Windham Ridge School Council Minutes - January 2025

January 14, 2025

In Attendance:

Council Attendance:

Malahat Ahmad, Farida Babrawalla, Raquel Batres, Andrea Bean, Diana Shin, Diana Li (online), Rocco Di Lena, Hyemin Lee, Cassandre Lennox, Mel Louie, Jodie Montagnese, Maryam Movaselli (online), Irene Petre, Lisa Schiafone, Sukaina Sheraly, Lucy Spina, Setareh Yaghini

Administration: Sabrina Singh-Itwarie, Debbie Williams (online)

Guest Attendance:

Zara Abedi, Parvaz Kirouac, Antonio Teti, Vonnie Yeung

Regrets:

Mariam Kotab

Welcome & Introductions ~ S. Singh-Itwarie

Welcome by S. Singh-Itwarie

Land Acknowledgment

Land Acknowledgement read by S. Singh-Itwarie

African Ancestor Acknowledgment

African Ancestor Acknowledgement read by S. Singh-Itwarie

Approval of Minutes

Approval of Minutes by Rocco, 2nd by Lucy

Approval of Agenda

Approval of Agenda by Mal, 2nd by Jodie

Teachers' Report - S. Singh-Itwarie

Active Clubs, committees and teams currently running/upcoming at WRPS
- Fun Club
- Chess Club
- Yearbook committee
- Intermediate Basketball - Girls and Boys o Junior Basketball - Girls and Boys
- Intramurals – focus currently on basketball o Junior Volleyball – Both the girls and boys teams are getting ready to wrap up the season and are preparing for their tournaments.
- Lego Robotics team – currently preparing for their competition on February 4th, 2025
- Reach for the Top – the team is currently preparing for their tournament at Charles Howitt PS on Thursday, January 16, 2025
- Bookworms club
- Eco Club
  - The is club initiated by the Board
  - School are given tasks/projects to complete. Once projects are completed, it can lead to the school to receive the distinction from the board as an “Eco-Certified School”
- Concert Band
- Lunch Monitors
  - Program is up and running
  - Grade 5 students have been included
  - There are many students interested in monitoring
Recent proposals received for clubs
- The Kitty Cat Club
- Dance Club
Tetherballs are up and running
- All of the tetherballs are in working order and will continue to be monitored
Alpha Rhythm Roots
- Admin is looking to book this program to return to WRPS in April
- This was not in the original budget, but the hope is that, if not all of this can be covered by council, that a portion of it can be paid by council.
Scientist in School
- Most grades in the school have either booked the program for the class or they have already had the scientist visit their class.
Friendship Dance
- Dance will take place on February 14th
- DJ is booked for the event
- There has been some feedback on the dance schedule so admin is revisiting it to see if adjustments are to be made
Carneval
- Carneval will take place on February 7th
- Council typically provides a hot drink for the event and will continue that this year
- With funds received from the PC Grant, the school will provide students with a snack
- Feedback from council member: If there is a snack provided, the students will need more than the 12 minute time allotted for the station
- Suggestion from council member: was made to serve the snack with the movie as opposed to with the hot chocolate/cider as it will be easier for students to manage
Winter Warm Up Concert
- February 21
- Many classes have already begun to prepare for the concert
- Details of the event will be sent to the community shortly
Big Crunch
- Will take place on March 6th, 2025
- Admin and school staff are working to ensure that all are prepared to host the event on this specific date
PC Grant
- An application was submitted for a PC Grant that supports a school nutrition program
- School was recently informed that they have been rewarded the grant
- The school must ensure that the money is being used as this grant is an “auto-renew” grant. If funds are not used, the grant will be discontinued when it comes up for renewal.
- After extended breaks from school, students often return and feel hungrier during the day. The nutrition program provides an opportunity for students to have a snack if needed and the opportunity to try a variety of foods.

Treasurers' Report

Swiss Chalet
- Projected profit for the period of Oct. 4 – Dec. 23 (9 weeks) - $1434.51
Pizza House
- Numbers could not be confirmed ahead of preparing the treasurers report for pizza sales, so total being reported was calculated to the best of the treasurer’s ability
- Projected profit for the period of Oct. 22 – March 4 (18 weeks) - $6035.76
Subway
- Projected profit for the period of Oct. 24 – Dec. 19 (9 weeks) - $1513.61
Kibo Sushi
- Projected profit for the period of Dec. 9 – Jan. 27 (5 weeks) - $1755.70
Total projected profit for these sessions is $10, 739.58
HST break on prepared foods – There was an HST break on prepared foods for some weeks in these sessions. The price paid by parents includes HST. Council member question: If price to parents includes HST what will we do with the difference? Response: Price will be kept consistent as this is a fundraising endeavor and will keep pricing consistent throughout the year.

