Minutes December 15, 2016

LPCI School Council Meeting

24 Attendees: Attendees: M. Schummer, I. Kovalev, S. Kopyto, G. Wyett, LKA Gray, Vicky Branco, Lillian Jovanovic, Ruth Kelly, E. Boone, L Hanson, Daina Kahins, S. Layton, J. Jaffary, J. Sole, D. Burgeron, S. Paetkau, M. Abbey, N. Abbey, Z. DaCosta, J. Wilber, J. Bai, V. Becic, J. Hugate

Agenda Approval – Gillian, Second Lisa

Student Council Update – Maya and Jenna

  • Charity Week – Raised money for Maddie Project and had an assembly
    • LPAC – Student teacher dodge ball game and raised money
    • Have home form reps, 36 of the home form reps participated (of 40)
    • Made second highest amount for Charity week than they’ve ever had
  • Buddy parent day
  • Football game last week – had 3 full buses to take students to the game. Parents that where on the team in 1986 also showed up. LPCI beat Northern. First time in 35 years that LPCI played in the finals.
  • Raised money for aboriginal group. Wrapped up last week. Winning class of raising money won a 6 foot sub, it was a grade 9 class that won
  • Deca = business competition. Sports management/other and half of the kids that participated made it to provincials.
  • Volunteer club – Students can get involved at John Ross and tutor and get volunteer hours
  • Me to We – Change for Change coming up. Going to all form classes and asking for change. Change will go to a school in Africa and supply one student with full education.
  • Winter Musicale – Dec 15th – Directed by Mr. Brown. All music ensembles. Special guest – violinist that used to go to the school.
  • Speech Assembly – Take kids that have the best speeches (3 per grade) and perform in front of whole school and they win a scholarship/bonus. And for second half have to do impromptu speech.
  • Intermural coming up – chance to make own sports team. Basketball just finished. Hockey starting soon.
  • Sports
    • Basketball – will now have junior boys team, but will just play exhibition games
    • Senior Basketball – Doing well
    • Ski team – do dryland training
    • Curling team – doing well.
  • Toy drive coming up at the school for Christmas. Gives toys for teenagers. Trying to drive awareness raised.
  • Equity committee started at the school. Went to leadership conference, and learned about different phobias and how to share at the school.
  • Matchmakers – coming up on February around Valentine’s day. Fill out survey and come up with people that have similar interests to you.

Erika Boone and Michele Co-Chair Update

  • Erika’s first official meeting as co-chair
  • Teacher appreciation breakfast – coming up before the holidays
    • Request $250 to buy the food and won’t be looking for a lot of volunteers.
    • Mitch Abby passed, Jennifer Wilmer Second
  • $7500 to date raised.
    • Seems low to date for school.
    • Expect money to be transferred from other fund from previous year. So closer to $12,000
  • Michele and Erika have met with Lillian to understand how to use the funds.
    • Lillian has met with assistant curriculum leaders and figure out where biggest gaps are and where we can make the biggest contribution.
    • Expect to go into the classrooms.
    • Next meeting will share where the funds are going towards.

Principal Update – Lillian

  • Remembrance Day, congrats to drama students that did a great job
    • 94 year old previous student
  • Model UN participation
  • Leadership camp – students going then come back and teach
    • Student council have to attend at least 3 workshops
    • Kevin Lau looks after who gos
  • Organization Police meeting – Staff sergeant suggested to come and talk to parent council.
    • He will be here in January
  • One more presentation last week Victoria, school psychologist on mental health and awareness with emphasis on anxiety. Need stress reduction for teacher and students and shared with how to deal with it and how to help students, especially before report cards. 2 weeks prior to report cards is high anxiety. Offered to come talk to parents February or March.
  • Math competitions going on – Number of them, grade 9 to 12.
  • Course proposal – DDT in French and will be on course selection sheet and full year calculus, and grade 12 leadership in French
  • Model UN – LPCI is more active this year than prior years. Kevin Lau attended first conference this year and performed. One student got distinction of best candidate which has never happened. UN will be moving to another competition next Friday.
    • How to kids join? Club kids can join.
  • Winter Musicale – Will include silent auction in drama room. 5:45 starts, and finishes at end of intermission.

