AMSS Newsletter

Alexander Mackenzie Secondary School
School Council Minutes
November 30th, 2006

Present- Jonathan Krall, Mat Krall, Judy Krall, Norma Jo Ewen, Lia Farina, Sarah MacSwain, Janice Hill, Mike Gilfoyle, Lynn Harris.

Welcome- Judy Krall.

Chairs Report- Judy gave the report from the District School Council Chairs meeting in October. There was a discussion about Pathways for Success Program (Step4Step) which is being introduced in grades 7 and 8 starting this year. The intent of this initiative is to encourage educators and families to value equally the four destinations of apprenticeship, college, university and the workplace.

Correspondence- School survey People for education newsletter.

School Website – A $500.00 grant that was given last year to school councils to promote parent involvement was used to update the school web site. Tim Allen (teacher at AMSS) has taken a lead in website development. A new camera was also purchased. The site can be accessed via www.lkdsb.net. It was suggested that business cards could be made up with the website address on them to hand out to parents at open house. This will be discussed at our next meeting upon confirmation that another $500.00 is available, once again this year, for school council use.

Principal’s Report- The four “early release” days have been changed to 2 P.A. Days this year to allow for a more focused professional development program to be provided to staff. The first P.A days was held on Nov 17th. A presentation was given by Jane Fraser, Scott Watson, Murray Smith, and Mike Gilfoyle regarding Student Success Initiatives at both the system and school levels. Staff also collaborated to develop “A Picture of Our Graduate” which was shared with School Council members.

The Goodwill School Store (“Mustang Alley”) will be opening soon. The statistics in the city are that our 18-25 year olds are leaving the area for work. Skilled trades are going to desperately needed in our local area with many employers wanting employees with customer service skills. We have partnered with Goodwill Industries to try to give our kids this experience. Alexander Mackenzie staff would like to dedicate this center to John Gifford, a former employee of A.M.S.S., who has been very involved with Goodwill over the years

ACTION: A letter will be written by Judy Krall to the Chair of the Board seeking permission approval to dedicate “Mustang Alley” to John Gifford. A motion was made by Norma Jo Ewen that we write this letter. This motion was seconded by Janice Hill. All approved.

AMSS and North Peel Secondary School, in Brampton, are partnering to create a provincial network of vocational high schools to share ideas and effective practices to improve student achievement. Brampton will host the initial networking meeting on Jan.31st and Feb 1st, 2007 for curriculum leaders from the 22 Vocational Schools. AMSS curriculum leaders are looking forward to this experience and the opportunity to host this event during the 2007-08 school year.

At AMSS, all grade nine students take English and Learning Strategies all year with the same teacher. A new “save-a-credit” initiative is being implemented whereby these teachers will assist students with work from their other classes during the learning strategies component of the course. As well, last year’s OSSLT questions and answer key can be found on the EQAO web site. On the date of the OSSLT on March 29th, our grade nine students will be writing a mock test with their English/Learning Strategies teacher while the grade ten students on an OSSD pathway will write the OSSLT. Senior students who do not have to write the OSSLT will be participating in either a work experience placement for the day or attending Lambton College to see the new Skilled Trades Center.

School Improvement Committee – The S.I.C. meets a few times a year to make recommendations which can improve the overall “look” of our school. The top 6 recommendations of this committee are as follows:
1.Weather stripping required on many windows and doors.
2.Side walks to portables are needed.
3.Staff room improvement.
4.New lockers.
5.Benches in front foyer re-finished
6.Many school clocks require replacement and synchronization.

Parent-Teacher Interviews - Good turnout this term. Only one parent called to say they did not get the mailing in time.

Parents Involvement Committee- At the most recent meeting, it was learned that there is $18,000 available to be given out as grants for promoting parent involvement in schools. Proposals must be submitted to attain this money. It was agreed that AMSS School Council would like to run a series of workshops on school council/parent-teacher interview nights to try to increase parent attendance.

ACTION - A motion was made by Lia Farina, seconded my Norma Jo Ewen, that a proposal be submitted to the Ministry to obtain $1800.00 to cover the costs of this initiative. This motion was seconded by Norma Jo Ewen. It was passed by council unanimously. Judy and Mike will forward this proposal, as well as the endorsement by school council, to the Ministry.

Fundraising- School Council will be selling link charms with the A.M.S.S. logo to raise money for improvements to the staff room. A booth will be set up at school in the short-term and charms likely sold in the school store when it becomes operational.

Staff Appreciation Breakfast – This year’s staff appreciation breakfast will be held on Feb 2nd, 2007 from 8-9 am. Judy and her husband have been doing it for 5 yrs and all staff are appreciative of this School Council initiative. Please contact Judy Krall if you are interested in assisting with this year’s event.

Student Report- Mat and Jonathan asked if parents would be able to get student attendance from the school website? M. Gilfoyle reported that this is not an option at this time. Other information from the student council is as follows:
Chocolate covered almonds will be sold to raise money for prom.
Popcorn and slushies are still being sold in the resource room to raise money for Survivor.
The food drive is going well with 1511 cans collected to date.
The Christmas dance is coming up and will be held Dec. 22nd.
The next Student Council meeting will be Dec 4th.

Next Meeting: The next school council meeting will be Feb 22nd at 7:00 pm in the Internet Café.

Meeting adjourned.