Committee Reports - C. Lennox, I. Petre

Volunteer
- Check in to see if all are receiving the volunteer emails? In response to this, a list of individuals that are not currently receiving volunteer emails but would like to were added to the distribution list.
- Committee updated that there are a number of opportunities to volunteer within the school i.e. Robotics (Grade 6. 7. 8)
- For those that cannot commit to an ongoing event, there are two single day events pending - winter carnival and the friendship dance. Assistance is needed with activities on the day of Carnaval. Chaperones and a decorating committee are needed for the dance.
- For those receiving emails, please review the list and sign up for any available times.
Fundraising
- Hot Lunches – for the lunches that have ended, new sessions will begin shortly
Communications
- Friendship Dance communication will be coming shortly
- Thank you to the committee for the toy drive/food drive communications that were sent out
Mental Health and Wellbeing
- There is nothing new to report from the committee
Admin contribution: Youth Space – there may be a possibility for the mental health and wellbeing committee to volunteer with the Youth Space group. These are student leaders that are in training with the goal to work towards empowering other youth.
Youth Space is a school based group that consists of grade 7 and 8 students. The group is led by Mr. Raha and Mme. Patel.
Council member question/request – How do we protect the mental wellbeing of students? What can we do to support the students and allow them to feel empowered?
Input from Council member: RBC has a community grant – the grant can be applied for and if there is an initiative that the school is working toward, the grant can help fund the initiative. More information will be forthcoming regarding this grant.
Input from Council member: Can we look at pairing the primary students with the intermediate students? Can we look at a play leaders type program as it can foster a sense of belonging within the school as it can be beneficial to all students?
Admin response: This would require training and understanding of the implications of behaviour and boundaries.
BeYOUtiful – this is a 4 session program that has an intermediate focus. As part of this program, staff are working on creating a safe space for students to share.
Admin is looking out for free/cost effective programs that are impactful to students
Question from council member – There are many programs targeting the intermediate students, are there options for junior students so that we can target students at a younger age when they are first beginning to experience some of these issues?
- Admin response: Admin will approach public health to see if there are any options available for junior students. Grade 5 teachers are doing a lot of work on racial literacy – this helps students understand their place in the work, understand what racial literacy is and helps them understand where they fit in. There has been positive feedback from students around this.
Council member question – How can we reignite this committee?
- Response - We need someone to step up and take it on. A WhatsApp group has been created, and people can join the group and give what they can.
Input from Council member: There is a holiday program where you sponsor a family for the holidays. Can we look at each grade/division sponsoring a family? It will allow students to reengage with each other and will build empathy within the community. There are a number of ways that we can approach this situation but it would be important to implement this upon our return to school in September in order for it to be successful.
Parent Engagement Committee
- The committee is looking at scheduling another Coffee chat
- Question from Council member: Will there be a speaker or will it be a coffee chat?
  - The focus will just be a coffee chat so parents can connect with each other
  - This will allow the funds from parent engagement to be reallocated to mental health and wellbeing
  - Date determined as: Feb. 20th 6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
  - Second date determined as: April 4th – 12 – 1:30 – room to be determined as this is daytime meeting (lunch time)
Question from Council member: Can we look at the possibility of offering childcare for parents that may need it?
- Response from co-chairs: Right now, the focus is on booking dates. Details will then be planned and organized by the committee.
Student Programs
- Nothing to report
Grants
- Nothing to report
French Ambassador
- Nothing to report

New Business - C. Lennox, I. Petre

Lunch Crafts
- Council is hoping to continue this initiative through the winter
- Grade 3 craft has happened during lunch. It was a busy but successful event. The students made snow globes.
- Council is hoping to offer a similar activity to grades 1, 2 and 4.
- The intended target are the younger grades, but there is the willingness to offer to the older grades if there is expressed interest.
- Teachers have really embraced the program and have given of their time and resources to support it.
Hot Lunches
- Lunches are being offered from Monday to Thursday. These programs are run by volunteers, so volunteers are always needed/being recruited
You're the Chef
- A grant was received for $800 to fund this program
- This was approved by admin if, in some capacity, we can give an opportunity to all grade 7 students, to participate.
- It has been proposed to start with the grade 7 students on the following dates: March 17, 24 April 1, 7
- The same kids will participate in all 4 of these sessions.
- The program will start with a core group and then see how that goes to see who we can open the program up to after
- There was some discussion about how we can potentially run the program in order to accommodate all the students
Math Night
- The possibility of a math night is till being discussed
- Diana and Mme. Saadati have been working on organizing a community night. Math night may be part of this evening.
- Teacher volunteers are still needed but it has been difficult to secure them for the intermediate division.
- Question from council: If primary and junior divisions are covered with respect to volunteers, is there a math consultant that may be able to assist and cover the intermediate division?
  - Response from admin: Admin will look into if this is a possibility.
Class Snack Bins
- There is a proposed start date of January 29, 2025
Friendship Dance
- The dance has been scheduled for February 14, 2025
Carnaval
- This will take place on February 7, 2025
- The school will be ‘split’ – in the morning, one group will watch a movie while the other group participates in outdoor activities. In the afternoon, the students will switch.
- Students participating in outdoor activities will rotate through the activities and be allotted 14 minutes per station.
Robotics
- There is a school competition for students and they will move on to a regional competition in February.
- Question from council: Is there a possibility that we can print up a certificate to give the participating students as a keepsake? If so, are there any other groups that may benefit from having something like this for their participation in an activity?
December 20, 2024
- Council provided hot chocolate / cider and a candy cane to all students
Looking ahead to dates - February to June Calendars
- Feb 12 is the next council meeting – Dates will be shared so they can be added to calendars
  - Dates will include those for: Grade 8 grad, staff appreciation lunch etc.
Question from council – As a council, what have we spent money on?
- Response – hot chocolate, craft
- There was a discussion about additional expenses that have been covered by council.
Question from council - Can we present where we are spending money?
- Response: This will be looked in to.
Question from council - How can we support teachers in the classrooms? Is it possible for teachers to make a wish list?
- Response from admin – It is possible to have teachers make a list and then present the list to council
Question from council – There is a part of the fence that is broken fence. