November School Council Meeting

December 1, 2014

daVinci Alternative School

Minutes Parent Council Meeting

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Attendees: Lisa Hoff, Burgundy Code, Ted Vella, Joanne Blanchette, Beth Mills, Lisa Freeman, Kimberly Fry, Cheryl Hooper

Call to order: 7:10pm

Discussion of common issues with Lord Lansdowne PS

An update on 484 Spadina Avenue was provided by the Lord Lansdowne council

The issue of what will happen to this location has been discussed at school council meetings for last year
There are concerns about shadow increases, ice on school grounds, increased traffic as well as the overall size and general impact on the school
There is an application for the development currently at the OMB and Lord Lansdowne and daVinci have been registered as participants at the upcoming hearing since March of last year
Hearing is the week of November 24, 2014
A resolution has been drafted that needs to be passed by both councils to indicate support for our opposition
At the time, we were not sure which morning our presentation would be, but hopefully Thursday morning
It will be better if we can show solidarity
The City of Toronto is the major party that is opposed to the development
The TDSB is no longer opposed to the project and have accepted a $1million settlement in exchange for withdrawing their opposition
The settlement money could be used for the playground to mitigate the impact, however, the amount that would actually be received would most likely be less than the $1 million
The school community has concerns around the notion that the impact of the building could be lessened by money
The school community believes it is important that we continue to voice our concern and consolidate our thinking
There was a discussion reading the clauses of the resolution to make sure everyone was in agreement
Amy (from Lord Lansdowne) will stand up on our behalf and voice the resolution
The payment from the developer comes when the final decision is rendered
AT this time, the TDSB will not reveal details of the settlement
It is possible that the proposal will be defeated
If it does go ahead, we have another challenge to get the most amount of the money from the settlement as other fees will come out of the total settlement
The parent group can do things to assist with the process – write in letters, meet with the Trustee, contact media (create awareness), advocacy
Briony Glassco, Ausma Malik are two people we can write emails and letters to as well as the Minister of Education and our MPP
TDSB staff (not school staff) feel that the parent group had lots of notice to oppose the development and didn’t do anything
The real issue is that we were not privy to the terms of the settlement – it is secret and we didn’t get the benefit of consultation about the settlement.

It was decided that in order to ensure the resolution was legitimate, we should Move to Discuss the resolution, which was moved by Miriam Kramer (LL) and Seconded by Lisa Freeman (DV)

After the discussion, there was a Motion to Move by Sarah Warden (LL) and it was Seconded by Lisa Freement (DV)

The result of the vote was unanimous

Beth thanks all the work that the councils and staff parents did to put the OMB presentation together
Amy will represent both schools at the hearing

TDSB Ward 10 update

No update was available as the Ward representative was unable to attend

The meeting then broke off and continued on with a daVinci specific focus.

Approval of October 2014 minutes

The minutes are approved as written

Reports/Updates

Teacher’s Report (Kimberly Fry)

There has been a great focus on completing the lantern projects in each class
A real sense of cohesion with staff has developed
Staff is trying to work to get the EcoClub off the ground
A strategy for the club is being developed and then they will talk to parents to gain support
The staff are thinking about the impact of the new building on the outdoor education program and how things might change
Jolen is returning in mid-February from his paternity leave
Teachers are feeling supported from the parent community and as a whole, the interaction has been very respectful
Elizabeth Pasternak has been doing lots of work on Aboriginal and First Nations education
Their class was able to tour of the AGO with Bonnie Devine who has an installation there
The children were very engaged and focused
The Toronto Beekeepers were in to visit the grade 1-2 class and students have been writing letters to the Prime Minister to encourage a pesticide ban

