Get Involved/School Council

Tuesday September 30th, 2025 @ 6:00pm
Meeting 1: 2025- 2026 School Year

1. Welcome – Attendance & Regrets

(Attended virtually – Shukri M, Stephanie L, Shannon K, Amy-Jo T, in person – Allyssa H, Jenn C, Charlene C, Sabrina Pattinson )

2. Approval of Agenda – approved

3. Elections for 2025/2026: (Chair, Co-Chair, Treasurer, Secretary)

a. Chair – Jenn Curtis returns
b. Co-Chair – Allyssa H
c. Treasurer – Shannon Koetstra returns
d. Secretary – Stephanie Leith returns Allyssa motions, Jenn C seconds

4. Approval of Minutes – approved

5. Treasurers Report – Balance per Shannon $674.40 in the account – more than expected, need to confirm that all expenditures have been made that were decided. This will be forthcoming from the office.

6. Student Report – (Student Council) – deferred to principal

7. Teacher Report – deferred to Principal

8. Principal Report: Charlene Chapman.

a. All work to the school that was planned was done and ready on time
i. 4 classes with hooks, play structure, fence

b. Everyone is still settling in, especially Grade 8s who are not sure what
the year will look like for them.
i. Freedom Friday will entirely depend on student behaviour and
will only be 40m so not enough time to get to McDonalds.

c. No French teacher teaches an English topic to the students.
i. More French speaking is already apparent

d. Lunch monitor hired

e. Crossing guard struggled to hire – new person started

f. Meet the teacher Sept 9th went well welcoming new families

g. Barbecue at lunch went well, chocolate milk is doing well also with hot lunches starting this week.

h. Building is full of leaders, 9 gr 8 on student council and are helping hands and educators have seen the biggest changes now that students with upstanding skills are now running the mood of the building
i. Terry Fox – $3,500 approx. raised

j. Franco-Ontarian Day – coach bus was fun for littles. Grade 8s chose not to attend so will try a monthly community activity re French culture. Next up – Halloween costume contest and dance.

k. Sports: Cross country team in place, to Ken Reid on 7th, 3 soccer teams also. No volunteers needed yet.

l. Split Classes – due to numbers had no choice to stay on the ministry average. There are only 3 splits, despite how it may have appeared showing both the French and English teacher names. School has just under 200 children, fewer than prior year.

9. Follow Up from Last meeting/New Items:

a. Planning dates for the year for events: (Other Suggestions)

1. Arts Night – was a success, but will leave up to the Arts teachers (4 of them), just not to be held in April.

2. Family Electives – small turn out, but very engaged, look at repeating this, but move to earlier before sports start
o April 7 th
o Utilize the PEG to pay for vendors (Chair will try to get the PRO grant to move to the school as well)
o Can also look at CPF grant for the school now that we are a French school. Steffler is the rep and is putting together a group. JC will discuss with Mme. Steffler.
o Cost in PY didn’t exceed $1,000 and there are fewer students this year.

3. Grade 8 Graduation – June 24th @ LCVI, no limit on attendance!

4. Grade 8 Graduation Trip – hope to go to Montreal again. Board must provide approved travel companies. Mme Steffler is planning
this trip. More info to come. Prior year was over $700.

5. Inflatable Day – for the whole school, just Central on June 4th, Slushie truck

6. Food truck date possibility

7. Side note: Carnival at LF – they want Gr. 7/8 help running this

8. New item – having a CSS version of Carnivale here is a possibility – 1⁄2 day with Bonne Homme – February

9. PC Hot Lunch Ideas: Grilled Cheese, Pancakes, Hot Dogs –fundraise for at least one of these to be free? $2 day, then free Ice Cream Day at end of year.
o Sub-committee to do a doodle poll – Allyssa will send out to figure out dates for these
o (aside: Thursday Jan 29th – Weldon Students done exams and can come to CSS)
o School will be doing Pizza & BarBurrito each week W/Th

