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Meeting Minutes from the North Glenmore Elementary Parent Advisory Council

January 16, 2018

1. Welcome

Dianne called the meeting to order at 7:06pm

Dianne welcomed everyone for coming out on a particularly icy evening

Executive members introduced themselves to the new parents in attendance

Dianne advised the new parents in attendance to consider joining PAC as many executive

positions will be coming available for the next school year as many of the current executive

members have advised that they will be stepping down at the end of this school year

PAC Executive Present: Dianne Bondaroff, Sue Hayes, Rhonda Langford, Jennifer Eberle, Diane

Westfall, Simone Wittenberg

Staff Present: Jared Birkeland, Jill Voros

Parents Present: Dan Csikos, Heather Csikos, Megan Coakley, Sarah Mallinson, Elizabeth Scott

2. Approval of Minutes for the November 2017 Meeting

Dianne put forward a motion to approve the November minutes – Sue Hayes; Seconded –

Rhonda Langford

3. Administration Report from Jared

a. Thank you

To Jill Voros for organizing floor hockey for the next 6 weeks over the lunch period;

approximately 250 students are participating with the grade 6s providing coaching and

refereeing support

To PAC for organizing the winter movie and treats for the kids; Jared felt that the kids

were very calm and settled during the movie

To parents for assisting on all fundraising activities; grade 6s are raising a lot of money

for their Big White trip

To PAC for purchasing iPads and Chrome books for the grades 2s and 3s

To Mrs. Draper for assisting with the digital literacy program and using the grade 3s as

mentors to the kindies with regards to digital literacy and coding skills

To Meagan for joining NGE as a noon-hour supervisor

To Diane Westfall and all the volunteers that assist with organizing the fun lunch

program

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b. SD23 Interim Reporting Guidelines – Two Options (traditional report card versus report card

developed by the school)

Jared discussed NGE’s motivation for moving away from the traditional report card to a

report card developed by the school

Jared and many teachers felt that the traditional report card doesn’t match up with

what is going on in the classroom. Jared and the teachers want to do a better job of

supporting kids by updating parents on their learning.

Regardless of which report card system a school chooses to adopt, they must have at

least five formal reports/communication opportunities with parents on their students’

learning

Jared feels that traditional letter grades tend to do more harm to students rather than

to push them. Generally speaking, students look to do as little as possible to receive

their desired grade.

Central Okanagan educators have the option to continue to follow the July 1, 2016

Revised Student Reporting Policy (this is the traditional report card)

Central Okanagan educators have the option to use alternative forms of communicating

student learning if the following requirements are met (this is a report card format

developed by the school):

o Parents must be provided ongoing information throughout the school year

that clearly articulates student growth in relation to the learning standards.

Information provided should make clear where students are in their learning,

what they are working toward, any concerns and resulting interventions they

may require, and ways to further support their learning

o During the school year, communication with parents about their child’s

progress may take a variety of forms, such as, but not limited to:

Student-led and three-way conferences

Parent/teacher meetings

Written interim reports

Communication through student portfolios

Other authentic samples and demonstrations of student learning

o Parents will receive communication about their child’s learning a minimum of

five times during a school year. Educators and students are to determine

when and how best to communicate student growth in relation to the

learning standards in order to meaningfully engage parents/guardians in the

learning process.

o At the end of the school year, or if a student moves, parents will receive a

final written summative report. The purpose of the summative report is to

outline and summarize the learner’s progress in the required areas of learning

outlined in the curriculum for that school year. The summative report should

focus on a child’s growth, performance and achievement levels, and clearly

indicate where the child is in relation to age/grade-level expectations.

o For students in grades 4-9, summative letter grades must be provided if

requested by parents/guardians.

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c. Student Teachers (UBCO Year 2) Practicums

Taylor Macdonald sponsored by Jenny Sandvold (gr. K) Jan. 8th to March 9th

Ali Stelnicki sponsored by Staci Palahniuk (gr. 1) Jan. 8th to March 9th

Student teachers start slow at about 20% capacity but then move up to 80% capacity

d. Registration for 2018/2019

See Attachment 1 – Central Okanagan Online Application for Student Enrollment)

Registration opens February 5th

Jared encouraged parents in attendance to advise any new families in their

neighbourhood of the upcoming student enrolment registration period

In 2017, 68 students registered for kindergarten and everyone who registered when the

registration period opened up got a space in NGE. All in-catchment kids were accepted

by May.