Principal’s Report – Beth Mills

There has been a welcome population explosion – Jolen has had his twins and a teacher from Lord Lansdowne has also had a baby
A replacement for Joel has been worked out from a half time teacher at LL
A Phys-ed teacher replacement coming
125th celebration for Lord Lansdowne is being celebrated on December 17
The children are creating artwork to display for the celebration
The Remembrance day ceremony was very moving and well received
There is a focus is on math this year and targeted professional development is ongoing
There is much work being done on developing spatial thinking concepts
Grade 6,7,8 teachers and Beth are working on developing a growth mindset – the “power of yet” and are trying to turn the mindset from “I can’t” to “I can’t yet”
Grade 7/8 numeracy tutoring is happening at Lord Lansdowne
Junior Achievement has been working with senior students on budgeting and personal finances
TDSB Equity department is looking at building healthy relationships
They are helping the staff to work with the senior students around anti-bullying
There is a possibility of a parent workshop around this in the future
The school will be showing the movie “Bully” to the 6/7/8 classes in February
Regarding the track, TDSB Facilities has had a meeting with Beth and determined if they start before the bad weather, they won’t finish
It was decided to hold off and wait until the spring
We are top priority for the spring rebuilding
There is an issue with the amount of children on the playscape, so we are only using it for grade 1-2 until the end of November and it may stay that way
The grade 6/7 have invented a game and will teach it to 3/4 as a way to give them something else to do now that they aren’t using the equipment
French immersion deadline for enrollment is December 5
There is an informational session is next week
If you apply on time and are in the catchment area, you are guaranteed a placement. It will most likely be at Lord Lansdowne
JK registration will be in February
Information night for daVinci is January 21, 2015
We need support for that event and Beth has asked if we can we get a flyer together and then have parents deliver to local meeting places
We would like to have parents to speak at the information night
Lisa Hoff to write a letter in support for that night
Parent reps are asked to to ask for one or two other parents to write letters
At this point, it is looking like next year will be full enrollment

Treasurer’s Report

There are 65 kids in the school and there was about a 50% response for the direct ask fundraising
$1640 has been raised from this effort
Teachers still have some money in their fund (about $600) and this money is not earmarked for anything at this time
There will be a separate ask for money for instruments once the strings club is established
Peyton has enough money for 2-3 ukuleles
There was a suggestion about maybe doing a cabaret to raise money for instruments
The strings club is for grade 1 and above

Classroom Reps

Cheryl Hooper indicated that she had been asked if we want to send something to Jolen from the parents
It was suggested that a gift certificate from “Parent Books” might be a nice idea
There will be a little box at the Winter Solstice Fair for a collection

Business arising from the October minutes

The Winter Solstice Fair (Burgandy)

Preparations are going well
Craft table items are also coming along with several people pitching in to make crafts
Sign ups are progressing and everything seems under control
There will be posters in the classrooms to generate interest with the kids
Hopefully there is no conflict with December16^th being the first night of Hanukkah, but most of the festivities will be complete by sundown

The Breakfast Club (Burgandy)

The Tuesday craft circle is now called the Breakfast Club
It is held in the teachers area and there are about 4 people that come each week

The communication board (Burgandy)

The new communication board (also known as the Herb board) is working well and getting the message out
We need to devise a plastic covering for the bad weather
Lisa H. will take the board home during the holidays and figure out how to make this work and bring it back in January

Facebook group (Lisa H)

There was a discussion about whether we should have a Facebook page and how it will be used
It was suggested that we send out an ask to see if anyone is familiar with setting one up and maintaining it
Beth will send the TDSB parameters about this and we’ll work on putting one together if it is decided to move ahead

New Business

Lytton Sports Camps After 4 Program

Due to bad weather, there was nobody at the meeting to speak about this topic
Item has been deferred
Beth advised if the commercial venture wants something to happen within the school they must have a permit
They may need a parent council member to sponsor them to move ahead

Love of Reading Grant

Otherwise known as the Indigo grant, which is used for new books and education resources
Burgundy and Jean will write the grant application

Waldorf discussion

Lisa F. brought up the need to get Waldorf planning to happen
Crystal D. has an appointment with the Rudolph Steiner Center next week to find out if there is someone who we can get instead of Marg as a mentor
There is a sense that we just need to get this movement going ahead ahead
Beth advised that the Waldorf priorities are led by staff to ensure there is an understanding of public education
This school got started by the interest of parents and commitment of staff. It is evolving and continues to evolve.

Parent Reaching Out Grant (Burgandy)

Burgandy suggested a social worker specialist that she has worked with on restorative practices as an option
He can come in and train teachers to be a restorative practices specialist or provide a restorative practices parenting program
He would do a 2 hour talk for $200 + $50 travel
This could help with parent/teacher interaction
Restorative practices are part of the TDSB mandate
Last year’s parent grant was not spent and if not spent, it will be reclaimed from Beth’s budget
We need to get it organized and decided upon asap
The money for the grant needs to spent it by the end of November
This is a council initiative, not a Principal initiative
It is a powerful process, but requires some work to ensure it works

Adjournment