Members:
Andrew Rowe (Chair)
Sherry Thomson ( Secretary)
Heather Touchie-Blakely – Teacher Rep
Tracy Allen
Barb Brittany
Pat Campbell
Mitch Claybourn
Tracey Grattan
John MacKenzie
Shauna Miller
Anne Small
Ex Officio Member:
Alan Atkins ( Principal )
DEC Representative:
Carol Coleman
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
December 8, 2008 - Meeting Agenda
Nashwaaksis Middle School
PSSC Committee Meeting
December 8th 2008
Agenda
7:00-7:05 Welcome Barb Brittany as new PSSC member, Approval of October’s Minutes and Approval of November’s Agenda
7:05-7:09 Nomination and Election of Officers of PSSC (chair and vice chair)
7:05-7:10 Friends of NMS update- Vicky Patterson
7:10-7:15 D.E.C Report- Carol Coleman
7:15-7:35 Principal’s Report
7:35 -7:50 Action Item Follow-up
1. Provide a copy of the Glenda Saint report to the PSSC (Alan)
2. Provide a copy of the UNICEF program to the PSSC (Alan)
3. Nashwaaksis Middle School Annual report and feedback from Diane Wilkins Provide a summary of the feedback from Diane Wilkins regarding the NMS Annual report (Alan)
4. Nutrition Policy: Policy # 18-711 and Appendix A Provide FAQ’s of different products to Alan (Shauna Miller)
Review vendor machines and advise Alan of items that are in non-compliance of the criteria and suggest options. (Shauna Miller)
5. Talk mail new soft ware (Alan) Check into the system that Leo Hayes and FHS use (Alan)
6. PSSC Blog updated (Alan)
7:50-8:20 New Agenda Additional Items (identified prior to or at the meeting)
1. Email dated November 23rd, 2008, from a parent re: home and school (Mitch)
8:20-8:30 Additional items added at meeting
Adjournment
PSSC Committee Meeting
December 8th 2008
Agenda
7:00-7:05 Welcome Barb Brittany as new PSSC member, Approval of October’s Minutes and Approval of November’s Agenda
7:05-7:09 Nomination and Election of Officers of PSSC (chair and vice chair)
7:05-7:10 Friends of NMS update- Vicky Patterson
7:10-7:15 D.E.C Report- Carol Coleman
7:15-7:35 Principal’s Report
7:35 -7:50 Action Item Follow-up
1. Provide a copy of the Glenda Saint report to the PSSC (Alan)
2. Provide a copy of the UNICEF program to the PSSC (Alan)
3. Nashwaaksis Middle School Annual report and feedback from Diane Wilkins Provide a summary of the feedback from Diane Wilkins regarding the NMS Annual report (Alan)
4. Nutrition Policy: Policy # 18-711 and Appendix A Provide FAQ’s of different products to Alan (Shauna Miller)
Review vendor machines and advise Alan of items that are in non-compliance of the criteria and suggest options. (Shauna Miller)
5. Talk mail new soft ware (Alan) Check into the system that Leo Hayes and FHS use (Alan)
6. PSSC Blog updated (Alan)
7:50-8:20 New Agenda Additional Items (identified prior to or at the meeting)
1. Email dated November 23rd, 2008, from a parent re: home and school (Mitch)
8:20-8:30 Additional items added at meeting
Adjournment
November 10th Meeting Minutes
Minutes of Meeting
NMS – PSSC Committee Meeting
November 10th 2008
Attendees:
Tracy Allen Sherry Thomson Shauna Miller
John MacKenzie Pat Campbell Alan Atkins (Staff)
Andrew Rowe Carol Coleman (DEC Rep.)
Regrets:
Mitch Claybourn Anne Small Tracey Grattan
Guests:
Mary Rowe (Co-Chair of Friends of NMS)
**********************************************************************************************************
Call to Order:
The meeting was called to order at 7:05 pm
1. Welcome, Approval of Minutes
· October’s meeting minutes were approved as presented. Moved Tracy Allen, Seconded Pat Campbell.
2. Friends of NMS update- Vicky Patterson PSSC liaison
Vicky Patterson gave an update of the Friends of NMS activities from last month. Highlights include:
Received positive media coverage in the Northside News about the Bookfair as well as many favourable calls from parents.
Held Grade 6 Welcome BBQ and Coil Boil on October 2, 2008.
Supported the Magazine Campaign
Held Scholastic French & English Book Fairs – Combined profits $6200. Proceeds to go to the purchase of books for the school and for curriculum resources for the administration.
September Need of the Month – NMS Breakfast Program – Received great response.
October Need of the Month – Fredericton Food Bank – Received hundreds of non-perishable food items.
Held first ever Jack-O-Lantern contest – Profits of $72.52 donated to the Christmas Families Fund at the school.
See written update at http://friendsofnms.blogspot.com/ for more details
Upcoming events for November include
Fire Fighters Challenge, Teacher Appreciation Lunch, Healthy Eating Initiative
Nominations for the positions of the 3 Co-Chairs will be accepted from December 1, 2008 until 3pm December 12, 2008. Nominations forms will be made available just prior to these dates and will be posted on the Blog. Elections will take place on Jan. 7, 2009 and Jan. 8, 2009.
3. D.E.C Report- D.E.C Rep- Carol Coleman
Carol Coleman gave an update from the D.E.C. Two major meetings held:
· Parents Forum held on October 16th – Objective was to gather input from education stakeholders as they develop priorities for their four-year mandate.
· Training/Orientation for PSSC Members – Communications was highlighted as a key area of focus.
Carol gave highlights from the Grade 5 and Grade 8 Mathematics Assessment:
· The briefing note provided by the Department of Education about the Grade 5 Provincial Mathematics Assessment reported that the goal of the government of New Brunswick is for 90% of students to meet or exceed the appropriate achievement level, with 20% of those at the strong achievement level. Provincially, 65% met or exceeded the appropriate achievement level in Mathematics. 68% of District 18 students achieved Appropriate or Strong Achievement.
Go to http://www.district18.nbed.nb.ca/dec.htm for minutes of the DEC meetings. Standard practice is that the meeting minutes will be posted the 1st Thursday of the month. The Podcast is posted the Friday following the DEC meeting.
4. Principal’s Report- Alan
School safety week was held on October 6 to 10. The objective of the school safety week is to help students, teachers, parents and administrators increase their awareness of the need to keep our schools safe. Activities held included fire drills, school bus evacuations, lock down drills, and school evacuation exercises.
Magazine campaign – Was down 25% from last year. This will have an impact on the programs that the school can offer.
Participated in Junior Achievement for Grade 8 (all classes).
Teacher Professional development days are scheduled for October 14 and November 10th. Will be working on school improvement plan (SIP) including incorporating SMART goals into the plan.
Held school dance on October 30th. Over 400 students went to the dance representing ¼ population. The dance went well. However, feedback from the students included the dance was too short and there was too much light.
Installed new seats in the theatre. Thanks to Mr. Springer for his efforts here.
Opened Re-connecting room on October 21st. Purpose of the room is to support students as they transition back to school who have been away for any number of reasons (i.e. sick, disciplined). Three – four students/day are using this service.
Grade 7 LA assessment is upcoming. The assessment will occur over a 3-day period. Expect to have results after Christmas.
Held Bookfares – Alan expressed his appreciation to the Friends of NMS for their great job in organizing the two bookfares.
Held Remembrance Day ceremonies on November 7th. The students were well behaved.
Action: Provide a copy of the Glenda Saint report to the PSSC (Alan)
5. Action Items Follow-up
School Improvement Plan (SIP) (Alan)
· The teaching staff have review this. A new document is expected in the new year. We are in year 2 of a 3-year plan.
Maximizing our outdoor space (Alan)
· Test of the use of new areas will be held in the spring. Students will need to go through the front door to access the new areas.
Action: Provide an update on the UNICEF program to the PSSC (Alan)
6. Nashwaaksis Middle School Annual report and feedback from Diane Wilkins- Alan
Action: Provide summary of annual report to PSSC (Alan)
7. Nutrition Policy: Policy # 18-711 and Appendix A –Alan
New criteria on nutrition was released in August and is available on the website.
Training with Chartwells was cancelled.
Question was raised – Do we provide the students adequate time to eat healthy, since it takes longer to eat healthy food verses fast food? Challenge as contractually teachers must be given 1 hour duty free. Looking at providing a Sub bar.
Concern raised that the pizza and ice cream rewards given to classrooms may be giving the wrong message. Alan will consider option options as opposed to “non nutritional” items.
Actions: Provide FAQ’s of different products to Alan (Shauna Miller)
Review vendor machines and advise Alan of items that are in non-compliance of the criteria and suggest options. (Shauna Miller)
8. Availability of qualified French speaking substitute teachers. –Alan
It is recognized that this is an issue. Retired teachers have a teaching cap of 20 days.
9. PRA Time (practical and related arts) and the Health Curriculum- Alan
Home economics is gone from the curriculum. Health is taught in PRA (some teaching time may be lost due to storm days).
10. Talk mail new soft ware- Alan
Aliant and Rogers are not compatible with the school’s software for Talk mail. We are not able to reach some parents due to the constraints.
Action: Check into the system that Leo Hayes and FHS use (Alan)
11. Dance admittance procedure-Alan
A list was posted identifying the students that were not granted admittance to the dance. There were concerns with this. A new method to be developed. The “no dance” list of students will be made available to screen attendees on the night of the dance.
12. Nomination of new Parent Rep. to PSSC
Barb Brittany was nominated and approved as a new Parent Rep. to the PSSC. Nominated by Andrew Rowe and seconded by John MacKenzie.
Action: Advise Barb of the results of the nomination (Andrew)
Advise Mitch of the results of the nomination (Alan)
13. Nomination of Officers of PSSC
As per the PSSC guidelines, nominations for the Chair, Secretary and Treasurer positions are to be held yearly. Nominations to be held at the next meeting.
Action: Send nominations to Alan by November 24th (current PSSC members)
14. PSSC Blog
The PSSC Blog is not current.
Action: Alan to have the Blog updated.
15. Inclusion of more students on Sports Teams - Shauna
Discussion held on the fact that it is always the same students on the sports teams. Is there a way to ensure better inclusion? It was recognized that this is an issue. However, no feasible alternatives to respond to this were identified, as it would need to be a policy change for all the schools.
Next Meeting – December 8th 7pm - room 200
NMS – PSSC Committee Meeting
November 10th 2008
Attendees:
Tracy Allen Sherry Thomson Shauna Miller
John MacKenzie Pat Campbell Alan Atkins (Staff)
Andrew Rowe Carol Coleman (DEC Rep.)
Regrets:
Mitch Claybourn Anne Small Tracey Grattan
Guests:
Mary Rowe (Co-Chair of Friends of NMS)
**********************************************************************************************************
Call to Order:
The meeting was called to order at 7:05 pm
1. Welcome, Approval of Minutes
· October’s meeting minutes were approved as presented. Moved Tracy Allen, Seconded Pat Campbell.
2. Friends of NMS update- Vicky Patterson PSSC liaison
Vicky Patterson gave an update of the Friends of NMS activities from last month. Highlights include:
Received positive media coverage in the Northside News about the Bookfair as well as many favourable calls from parents.
Held Grade 6 Welcome BBQ and Coil Boil on October 2, 2008.
Supported the Magazine Campaign
Held Scholastic French & English Book Fairs – Combined profits $6200. Proceeds to go to the purchase of books for the school and for curriculum resources for the administration.
September Need of the Month – NMS Breakfast Program – Received great response.
October Need of the Month – Fredericton Food Bank – Received hundreds of non-perishable food items.
Held first ever Jack-O-Lantern contest – Profits of $72.52 donated to the Christmas Families Fund at the school.
See written update at http://friendsofnms.blogspot.com/ for more details
Upcoming events for November include
Fire Fighters Challenge, Teacher Appreciation Lunch, Healthy Eating Initiative
Nominations for the positions of the 3 Co-Chairs will be accepted from December 1, 2008 until 3pm December 12, 2008. Nominations forms will be made available just prior to these dates and will be posted on the Blog. Elections will take place on Jan. 7, 2009 and Jan. 8, 2009.
3. D.E.C Report- D.E.C Rep- Carol Coleman
Carol Coleman gave an update from the D.E.C. Two major meetings held:
· Parents Forum held on October 16th – Objective was to gather input from education stakeholders as they develop priorities for their four-year mandate.
