Cliffwood School Council

Meeting Minutes March 23, 2016

6:30 to 8:08 p.m.

Attendees:

Sarah Frost (Principal), Allyson Watts (Vice-Principal), Christina Liu, Sandy Sang, Eric Fung,
Sevelina Kolarova, Jenny Wang, Colin Ryckman, Julie Kwok, Susan Wong, Esther Chung, Tirso
Beltran, Ivar Soever, Heba Osman

Regrets:

Melanie Rubens, Paul Kang, Krista Carroll

Chairperson:

Eric Fung

Location:

Cliffwood Public School

1. Welcome
2. Adoption of minutes from February 24, 2015
3. School Report
3.1. Summer School
3.2. Staffing Updates
4. Spring Lunch Hour programs
4.1. Art/Drawing
4.2. Lego
5. Fundraising Report
5.1. Dance-a-thon results
6. Treasurer's Report
7. Other business
7.1. Graduation Committee update
Adjournment
1. Welcome
2. Adoption of Minutes of February 24, 2016
2.1. DECISION: Esther Chung moves to accept minutes of February 24, 2016 as printed. Tirso Beltran
seconds. Motion is carried
3. School Report
3.1. Dance-a-thon thank you
3.1.1. Students working on thank you cards for corporate sponsors
3.1.2. Kids had a great time, including teachers and parents
3.2. Teachers are aware of the need to submit receipts for classroom allocations by March 31
3.3. Grad photos are scheduled for March 29
3.4. Grad Committee has chosen to use funds to buy composite photos
3.5. Nitworks coming on April 1 to check all students for lice
Cliffwood School Council

3.6.

April is Health Month with multiple activities in the school to encourage healthy living
3.6.1. "Get caught eating healthy" week in the lunchroom. Kids will get their picture taken if caught with
a healthy lunch
3.6.2. April 13 International Anti-Bullying Day with pink-shirt activities. Students encouraged to wear
pink that day
3.7. Book fair coming up at the beginning of May
3.8. Half-Day Summer School Program
3.8.1. Summer School applications are available at the front of the school and on the school website
3.8.2. English program available for Grades 1-5
3.8.3. French program available for Grades 1-6
3.8.4. Focus will be on Science Technology Engineering Math skills
3.9. Staffing Updates
3.9.1. Staffing allocation for 2016-2017 has been provided
3.9.2. Staffing allocation is based on projected demographics for the neighbourhood and set ratios/limits
for class sizes
3.9.3. Model recommendation needs to be submitted back to TDSB in the next 10 days.
3.9.4. Looking for 3-4 parents to discuss potential staffing models based on available staff allocation for
next year
3.9.4.1. Jenny Wang and Christina Liu have volunteered
3.9.5. Motion to approve purchase of desktop classroom replacements
3.9.5.1. DECISION: Ivar Soever moves to allocate $5,347.16 to replace 14 classroom desktops with 8
GB RAM. Sevelina Kolarova seconds. Motion is carried
3.9.5.2. Remaining half of classroom desktops have another 3 years of warranty period
3.9.5.3. Possible replacement for Special Needs computers is the next need
3.9.5.4. ACTION: Eric Fung to include IT update in next email update
3.9.6. CCAC Update for Syrian Refugees
3.9.6.1. In January, we approved funding for Syrian backpacks. However, the charity has already been
overwhelmed with funds.
3.9.6.2. CCAC will look for other opportunities to participate (e.g. Terry Fox walk or Heart/Stroke
jump rope)
4. Spring Lunch Hour Programs
4.1. Art/Drawing
4.1.1. Offering has been adjusted as per request from Action 90 from February 2016 meeting
4.1.2. SK to Grade 1 offering on Mondays: April 11, 18, 25, May 2, 9, 16, 30, June 6
4.1.3. Grade 2-4 offering on Wednesdays: April 13, 20, 27, May 4, 11, 18, 25, June 1
4.1.4. Final schedule is still being finalized, as teacher needed to get an updated vulnerable sector
screening
4.2. Lego Robotics to be offered for Grades 4-6
4.3. Chess will run on Tuesdays
4.4. QUESTION: Is there any reason why programs are run at lunch instead of after-school?
4.4.1. Council could offer a program after-school. Permits for after-school are different and more
expensive than in-day programs. Atleast 2/3 of kids at school are bused and wouldn't be here to
be able to participate in an after-school program
5. Fundraising Report
5.1. Dance-a-thon Results
5.1.1. Total donations from kids: $9998.44
5.1.2. Corporate donations: $600
Cliffwood School Council

