Catholic School Council Minutes
October 16th, 2023 @6pm
Attendance
Tanya Laforest (CSC Chair), Gail Archambault, Pina Lugara, Becky Ranger, Amanda Caesor, Christine Lascelle, Deana Cameron (Teacher), James Malyon (Principal)
Regrets: Louanne Gingras
At the end of the meeting, it was mentioned that Paula Guindon was interested in being a part of CSC.
Welcome and Prayer
Positions
Tanya Laforest was named CSC chair
Becky Ranger volunteered to be treasurer
Principal’s Report
Student population is currently at 200 students. St. Andrew’s is becoming known in the community for its success with students with special needs. There is a new classroom this year (2 kindergarten classes)
We are focusing again this year on our Literacy Program. We are hoping to use Tutors in the Classroom again this year and build on our success from last year. We have collected data to see where students are starting and are intensively targeting phonemic awareness, sound blending and decoding using decodable books.
Community use of schools is operational again and our facility is being used by multiple groups after hours.
Student Mental Health is a huge priority this year. We are using a program called Spots of Emotion to focus on feelings analysis in young children
Clubs are up and moving this year (drama club, chess club and e-sports)
Eco-Schools is back in earnest this year and we are aiming for platinum.
Parent Communication
We are streamlining parent communication this year by using the school website. Some parents are complaining that they are not seeing items on Facebook. We do not want to use Facebook as a communication tool but rather as a celebration tool. Parents will comment on items on Facebook and potentially provide other parents with incorrect information. Facebook will be used to draw attention to events and show what has happened at St. Andrew’s but the monthly newsletter and calendar and the school website will be how we make parents aware of upcoming items.
Budget
Money has not been spent from last year’s Gladiator Race
Becky will be given a budget report from the school for the next meeting.
Bake Sale
Halloween Bake sale will happen on the 31st and 1st. JK – 3/4 classes will provide the sweets and we will have another bake sale for Valentine’s Day for the older students to provide the sweets.
New Projects
We discussed the idea of an outdoor classroom – all members will look up what they think this might look like before our next meeting.
Next Meeting
Tuesday, December 5th @6pm