· Training/Orientation for PSSC Members – Communications was highlighted as a key area of focus.
Carol gave highlights from the Grade 5 and Grade 8 Mathematics Assessment:
· The briefing note provided by the Department of Education about the Grade 5 Provincial Mathematics Assessment reported that the goal of the government of New Brunswick is for 90% of students to meet or exceed the appropriate achievement level, with 20% of those at the strong achievement level. Provincially, 65% met or exceeded the appropriate achievement level in Mathematics. 68% of District 18 students achieved Appropriate or Strong Achievement.
Go to http://www.district18.nbed.nb.ca/dec.htm for minutes of the DEC meetings. Standard practice is that the meeting minutes will be posted the 1st Thursday of the month. The Podcast is posted the Friday following the DEC meeting.
4. Principal’s Report- Alan
School safety week was held on October 6 to 10. The objective of the school safety week is to help students, teachers, parents and administrators increase their awareness of the need to keep our schools safe. Activities held included fire drills, school bus evacuations, lock down drills, and school evacuation exercises.
Magazine campaign – Was down 25% from last year. This will have an impact on the programs that the school can offer.
Participated in Junior Achievement for Grade 8 (all classes).
Teacher Professional development days are scheduled for October 14 and November 10th. Will be working on school improvement plan (SIP) including incorporating SMART goals into the plan.
Held school dance on October 30th. Over 400 students went to the dance representing ¼ population. The dance went well. However, feedback from the students included the dance was too short and there was too much light.
Installed new seats in the theatre. Thanks to Mr. Springer for his efforts here.
Opened Re-connecting room on October 21st. Purpose of the room is to support students as they transition back to school who have been away for any number of reasons (i.e. sick, disciplined). Three – four students/day are using this service.
Grade 7 LA assessment is upcoming. The assessment will occur over a 3-day period. Expect to have results after Christmas.
Held Bookfares – Alan expressed his appreciation to the Friends of NMS for their great job in organizing the two bookfares.
Held Remembrance Day ceremonies on November 7th. The students were well behaved.
Action: Provide a copy of the Glenda Saint report to the PSSC (Alan)
5. Action Items Follow-up
School Improvement Plan (SIP) (Alan)
· The teaching staff have review this. A new document is expected in the new year. We are in year 2 of a 3-year plan.
Maximizing our outdoor space (Alan)
· Test of the use of new areas will be held in the spring. Students will need to go through the front door to access the new areas.
Action: Provide an update on the UNICEF program to the PSSC (Alan)
6. Nashwaaksis Middle School Annual report and feedback from Diane Wilkins- Alan
Action: Provide summary of annual report to PSSC (Alan)
7. Nutrition Policy: Policy # 18-711 and Appendix A –Alan
New criteria on nutrition was released in August and is available on the website.
Training with Chartwells was cancelled.
Question was raised – Do we provide the students adequate time to eat healthy, since it takes longer to eat healthy food verses fast food? Challenge as contractually teachers must be given 1 hour duty free. Looking at providing a Sub bar.
Concern raised that the pizza and ice cream rewards given to classrooms may be giving the wrong message. Alan will consider option options as opposed to “non nutritional” items.
Actions: Provide FAQ’s of different products to Alan (Shauna Miller)
Review vendor machines and advise Alan of items that are in non-compliance of the criteria and suggest options. (Shauna Miller)
8. Availability of qualified French speaking substitute teachers. –Alan
It is recognized that this is an issue. Retired teachers have a teaching cap of 20 days.
9. PRA Time (practical and related arts) and the Health Curriculum- Alan
Home economics is gone from the curriculum. Health is taught in PRA (some teaching time may be lost due to storm days).
10. Talk mail new soft ware- Alan
Aliant and Rogers are not compatible with the school’s software for Talk mail. We are not able to reach some parents due to the constraints.
Action: Check into the system that Leo Hayes and FHS use (Alan)
11. Dance admittance procedure-Alan
A list was posted identifying the students that were not granted admittance to the dance. There were concerns with this. A new method to be developed. The “no dance” list of students will be made available to screen attendees on the night of the dance.
12. Nomination of new Parent Rep. to PSSC
Barb Brittany was nominated and approved as a new Parent Rep. to the PSSC. Nominated by Andrew Rowe and seconded by John MacKenzie.
Action: Advise Barb of the results of the nomination (Andrew)
Advise Mitch of the results of the nomination (Alan)
13. Nomination of Officers of PSSC
As per the PSSC guidelines, nominations for the Chair, Secretary and Treasurer positions are to be held yearly. Nominations to be held at the next meeting.
Action: Send nominations to Alan by November 24th (current PSSC members)
14. PSSC Blog
The PSSC Blog is not current.
Action: Alan to have the Blog updated.
15. Inclusion of more students on Sports Teams - Shauna
Discussion held on the fact that it is always the same students on the sports teams. Is there a way to ensure better inclusion? It was recognized that this is an issue. However, no feasible alternatives to respond to this were identified, as it would need to be a policy change for all the schools.
Next Meeting – December 8th 7pm - room 200
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
November 10, 2008 - Meeting Agenda
7:00 -7:05 Welcome, Approval of October’s Minutes and Approval of November’s Agenda
7:05-7:10 Friends of NMS update- Vicky Patterson
7:10 -7:15 D.E.C Report- D.E.C Rep-Pat Campbell
7:15 – 7:35 Principal’s Report
7:35 -7:50 Action Item Follow-up
1. School Improvement Plan ( see copy) – Alan
2. Maximizing our outdoor space- Spring-Alan
7:50–8:20 New Agenda Additional Items (identified prior to or at the meeting)
Naswaaksis Middle School Annual report and feedback from Diane Wilkins- Alan
Nutrition Policy: Policy # 18-711 and Appendix A –Alan
a) Are we in compliance?
b) Are there other ways to motivate students to action?
Availability of qualified french speaking substitute teachers. –Alan
PRA Time (practical and related arts) and the Health Curriculum- Alan
Talk mail new soft ware- Mitch
Dance admittance procedure-Alan
8:20-8:30 Additional items added at meeting
Adjournment
7:05-7:10 Friends of NMS update- Vicky Patterson
7:10 -7:15 D.E.C Report- D.E.C Rep-Pat Campbell
7:15 – 7:35 Principal’s Report
7:35 -7:50 Action Item Follow-up
1. School Improvement Plan ( see copy) – Alan
2. Maximizing our outdoor space- Spring-Alan
7:50–8:20 New Agenda Additional Items (identified prior to or at the meeting)
Naswaaksis Middle School Annual report and feedback from Diane Wilkins- Alan
Nutrition Policy: Policy # 18-711 and Appendix A –Alan
a) Are we in compliance?
b) Are there other ways to motivate students to action?
Availability of qualified french speaking substitute teachers. –Alan
PRA Time (practical and related arts) and the Health Curriculum- Alan
Talk mail new soft ware- Mitch
Dance admittance procedure-Alan
8:20-8:30 Additional items added at meeting
Adjournment
Monday, November 3, 2008
PSSC Minutes - October 8, 2008
Attendees
Tracy Allen Mitch Claybourn Tracy Gratten
John MacKenzie Andrew Rowe Ann Small
Regrets
Sherry Thompson Pat Cambell
DEC Rep
Pat Coleman
Absent
Shauna Miller
Staff
Alan Atkins
Guests
Mary Rowe (Chair of Friends of NMS)
Mary Leo Dick (Co-chair of Friends of NMS)
Vicky Patterson (Co-chair of Friends of NMS)
Call to order
The meeting was called to order at 7:30pm
Andrew Rowe was asked to record the minutes for this meeting. To appoint the secretary at the next meeting.
Motion to approve Junes meeting minutes: moved Tracey Allen: no vote occurred as no other members were present at the June meeting other than the chair.
Agenda
The agenda was approved with the following addition:
- Update of “The Glenda Saint Report”
Friends of NMS report (Vicky Patterson PSSC liaison)
- They are a task based group with 86 volunteers at this point (62 same time last year)
- Review of activities of the parent volunteer group from June to date including: Grade 8
celebration, grade 6 BBQ, volunteer forms, needs of the month, French book fair and, Corn boil. Details on Friends of NMS Blog
School improvement plan (Mr. Atkins)
- Has been translated to “Smart language”
- 9 pages → 3-4 pages
- 3 year plan / 1year in (starting year 2)
- Copies to be emailed to members
Action Item follow up…
Spirit Committee
- Valerie (Guidance) involved
- Monthly meetings
- Motivation for students
- Activities for students
- 11 of 787 students involved
- Look to increase number of students involved
- More training in the future?
Update Friends of NMS and Home and School (Mr. Atkins)
- Had 5 meetings over the summer to finalize the Constitution and Guidelines for Friends of NMS.
(posted on the Friends of NMS Blog which is attached to the NMS Blog)
- Friends of NMS fits the needs of our school and is working well
- Home and school has been tried in the past and has failed twice
- The question was asked, why not have both groups?
We have one group working well; there is no need for a second group.
Outdoor Space
- Long term plan, “ to reduce crime by environmental design”
- More information to be provided at the next meeting
Grade 8 Celebration
- Provide parents with the information earlier in the school year that the school is planning a
celebration including a dance.
- Hope that Friends of NMS can provide the “Muscle” to pull off a successful celebration this year as they did last year.
Dividers on the walk way (Mr. Atkins)
- Only go 2/3rd way down main entrance
- Want more for safety
- Funding is the issue
Principals Report
- 787 students/44 teachers/75 staff total
- Magazine campaign ongoing
- Safety week completed
- Professional Learning Committees (PLC) next Tuesday: sharing ideas between schools
- Interim reports next week
- Report cards out November 20/21st
- Teacher hired for re-connecting room, served 150 students last year (from 1 day to 1 month) to help them with school learning. Valuable tool for all middle schools.
- Question: 701 and police check required for all coaches? Yes, athletic directors look after this.
Additional items
- DEC hosting training and orientation session for PSSC members October 28th
- “Parenting in the 21st century” 7 week course on effective parenting of teens. Mitch to email
information to members.
- After school detention program: used for discipline, not used by all teams, note sent home to
parents one day prior to detention as they have to arrange for transport home.
- Talk mail, paper communication and blog for school special events
To carry remaining agenda to next meeting
Next meeting
Monday November 10th (tentative)
Submit agenda items by November 1st
Agenda to be sent out 1 week in advance
Adjournment
Meeting ended 8:40pm
Respectfully Submitted Andrew Rowe
Next meeting - November 10, 2008 - 7:00 p.m. - Reconnecting Room - NMS
Tracy Allen Mitch Claybourn Tracy Gratten
John MacKenzie Andrew Rowe Ann Small
Regrets
Sherry Thompson Pat Cambell
DEC Rep
Pat Coleman
Absent
Shauna Miller
Staff
Alan Atkins
Guests
Mary Rowe (Chair of Friends of NMS)
Mary Leo Dick (Co-chair of Friends of NMS)
Vicky Patterson (Co-chair of Friends of NMS)
Call to order
The meeting was called to order at 7:30pm
Andrew Rowe was asked to record the minutes for this meeting. To appoint the secretary at the next meeting.
Motion to approve Junes meeting minutes: moved Tracey Allen: no vote occurred as no other members were present at the June meeting other than the chair.
Agenda
The agenda was approved with the following addition:
- Update of “The Glenda Saint Report”
Friends of NMS report (Vicky Patterson PSSC liaison)
- They are a task based group with 86 volunteers at this point (62 same time last year)
- Review of activities of the parent volunteer group from June to date including: Grade 8
celebration, grade 6 BBQ, volunteer forms, needs of the month, French book fair and, Corn boil. Details on Friends of NMS Blog
School improvement plan (Mr. Atkins)
- Has been translated to “Smart language”
- 9 pages → 3-4 pages
- 3 year plan / 1year in (starting year 2)
- Copies to be emailed to members
Action Item follow up…
Spirit Committee
- Valerie (Guidance) involved
- Monthly meetings
- Motivation for students
- Activities for students
- 11 of 787 students involved
- Look to increase number of students involved
- More training in the future?
Update Friends of NMS and Home and School (Mr. Atkins)
- Had 5 meetings over the summer to finalize the Constitution and Guidelines for Friends of NMS.
