School Council Minutes Sept. 2009

MINUTES – School Council Meeting St. Joseph’s High School September 15th, 2009 Sr. Clare Gallagher Library Attendees: Colin Slight, Brennan Trainor, Sue McSheffrey, Kelly Slight, Karina Dewar, Teresa and Chris Naismith, Carla Walters, Theresa Stroud, and Carolyn Hass. Special Guests: Heidi Robinson – Vice-Principal Dave Noble – ELC – E-Learning Contact Opening Prayer: Brennan Trainor led Council in prayer. Minutes: Minutes of the May 12th meeting were reviewed by members and approved by Colin Slight and seconded by Theresa Naismith. Guest Speaker: Dave Noble  Mr. Noble is the e-Learning contact for the board. He is setting up a Homework Help Web Site for math students grades 7 to 10. The site was piloted in Hamilton and Renfrew County Catholic District School Board was asked to pilot it this year. The launch date for the site is Sept. 13th. Students must register with Mr. Noble and then will be given a login and user name. Students can ask for math help Sundays to Thursdays from 5:30pm until 9:30 pm. It is free and anonymous. Questions are answered by a certified math teacher.  Mr. Noble will also be exposing the resources available on the OERB website.  Mr. Noble can be contacted at [email protected] Election of 2009-20010 School Council Executive Positions: B. Trainor  Brennan Trainor explained that three positions needed to be filled: the Chairperson, Vice-Chair and the Secretary.  Colin Slight agreed to let his name stand for the Chairperson position. All voted in favour.  Chris Naismith agreed to let his name stand for the Vice-Chair position. All voted in favour.  Carolyn Hass agreed to let her name stand for the position of secretary. All voted in favour.  Sue McSheffrey agreed to let her name stand for the community representative position. All voted in favour. Student Council Report: Kelly Slight (Prime minister for 2009-2010)

Student Council Report for School Council Tuesday, September 15th, 2009 •

First meeting with all the executive members of the student council: Mrs. Hamel, Audrey McMann and Lily Freemark (Spirit Ministers), Victoria Slight (Public Relations Minister), Natalie Walters (Athletics Minister), Miles Rowat (Financial Minister). Environmental ministers, financial minister, spiritual minister, and secretary yet to be decided.

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This week each homeroom had elections for homeroom representatives. First meeting with homeroom reps. will be on Thursday, September 17th. Spirit week has been scheduled for October 5-9 followed by a dance on the night of the 9th. Doctor Eva Olsson, a holocaust survivor came to talk to the school – good start to the anti-bullying plan for the year. Financially in good standing at the end of last year – want to use some of the money for a good cause – something that has an impact on many of the students/teachers.

Correspondence: B. Trainor  Brennan shared the H1N1 Plan from the Board. He also mentioned that council should check the SJHS website as Mr. Jones does an excellent job updating the site and highlighting all of the news from the school.  Ministry of Education: applications are now being accepted for Parents Reaching Out Grants.  Letter from the Director of Education, Michele Arbour, concerning the annual Thanksgiving food drive for the local food banks.  School Council Professional Development Evening Session. The session will take place on Thursday, Sept. 24th, 2009, from 5:45 pm to 8:00 pm. At St. James Parish Hall in Eganville. The guest speaker will be Mr. Greg McNally. Any person interested in attending should contact Brennan. Principal’s Report: Brennan Trainor Brennan Trainor prepared the following report: Principal’s Report

Principal’s Report School Council – September 15, 2009 1.

New Staff Members – September 2009 Mrs. Teresa Naismith and Mrs. Louise Neville have been recently transferred to St. Joe’s. We are very happy about this addition and we now have ten educational assistants to help meet the needs of our growing special education population. Mrs. Rene Turcotte had received a one year transfer to BSCHS while her husband served a tour of duty in Afghanistan. She has returned and continues to teach in our science department. Mrs. Shawna-Lee Enright and Ms. Amanda Kitts were hired as two half time secretaries. They are temporarily filling the position of Nancy Lance who is on leave, taking care of her husband, Bud, who is very ill. Ms. Heidi Robinson comes to us from St. Thomas the Apostle and John XXIII elementary schools. She will be taking over the position of vice principal while I hold down the fort for Mark.

2.

Emergency Preparedness We will hold a practice lock down on September 29, 2009 at 10:00. We will also schedule 3 fire drills for September to November.

3.

Orientation B.B.Q. We held an orientation B.B.Q. on August 27th. It was very well attended and many positive comments were received.

4. Smooth Start Despite many unexpected events we have had a very smooth start to the school year. Attendance is up and timetable conflicts were resolved very quickly. 5.

Interior Funds Our council has $7,500 available to spend as we see fit for this school year. I am hoping to discuss some possibilities for this money.

6.

Communication Mr. Steve Jones has volunteered to take over our school web page again and it is absolutely fantastic.

7.

Alternate School We have a new location for our Alternate School. It is located at 290 Veterans Memorial Blvd.

Review of School Council Priorities: Colin Slight  Faith Life:  The Grade 9 Net Retreat has been scheduled for Monday, October 5th, 2009.  A Thanksgiving mass will be held in the gym on Thursday, October 8th  K. Dewar mentioned that Father Joe MacLean is currently at St. John Chrysostom in Arnprior.  Natalie Walters and Kelly Slight have approached Father Proulx about starting a Youth Group on Sunday evenings at St. Francis Xavier Church.  Kevin McSheffrey, Bill Lunney, Don MacLeod and Jeff Retty will lead the music ministry at Our Lady of Fatima Parish every second Saturday evening.  Council also recommended adding Parish News to Mr. Jones’ awesome school website. 

Safe, Healthy, Environmentally Friendly School  The gym mat has arrived and needs to be put up on the wall in the gym.  Anti-Bullying Campaign – Chris Naismith and Sheila Sweet have agreed to sit on the committee. Kelly Slight will represent student council. Mr. Trainor received results from the survey and hot spots have been identified at St. Joe’s including racist comments, homophobic comments, and some students feel ostracized. Cheryl Spotswood will be coming to St. Joe’s to give a presentation to help train our senior students to facilitate healthy interactions in the school. The date for the first meeting will be set soon.

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Success for all Students  12 students are currently enrolled in the e-learning courses.  The EQAO results for the school were very good. Next Meeting: Tuesday, October 13th, 2009 at 7:00 pm.