5.1.3. Estimated $998 in expenses for DJ, prizes, juice, and pizza parties
5.1.3.1. Total of 4 pizza parties were required due to ties and one class with 100% participation
5.1.4. Net proceeds of $9,600 to support school technology
5.1.5. 65% participation from 311 students
5.1.6. Kindergarten classes were biggest fundraisers
5.1.7. Top 20 donors raised >$3400
5.1.8. Feedback was that DJ was very good and provided age-appropriate content
5.1.9. QUESTION: Why was DJ different?
5.1.9.1. Last year's DJ was asked to provide an updated security screening and declined
5.1.10. Thank you to organizers and volunteers
5.2. Consideration to run Silent Auction aligned to Book Fair or Curriculum Night in September
5.2.1. Consideration must be given to how generous the community has already been.
5.2.2. SUGGESTION: May be better to plan for next school year
5.2.3. SUGGESTION: We need protocol or policy for what types of donations are acceptable
5.2.4. DECISION: Julie Kwok moves that the Fundraising Committee meet with school administration to
establish a strategic vision/plan for fundraising initiatives in the 2016-2017 school year. Sevelina
Kolarova seconds. Motion is carried
6. Treasurer's Report
6.1. Concern that teachers have submitted <$1000 in receipts for classroom allocations
6.2. ACTION: Sandy Sang to provide school administration with info on which teachers have or have not used
their allocations
6.3. ACTION: Christina Liu to contact Partitions Sub-Committee members to follow-up and gauge interest to
re-engage with TDSB
6.4. ACTION: Sandy Sang to update Financial Statement with previously approved Scientist-in-School
allocation (~$1500)
7. Other Business
7.1. Grade 6 overnight field trip will be to St. George Conservation Area from June 1-3
7.2. Graduation Committee 7 parents representing all 3 streams
7.2.1. 6 from Grade 6, 1 from Grade 5
7.2.2. Decision has been made to use funds to purchase composite photos. Invoice will likely arrive at
May/June
7.2.3. Committee will meet to determine how to use remainder of funds
7.3. DECISION: Julie Kwok moves to allocate up to $1,000 towards supporting a Teacher Appreciation event
in May. Esther Chung seconds. Motion is carried
7.4. ACTION: Mme. Frost to follow-up on status of survey results for after-school programs for Grade 5
students graduating into Grade 6
8. Meeting Adjourned at 8:08pm

Action ID
8.

Description
Bring forward request for
creation of class mailing
lists to teachers and provide
update by next meeting

Cliffwood School Council

Date Raised
Oct 1, 2014

Actions

Assigned to
Sarah Frost

Status
Open

Action Taken:
Suggestion for simpler nearterm solution. Sarah Frost to
provide update at next meeting.

Action ID
66.

81.

84.

85.
86.
88.
90.
91.
92.
93.

94.
95.
96.
97.

Description
Solicit teacher input into
preferred configuration for
partition pilot once job
action resolved
Contact Alexander Brown to
confirm if delay in Grade 6
transition in Georges Vanier
cluster will impact Cliffwood
and why Grade 6 transition
was delayed in Ken Lister's
ward, but not in ours
Draft a role description for
classroom parent
representatives for review
on Jan 20
Provide timeline for revised
5-year ICT plan
Provide School Council with
link to TDSB technology
selection guidelines
Investigate implementation
of a formal School Council
Constitution
Discuss if proposed Art
program can be modified to
also support JK/SK students
Promote Dance-a-thon
through school and School
Council email blasts
Confirm logistics for DJ
setup for Dance-a-thon

Date Raised
Jun 17, 2015

Coordinate creation of
thank-you cards for
corporate donors to Dancea-thon
Request parent volunteers
to form a Graduation
Committee
Inform teachers that
classroom allocations must
be used by March 31
Request parent volunteers
to form a 2016-2017 Pizza
Lunch organizing committee
Provide parents with an
update on recent IT updates
in the school as part of next
email communication

Feb 24, 2016

Cliffwood School Council

Actions

Assigned to
Sarah Frost

Status
Open

Action Taken:
Teacher input to be provided by
next meeting.

Dec 2, 2015

Melanie
Rubens

Open

Dec 2, 2015

Paul Kang

Open

Jan 20, 2016

Sarah Frost

Open

Jan 20, 2016

Sarah Frost

Open

Jan 20, 2016

Eric Fung

Open

Feb 24, 2016

Paul Kang

Closed

Offering adjusted to provide

JK/SK offering

Feb 24, 2016

Sarah Frost /
Eric Fung

Closed

Completed

Feb 24, 2016

Allyson Watts
/ Colin
Ryckman
Allyson Watts
/ Melanie
Ryckman

Closed

Completed

Closed

Completed

Deferred to March

To be provided by TDSB Central

IT

Feb 24, 2016

Eric Fung

Closed

Completed

Feb 24, 2016

Allyson Watts

Closed

Completed

Feb 24, 2016

Eric Fung

Closed

Completed. Interested parents

will be contacted.

Mar 23, 2016

Eric Fung

Open

Action ID
98.

99.

100.

101.

Decision ID
53.
54.
55.
56.

Description
Provide school
administration with info on
which teachers have or
have not used their
classroom allocations
Contact former Partitions
Sub-Committee members
to follow-up and gauge
interest to re-engage with
TDSB
Update Financial
Statements with previously
approved Scientist-inSchool allocation ($1,500)
Follow-up on status of
survey results for afterschool programs for Grade
5 students graduating into
new middle schools

Actions

Date Raised
Mar 23, 2016

Assigned to
Sandy Sang

Status
Open

Mar 23, 2016

Christina Liu

Open

Mar 23, 2016

Sandy Sang

Open

Mar 23, 2016

Sarah Frost

Open

Decisions

Action Taken:

Description
Esther Chung moves to accept meeting minutes from Feb 24. Tirso Beltran seconds.
Motion is carried
Ivar Soever moves to allocate $5,347.16 to replace 14 classroom desktops with 8 GB
RAM. Sevelina Kolarova seconds. Motion is carried
Julie Kwok moves that the Fundraising Committee meet with school administration to
establish a strategic vision/plan for fundraising initiatives in the 2016-2017 school year.
Sevelina Kolarova seconds. Motion is carried
Julie Kwok moves to allocate up to $1,000 towards supporting a Teacher Appreciation
event in May. Esther Chung seconds. Motion is carried

Cliffwood School Council

Date
Mar 23, 2016
Mar 23, 2016
Mar 23, 2016
Mar 23, 2016