(posted on the Friends of NMS Blog which is attached to the NMS Blog)
- Friends of NMS fits the needs of our school and is working well
- Home and school has been tried in the past and has failed twice
- The question was asked, why not have both groups?
We have one group working well; there is no need for a second group.
Outdoor Space
- Long term plan, “ to reduce crime by environmental design”
- More information to be provided at the next meeting
Grade 8 Celebration
- Provide parents with the information earlier in the school year that the school is planning a
celebration including a dance.
- Hope that Friends of NMS can provide the “Muscle” to pull off a successful celebration this year as they did last year.
Dividers on the walk way (Mr. Atkins)
- Only go 2/3rd way down main entrance
- Want more for safety
- Funding is the issue
Principals Report
- 787 students/44 teachers/75 staff total
- Magazine campaign ongoing
- Safety week completed
- Professional Learning Committees (PLC) next Tuesday: sharing ideas between schools
- Interim reports next week
- Report cards out November 20/21st
- Teacher hired for re-connecting room, served 150 students last year (from 1 day to 1 month) to help them with school learning. Valuable tool for all middle schools.
- Question: 701 and police check required for all coaches? Yes, athletic directors look after this.
Additional items
- DEC hosting training and orientation session for PSSC members October 28th
- “Parenting in the 21st century” 7 week course on effective parenting of teens. Mitch to email
information to members.
- After school detention program: used for discipline, not used by all teams, note sent home to
parents one day prior to detention as they have to arrange for transport home.
- Talk mail, paper communication and blog for school special events
To carry remaining agenda to next meeting
Next meeting
Monday November 10th (tentative)
Submit agenda items by November 1st
Agenda to be sent out 1 week in advance
Adjournment
Meeting ended 8:40pm
Respectfully Submitted Andrew Rowe
Next meeting - November 10, 2008 - 7:00 p.m. - Reconnecting Room - NMS
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Next PSSC Meeting
We will be holding our next PSSC meeting on Thursday, October 9th at 7:00 p.m. in the conference room at Nashwaaksis Middle School.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
PSSC Minutes
Nashwaaksis Middle School
PSSC Committee Meeting
June 12, 2008
Members Present
Mitch Claybourn – Chair
Karen MacLean
Deanna Stewart-McGarry
Tracy Allen
Theresa Pyke
Ex-Officio Members:
Members Absent
Susan Knorr
Lori MacMullen – Secretary
Lisa Rousseau
Heather Touchie-Blakely – Teacher Rep
Tina Brewer
DEC Representative:
Bill Corby (Regrets)
Glenda Saint – School Performance Coach
Alan Atkins – Principal
Welcome, Approval of Minutes, Approval of Agenda
· Minutes from last meeting were not prepared for this meeting and will be reviewed and approved via email.
· ACTION: Tracy to assume responsibility for writing up minutes from May and June meetings.
Action Items Follow-up
· Spirit Committee - ACTION ITEM (Carried to June meeting): Alan to have Mary contact Mitch for an update of activities.
· UPDATE: Mitch has still not been contacted by Mary. Mary is leaving NMS for a year term at LHHS. Follow-up on spirit committee activities required in the fall.
· ACTION: A review of the TalkMail call lists will be done to ensure that the call lists reflect the current school population.
· UPDATE: The review of TalkMail has not been done yet. It is possible that a new tool, accessible to all phone services, will be available in the fall. Follow-up on home/school communication processes required in the fall.
Additional items
Initiative to improve NMS Outdoor Space
· Mitch, Tracy and Alan have been meeting to brainstorm about making better use of the outdoor space around NMS
· They have identified problem areas around the school and will be coordinating with the City and Police to make these areas more visible to reduce the amount of drug use going on
· There have also been discussions about using different areas for noon hour use to encourage more physical activity (soccer fields, tennis/basketball courts, track), which will require adjustments be made to the current supervision model and traffic patterns
· Redevelopment of other areas (e.g. the baseball field) will be discussed in coordination with the City as a long term initiative
· It was proposed and approved by the PSSC that concrete dividers beside the school driveway be extended down to the field area to ensure that people do not park there and to clearly identify an area as sidewalk for pedestrians.
· ACTION: Alan to contact Wanda ?? as the district to initiate a request for this improvement.
School-sponsored Grade 8 celebration
· As discussed in the March PSSC meeting, the school is sponsoring an informal Grade 8 celebration to be held on June 19. This will be an all day event, including a trip to Killarney Lake, a BBQ and a dance in the evening. The event has been promoted via talk mail and on the school website
· Follow-up: PSSC members request that this event be promoted earlier in the school year to ensure parents and students know and are excited about the official celebration.
Staffing shuffles
Alan discussed all the staffing shuffles that will take place this year. (?Do we want details listed here?)
Principal's report
Alan and Glenda presented the record of parent/teacher communications (re. Student progress) that took place around report card time. This, in addition to face-to-face parent teacher interviews reflect that parents are actually interacting with teachers more this term than last.
Dramafest at STU went well
An issue was taken with the message conveyed in the school production ‘Three Wishes’. In the future, the school administration, in coordination with the District, will be scrutinizing future endeavours.
6 Science Assessments, 7 Math Assessments, 8 Math Assessments were just written. Follow-up: The PSSC is requesting that there be consistent communications to parents regarding assessments, ahead of assessment dates. This year, some were communicated through the homework blog, some through the school home page, some not at all.
Nurses visited the school to do optional vision & hearing tests for Grade 6.
Jeff Whipple and Constable Jan Smith hosted a parents information session on social networking (e.g. facebook, msn). This event was poorly attended but contained very important information for parents. It was suggested that in the future, these types of events involve the students which may entice parents to attend to be supportive.
Science Fair, Band Performance, Grade 5 visits & parents have all taken place at the school over the past month.
The school Track & Field team placed second in the Districts. The top performers (i.e. those that placed in the top 6 of their event) are competing at the Provincials on June 16.
There are 30 students entering the Core Grade 6 program this fall that have gone through Grade 5 Intensive French. These children will all be together in one class but Alan is unsure how the school will be able to support them with an enriched French experience. He will be working with the District to adjust the curriculum to suit their needs.
The school track & fields days took place this week. Participation was an issue with the older grades.
Glenda's term as school performance coach is coming to an end. She feels the perception surveys illustrate that the school has made gains. We now have a concise School Improvement Plan, which will be implemented over the next year. The superintendent is responsible for follow-up moving forward, along with PSSC chair. Glenda is currently repairing her final report, which Mitch asked to be shared with the PSSC.
Nashwaaksis Middle School
PSSC Committee Meeting
May 8, 2008
Members Present
Mitch Claybourn – Chair
Karen MacLean
Deanna Stewart-McGarry
Tina Brewer
Tracy Allen
Theresa Pyke
Ex-Officio Members:
Members Absent
Susan Knorr
Lori MacMullen – Secretary
Lisa Rousseau
Heather Touchie-Blakely – Teacher Rep
DEC Representative:
Bill Corby (Regrets)
Glenda Saint – School Performance Coach
Alan Atkins – Principal
Welcome, Approval of Minutes, Approval of Agenda
School Improvement Plan
· Alan held a staff meeting to checkpoint the SIP
Action Items Follow-up
· Spirit Committee - ACTION ITEM (Carried to June meeting): Alan to have Mary contact Mitch for an update of activities.
· ACTION: Alan to ensure that teachers who have identified students needing support for lunch are aware of the options and opportunities available to them.
· UPDATE: Alan communicated this information to all teachers
· Year end trip – The question of year end trips was discussed and the committee indicated that as these trips are being planned guidelines such as adhering to educational themes and supporting local businesses should be followed.
· ACTION: Alan to bring this information to the next staff meeting.
· UPDATE: Year end trips were discussed in the staff meeting.
· ACTION: Alan will meet with the parents interested in forming a home and school committee as well as the Friends of NMS parents to indicate that formalizing the home and school committee will be the preferred approach for 2008 – 2009 and that in conjunction with the PSSC, these two committees will form the foundation to support, encourage and enable parental involvement at NMS while at the same time allow for transparency and formality in the overall process.
· UPDATE: Alan reported that he has met with both groups and has communicated that the school supports the formation of a formal organization, with documented procedures, including the requirement for an annual election process. Alan, in agreement with Alex Dingwall, does not feel it necessary for this organization to belong to the provincial Home & School Association, as this adds extra cost to members with little benefit. However, the formalized organization will require a formalized charter, transparency in operation, financial accountability with the school handling all group finances, and formalized involvement in the PSSC by providing a representative to sit on the PSSC and report on group actions. With respect to the election process, PSSC members felt that this would be most inclusive if it were held in the fall. Alan indicated that the interested parties wanted to run the election before the end of the school year, which is similar to the timing of a formal H&S election. The main concern of the PSSC was that this did not give incoming Grade 6 parents an opportunity to participate, meaning that only approx 1/3 of the school’s parents were considered as potentials for the executive. All parents would be able to participate as volunteers during the school year.
Additional items
Continuing Problems with TalkMail
· Concern was raised over the accuracy of the TalkMail call lists and how effective this tool is at reaching a reasonable portion of the school community
· Although it was acknowledge that many homes do not use Aliant services and therefore do not benefit from TalkMail, it will be continued for the time being
· ACTION: A review of the TalkMail call lists will be done to ensure that the call lists reflect the current school population.
Meeting Schedule
· Thursday, June 12 (Agenda Planning for 2008 – 2009, with meeting starting at 6:30pm and including supper)
Nashwaaksis Middle School
PSSC Committee Meeting
April 10, 2008
Members Present
Mitch Claybourn – Chair
Lori MacMullen – Secretary
Karen MacLean
Tina Brewer
Tracy Allen
Theresa Pyke
Heather Touchie-Blakely – Teacher Rep
Ex-Officio Members:
Members Absent
Susan Knorr
Lisa Rousseau
Deanna Stewart-McGarry
DEC Representative:
Bill Corby (Regrets)
Glenda Saint – School Performance Coach
Alan Atkins – Principal
Welcome, Approval of Minutes, Approval of Agenda
School Improvement Plan
· Alan provided the committee with an overview of the activities underway in the school relating to the school improvement plan including;
· School Leadership & Communications
o Team meetings, curriculum meetings, staff meetings are being held often and regularly
o The teacher handbook has been updated, consolidated and provided to all teachers – will continue to evolve and be renewed.
o The student handbook also continues to evolve and is provided to all students an parents each year
o More classroom walk thru’s are planned however getting them done is proving to be problematic
o Interim reports are now in place for each term
Second Step (anti-bullying program)
· Second Step is an approach to bullying based on a more positive proactive approach – teaching kids empathy, how to be a good friend, etc. versus a focus more on the negative aspects.
· The program is provided in English only
· Heather Blakely Touchie indicated she found the program to be positive and effective however sometimes difficult to implement to its fullest potential
Action Items Follow-up
· Spirit Committee - ACTION ITEM (Carried to May meeting): Alan to have Mary contact Mitch for an update of activities.
· Hot Lunch Program - Based on a request from a concerned parent information with respect to the number of children who may benefit from such a program was solicited from teachers. Based on the information collected, it is estimated that there are approximately 19 children (out of the total school population of ~860) who may benefit from such a program.
· It was noted that a program to provide money to students (i.e. “Caf Cash”) is available for students who need it. This program is monitored for inappropriate use and action taken as required. The option to go to the breakfast room at lunch time is also available to students who need lunch.
· DECISION: The committee determined that the programs currently available (i.e. Caf cash, breakfast room) were sufficient to meet the needs of the students.
· ACTION: Alan to ensure that teachers who have identified students needing support for lunch are aware of the options and opportunities available to them.
· Year end trip – The question of year end trips was discussed and the committee indicated that as these trips are being planned guidelines such as adhering to educational themes and supporting local businesses should be followed.
· ACTION: Alan to bring this information to the next staff meeting.
· Grade 8 Celebration – The teachers and administration are planning a Luau and dance again this year. Events to include a BBQ, trip to Killarney Lake during the day and then a Hawaiian themed dance in the field house that evening. This event is much more cost effective than other events held in the past.
· The issue of a school supported formal has been brought up once again. The decision remains that the school will not be supporting/sponsoring a formal.
Principal’s Report
· Perception Survey – Alan and Glenda provided the results of the perception surveys undertaken in November 2007. Glenda also provided an interpretation of the results of the results from this year as compared to historical data (2006).