10. Fundraising ideas and feedback for 2025/2026:
o Vandermeers – Christmas or Spring. Allyssa will check in with them
o MacMillan’s – result? Very good, was easy to do and raised the most. Good to stock the freezer before Christmas. Can we get the forms for Thanksgiving?
▪ Most kids raised $100, some as much as $300
▪ The more you sell the more you get back
o Frozen Chicken fundraiser – many products, but not pre-sorted – did not go well at Jack Callaghan
o Gift card – Fundscrip gift card fundraiser
o Kona slushie truck, or Kawartha Dairy ice cream truck

10. District Council meeting: Dates to be sent once available.
Next CSS Meeting: November 25th, 2025

Tuesday November 25th, 2025 @ 6:00pm
Meeting 2: 2025- 2026 School Year

1. Welcome – Attendance & Regrets

Attended Virtually– Shukri M, Stephanie L, Crystal Ireland, Amy-Jo Teatro,
In person – Shannon K, Allyssa H, Jenn C, Charlene C

2. Approval of Agenda – Stephanie L

3. Approval of Minutes – Shukri M

4. Treasurers Report:

Shannon – same number as before $674.40. Discussion regarding what to use the funds for, if they are available. Charlene will discuss with the “directions team” who looks at what resources are needed to achieve the direction of the school. For example, indoor recess supplies or supply teacher kits. Sports supplies have been purchased already.

→Charlene will follow-up with Wendy for the treasurer’s report to ensure we know what is available to spend from Parent Council funds and will find out from Directions team what support is requested.

5. Student Report(Student Council).

Student council presidents, Isla McLeod and London Fagan. They are planning a spirit week in December and school-wide activity day on 19th, last block. Also organizing indoor recess/outdoor activities.

6. Teacher Report – will be covered in Principal’s report.

7. Principal Report: Charlene Chapman.

a. $3,100 school total was a record for Terry Fox donations.

b. ARM – accessing reading multiple measures – all staff now trained to track student reading achievement.
   i. Gr 8 class – 100% of students meet the benchmark for English reading

c. Bookfair – well received, raised just over $600 for books for the school

d. Sports – cross country, good showing overall. Soccer went well, despite scheduling issues and kinks that should be worked out. Volleyball is running also.

e. Halloween dance – went well and the kids danced, proving they can have a dance for their grad. There was a food donation by Loblaws.

f. Freedom Fridays started – with a higher bar set. They are settling in. Trying to preserve some things for the older kids from last year.

g. Grad Trip – $987 with a new tour company, so commute issues should be eliminated. ****There are several financial supports available for families. Contact the school.****

→ Will need to remind families to sign up to get enough participation to run.
https://portal.brightsparktravel.ca/ 
Tour Web Code: EQ45TZ3

h. Camp Muskoka Gr. 6s – went excellent
     i. Staff PA Day – staff and admin built a school improvement plan; largest need is spontaneous oral language (using French).
    i. French reading data is poor – only 25% passing rate. Could still be COVID.
    ii. Fresh Fuell has agreed that students can read 25 FRENCH books to get a free smoothie.

j. Café mental evening will be on December 9th (7 & 8s) hosted in the gym, 7 – 9pm, no PC support needed.

k. Winter music night/celebration/Arts night maybe in Feb. May have the gift basket raffle at this time. This will be headed by staff.

l. Food drive: donations have been delivered to Food Source

m. Toy Drive: There is a kinsmen toy bin at the school and there will be a school cash online option to donate, and student council will purchase toys for the bin

n. Jersey’s: CSS does not have these for the smaller children.

→ Allyssa will coordinate with LF who has just priced new jersey’s

8. Follow Up from Last meeting/New Items:

none not already covered.

9. Parent Council Agenda Items:

Planning dates and updates for the year for events: (Other Suggestions)

a. Arts Night: Updates – see above principal report on Winter music night

b. Inflatable Day: Updates – date is June 4th

c. Family Electives: JC: Applied for the grant 500.00. Date set: April 7th. Plan is to do something very similar to last year, it was easy to organize in comparison to other options. May swap pottery for painting. Cookies & scones were well received.
→ Allyssa will look at how many families joined last year and how much it cost for next meeting

d. PC Hot Lunch Ideas: JC: Grilled Cheese, Pancakes, Hot Dogs and volunteers. Doodle poll Date results volunteers are available – December 1st, 8th, Feb 2nd, 9th, March 2nd, March 30th, April 13th, 27th, June 12th, June 29th

i. At this point we need to start in February to get on School cash in time, after determining pricing

ii. Offer a donation to support another person’s meal on SCO

iii. Funds raised will be directed to PC initiatives – inflatable day and new jersey’s

e. Breakfast program: Updates CC; being run by 2 grade 7 students and going very well, reducing waste.

f. 25 cent sale: CC: this is a tradition of LF, there won’t be enough donations to go around. It is more for the younger kids. In this building currently, it is not feasible to run our own. Suggest a different route like a craft to take home.