As of today, enrolment at NGE is 511 with only 2 spaces available

Jared predicts NGE will need 2 new portables if they receive the same number of

kindergarten registrations in 2018 as they received in 2017

e. Battle of the Books

Battle of the Books, which is a reading incentive program, has started for students in

grades 3-6

Students who choose to participate are assigned books to read and Mrs. Horning is

overseeing this initiative

NGE won the Battle of the Books competition last year

f. Mosaic Book Fair: January 31st – February 2nd

Mrs. Horning has opted to try Mosaic Books rather than Scholastic Books for the winter

book fair. Depending on how the winter book fair goes, Mrs. Horning may choose to use

Mosaic Books for all future NGE book fairs.

g. Basil Cooper with Photo Express? – local company/art cards

Jared ran into Basil Cooper who inquired if there was any interest at NGE to have the

yearly school photos done using his company, Photo Express. Basil used to work for

LifeTouch, which is the company that current does NGE’s school photos, but now works

for Photo Express. Photo Express is the same company that NGE currently uses for our

art card fundraiser.

Basil asked Jared if he could present to PAC, but Dianne advised that school photos are

not a PAC issue and deferred the choice of school photographer back to Jared and Jill.

Jill advised that she has interacted with Life Touch and has been happy with interactions

with the photographers.

h. Home School Conferences: Feb. 1st and 2nd

Online scheduled goes ‘live’ on Monday, January 22nd at 3:00pm (see Attachment 2 –

NGE Home/School Conferences – Feb. 1st & 2nd (online booking process))

Some 1-to-1 conferences and some student-led conferences

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Jared also advised that the District Sexual Health team will be a NGE for the first week of

February to work with the grade 4, 5 and 6 students

i. Upcoming Dates

Date Item Time

Jan. 22 Floor Hockey Season Begins 11:00 – 12:00 pm

Jan. 23 Class Profile Meetings (see schedule below) 8:30 – 2:30 pm

Jan. 24 Grade 6s to Green Gables Daycare 9:00 – 12:00 pm

Jan. 24 Primary Prep Assembly 12:50 – 1:20 pm

Jan. 24 Intermediate Prep Assembly 1:45 – 2:15 pm

Jan. 25 SBT (TBA) 12:45 – 1:30 pm

Jan. 25 Teacher Staff Meeting in the Library 2:45 – 4:00 pm

Jan. 26 Celebration Assembly 8:45 – 9:30 am

Jan. 29 Palahniuk and Bassett-Smith to Kelowna Art Gallery 9:00 – 2:00 pm

Jan. 30 Pierson and Ringguth to Kelowna Art Gallery 9:00 – 2:00 pm

Feb. 1 Home – School Conferences (12:30 dismissal) 1:00 - ?

Feb. 2 Home – School Conferences (12:30 dismissal) 1:00 - ?

Feb. 7 Primary Prep Assembly 12:50 – 1:20 pm

Feb. 7 Intermediate Prep Assembly 1:45 – 2:15 pm

Feb. 12 BC Family Day – school closed

Feb. 14 Grade 6s to Big White 9:00 am

Feb. 16 Grade 6s return from Big White 2:00 pm

Feb. 19 Grade 6s to Dr. Knox for articulation tour 9:15 – 9:55 am

Feb. 20 PAC Meeting in the Library 7:00 – 8:30 pm

4. Committee Reports – President, Vice President, Treasurer, Hot Lunch, Fundraising, Special Events,

Fundraising Coordinator

a. President Report – Dianne Bondaroff

Dianne advised that the NGE PAC email address received two inquiries from the

community:

1. A parent at NGE, who is involved with the Glenmore Highlands Living magazine,

inquired if NGE wanted to advertise any of its events in the magazine. Jared felt

that our school events, for example Spring Fair, should not be opened up to the

public. Dianne advised she will respond to the email from the parent.