· Year book photos and books are complete and ready to be ordered.
· 4 students attended Stem Expo this year – Mike Smith will be taken a more active role in this next year.
· Report Cards will be distributed April 11. Parent Teacher interviews are scheduled for April 17 & 18 with same format. Information will be collected once again with respect to parent interactions prior to, during and after the formal interview times
· A leadership session is planned for teachers for the afternoon of April 18.
· A professional learning communities survey will be undertaken to see how well NMS is providing and developing professional learning communities.
· The focus for curriculum development at NMS is on writing for next year with pre and post testing with the continued development of an “NMS” approach to curriculum in each of the major areas.
Other Items
· Printing of Student’s Work at Home – some parents have expressed concern with respect to the amount of printing being requested for homework and assignments.
· Heather indicated that she, and she believed most teachers, provide options for students – email to the teacher, etc. to mitigate impact of printing at home however there will be times when it will be required.
· What is the impact of the French Second Language changes to NMS? Alan indicated that he expects it to be status quo for 2008 with student impacts minimal. It is estimated that there will be 1 late immersion class and 3 early immersion classes for the fall 2008.
· Alan reported that preliminary discussions with respect to first rounds of FTE allotments, teacher assignments, etc. have begun.
· Mitch attended the District’s PSSC dinner event and passed along thanks to the committee on behalf of district.
Friends of NMS and the Proposed Home and School Committee for 2008 – 2009
· Interest in forming a home and school committee for the 2008 – 2009 school year has been expressed by parents of Grade 6 students coming to NMS in the fall of 2008.
· In balancing the support and interest of the current Friends of NMS group, the interest of parents to form a home and school and the need to encourage and support parental involvement in the school in a formally recognized and transparent manner, the committee supported the decision of the administration to support the creation of a formal home and school committee at NMS for the 2008 – 2009 school year.
· ACTION: Alan will meet with the parents interested in forming a home and school committee as well as the Friends of NMS parents to indicate that formalizing the home and school committee will be the preferred approach for 2008 – 2009 and that in conjunction with the PSSC, these two committees will form the foundation to support, encourage and enable parental involvement at NMS while at the same time allow for transparency and formality in the overall process.
Agenda Items for Next Meeting
· Continuing problem with talk mail
Meeting Schedule
· Thursday, May 8
· Thursday, June 12 (Agenda Planning for 2008 – 2009)
Field trips
The question was asked how teachers choose what each class does for field trips. There seems to be quite a number of trips to the Bucket club.
Selection Process for Big trips (e.g. Space Camp, Ottawa trip)
There is the perception that the selection process for these trips is not always fair. It was suggested that there be a formally defined process for wait list management, and that the wait lists be made publicly available. ACTION: Alan to take a look at this for next year.
Concerns Raised by Departing PSSC Member
Frustrated and questioning if there is real interest in having parents involved at the school as volunteers. Many times offered to help but not actually called to do anything.
Issues with students being given inconsistent or no consequences for poor behaviour.
Concerns with laptop program: not use to writing notes but will need to be able to in high school; laptops in poor working order without spares; D.E.A.R. time spent on computers, not necessarily used for ‘reading’; access and use of MSN (through Facebook) during class time
Inconsistent enforcement of school rules and code of conduct
Poor follow-up from the VP’s office
Quality of homework sheets (French sheets with penciled in English)
Poor turnaround on marking tests and projects.
PSSC Committee Meeting
June 12, 2008
Members Present
Mitch Claybourn – Chair
Karen MacLean
Deanna Stewart-McGarry
Tracy Allen
Theresa Pyke
Ex-Officio Members:
Members Absent
Susan Knorr
Lori MacMullen – Secretary
Lisa Rousseau
Heather Touchie-Blakely – Teacher Rep
Tina Brewer
DEC Representative:
Bill Corby (Regrets)
Glenda Saint – School Performance Coach
Alan Atkins – Principal
Welcome, Approval of Minutes, Approval of Agenda
· Minutes from last meeting were not prepared for this meeting and will be reviewed and approved via email.
· ACTION: Tracy to assume responsibility for writing up minutes from May and June meetings.
Action Items Follow-up
· Spirit Committee - ACTION ITEM (Carried to June meeting): Alan to have Mary contact Mitch for an update of activities.
· UPDATE: Mitch has still not been contacted by Mary. Mary is leaving NMS for a year term at LHHS. Follow-up on spirit committee activities required in the fall.
· ACTION: A review of the TalkMail call lists will be done to ensure that the call lists reflect the current school population.
· UPDATE: The review of TalkMail has not been done yet. It is possible that a new tool, accessible to all phone services, will be available in the fall. Follow-up on home/school communication processes required in the fall.
Additional items
Initiative to improve NMS Outdoor Space
· Mitch, Tracy and Alan have been meeting to brainstorm about making better use of the outdoor space around NMS
· They have identified problem areas around the school and will be coordinating with the City and Police to make these areas more visible to reduce the amount of drug use going on
· There have also been discussions about using different areas for noon hour use to encourage more physical activity (soccer fields, tennis/basketball courts, track), which will require adjustments be made to the current supervision model and traffic patterns
· Redevelopment of other areas (e.g. the baseball field) will be discussed in coordination with the City as a long term initiative
· It was proposed and approved by the PSSC that concrete dividers beside the school driveway be extended down to the field area to ensure that people do not park there and to clearly identify an area as sidewalk for pedestrians.
· ACTION: Alan to contact Wanda ?? as the district to initiate a request for this improvement.
School-sponsored Grade 8 celebration
· As discussed in the March PSSC meeting, the school is sponsoring an informal Grade 8 celebration to be held on June 19. This will be an all day event, including a trip to Killarney Lake, a BBQ and a dance in the evening. The event has been promoted via talk mail and on the school website
· Follow-up: PSSC members request that this event be promoted earlier in the school year to ensure parents and students know and are excited about the official celebration.
Staffing shuffles
Alan discussed all the staffing shuffles that will take place this year. (?Do we want details listed here?)
Principal's report
Alan and Glenda presented the record of parent/teacher communications (re. Student progress) that took place around report card time. This, in addition to face-to-face parent teacher interviews reflect that parents are actually interacting with teachers more this term than last.
Dramafest at STU went well
An issue was taken with the message conveyed in the school production ‘Three Wishes’. In the future, the school administration, in coordination with the District, will be scrutinizing future endeavours.
6 Science Assessments, 7 Math Assessments, 8 Math Assessments were just written. Follow-up: The PSSC is requesting that there be consistent communications to parents regarding assessments, ahead of assessment dates. This year, some were communicated through the homework blog, some through the school home page, some not at all.
Nurses visited the school to do optional vision & hearing tests for Grade 6.
Jeff Whipple and Constable Jan Smith hosted a parents information session on social networking (e.g. facebook, msn). This event was poorly attended but contained very important information for parents. It was suggested that in the future, these types of events involve the students which may entice parents to attend to be supportive.
Science Fair, Band Performance, Grade 5 visits & parents have all taken place at the school over the past month.
The school Track & Field team placed second in the Districts. The top performers (i.e. those that placed in the top 6 of their event) are competing at the Provincials on June 16.
There are 30 students entering the Core Grade 6 program this fall that have gone through Grade 5 Intensive French. These children will all be together in one class but Alan is unsure how the school will be able to support them with an enriched French experience. He will be working with the District to adjust the curriculum to suit their needs.
The school track & fields days took place this week. Participation was an issue with the older grades.
Glenda's term as school performance coach is coming to an end. She feels the perception surveys illustrate that the school has made gains. We now have a concise School Improvement Plan, which will be implemented over the next year. The superintendent is responsible for follow-up moving forward, along with PSSC chair. Glenda is currently repairing her final report, which Mitch asked to be shared with the PSSC.
Nashwaaksis Middle School
PSSC Committee Meeting
May 8, 2008
Members Present
Mitch Claybourn – Chair
Karen MacLean
Deanna Stewart-McGarry
Tina Brewer
Tracy Allen
Theresa Pyke
Ex-Officio Members:
Members Absent
Susan Knorr
Lori MacMullen – Secretary
Lisa Rousseau
Heather Touchie-Blakely – Teacher Rep
DEC Representative:
Bill Corby (Regrets)
Glenda Saint – School Performance Coach
Alan Atkins – Principal
Welcome, Approval of Minutes, Approval of Agenda
School Improvement Plan
· Alan held a staff meeting to checkpoint the SIP
Action Items Follow-up
· Spirit Committee - ACTION ITEM (Carried to June meeting): Alan to have Mary contact Mitch for an update of activities.
· ACTION: Alan to ensure that teachers who have identified students needing support for lunch are aware of the options and opportunities available to them.
· UPDATE: Alan communicated this information to all teachers
· Year end trip – The question of year end trips was discussed and the committee indicated that as these trips are being planned guidelines such as adhering to educational themes and supporting local businesses should be followed.
· ACTION: Alan to bring this information to the next staff meeting.
· UPDATE: Year end trips were discussed in the staff meeting.
· ACTION: Alan will meet with the parents interested in forming a home and school committee as well as the Friends of NMS parents to indicate that formalizing the home and school committee will be the preferred approach for 2008 – 2009 and that in conjunction with the PSSC, these two committees will form the foundation to support, encourage and enable parental involvement at NMS while at the same time allow for transparency and formality in the overall process.
· UPDATE: Alan reported that he has met with both groups and has communicated that the school supports the formation of a formal organization, with documented procedures, including the requirement for an annual election process. Alan, in agreement with Alex Dingwall, does not feel it necessary for this organization to belong to the provincial Home & School Association, as this adds extra cost to members with little benefit. However, the formalized organization will require a formalized charter, transparency in operation, financial accountability with the school handling all group finances, and formalized involvement in the PSSC by providing a representative to sit on the PSSC and report on group actions. With respect to the election process, PSSC members felt that this would be most inclusive if it were held in the fall. Alan indicated that the interested parties wanted to run the election before the end of the school year, which is similar to the timing of a formal H&S election. The main concern of the PSSC was that this did not give incoming Grade 6 parents an opportunity to participate, meaning that only approx 1/3 of the school’s parents were considered as potentials for the executive. All parents would be able to participate as volunteers during the school year.
Additional items
Continuing Problems with TalkMail
· Concern was raised over the accuracy of the TalkMail call lists and how effective this tool is at reaching a reasonable portion of the school community
· Although it was acknowledge that many homes do not use Aliant services and therefore do not benefit from TalkMail, it will be continued for the time being
· ACTION: A review of the TalkMail call lists will be done to ensure that the call lists reflect the current school population.
Meeting Schedule
· Thursday, June 12 (Agenda Planning for 2008 – 2009, with meeting starting at 6:30pm and including supper)
Nashwaaksis Middle School
PSSC Committee Meeting
April 10, 2008
Members Present
Mitch Claybourn – Chair
Lori MacMullen – Secretary
Karen MacLean
Tina Brewer
Tracy Allen
Theresa Pyke
Heather Touchie-Blakely – Teacher Rep
Ex-Officio Members:
Members Absent
Susan Knorr
Lisa Rousseau
Deanna Stewart-McGarry
DEC Representative:
Bill Corby (Regrets)
Glenda Saint – School Performance Coach
Alan Atkins – Principal
Welcome, Approval of Minutes, Approval of Agenda
School Improvement Plan
· Alan provided the committee with an overview of the activities underway in the school relating to the school improvement plan including;
· School Leadership & Communications
o Team meetings, curriculum meetings, staff meetings are being held often and regularly
o The teacher handbook has been updated, consolidated and provided to all teachers – will continue to evolve and be renewed.
o The student handbook also continues to evolve and is provided to all students an parents each year
o More classroom walk thru’s are planned however getting them done is proving to be problematic
o Interim reports are now in place for each term
Second Step (anti-bullying program)
· Second Step is an approach to bullying based on a more positive proactive approach – teaching kids empathy, how to be a good friend, etc. versus a focus more on the negative aspects.
· The program is provided in English only
· Heather Blakely Touchie indicated she found the program to be positive and effective however sometimes difficult to implement to its fullest potential
Action Items Follow-up
· Spirit Committee - ACTION ITEM (Carried to May meeting): Alan to have Mary contact Mitch for an update of activities.