→CC will review with teachers and let us know if PC can support.

g. School Sports: JC: Boys & girls mixed flag football. There is a tournament planned for 2026. Can Central commit to being a part of this after backing out last year? CSS has a flag football kit. Ms. Prozenko has volunteered for this in the past as the teacher.

→ CC will see if there is a teacher to volunteer for this assuming it is approved by the board. (Being led by Christian Harrington)

10. Fundraising ideas and feedback for 2025/2026:

a. Grad Trip – Prior year funds raised went back to all students on the trip in cash, this year it will likely be a cheque to reimburse parents

b. Vandermeer’s is scheduled for Spring before Easter – end of Feb

c. Food truck

d. Kawartha Dairy truck

e. Other options discussed:
    i. Boston Pizza Celebrity Server – only 6 kids at a time
    ii. Domino’s – may no longer be an option, Allyssa to check
   iii. CC: Consider doing a BBQ instead of a hot lunch day in June
   iv. Track & Field canteen – where do the funds raised go? to the school council of the host. Will not be on site this year.

v. Walking tacos are also popular, CSS has approved kitchen.

f. Snack sales (JC) – popcorn machine at CSS. Friday’s will volunteer to start popcorn sales back up.

11. District Council meeting – December 9th: JC will see that we can get extra funding to add towards our family night like we did last year from District Council ($500). Someone who helps students make benches offered at last meeting. → JC will follow-up on this.

Note: You can make donations to the school and obtain a tax receipt if you donate through the TLDS board’s Canada Helps website and designate the school and purpose of your donation (most recently Feed All Four) https://www.tldsb.ca/canada-helps/

Next CSS Meeting: January 27th, 2025

Future dates to slot in:

February 24th
March 24th
April 21st
May 26th
June 23rd

Tuesday January 27th, 2026 @ 6:00pm
Meeting 3: 2025-2026 School Year

1. Welcome – Attendance & Regrets

a. In-person: Charlene, Jenn Curtis, Allyssa Handley, Student Rep: Rylan Larame, Shannon Koetstra, Sabrina Pattinson
b. Virtually – Shukri Middleton, Stephanie Leith

2. Approval of Agenda – Allyssa, Jenn

3. Approval of Minutes – Allyssa, Jenn

4. Treasurers Report: (Shannon K) – $74.40 in account because expenses for tuck shop and Taco have come out, but no sales deposits showing in this report.
a. Tuck Shop: Have not sold everything purchased yet. Outstanding deposit to be made
b. Taco: $410-$331 = $79 With left overs.
c. Note for future: don’t let chips and candy sit too long as they do expire or harden (>1 month).

5. Student Report: Rylan
a. Today was Literacy Day – PJ Day, reading, cookies, hot chocolate
b. Volleyball, Girls at Bat
c. Student Council – Mme Ellis will run this now with plans for Valentine’s Day activities – Feb 13th with divisional split. Candy Gram perhaps.
d. Carnival – Mme Kherraji with SC assistance: Feb 20th, Mar 6th as snow
date – Parent Volunteers needed? No. Charlene thinks Gr. 7 & 8 can lead this.

6. Teacher Report: None to share.
a. Jenn C notes that Mme Raines has volunteered to help with every sport for which parent council recognizes and appreciates her efforts!