Vicky Branco – New Superintendent

  • Was Super in former org of East Region 11 and East York. Currently super of half of this ward 8, and other half of ward 6
  • Been in education 25 years. She has 26 and 22 year old sons.
  • Leads as a parent first, and if she feels what’s happening she wouldn’t like, she wants to help make it better.
  • She’s was a teacher, and principal prior.
  • This is a great school. Different rumors out there. There have been a lot of calls recently of issues. She’s been in a number of communities and it’s impressive to see the list of things happening in the school and kudos to the staff and the parents.
  • She thinks is really a partnership with the parents. We have a right to be informed. She’s a very transparent leader. She answers whatever she can, or tries to find the answer. If answer is no, she’ll explain why it’s no.
  • She’s new to this school as a super and the feeder schools.
  • Board Level activity
    • In a transition. Dr. Malloy is new Director, and holds webinars. Bright leader, and reorg’d the board to learning centre. We’re learning centre 1 and network 4. Used to be in North, West, and his goal is to bring resources to schools.
    • In past was super intendants, engagement and collaboration. She believes in having voices at the table.
    • As a parent she asked tough but fair questions. So she gets it. Her son did get expelled from a school. Brilliant kid, quit university, at 26 grew up and going to law school, good news path. Path to college helped him get the path to be a lawyer.
    • She brings it to the table as new Director wants to bring resources closer to the school. Revisit what we’re doing in the classrooms. A lot of anxiety in the classrooms and she thinks it’s important to see what’s going on in the classroom – of who’s learning, who’s not learning and why they aren’t learning. Thinks we need to look deeper at what’s happening at the school.. There will be a huge secondary review in all the schools and paths and boundaries.
    • Looking at resources and coaches.
    • Vision of Learning is online. It’s a guide they’re all doing. Equity, wellbeing, and within that the competencies. Recommends to download – very hands on learning. Need to empower the kids to love what they’re doing and how to collaborate and problem solve.

Questions for Vicky

  1. Where have you been? (positive comment from teacher).
    1. Working with inner city schools.
    2. Comments when high achieving schools get 92-98% EQAO Achievement schools get in a rhythm on how they teach. So hard to do better. Tough question, and need to look at other things than the mark.
    3. Focusing on how to help avoid kids feeling like they don’t belong. Pressure out there is different than when we went to school.
    4. We need to get better at what’s causing stress and how to teach differently without the stress. And parents need to look at how they’re handling it and how they can help themselves.
  2. With new administration, impressed with open transparencies. Is there a risk that everything is 4 year plan vs 6 months projects.
    1. She was at a meeting today that they were breaking it down to know by June if they are on track. E.g. know that all kids are reading by grade 1.
    2. Issue for them is it’s safe to say 3- 5 years as safe to say as change doesn’t happen for 3 – 5 years, but want to make small chunk changes.
    3. Her task in this school is to figure out how to not get us to take the kids to private.
  3. Why an English test are there multiple choice questions
    1. Because EQAO does have some multiple choice questions. EQAO has open ended questions, essay questions, different formats.
    2. Feels need to revisit textbooks as they don’t align to EQAO textbooks.
  4. Are they not tools to teach the tools to get the task done.
    1. Agrees they’re all tools. She believes spelling should be done. She feels kids are spending a lot of time writing out words.
    2. Math issues we’re having right now are open ended questions that kids need to read and understand it before can figure it out.
    3. She models for VP and Principal and they then model to staff
  5. Universities are asking lawyers, pharmacists.. to take English .. she wants to understand more about grade 12 vs English in university. Creative part trained well. Is there something long term to help each child with long term to build the foundation.
    1. Need to figure out what type of learners we have today and figure out what the code is to balance the pressures, social media, high expectations and competitions.

Talk to the home form teachers to deal with basic concerns, then guidance, then top level will get support from the board.