· Hot Lunch Program - Based on a request from a concerned parent information with respect to the number of children who may benefit from such a program was solicited from teachers. Based on the information collected, it is estimated that there are approximately 19 children (out of the total school population of ~860) who may benefit from such a program.
· It was noted that a program to provide money to students (i.e. “Caf Cash”) is available for students who need it. This program is monitored for inappropriate use and action taken as required. The option to go to the breakfast room at lunch time is also available to students who need lunch.
· DECISION: The committee determined that the programs currently available (i.e. Caf cash, breakfast room) were sufficient to meet the needs of the students.
· ACTION: Alan to ensure that teachers who have identified students needing support for lunch are aware of the options and opportunities available to them.
· Year end trip – The question of year end trips was discussed and the committee indicated that as these trips are being planned guidelines such as adhering to educational themes and supporting local businesses should be followed.
· ACTION: Alan to bring this information to the next staff meeting.
· Grade 8 Celebration – The teachers and administration are planning a Luau and dance again this year. Events to include a BBQ, trip to Killarney Lake during the day and then a Hawaiian themed dance in the field house that evening. This event is much more cost effective than other events held in the past.
· The issue of a school supported formal has been brought up once again. The decision remains that the school will not be supporting/sponsoring a formal.
Principal’s Report
· Perception Survey – Alan and Glenda provided the results of the perception surveys undertaken in November 2007. Glenda also provided an interpretation of the results of the results from this year as compared to historical data (2006).
· Year book photos and books are complete and ready to be ordered.
· 4 students attended Stem Expo this year – Mike Smith will be taken a more active role in this next year.
· Report Cards will be distributed April 11. Parent Teacher interviews are scheduled for April 17 & 18 with same format. Information will be collected once again with respect to parent interactions prior to, during and after the formal interview times
· A leadership session is planned for teachers for the afternoon of April 18.
· A professional learning communities survey will be undertaken to see how well NMS is providing and developing professional learning communities.
· The focus for curriculum development at NMS is on writing for next year with pre and post testing with the continued development of an “NMS” approach to curriculum in each of the major areas.
Other Items
· Printing of Student’s Work at Home – some parents have expressed concern with respect to the amount of printing being requested for homework and assignments.
· Heather indicated that she, and she believed most teachers, provide options for students – email to the teacher, etc. to mitigate impact of printing at home however there will be times when it will be required.
· What is the impact of the French Second Language changes to NMS? Alan indicated that he expects it to be status quo for 2008 with student impacts minimal. It is estimated that there will be 1 late immersion class and 3 early immersion classes for the fall 2008.
· Alan reported that preliminary discussions with respect to first rounds of FTE allotments, teacher assignments, etc. have begun.
· Mitch attended the District’s PSSC dinner event and passed along thanks to the committee on behalf of district.
Friends of NMS and the Proposed Home and School Committee for 2008 – 2009
· Interest in forming a home and school committee for the 2008 – 2009 school year has been expressed by parents of Grade 6 students coming to NMS in the fall of 2008.
· In balancing the support and interest of the current Friends of NMS group, the interest of parents to form a home and school and the need to encourage and support parental involvement in the school in a formally recognized and transparent manner, the committee supported the decision of the administration to support the creation of a formal home and school committee at NMS for the 2008 – 2009 school year.
· ACTION: Alan will meet with the parents interested in forming a home and school committee as well as the Friends of NMS parents to indicate that formalizing the home and school committee will be the preferred approach for 2008 – 2009 and that in conjunction with the PSSC, these two committees will form the foundation to support, encourage and enable parental involvement at NMS while at the same time allow for transparency and formality in the overall process.
Agenda Items for Next Meeting
· Continuing problem with talk mail
Meeting Schedule
· Thursday, May 8
· Thursday, June 12 (Agenda Planning for 2008 – 2009)
Field trips
The question was asked how teachers choose what each class does for field trips. There seems to be quite a number of trips to the Bucket club.
Selection Process for Big trips (e.g. Space Camp, Ottawa trip)
There is the perception that the selection process for these trips is not always fair. It was suggested that there be a formally defined process for wait list management, and that the wait lists be made publicly available. ACTION: Alan to take a look at this for next year.
Concerns Raised by Departing PSSC Member
Frustrated and questioning if there is real interest in having parents involved at the school as volunteers. Many times offered to help but not actually called to do anything.
Issues with students being given inconsistent or no consequences for poor behaviour.
Concerns with laptop program: not use to writing notes but will need to be able to in high school; laptops in poor working order without spares; D.E.A.R. time spent on computers, not necessarily used for ‘reading’; access and use of MSN (through Facebook) during class time
Inconsistent enforcement of school rules and code of conduct
Poor follow-up from the VP’s office
Quality of homework sheets (French sheets with penciled in English)
Poor turnaround on marking tests and projects.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
PSSC Committee Meeting Minutes - March 13th, 2008
Members Present
Mitch Claybourn – Chair
Karen MacLean
Tina Brewer
Tracy Allen
Theresa Pyke
Heather Touchie-Blakely – Teacher Rep
Ex-Officio Members:
Alan Atkins – Principal
Members Absent
Lori MacMullen – Secretary
Susan Knorr
Lisa Rousseau
Deanna Stewart-McGarry
Glenda Saint – School Performance Coach
DEC Representative:
Bill Corby (Regrets)
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Welcome, Approval of Minutes, Approval of Agenda
School Improvement Plan
• A problem solving team (including Alan & Mitch) will be struck to investigate the facilities we currently have.
• Review Second Step (anti-bullying)
o Are teachers finding it valuable?
o Keaghan did a PD session on “One-to-One”
Action Items Follow-up
• TTFM – this information has been posted on the monitor however it is still not on the BLOG.
• Spirit Committee - ACTION ITEM: Alan to have Mary contact Mitch for an update of activities.
• Fundraising for G White – Mitch to check with the parent and get back to Alan if the family wants this sort of attention/assistance. Due to the storms and March Break the Winter Carnival fundraising event was not able to take place.
• Year end trip – Trips should stick to educational themes. Alan to raise the year end trip issues at the next staff meeting.
• Grade 8 Celebration – The teachers and administration are planning a Luau and dance again this year. Events to include a BBQ, trip to Killarney Lake during the day and then a Hawaiian themed dance in the field house that evening. This event is much more cost effective than other events held in the past. Staff did it all last year, however Alan expects Friends of NMS to support and promotion this year.
• Hot Lunch program – The Healthy Minds budget is approximately $2000-$3000/year. The committee discussed bringing the issue to the teachers attention to see what percentage of the student body are affected. A memo will be circulated to them for their input. If the need is there, this initiative would be looked at to start in the fall, perhaps with the assistance of the Friends of NMS. Alan checked with the other middle schools in our area to see what they are doing. Devon use only snack foods and centrally locates at guidance area, George got out of providing snack foods and will provide cafe-cash to the students only if their parents can be reached.
Action Item: Tracey to draft the memo, Alan to circulate to the teachers.
Other Items
• Community Theatre – LHHS is looking into having a community theater built. This plan is still in the initial stages. The need is there. This was an election promise by TJ Burke. LHHS needs to get community support (letters of support)
• PRA / Home Economics – It is not a mandated part of the middle school curriculum. Funding is an issue. NOTE: if this program ended, the time could be used to supplement the phys ed time – currently it is only 90 min/week, but should be 120.
Principal’s Report
• Education announcement tomorrow re: future of French Immersion Program
• Night time travel: District has a new policy on night time travel. Due to this change, the Space Camp Trip has been modified (extended one day) in order to avoid travel at night. George St. was able to get the last day compressed in order to have students home before the “midnight deadline”.
• Laptop protocol: a new laptop protocol has been developed by Jeff Whipple. Mitch will review and then distribute to PSSC group.
• New Sound Fields: 39 classrooms have been equipped with sound field systems. The phys-ed department has experimented with 2 sound fields in Field house, however are unable to position them in a way which will work.
• Fieldhouse curtains: the curtains are ordered and are expected to be installed by the end of April or early May.
• Smartboards: the school is now equipped with 26 smartboards. (22 new plus 4 existing)
• DEC/PSSC: Reminder to all to confirm attendance to Lana Henry for the dinner next Wednesday.
• Award for Teaching: the discussion was about creating an award to recognize outstanding teachers. Who would make the nominations - Alan? PSSC? Staff? Parents? We discussed that homeroom teachers would be more likely nominated because more kids/parents know them however the M & R teachers are equally deserving (perhaps more so in some cases!) Karen Godsoe-Daigle would be a great first choice
• One-to-One Laptop Conference – 12 representatives from NMS (including 8 teachers) will be going to Memphis
Mitch Claybourn – Chair
Karen MacLean
Tina Brewer
Tracy Allen
Theresa Pyke
Heather Touchie-Blakely – Teacher Rep
Ex-Officio Members:
Alan Atkins – Principal
Members Absent
Lori MacMullen – Secretary
Susan Knorr
Lisa Rousseau
Deanna Stewart-McGarry
Glenda Saint – School Performance Coach
DEC Representative:
Bill Corby (Regrets)
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Welcome, Approval of Minutes, Approval of Agenda
School Improvement Plan
• A problem solving team (including Alan & Mitch) will be struck to investigate the facilities we currently have.
• Review Second Step (anti-bullying)
o Are teachers finding it valuable?
o Keaghan did a PD session on “One-to-One”
Action Items Follow-up
• TTFM – this information has been posted on the monitor however it is still not on the BLOG.
• Spirit Committee - ACTION ITEM: Alan to have Mary contact Mitch for an update of activities.
• Fundraising for G White – Mitch to check with the parent and get back to Alan if the family wants this sort of attention/assistance. Due to the storms and March Break the Winter Carnival fundraising event was not able to take place.
• Year end trip – Trips should stick to educational themes. Alan to raise the year end trip issues at the next staff meeting.
• Grade 8 Celebration – The teachers and administration are planning a Luau and dance again this year. Events to include a BBQ, trip to Killarney Lake during the day and then a Hawaiian themed dance in the field house that evening. This event is much more cost effective than other events held in the past. Staff did it all last year, however Alan expects Friends of NMS to support and promotion this year.
• Hot Lunch program – The Healthy Minds budget is approximately $2000-$3000/year. The committee discussed bringing the issue to the teachers attention to see what percentage of the student body are affected. A memo will be circulated to them for their input. If the need is there, this initiative would be looked at to start in the fall, perhaps with the assistance of the Friends of NMS. Alan checked with the other middle schools in our area to see what they are doing. Devon use only snack foods and centrally locates at guidance area, George got out of providing snack foods and will provide cafe-cash to the students only if their parents can be reached.
Action Item: Tracey to draft the memo, Alan to circulate to the teachers.
Other Items
• Community Theatre – LHHS is looking into having a community theater built. This plan is still in the initial stages. The need is there. This was an election promise by TJ Burke. LHHS needs to get community support (letters of support)
• PRA / Home Economics – It is not a mandated part of the middle school curriculum. Funding is an issue. NOTE: if this program ended, the time could be used to supplement the phys ed time – currently it is only 90 min/week, but should be 120.
Principal’s Report
• Education announcement tomorrow re: future of French Immersion Program
• Night time travel: District has a new policy on night time travel. Due to this change, the Space Camp Trip has been modified (extended one day) in order to avoid travel at night. George St. was able to get the last day compressed in order to have students home before the “midnight deadline”.
• Laptop protocol: a new laptop protocol has been developed by Jeff Whipple. Mitch will review and then distribute to PSSC group.
• New Sound Fields: 39 classrooms have been equipped with sound field systems. The phys-ed department has experimented with 2 sound fields in Field house, however are unable to position them in a way which will work.
• Fieldhouse curtains: the curtains are ordered and are expected to be installed by the end of April or early May.
• Smartboards: the school is now equipped with 26 smartboards. (22 new plus 4 existing)
• DEC/PSSC: Reminder to all to confirm attendance to Lana Henry for the dinner next Wednesday.