2. The Community Service Project Coordinator for the Canada 150 for 150

Volunteer Challenge would like to know the number of volunteer hours parents

do at NGE. Dianne asked all parents and PAC executive in attendance to email

her our estimate of the number of hours they volunteer to the school.

b. Vice President Report – Sue Hayes

PAC Christmas Movie

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Sue extended a big thank you to Megan Coakley for staying for 8 hours for both

movies as well as thanks to Cassie Laidlaw, Elvie Cescon, Tessa Russell Hopkins

and Terrell Bouma for supervising and handing out treats at the movies

Sue thanked Simone for picking great movies for this year’s event

Kiss ‘n Drop

Down to only 3 volunteers per week; Monday, Wednesday and Thursday have

coverage

Sign up on the PAC bulletin board; only about 15 minutes needed each morning

c. Treasurer – Rhonda Langford

PAC has approximately $17,000 in the general account, however still need to pay for the

iPads for the grade 3s

Grade 6 account is cleared out and will start fresh in January

Jill advised that NGE has some very unsafe volleyball standards. She would like to use

some of PACs’ funds for physical education equipment.

d. Hot Lunch – Diane Westfall

Diane advised she is retiring from her position as Hot Lunch Coordinator after 3 years

Hot lunch program has raised more than $21,000 for the school over the last 3 years and

those funds go directly to PAC

Given how much money the fun lunch program raises for PAC, it is critical that someone

steps up and takes over this position

Diane will advertise on the NGE website and on Facebook in order to get a new

volunteer in place

Diane has offered to train the next volunteer on how to use the online ordering system

Diane estimates the position requires about 4 hours per week, which includes coming in

each Wednesday to oversee the distribution of food over the lunch hour

Program has about 5-9 volunteers that work with the Hot Lunch Coordinator on the hot

lunch day (Wednesday)

Diane thanked Jen for coordinating the hot lunch volunteers via Facebook

No pizza on Friday February 16th and Friday February 24, but will still do pizza on Friday,

February 3rd even though it is an early dismissal day

e. Fundraising – Nikki Price

No fundraising report this month as Nikki was absent

f. Special Events – Simon Wittenberg

PAC Family Dance

To be held Thursday, February 22nd from 6:00 – 8:00 pm

Dr. Knox is DJing the event and is requesting a $100 donation. Given how

reasonable this is, Simone would also like PAC to buy pizza for them.

Mrs. Davies class will do candy bags, bottled water, and glow sticks as a

fundraiser

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Mrs. Voros will coordinate to have a second custodian come in to help clean up

the gym afterwards. Jared advised that NGE can request extra custodial support

as our gym can be rented out and used by members of the community.

Vanessa, a grade 6 parent and event planner, has advised PAC that she would

be willing to help out with supplies and decorations

Dianne put forward a motion to approve a $200 donation to Dr. Knox for DJ

services for the PAC Family Dance – seconded by Megan

Dianne put forward a motion to approve to provide $100 towards decorations

for the PAC Family Dance – seconded by Rhonda

5. Spring Fair – Tessa Russell

Tessa was absent from the meeting but Megan advised that she and Tessa would be meeting at

the end of the month to discuss the spring fair

Rhonda encouraged Megan (or Tessa) to book a DJ for the event as soon as possible

Megan confirmed that the date of the spring fair is Friday, May 25

6. Discussion on New Business

Simone had heard from a member of COPAC that if you work for the school district, you can’t

be on PAC. Simone wants to know if this is true, as this may impact our PAC as many of our PAC

executive also work at the school as non-teaching staff, such as noon-hour supervisors.

Dianne and Jared referred everyone to the ‘Membership’ section of the NGE PAC Constitution

that states the following:

1. All parents and guardians of students currently registered and attending at North

Glenmore Elementary School shall be voting members of the group.

2. Administration and staff (teaching and non-teaching) of North Glenmore Elementary

School shall be non-voting members of the group.

3. Members of the school community who are not parents of students currently in the

system shall also be non-voting members of the group.

Jared advised that he would reach out to other schools to see if we have an issue with noon-

hour supervisors also serving as PAC executive members

a.

7. Adjournment

Dianne motioned to adjourn the meeting at 8:06pm; Seconded by: Christa Jenn

Next meeting Tuesday, February 20, 2018.

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Attachment 1: Central Okanagan Online Application for Student Enrollment

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Attachment 2: NGE Home/School Conferences – Feb. 1st & 2nd (online booking process)