1. CALL TO ORDER
Becky Belcher called the meeting to order at 6:00 on January 20 th , 2025.
David Hallet, Sarah Maki, Kathy West, Kim Peterson, Brain Andreasen, Krista
Shelley, Tania Stelle
Regrets: Shannon Collins and Sam Welch
Review and Approval of agenda and meeting minutes
2. NO STUDENT REPS
3. Principal Update from Tania Steele
Celebrations:
Staff and students are extremely thankful for the council’s generous purchase of white boards for
all students. The boards are being used every single day by all classrooms. They are very useful
especially during retrieval practice and to check for understanding. Safety net for those who may
not want to raise their hand. Good way to check on students.
Staffing:
Both Mrs Allison and Mr. Hodges are headed off on self funded personal leaves at the end of the
month, for the remainder of the year.
Interviews for Mrs Allison’s position are happening tomorrow night. This will give the new teacher
some time to come in and spend time with Mrs Allison to help with the transition.
Mrs Bound is returning from her leave and will take over for Mr. Hodges class. They have already
been bridging which should help the transition.
Programs/Events
The Directions team met to look at and analyse our data along with co-creating our School
Improvement Plan. Our focus this year is similar to last year.
For the ministry priority of ACHIEVEMENT OF LEARNING OUTCOMES AND OUR CORE
ACADEMIC SKILLS:
In literacy our focus is on reading fluency. In particular we will work on our rate as our data
shows that our accuracy is good. This means that educators will use researched based
strategies such as explicit systematic phonics instruction (primary) and morphology (junior
and intermediate). We will see partner reading, re-reading, small group instructions
(including targeted instruction to develop specific skills) in every classroom. We are so
thankful and appreciative of all the volunteers we see everyday supporting our efforts and
giving students additional opportunities to practise their reading with strategies such as re-
reading.
In Math: our focus is on building fundamental skills: in particular: working with numbers
(whole, decimal, fractions) and operational sense (addition, subtraction, multiplication and
division). We will see explicit instruction, small group targeted instruction, fact fluency
practice, retrieval practice (facts on fire) and using tools and representations in all
classrooms.
For the ministry priority PREPARATION OF STUDENTS FOR FUTURE SUCCESS
We continue to work in partnership with the high school, with cross divisional planning (not
only with the high school but at the school level), transition meetings, In School Team
Meetings (ISTMs). BMLSS came to visit with our grade 8 students this past Friday. We
continue to encourage our students to participate in provincial competitions (Gauss,
University of Waterloo Math test). Students have leadership opportunities. We have
community involvement with trade and pathways presentations.
For the ministry priority STUDENT ENGAGEMENT AND WELLBEING
We are focused on social emotional learning and self regulation . Our MHC held an anxiety
group, and she supports educators in mental health literacy modules. Mr Wolgemuth is our
MH Champion and shared strategies and learning through our staff meetings and PD days.
We are going to be monitoring our attendance rates.
Our current whole school attendance rate as of today is 66% of students have an
attendance rate of 90% or more.
We continue to reach out to provide support to families with chronic absenteeism to find
ways to help students come to school. We will continue to provide a welcoming
environment for all.
Last week was the TLDSB Math Fundamentals assessment window. Every student in every class was
assessed on their fundamentals specifically: working with numbers (whole, decimal, fractions) and
operational sense (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division).
We have our Mid-Year Assessment window happening now for grade 3s and 6s – This allows us to
adjust our plans to support our students' needs prior to EQAO.
This will be closely followed by a moderated marking window.
Looking ahead:
Kindergarten registration is open.
We have been invited to join a number of schools in the area to watch a Parent presentation by
Aubrey Noronha on January 28 from 6:45-7:45. Aubrey is a Safe Schools, Mental Health Anti-Racism
Speaker. He will also be coming to do 3 different presentations (tentative date set form the 27th of
February).
There is a PD day on January 31st.
Our Grade 8s are one week into their extended ski program. They went to the hill last Thursday and
will do so again for the following two Thursdays.
The basketball tournament that was cancelled before the winter break was rescheduled to this
Wednesday.
The Grade 8 trip to BMLSS that was canceled before the winter break was rescheduled for Feb
20th.
Our grade 2s are going skating in February
Our grade 3s are doing The Swim to Survive Program again this year
We have Science North here tomorrow and Wednesday doing different workshops with most
classes.
First term Report cards will be going home on February 14th.
Our grade 8 graduation has been booked for Tuesday June 24, 2025
4. District Meeting Recap- Krista
-The meeting on November 7th focused on attendance, with the director highlighting concerns
about increased anxiety and mental health issues among students aged 7-12. There is a desire to
provide more support for these students.
-TDLSB, along with 12 other school boards, is involved in a lawsuit against META.
-EQAO Results: Grade 3 students performed above provincial standards, while Grade 6 students
met the provincial level.
-The board has introduced coaching initiatives, where experienced teachers mentor others on
effective teaching strategies.
-There is extra funding available from the PEG Grant. Could this be used for the Aubrey
presentation?
-In 2023/24, over 2,000 teachers completed CPR training.
-TLAC Update: Enrollment has shifted to a lottery system to ensure students from all schools have
an equal opportunity to participate, fostering a fairer selection process. CITs have been selected,
and the second round of offers has been sent out.
5. Fundraising
-Financials: Both Sam and Shannon are away, so we need to table the actuals. We can revisit this at
the fundraising meeting next week.
-Krispy Kreme: We sold out! We likely made around $2.2K. We should sign up now to run it again
this year.
-Howler: This was our third year since COVID. Attendance was lower than previous years but still
decent. We had a surplus of pizza, but it was sold off at cost.
-Poinsettias: Sales went well, though we don’t have final numbers yet.
-Little Caesars: Still ongoing—waiting on final numbers.
-Pasta Dinner & Skate: The event was simple, ran smoothly, and had no food leftovers. However,
there was zero engagement with the silent auction.
-Upcoming Fundraising Meeting:
-Next Monday at 6:30 PM at Welch Offices on Manitoba.
6. Asks
-Could School Council help pay for Aubrey Noroha (anti racism speaker), $3k
-new chairs for the gym. Old ones are hard to store and are very old. Would like 200 stackable
chairs for under the stage. Cheapest found were ~$7k
-Will go back to teachers and inquire about further asks for the rest of the year.
7. Financials
N/A
8. Round the Table
– Meeting Time: Do we want to keep the new 6:00 PM start time for Council Meetings?
– Need to choose new dates for the Council Meeting
Feb 24
April 28
June TBA
National Family Literacy Day
– Before COVID, we opened the library and invited families to come in an hour before the second
bell to read, bring a book, and trade a book. Coffee and Timbits were provided.
-Plan to reinstate this tradition.
-Supervisors: Kathy, Avery, and Sarah.
9. ADJOURNMENT
Thank you to everyone for coming.
Meeting ended at 7:27pm