• Award for Teaching: the discussion was about creating an award to recognize outstanding teachers. Who would make the nominations - Alan? PSSC? Staff? Parents? We discussed that homeroom teachers would be more likely nominated because more kids/parents know them however the M & R teachers are equally deserving (perhaps more so in some cases!) Karen Godsoe-Daigle would be a great first choice
• One-to-One Laptop Conference – 12 representatives from NMS (including 8 teachers) will be going to Memphis
Monday, February 25, 2008
Minutes of Meeting - January 10, 2008
Nashwaaksis Middle School
PSSC Committee Meeting
January 10, 2008
PSSC Committee Meeting
January 10, 2008
Members Present
Mitch Claybourn – Chair
Lori MacMullen – Secretary
Karen MacLean
Lisa Rousseau
Tina Brewer
Deanna Stewart-McGarry
Heather Touchie-Blakely – Teacher Rep
Tracy Allen
Theresa Pyke
Members Absent
Susan Knorr
Ex-Officio Members:
Alan Atkins – Principal
Glenda Saint – School Performance Coach
DEC Representative:
Bill Corby (Regrets)
Guests:
Jeff Whipple
Vicki Patterson
Susan MacKenzie
Colleen Thomson
7:00 – 7:05 Welcome and Introductions
7:05 – 8:30 Action Items from Previous Meeting
Developing and delivering a safe computing program based on the information from the district and the other programs.
Jeff provided an update on the initiative currently underway at Leo Hayes being developed by students for students. The plan is to have this presentation given to students.
Due to the rescheduling of the Discipline Information Session for parents in late January, Jeff has recommended that we schedule the parent information session for third week of February. Mitch also suggested that we video the session for posting on the site.
Web Site – Lisa is working on a new look and feel for the web site. Jeff is also now monitoring the number of hits to the web site – currently we are averaging 300 hits per day.
Parent – Teacher Communications: In response to previous discussions surrounding communications between teachers and parents with respect to student progress, Glenda provided stats collected from teachers over a 7 week period showing a variety of methods by which parents communicate with teachers. This information has also been provided to district office. This information will also be collected during the time before and after the second interview period.
Discussion ensued around the use of this information going forward as well as the usefulness of the mid-term report used at NMS.
Tell Them From Me (TTFM) Results: 230 students out of 825 participated in the first round of the survey with 1/3 being surveyed in February and the remaining later in the year.
Glenda provided a overview of some elements of the data collected during this session as a comparative to NMS last year (whole of year), a replica school and to other middle schools in taking the survey. It was noted that the survey is given in English.
In the various areas that were reviewed, including school climate, effective learning time, student advocacy, disciplinary climate and teachers' expectations for success, NMS scored above the replica school and scored above or on par with other participating Canadian schools.
Other areas reviewed included student wellness with NMS students scoring higher on self-esteem and lower on depression than the replica school and other Canadian schools. Anxiety problems and bullying were above the replica school but on par with other Canadian schools. In the student engagement cluster, NMS had a lower rate of participation in school sports while participation in clubs was within the range of other Canadian schools.
ACTION ITEM: Jeff will post the report to the blog where parents can download and review the results.
School Improvement Plan
Mitch provided an overview of the process by which the SIP was developed including the number of meetings, who participated, how the review committees (internal & external) were used, etc.
Alan reviewed the SIP with the objective of the discussion on the SIP was to provide the PSSC with the opportunity to comment on and add to the SIP, the priorities and the action items.
Discussion Items Included:
• Will there be an interim report for the winter term? Yes.
• Will the information provided be focused for the various grade levels, especially for the parents of the Grade 6 students? Yes
• Minutes of the PSSC meetings need to be posted for the year. Alan/Lori to coordinate this with Jeff.
• Alan explained that the delay in presenting the results of the SIP related to the wording and expectations surrounding the delivery of the Second Step Program – a curricular based anti-violence program with the intention to incorporate the content into the subject specific curriculum. Although teachers support the concept and subject, there are difficulties in integrating the content into the subject areas therefore the SIP was changed to reflect a review of Second Step as opposed to implying it would be fully adopted at NMS.
• Lisa provided comment with respect to the SIP and its presentation as being very easy to follow, easy to understand and follow. Alan indicated that this was due to the work of the committee in reviewing, refining and simplifying the material.
• Student handbook has been redeveloped and refined to a one page summary that will be used to provide a consistent set of guidelines/rules for all members of the NMS community. This summary will be provided to parents and students as part of the handbook.
• Are the assessment results from Grade 9/High School shared with NMS in order to feed into the plans for curriculum development? Yes.
• In the document "Kids Come First" there is a specific reference to inclusive education and the requirement to include a reference to inclusive education in the school improvement plan. Will there be a reference made in the NMS School Improvement Plan to inclusive education?
• In response to the Kid's Come First strategy, it was agreed that there be a reference to inclusive education in the NMS SIP
• Action: Alan to follow up with Karen Goodsoe-Daigle with respect to including a reference to this item.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Meeting Minutes - November 8, 2007
Nashwaaksis Middle School
PSSC Committee Meeting
November 8, 2007
Members Present
Mitch Claybourn – Chair
Lori MacMullen – Secretary
Karen MacLean
Tracy Allen
Lisa Rousseau
Tina Brewer
Members Absent
Susan Knorr
Theresa Pyke
Deanna Stewart-McGarry
Heather Touchie-Blakely – Teacher Rep
Ex-Officio Members:
Alan Atkins – Principal
Glenda Saint – School Performance Coach
DEC Representative:
Bill Corby (Regrets)
Guests:
7:00 – 7:05 Welcome and Introductions
7:05 – 7:10 Approval of Agenda
Approval of Minutes
Moved by Tracy Allen
Seconded by Tina Brewer
7:10 – 7:30 Action Items from Previous Meeting
ACTION ITEM - Alan – to provide a schedule of when the committee can expect to receive assessment results, TTFM, any other input we will get etc in order to include the discussion as agenda topics in the appropriate months.
RESPONSE: TTFM will be undertaken in groups – 1/3 before Christmas, 1/3 in the winter and 1/3 in the spring. This will provide easier administration, provide a snapshot of what is happening at the school at certain points in the year and allow the administration to better utilize the information and address areas of concern throughout the year.
Alan provided the results of the Grade 8 math assessment from June 2007 indicating that this information is being assessed by the Math teachers and will be used to develop strategies to address any areas of concern or areas targeted for improvement.
ACTION ITEM: Jeff, Mitch and Tracy to coordinate the delivery of the program for Target for early November.
RESPONSE: An information session on the 1 on 1 program was delivered by Jeff Whipple, and hosted by the Administration on Nov 1 with PSSC support. Approximately 12 -15 parents attended. The session was video taped and will be made available on the website.
ACTION ITEM: Lori & Lisa will work with Jeff to develop a safe computing program based on the information from the district and the other programs. It was recommended that this session be scheduled for January in conjunction with the planned session for students.
ACTION ITEM: The material provided by the District will be sent to the committee.
Follow up discussion from last meeting: Scheduling of parent teacher interviews and how the time can be better utilized.
Thursday evening interviews are slotted for teachers requesting interviews with Friday being allocated for parents to either request an interview during the first ½ of the morning or drop in during the latter ½ hour of the morning. The scheduling of parent teacher interviews has been discussed over the past three years. Teachers continue to work to accommodate parents as much as possible and parents continue to be encouraged to request meeting times with teachers at anytime during the year – not just at report card time.
After significant discussion, the Committee concluded that the question may be one of how to support a more proactive, welcoming approach for parents to make contact with and communicate with teachers not just around report cards but throughout the year? It was noted that many teams and teachers are using prep time (individual and team) to plan for and make contact with parents as there is currently no formal allocation in the teaching day for parent contact time beyond the formal parent teacher interviews as determined by District.
Items deferred from October:
• Posting of homework – To address the inconsistency within the school, the PSSC recommends that NMS develop a policy to require teachers to post homework regularly and consistently. The use of email as a prime communications process should also be established and communicated as policy to teachers and students.
It was noted that this issue would be addressed as part of the overall “communication with parents” discussion under the school improvement plan item scheduled for November.
School wide activities, clubs, etc. – what is available for students? Parents are not always aware of what is available, etc. and therefore cannot support or encourage their children’s participation Can we develop a list/schedule of the various options to provide to parents.
Alan provided a verbal list of the various activities available to students at NMS.
ACTION ITEM: A complete list will be documented and posted to the web site as an information item for parents.
• Connecting PSSC to the issues being discussed/addressed by the Admin team – as members of the PSSC, we are often approached by other parents with question or requesting information on a variety of issues including security activities, academic activities, etc. It was suggested that the PSSC members be cc’ed on Alan’s regular updates (via email) to staff. What are the issues, implications? What is the recommended action?
ACTION ITEM: Alan will add Mitch to the electronic weekly administrative communiqué for review and distribution to PSSC members as appropriate.
7:30 – 7:35 Announcements
• PSSC Information Session & Orientation – November 13, 2007
7:35 – 7:50 Principal’s Report
• Interim reports were sent out in October. They are now provided in a standard format for all grades and classes.
• Curriculum delivery days for both district and school based curriculum. School curriculum delivery day will focus on cross grade curricular discussions, teamwork principles, positive discipline, etc. It was noted that a communiqué to parents with respect to how the school curriculum day would be used to support teaching and learning would be very beneficial and would provide parents a better understanding of how these days are utilized.
ACTION ITEM: Alan to compile a “did you know” type communiqué on the subject of school curriculum days, what they are used for and the benefit the provide to both the teachers and the students. This information will be provided to parents via the blog and voice mail.
• Curtains have now been removed from the field house. New curtains are on order and hoped to be delivered over the Christmas break. Scheduling of activities for both NMS and other users of the facility (and therefore revenue) has been negatively impacted as a result of the delay in replacing the curtains.
• The school dance was attended by an estimated 500 students. Security was provided by a private company (significantly less cost than the city police). It was noted that there were many parents at the dance as well. Mitch provided the music as well making announcements throughout the evening relating to activities, etc. at school (sports team placement, etc.).
• Student Parent Perception Survey: The surveys were sent earlier this year and this may impact the results especially for grade 6 parents and new to the school parents.
ACTION ITEM: Alan will look into the possibility of a later send out date next year however there may be implications for the data being available for use by the school in a timely manner.
• The Remembrance Day Assembly will be held tomorrow – November 9. Due to the nature of the event it will be held in the theatre by grade level.
•
The Fireman’s Challenge will be held on November 22nd. Parents are welcome.
• Glenda provided a copy of the results of both the internal and external review process,
• It was noted that there have been an increase in the number of fires around the school, increased drug use etc. with a focus on the wooded area in front of the school.
ACTION ITEM: Mitch will draft a letter to the District and/or City indicating that the Committee is concerned about these events and would like to request that a program such as “Reduce Crime by Environmental Design” be undertaken for the school property.
7:50 – 8:20 Other Agenda Items
• The Provincial Education Strategy – Discussion with respect to the overall strategy and where we might be able to take advantage of new programs or initiatives to support the school improvement plan and our priorities.
ACTION ITEM: Committee members were asked to review the provincial education strategy prior to the next meeting as context for our discussions on the school improvement plan. Please see http://www.gnb.ca/0000/kidsfirst-e.asp.
• Enrichment Programs: What programs are available to students – both from the school and the district? We need an inventory of the programs available – along with the criteria. There are also other areas where “enriched” programs are available within the curriculum, starting in the classroom. The selection and support of enrichment programs should also be reviewed within the school improvement plan priorities. Discussion with respect to extra curricular activities versus academic enrichment would also be very helpful for this item.
Discussion: District enrichment programs are limited to selected students – if parents feel that students require or would benefit from these programs they should be directed to discuss the issue with their child’s teacher and Alan as appropriate.
It was also noted that there are a variety of enrichment activities offered both within the classroom by teachers as well as outside the classroom.
• Educational Based Fairs Is there a way to identify the various district driven fairs and expos in order to target the ones we want NMS to participate in?
• Science Fair (April) – Looking at possibility of participating this year.
• Heritage Fair – Jonathon Carrier has agreed to coordinate this.
8:20 – 8:30 Other Business
City of Fredericton is developing a youth services website and is asking for input from groups, communities, etc. with respect to what is available for youth in the city. Mitch to provide URL.
Fredkids.com will be hosting a family learning series in November – see www.fredkid.com.
Youth Blast will be starting up again this week. It runs from 8 – 10:15: 1 hour in the gym, 1 hour in the pool – every Saturday night – organized and drop-in activities. Supervised. $2 for the individual events or $4 for both.
Discussion of the School Improvement Plan was deferred to December.