7. Principal Report: (Charlene Chapman)
a. December: Spirit Days, Caroling in French & English
b. Staffing: No EAs in the school at present, lunch monitor instead with supply as well. But attendance is an issue.
→ She is seeking someone for 80m per day in 2 blocks of 40 minutes for minimum wage. Forward ideas to Charlene.
c. January – FI principal meeting (there are 6) to discuss challenges specific to FI. CSS is the only single-track school.
a. Increasing oral language acquisition is priority
b. PLC – professional learning communities was started by Charlene with the goal being to bring Frost & Central teachers together, e.g. Yasmin watched Robin to see how
oral communication is fostered in her classroom
d. Math textbooks were purchased by the school board for grade 1-8 “My Math Path” product – there was discussion with staff about using them as a resource and getting kids off screens.
e. Graduation: 47 graduates, the smallest group to be honored and want to reflect who they are and their interests. Will take place at LCVI, with rehearsal Wednesday in the AM, here will be NO LIMIT ON ATTENDEES/GUESTS!
i. Proposal –Return from rehearsal and at 10:45 recess do clap-out. Once this is done, there will be a grad lunch BBQ with parents and teachers ending by 12pm. Graduation will be 6:30-7:30 and then it will be over. No return to Central for a dance.
1. This is due to Dance not a big thing last year and behaviour wasn’t ideal last year that caused damage. Nighttime recess is what they wanted, then they walked to McDonalds.
ii. Sabrina – The Grad dance is the party everyone is invited to, versus hoping someone hosts an afterparty. Perhaps we put it to the students to vote and understand the problems that took place last year.
iii. → Charlene: To be discussed with the Grads to see what is preferred
iv. Jenn C – consider setting up the photo backdrop before-hand so that families can take pictures at BBQ
v. Charlene – they are the first graduating class of Central FI – thinking some kind of recognition for them within the school.

f. Grad Trip – Enough kids have signed up. No change to price. Trying to get a lower cost bus. (41-42/47 – not financial barriers)
g. School improvement plan is complete, focus areas for CSS include:***
i. Spontaneous response to French in conversation
ii. Acadians Francais Language Assessment – Teachers were looking at scores for their classes and determined a words per minute target that is achievable.
iii. Providing French reading to the students that they can evaluate – newspaper articles.
iv. Multiplication and division facts – automaticity of facts (e.g. times table memorization)
v. Classroom needs in Gr 4/5 are higher and need more supports and strategies.

h. Arts Night – Feb 24th – headed by staff
i. March 13th – School Electives for the Whole School organized by Ms. Prozenko
i. Frost Fleming College – fish hatchery
ii. Half baked cookies
iii. Big Country MMA
iv. Movie
v. Bowling
vi. Yoga
vii. Cafe mental or karaoke
viii. Bracelet making – floss friendship bracelets
ix. Ptbo school of arts – pottery activity (pinch pots)
x. Library station
xi. Students will have to give their first choice and second choice for AM/PM, not first come first serve. No busses required.
xii. → Parent Volunteers will be needed

8. Follow Up from Last meeting/New Items:
a. School Improvement Plan update – see above
b. Fundraising (Allyssa):
i. Tuck Shop – will do one a month and keep prices under $2/item

ii. Vandermeer’s – Gr. 7/8 toward trips, rest towards those grades
iii. Celebrity Server – for Gr.8 grads to raise trip money – divide up for all to participate
9. Parent Council Agenda Items (Jenn C):
a. → Taco/Tuck shop – reschedule to Feb 3rd, 12:45, Shukri can volunteer with Jenn C
i. $3 vs. $5 price increase was to make it an actual fundraiser for
PC, not just a subsidized hot meal-day for all students
ii. Allyssa – consider using left over ground been for spaghetti day
b. Inflatable Day booked June 4th- Allyssa

i. Kona booked
c. Family Electives 2025 – April 7th- Allyssa
i. PY – cost $16pp so aiming for that or less.
ii. Pottery –$27pp for pottery 2 sessions.
iii. Half baked – the kids will bake mini cookies, or decorate – will be $35/family
iv. Scones
v. Other considerations
1. Kick boxing (see if Ms. Beers will run again)?
2. Ampere – to host activities?
3. Library – coding, reading or building activities?
4. BGC (Carly Beach) – activity?
5. Jam session?
6. Jimmy Chapman?
7. Family Paint night?
8. Other free sessions?

vi. Shukri: Will we be limiting? No – only 195 students, fewer and fewer families than PY

d. Free lunch day in March – CSS PC – March there will be a free lunch after raising funds from February’s meal

Next CSS Meeting: March 24th 2026