Meeting dates for 2009-10 school year: October 13, 2009, November 3, 2009, January 12, 2010, February 9, 2010, April 6, 2010, May 11, 2010.

Meetings will begin at 6:30 pm in the MHS Library. Meetings will be joint MHS/Keys School Council Meetings.
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Keys/Mackenzie Joint School Council Meeting

Minutes of Meeting

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

6:30 p.m., Mackenzie High School Library

1. Call to Order: 6:35 pm

Attendance: Pat Albrecht, Debbie Birney, Anne Davies, Emily Edwards, Terry Hughes, Mimi Mahaffy, Jan Mancey, Ruby Manio-Dimayuga, Laura Mayo, Susan McBridge, Emma Myers, Corinne Ramey, Ivan Saari, Hayley Sears, Barb Shreeve, Leslie White, Beth Whitlock, Janice Wilson

Motion to approve agenda with the addition of an item under New Business: Children blocking front entrance of school made by Emily Edwards, seconded by Mimi Mahaffy. Motion passed.

 

2.Motion to approve the minutes of the last meeting – October 13, 2009 made by Leslie White, Seconded by Janice Wilson. Motion passed.

3. Business arising from October 13, 2009 minutes
a. Keys: nothing

b. Mackenzie: nothing

c. Joint
i. Motion to approve the minutes from the September 15, 2009 meeting made by Barb Shreeve and seconded by Laura Mayo. Motion passed.
ii. School Baord Announcement: Mackenzie will be a K to 12 school by the year 2011/2012. Discussion. Ruby proposed that a task force of all three school councils will be set up to be proactive to ensure the work is "done right."

 

4. Correspondence
a. Keys
i. Special Education Advisory Committee - SEAC. Susan McBride gave a report from the meting. A handout titled "Lisa's Burning Questions about Education for the Gifted and Talented in RCDSB" and an email address to respond: rigbyl@renfrew.edu.on.ca provided.
ii. Parent evening at Morison. All are invited to the Parent Advocate meeting.
iii. From Morison - RCDSC focus group. Want to ensure that all three schools are represented in the focus group.
ACTION: Susan McBride to request a time line from RCDSC.
iv. Barb Basso - visited examples of merging an elementary school and secondary school.
1. discussion about schools in Cloyne and Ingleside.
b. Mackenzie
i. Emails were forwarded to the group throughout the month.

 

5. Reports:

 

Keys:
Student report - no report
Non-teaching staff report - no rep - no report
Teaching staff report - Mimi Mahaffy
Principal's report - Ivan Saari (per below)
Math report - Ivan Saari

 

Mackenzie:
Student report - no report
Non-teaching staff report - no rep - no report
Teaching staff report - Emily Edwards - no report
Principal's report - Terry Hughes (per below)

 

6. Discussion arising from reports:
a. Principal's Report - Mackenzie

Discussion about Assembly speaker on gambling. Generation "Y" workshop.

b. Teaching Report - Keys

Volleyball - 2 teams

c. Principal's Report - Keys

Discussion about Language Jar; Teaching and Learning Critical Pathways (TLCP); School
effectiveness framework team - gathering evidence for "district review".

d. Math Report - Keys

Discussion about math manipulative - ensuring differentiated instruction.

 

Motion that Terry Hughes purchase one copy of the package on Communcation for ~ $220.00 from the council funds made by Leslie White and seconded by Anne Davies. Motion passed.

 

7. New business Mackenzie

a. Children blocking the entrance on the front steps: This is intimidating for guests. Terry to ensure they know they are to "share" the space.
b. H1N1 absences: Mackenzie - 71 students (20%) and 5 teachers. Keys 35 students (33%) and 2 teachers.
c. Input on PPM's (144 and 145) documents. Emailed out to all members. Please review and send any suggestions to Dennis Jenkins.

 

8. Date of next meeting: January 12, 2010 Mackenzie school library.

 

9. Motion to adjourn made by Corinne Ramey, seconded by Leslie White. Motion passed at 8:20 pm.
     

Mackenzie School Council
Principal’s Report - Mackenzie High School
November 3, 2009

Mackenzie continues with its busy pace despite the fading sunlight and dreary weather. We hosted out parent/teacher night on the day after our last meeting. Judging from the appointment sheets, lots of parents and guardians showed up to discuss their sons and daughters progress. As per usual, our newer teachers were inundated with visitors while teachers of our more “hands-on” classes had lots of free time slots.

We have had two assemblies in the last three weeks. One was a spirit assembly where we showcased student talent and student council activities. The other assembly was presented by the Gambling Council of Ontario. This production highlighted the dangers of gambling addictions and how to find help if you or a friend experiences gambling problems. Feedback from our students indicates the presentation was well received.

Our fall season extra-curricular program is coming to a close. Students will soon be invited to try out for boys basketball, girls volleyball, hockey, alpine skiing, snow boarding and cross country skiing. Our “A Mid-Summer Night’s Dream “ production is coming together with lots of student involvement. Other clubs such as the Radio Club, the Board Game Club and Interact continue to meet throughout the year.

The Link Crew leaders are visiting grade nine classes to discuss strategies for success in school during the next few weeks. They will also be attending a Link Crew conference in Ottawa in early November.

Our public health nurse, Jaclyn Van Esbroek recently visited classes to advertise her service. She provides free, confidential medical advice to students every Wednesday during lunch.

Halloween was a fun filled day here at Mackenzie. Lots of ghosts, witches, mummies, cartoon characters and even a human airplane could be seen roaming the halls between classes and at lunch. Many students paid their way out of class in the afternoon for the privilege of enjoying the film “The Exorcism of Emily Rose”. Our Halloween dance finished off the day (and night).

Our teachers will be attending a county-wide professional activity day on Monday, November 3.  Dr. Karen Gordon, a specialist in motivating “Generation Y” will be the Keynote speaker. Teachers will then choose between a variety of workshops during the remainder of the day.

Dates to watch for in the future include:

November 4 – Take Your Kids To Work for grade nines
November 6 – End of Term 1
November 9 – Awards assembly
November 20 – P.A. Day
December 11 – P.A. Day
December 18 – Last day of school before Christmas Holidays begin
January 4 – School resumes after Christmas holidays
January 9 – School Dance
January 12 – Next School Council meeting

Keys PS
Principal - School Council Report
November 3, 2009

Excellence in Teaching & Learning

• Keys cross-country runners enjoyed a successful meet and appreciated the guidance and coaching from Morison staff.
• A guitar club was established which meets once or twice a week with Mr. Hughes and Mr. Saari.
• A Teaching-Learning Critical Pathway was started in all classes - the focus is on Making Connections (based on our school goals).
• A School Effectiveness Framework team was established - B. Raymond,
  M. Mahaffy and I. Saari are members.
• Keys has a student-teacher for the month and we welcome Ms. Ellis.
  

Safe, Caring and Respectful Schools

• A school-wide breakfast was held on October 14th and featured bagels with toppings, yogurt, milk and fruit trays.
• A tracking "jar" was established to collect the instances of inappropriate language in preparation for Term 2 and 3 and one of our SMART goals.
• A successful school spirit day with door-decorating and afternoon activities was held on October 30th.

Wise Use of Resources

• The SMARTBoard was installed in our Multi-Purpose room.
• The county-wide PA day was held on November 2nd and staff were able to network with colleagues as they learned from both internal and external workshops - M. Mahaffy and I. Saari both faciliated sessions during the day.

Notes

• "No pessimist ever discovered the secrets of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted land, or opened a new heaven to the human spirit." Helen Keller