Introduction of School Improvement Plan – the plan is being updated by the Admin team to reflect the results of the review process undertaken during the last school year (Note: Good material has been provided in the district orientation session relating to the School Improvement Plan and the role of the PSSC.) The discussion at PSSC will focus on the items we are directly involved with or play a role in supporting.
PSSC Committee Meeting
November 8, 2007
Members Present
Mitch Claybourn – Chair
Lori MacMullen – Secretary
Karen MacLean
Tracy Allen
Lisa Rousseau
Tina Brewer
Members Absent
Susan Knorr
Theresa Pyke
Deanna Stewart-McGarry
Heather Touchie-Blakely – Teacher Rep
Ex-Officio Members:
Alan Atkins – Principal
Glenda Saint – School Performance Coach
DEC Representative:
Bill Corby (Regrets)
Guests:
7:00 – 7:05 Welcome and Introductions
7:05 – 7:10 Approval of Agenda
Approval of Minutes
Moved by Tracy Allen
Seconded by Tina Brewer
7:10 – 7:30 Action Items from Previous Meeting
ACTION ITEM - Alan – to provide a schedule of when the committee can expect to receive assessment results, TTFM, any other input we will get etc in order to include the discussion as agenda topics in the appropriate months.
RESPONSE: TTFM will be undertaken in groups – 1/3 before Christmas, 1/3 in the winter and 1/3 in the spring. This will provide easier administration, provide a snapshot of what is happening at the school at certain points in the year and allow the administration to better utilize the information and address areas of concern throughout the year.
Alan provided the results of the Grade 8 math assessment from June 2007 indicating that this information is being assessed by the Math teachers and will be used to develop strategies to address any areas of concern or areas targeted for improvement.
ACTION ITEM: Jeff, Mitch and Tracy to coordinate the delivery of the program for Target for early November.
RESPONSE: An information session on the 1 on 1 program was delivered by Jeff Whipple, and hosted by the Administration on Nov 1 with PSSC support. Approximately 12 -15 parents attended. The session was video taped and will be made available on the website.
ACTION ITEM: Lori & Lisa will work with Jeff to develop a safe computing program based on the information from the district and the other programs. It was recommended that this session be scheduled for January in conjunction with the planned session for students.
ACTION ITEM: The material provided by the District will be sent to the committee.
Follow up discussion from last meeting: Scheduling of parent teacher interviews and how the time can be better utilized.
Thursday evening interviews are slotted for teachers requesting interviews with Friday being allocated for parents to either request an interview during the first ½ of the morning or drop in during the latter ½ hour of the morning. The scheduling of parent teacher interviews has been discussed over the past three years. Teachers continue to work to accommodate parents as much as possible and parents continue to be encouraged to request meeting times with teachers at anytime during the year – not just at report card time.
After significant discussion, the Committee concluded that the question may be one of how to support a more proactive, welcoming approach for parents to make contact with and communicate with teachers not just around report cards but throughout the year? It was noted that many teams and teachers are using prep time (individual and team) to plan for and make contact with parents as there is currently no formal allocation in the teaching day for parent contact time beyond the formal parent teacher interviews as determined by District.
Items deferred from October:
• Posting of homework – To address the inconsistency within the school, the PSSC recommends that NMS develop a policy to require teachers to post homework regularly and consistently. The use of email as a prime communications process should also be established and communicated as policy to teachers and students.
It was noted that this issue would be addressed as part of the overall “communication with parents” discussion under the school improvement plan item scheduled for November.
School wide activities, clubs, etc. – what is available for students? Parents are not always aware of what is available, etc. and therefore cannot support or encourage their children’s participation Can we develop a list/schedule of the various options to provide to parents.
Alan provided a verbal list of the various activities available to students at NMS.
ACTION ITEM: A complete list will be documented and posted to the web site as an information item for parents.
• Connecting PSSC to the issues being discussed/addressed by the Admin team – as members of the PSSC, we are often approached by other parents with question or requesting information on a variety of issues including security activities, academic activities, etc. It was suggested that the PSSC members be cc’ed on Alan’s regular updates (via email) to staff. What are the issues, implications? What is the recommended action?
ACTION ITEM: Alan will add Mitch to the electronic weekly administrative communiqué for review and distribution to PSSC members as appropriate.
7:30 – 7:35 Announcements
• PSSC Information Session & Orientation – November 13, 2007
7:35 – 7:50 Principal’s Report
• Interim reports were sent out in October. They are now provided in a standard format for all grades and classes.
• Curriculum delivery days for both district and school based curriculum. School curriculum delivery day will focus on cross grade curricular discussions, teamwork principles, positive discipline, etc. It was noted that a communiqué to parents with respect to how the school curriculum day would be used to support teaching and learning would be very beneficial and would provide parents a better understanding of how these days are utilized.
ACTION ITEM: Alan to compile a “did you know” type communiqué on the subject of school curriculum days, what they are used for and the benefit the provide to both the teachers and the students. This information will be provided to parents via the blog and voice mail.
• Curtains have now been removed from the field house. New curtains are on order and hoped to be delivered over the Christmas break. Scheduling of activities for both NMS and other users of the facility (and therefore revenue) has been negatively impacted as a result of the delay in replacing the curtains.
• The school dance was attended by an estimated 500 students. Security was provided by a private company (significantly less cost than the city police). It was noted that there were many parents at the dance as well. Mitch provided the music as well making announcements throughout the evening relating to activities, etc. at school (sports team placement, etc.).
• Student Parent Perception Survey: The surveys were sent earlier this year and this may impact the results especially for grade 6 parents and new to the school parents.
ACTION ITEM: Alan will look into the possibility of a later send out date next year however there may be implications for the data being available for use by the school in a timely manner.
• The Remembrance Day Assembly will be held tomorrow – November 9. Due to the nature of the event it will be held in the theatre by grade level.
•
The Fireman’s Challenge will be held on November 22nd. Parents are welcome.
• Glenda provided a copy of the results of both the internal and external review process,
• It was noted that there have been an increase in the number of fires around the school, increased drug use etc. with a focus on the wooded area in front of the school.
ACTION ITEM: Mitch will draft a letter to the District and/or City indicating that the Committee is concerned about these events and would like to request that a program such as “Reduce Crime by Environmental Design” be undertaken for the school property.
7:50 – 8:20 Other Agenda Items
• The Provincial Education Strategy – Discussion with respect to the overall strategy and where we might be able to take advantage of new programs or initiatives to support the school improvement plan and our priorities.
ACTION ITEM: Committee members were asked to review the provincial education strategy prior to the next meeting as context for our discussions on the school improvement plan. Please see http://www.gnb.ca/0000/kidsfirst-e.asp.
• Enrichment Programs: What programs are available to students – both from the school and the district? We need an inventory of the programs available – along with the criteria. There are also other areas where “enriched” programs are available within the curriculum, starting in the classroom. The selection and support of enrichment programs should also be reviewed within the school improvement plan priorities. Discussion with respect to extra curricular activities versus academic enrichment would also be very helpful for this item.
Discussion: District enrichment programs are limited to selected students – if parents feel that students require or would benefit from these programs they should be directed to discuss the issue with their child’s teacher and Alan as appropriate.
It was also noted that there are a variety of enrichment activities offered both within the classroom by teachers as well as outside the classroom.
• Educational Based Fairs Is there a way to identify the various district driven fairs and expos in order to target the ones we want NMS to participate in?
• Science Fair (April) – Looking at possibility of participating this year.
• Heritage Fair – Jonathon Carrier has agreed to coordinate this.
8:20 – 8:30 Other Business
City of Fredericton is developing a youth services website and is asking for input from groups, communities, etc. with respect to what is available for youth in the city. Mitch to provide URL.
Fredkids.com will be hosting a family learning series in November – see www.fredkid.com.
Youth Blast will be starting up again this week. It runs from 8 – 10:15: 1 hour in the gym, 1 hour in the pool – every Saturday night – organized and drop-in activities. Supervised. $2 for the individual events or $4 for both.
Discussion of the School Improvement Plan was deferred to December.
Introduction of School Improvement Plan – the plan is being updated by the Admin team to reflect the results of the review process undertaken during the last school year (Note: Good material has been provided in the district orientation session relating to the School Improvement Plan and the role of the PSSC.) The discussion at PSSC will focus on the items we are directly involved with or play a role in supporting.
Meeting Minutes - October 18, 2007
Nashwaaksis Middle School
PSSC Committee Meeting
October 18, 2007
Members Present
Mitch Claybourn – Chair
Lori MacMullen – Secretary
Karen MacLean
Susan Knorr
Tracy Allen
Lisa Rousseau
Tina Brewer
Theresa Pyke
Deanna Stewart-McGarry
Heather Touchie-Blakely – Teacher Rep
Members Absent
Ex-Officio Members:
Alan Atkins – Principal
Glenda Saint – School Performance Coach
DEC Representative:
Bill Corby (Regrets)
Guests:
Jeff Whipple – Technology Mentor
October – Supporting Effective Communications with Parents
7:00 – 7:05 Welcome and Introductions
Mitch provided an ice-breaking activity to help committee members get to know each other.
7:05 – 7:15 Approval of Agenda
7:15 – 7:20 Planning Document Review
Meeting Schedule: In order to address the conflict with the DEC meetings, the PSSC meetings will be held on the second Thursday of each month. The new schedule will be as follows:
• November 8
• December 13
• January 10
• February 14
• March 13
• April 10
• May 8
• June 12
Budget: The PSSC’s budget is $2400 and must be spent before March 31.
Agenda Building: The School Improvement Plan will be a standing agenda item on each meeting agenda.
ACTION ITEM - Alan – to provide a schedule of when the committee can expect to receive assessment results, TTFM, any other input we will get etc in order to include the discussion as agenda topics in the appropriate months.
Update October: Math assessment results are available now, the schedule for TTFM will be available in November.
7:15 – 7:30 Principal’s Report
• The new School Improvement Plan is currently under development with a small working group which includes Mitch. The plan will be a three year plan and will reflect the results of the internal and external reviews undertaken last year as well as input from staff and other stakeholders including PSSC. A draft plan will be provided to the group at the next meeting. Mitch provided a summary of the results of the internal and external review – an update reflecting the final results will be provided at the next meeting. The school improvement plan will reflect a number, but not necessarily all, of these items.
• Parents, teachers and students will be surveyed at the beginning of November as part of a provincial wide survey.
• Safe School Activities – a variety of activities including fire drills, lock down, evacuations, etc. were undertaken successfully.
• Student Code of Conduct – each classroom has developed a student code of conduct for the classroom using the school code of conduct
• Rev. Robert Jones provided two shows during the Harvest Jazz and Blues festival as part of the Blues in the Schools program.
• Meet the Teacher Night – Alan asked for feedback on the grade by grade approach. There was some confusion with respect to meeting the PRA teachers. This will be looked at for this year.
• Another successful Space Camp was completed in September.
• Field House – new curtains are in the process of being ordered; new bleachers have been identified as the next priority.
• Staff Changes: 2 positions will be vacant at Christmas and replacements are being looked into.
• French Book Fair – This initiative was coordinated by the Friends of NMS. Total amount raised was $10,200 of which 60% is returned to the school in books for the classrooms.
• Terry Fox Run and World Record Walk were undertaken in Sept.
• Magazine campaign underway and going well – goal is to sell $90,000 – which would put NMS in top 3 schools in Canada.
• Partners for Youth – There has been an increase in interest resulting in the need to use a selection process. Students already in the program will be considered first. The program is being delivered by Fred Connors and Michelle Cormier.
• A variety of other program including drama, music, hiking, etc., continue to be provided to students.
• Friends of NMS: Alan provided an overview of the objectives of the group and indicated that he planned to meet with them to discuss and identify possible programs and initiatives that the group may want to undertake during this year and where appropriate over multiple years. This information will be provided to the PSSC for input and comment as appropriate. Operating principles or guidelines for the group include:
• Accountability will be to Alan with respect to how the money is collected and accounted for; all money will go through the school accounting system; Alan will also work with the group to develop a list of priority projects and initiatives and will provide an update to PSSC on a regular basis.
• Band Program: Alan explained that as a result of the district eliminating funding for the band programs, the band program is now funded by a parent committee. Discussions with the band parent committee last year indicated that they felt there could be more support from the school.
