrance Day Ceremony
  • Students worked hard to contribute to a virtual Remembrance Day ceremony that was broadcast to all classes. Students seemed to be very touched by it. 
  • Each class worked on beautiful wreaths that were displayed on classroom doors.

• A note on the Health Pass Forms: for teachers these forms are a reminder that are all on the same page about taking care of the kids and the school community. 
  • This year we need to partner with our parents and teachers more than ever to make sure everyone is safe. 
  • Each of the protocols we follow are so important to try our best to limit spread
  • Teachers, staff and students feel safe in the school because we are following the protocols together.

• In the classrooms, we miss having the kids work more together—we are keeping social distance in the classroom, which limits group work so much. But it is so valuable to have them in the classroom, and teachers see that every day.
  • Feels like we are doing the best we can with the situation, and the students are adapting so well to following routines in the school and yard.

• A note that two photo radars near the school on Mimico Ave, another at Stanley Ave and Elizabeth St. 
  • A reminder that the speed limit along Mimico is 30 km/hr.

Vice Principal’s Report 7:43-7:50

MS KENNY 

• A thank you to those who dropped off disposable masks we are in good supply
• This year the book fair will take place virtually
  • Will run from Nov 27 through Dec 4
  • It has all of the same books and add-ons as a usual book fair. 
  • And it is essentially online shopping and the link will be sent out to families.
  • Scholastic will send directly to peoples homes and the school will still get a % of sales back
  • There is a shipping fee of $6 (flat rate) for orders under 35$ and the Wednesday evening will be the traditional ‘family night’ with free shipping. 
  • Looking into how to incorporate teacher wish lists as well for classrooms.
• Forest of reading is happening this year and the books will come soon, but the delivery of the program is still being determined. 

Board Business                                                                                 7:50 – 8:11

Programs

• No active programs at this time, no discussion held. 

Fundraising

• Active fundraisers include direction donation to the school via SchoolCashOnline, Indigo FlipGive and Mabel’s Labels. 
  • Request to include a piece about the direct donation in the Weekly Update in order to be able to capture the value of end of year donations
  • Request that consider an attachment to the Weekly Update to encourage FlipGive if people are doing their shopping at Indigo anyway.
    • Winnie to create a visual attachment to promote this, and the school will include in a Weekly Update.

Treasurer’s Report

• No changes from September 2020.  No discussion. Current budget was posted in the

meeting chat.

Other Business 

• School Statement of Needs (SSON) 
  • This document outlines the main priorities of the parent/community for our specific school.  If anyone would like to contribute to the document, please contact sacinfo@johnenglish.ca before November 24, 2020.
  • Any contribution from families would be very welcome and helpful.

• FREE virtual conference – November 21 & 22 – hosted by Parent Involvement Advisory Committee (PIAC) – their 14th annual parent conference – Ready. Set. Engage! Navigating the School Year Together – in partnership with the TDSB.  Details available here.
  • A reminder that this conference is available for all TDSB families. Please see their website for more information.

USchool

• USchool is offering virtual sessions, with a couple of options:
  • New musicians: 
    • 8 free videos for people who are interested in beginning with Uke
    • This may require family support for brand new musicians.
  • Experienced players:
    • Wednesday after school classes available for experienced players
    • Melanie Doane is there and there are breakout classes too for specific interests
    • Available to anyone level 4 and up and you can sign up at Uschool.ca to register 

Additional Discussion:

• The number of people exiting the schoolyard with no mask on is concerning as the exits are narrow and there are a lot of people.

• People continuing to bring their dogs even after the reminder to refrain.
• Will add more signs for a visual cue. Students are reminded often by staff to keep masks on and distance.
• Mr Howe has seen increased mask compliance as the fall has gone on.
• Will investigate adding new more permanent signs

• Is there any plan for a virtual holiday performance of some type?
  • At this point, there is not.
  • It gets tricky with the performance and no singing. 

• Suggestion for “PPE raffle” – idea that people could win a prize for good PPE wearing. It would be a positive spin for proper modelling instead of always having consequences for improper use.

• Can the fence behind the Bunkie be moved—concern that kids climb it like a ladder. 

• This is a temporary fence from when the tree fell in that area.
• Mr Howe will look into it.

Next meeting:

January 28^th to be held virtually as well. 

Meeting Ends 8:11

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