• ACTION ITEM: In order to determine if the various programs in the school are receiving the support they need, the committee asked Alan to provide a list or summary of all of the extra and co-curricular activities and programs available in the school indicating if they were parent or teacher led and the amount of support provided (financial and in-kind). This summary will provide the context for further discussions.
Questions for Alan:
• What is happening with respect to the students from McAdam Ave school who participated in the Intensive French program?
• Enrichment programs are planned for these students along with other students in the class who may benefit. Alan indicated that this is a new program for NMS and will be monitored throughout the year along with what is happening in other middle schools in the district.
7:30 – 8:00 Proposed or Planned Information Sessions for Parents
• Meet the Laptop Program Night – Hosted by the Administration of the school with PSSC support – Mitch in conjunction with Gary & Jeff.
Jeff provided background on the one-to-one program (i.e. laptop program) indicating that although the government has put the current program on “hiatus” he expects that it will continue to expand. NMS currently has 570 students with laptops.
Jeff also provided some background on the concept of “21st Century Literary” referring to need to teach our students how to manage the amount of data and information available to them in order to prepare them for their future.
The question posted was do we need to schedule the meet the laptop session every year?
DECISION ITEM: The committee agreed that this event should be planned as an annual event and as early as possible in the school year. The information provided at the session should also be posted on the schools website. The session should cover both the logistics of the program as well as how the use of the laptop supports the curriculum.
ACTION ITEM: Jeff, Mitch and Tracy to coordinate the delivery of the program for Target for early November.
• Technology and Kids - Cyberspace – sponsored by PSSC - what you should know and why do you need to care?
Jeff provided an update on the district initiatives including a project with the leadership students at Leo Hayes to develop an information session on cyber security for middle school students and other initiatives undertaken during safe school week.
ACTION ITEM: Lori & Lisa will work with Jeff to develop the program based on the information from the district and the other programs. It was recommended that this session be scheduled for January in conjunction with the planned session for students.
ACTION ITEM: The material provided by the District will be sent to the committee.
• Discipline Program – an information session for Parents outlining the policy, the process and the principals around the program at NMS (i.e. problem solving, restitution, etc.) It was suggested that an outside speaker be engaged as part of this session – timing will be an issue.
Update: The District was not interested in supporting the engagement of an external speaker at this time. Notwithstanding this, the committee still sees value in holding this session – Alan will discuss this session with Mary Walton and Brent Springer as well as pursue opportunities to partner with other schools to bring in an outside speaker. The target delivery for this session will be late November.
8:00 – 8:30 Items for Discussion
• General Communications Overview – a one pager outlining the various types and means of communication used by the school and for what purposes. This should be provided to the parents as soon as possible outlining the prime and secondary forms of communication. Will we/can we downplay paper and focus on email, web and phone? What are the risks? Is there a way we can set up a hotline for parents to call in for updates, etc?
Update: This issue will be addressed in the School Improvement Plan and will be discussed in that context.
• Parent Teacher Interviews: The number of parents attending interviews is down. One problem is the difficulty to schedule during that time. Team interview versus individual interviews – what are the options - also what about bringing the child to the interview. We need to stress that individual meetings can be arranged at any time throughout the year. Let parents to know that they are available if the times of the interview are not convenient by putting an invitation in the report card letting parents know that other times are available.
Update: We need to look at how this information is being compiled, what it is being used for and is the question really how well is the school communicating with parents?
Follow up for next meeting: To discuss the scheduling of parent teacher interviews and how the time can be better utilized.
The remaining items were deferred to the November Meeting.
• Posting of homework – To address the inconsistency within the school, the PSSC recommends that NMS develop a policy to require teachers to post homework regularly and consistently. The use of email as a prime communications process should also be established and communicated as policy to teachers and students.
• School wide activities, clubs, etc. – what is available for students? Parents are not always aware of what is available, etc. and therefore cannot support or encourage their children’s participation Can we develop a list/schedule of the various options to provide to parents.
• Connecting PSSC to the issues being discussed/addressed by the Admin team – as members of the PSSC, we are often approached by other parents with question or requesting information on a variety of issues including security activities, academic activities, etc. It was suggested that the PSSC members be cc’ed on Alan’s regular updates (via email) to staff. What are the issues, implications? What is the recommended action?
Next Meeting: November – School Improvement Plan
PSSC Committee Meeting
October 18, 2007
Members Present
Mitch Claybourn – Chair
Lori MacMullen – Secretary
Karen MacLean
Susan Knorr
Tracy Allen
Lisa Rousseau
Tina Brewer
Theresa Pyke
Deanna Stewart-McGarry
Heather Touchie-Blakely – Teacher Rep
Members Absent
Ex-Officio Members:
Alan Atkins – Principal
Glenda Saint – School Performance Coach
DEC Representative:
Bill Corby (Regrets)
Guests:
Jeff Whipple – Technology Mentor
October – Supporting Effective Communications with Parents
7:00 – 7:05 Welcome and Introductions
Mitch provided an ice-breaking activity to help committee members get to know each other.
7:05 – 7:15 Approval of Agenda
7:15 – 7:20 Planning Document Review
Meeting Schedule: In order to address the conflict with the DEC meetings, the PSSC meetings will be held on the second Thursday of each month. The new schedule will be as follows:
• November 8
• December 13
• January 10
• February 14
• March 13
• April 10
• May 8
• June 12
Budget: The PSSC’s budget is $2400 and must be spent before March 31.
Agenda Building: The School Improvement Plan will be a standing agenda item on each meeting agenda.
ACTION ITEM - Alan – to provide a schedule of when the committee can expect to receive assessment results, TTFM, any other input we will get etc in order to include the discussion as agenda topics in the appropriate months.
Update October: Math assessment results are available now, the schedule for TTFM will be available in November.
7:15 – 7:30 Principal’s Report
• The new School Improvement Plan is currently under development with a small working group which includes Mitch. The plan will be a three year plan and will reflect the results of the internal and external reviews undertaken last year as well as input from staff and other stakeholders including PSSC. A draft plan will be provided to the group at the next meeting. Mitch provided a summary of the results of the internal and external review – an update reflecting the final results will be provided at the next meeting. The school improvement plan will reflect a number, but not necessarily all, of these items.
• Parents, teachers and students will be surveyed at the beginning of November as part of a provincial wide survey.
• Safe School Activities – a variety of activities including fire drills, lock down, evacuations, etc. were undertaken successfully.
• Student Code of Conduct – each classroom has developed a student code of conduct for the classroom using the school code of conduct
• Rev. Robert Jones provided two shows during the Harvest Jazz and Blues festival as part of the Blues in the Schools program.
• Meet the Teacher Night – Alan asked for feedback on the grade by grade approach. There was some confusion with respect to meeting the PRA teachers. This will be looked at for this year.
• Another successful Space Camp was completed in September.
• Field House – new curtains are in the process of being ordered; new bleachers have been identified as the next priority.
• Staff Changes: 2 positions will be vacant at Christmas and replacements are being looked into.
• French Book Fair – This initiative was coordinated by the Friends of NMS. Total amount raised was $10,200 of which 60% is returned to the school in books for the classrooms.
• Terry Fox Run and World Record Walk were undertaken in Sept.
• Magazine campaign underway and going well – goal is to sell $90,000 – which would put NMS in top 3 schools in Canada.
• Partners for Youth – There has been an increase in interest resulting in the need to use a selection process. Students already in the program will be considered first. The program is being delivered by Fred Connors and Michelle Cormier.
• A variety of other program including drama, music, hiking, etc., continue to be provided to students.
• Friends of NMS: Alan provided an overview of the objectives of the group and indicated that he planned to meet with them to discuss and identify possible programs and initiatives that the group may want to undertake during this year and where appropriate over multiple years. This information will be provided to the PSSC for input and comment as appropriate. Operating principles or guidelines for the group include:
• Accountability will be to Alan with respect to how the money is collected and accounted for; all money will go through the school accounting system; Alan will also work with the group to develop a list of priority projects and initiatives and will provide an update to PSSC on a regular basis.
• Band Program: Alan explained that as a result of the district eliminating funding for the band programs, the band program is now funded by a parent committee. Discussions with the band parent committee last year indicated that they felt there could be more support from the school.
• ACTION ITEM: In order to determine if the various programs in the school are receiving the support they need, the committee asked Alan to provide a list or summary of all of the extra and co-curricular activities and programs available in the school indicating if they were parent or teacher led and the amount of support provided (financial and in-kind). This summary will provide the context for further discussions.
Questions for Alan:
• What is happening with respect to the students from McAdam Ave school who participated in the Intensive French program?
• Enrichment programs are planned for these students along with other students in the class who may benefit. Alan indicated that this is a new program for NMS and will be monitored throughout the year along with what is happening in other middle schools in the district.
7:30 – 8:00 Proposed or Planned Information Sessions for Parents
• Meet the Laptop Program Night – Hosted by the Administration of the school with PSSC support – Mitch in conjunction with Gary & Jeff.
Jeff provided background on the one-to-one program (i.e. laptop program) indicating that although the government has put the current program on “hiatus” he expects that it will continue to expand. NMS currently has 570 students with laptops.
Jeff also provided some background on the concept of “21st Century Literary” referring to need to teach our students how to manage the amount of data and information available to them in order to prepare them for their future.
The question posted was do we need to schedule the meet the laptop session every year?
DECISION ITEM: The committee agreed that this event should be planned as an annual event and as early as possible in the school year. The information provided at the session should also be posted on the schools website. The session should cover both the logistics of the program as well as how the use of the laptop supports the curriculum.
ACTION ITEM: Jeff, Mitch and Tracy to coordinate the delivery of the program for Target for early November.
• Technology and Kids - Cyberspace – sponsored by PSSC - what you should know and why do you need to care?
Jeff provided an update on the district initiatives including a project with the leadership students at Leo Hayes to develop an information session on cyber security for middle school students and other initiatives undertaken during safe school week.
ACTION ITEM: Lori & Lisa will work with Jeff to develop the program based on the information from the district and the other programs. It was recommended that this session be scheduled for January in conjunction with the planned session for students.
ACTION ITEM: The material provided by the District will be sent to the committee.
• Discipline Program – an information session for Parents outlining the policy, the process and the principals around the program at NMS (i.e. problem solving, restitution, etc.) It was suggested that an outside speaker be engaged as part of this session – timing will be an issue.
Update: The District was not interested in supporting the engagement of an external speaker at this time. Notwithstanding this, the committee still sees value in holding this session – Alan will discuss this session with Mary Walton and Brent Springer as well as pursue opportunities to partner with other schools to bring in an outside speaker. The target delivery for this session will be late November.
8:00 – 8:30 Items for Discussion
• General Communications Overview – a one pager outlining the various types and means of communication used by the school and for what purposes. This should be provided to the parents as soon as possible outlining the prime and secondary forms of communication. Will we/can we downplay paper and focus on email, web and phone? What are the risks? Is there a way we can set up a hotline for parents to call in for updates, etc?
Update: This issue will be addressed in the School Improvement Plan and will be discussed in that context.
• Parent Teacher Interviews: The number of parents attending interviews is down. One problem is the difficulty to schedule during that time. Team interview versus individual interviews – what are the options - also what about bringing the child to the interview. We need to stress that individual meetings can be arranged at any time throughout the year. Let parents to know that they are available if the times of the interview are not convenient by putting an invitation in the report card letting parents know that other times are available.
Update: We need to look at how this information is being compiled, what it is being used for and is the question really how well is the school communicating with parents?
Follow up for next meeting: To discuss the scheduling of parent teacher interviews and how the time can be better utilized.
The remaining items were deferred to the November Meeting.
• Posting of homework – To address the inconsistency within the school, the PSSC recommends that NMS develop a policy to require teachers to post homework regularly and consistently. The use of email as a prime communications process should also be established and communicated as policy to teachers and students.
• School wide activities, clubs, etc. – what is available for students? Parents are not always aware of what is available, etc. and therefore cannot support or encourage their children’s participation Can we develop a list/schedule of the various options to provide to parents.
• Connecting PSSC to the issues being discussed/addressed by the Admin team – as members of the PSSC, we are often approached by other parents with question or requesting information on a variety of issues including security activities, academic activities, etc. It was suggested that the PSSC members be cc’ed on Alan’s regular updates (via email) to staff. What are the issues, implications? What is the recommended action?
Next Meeting: November – School Improvement Plan
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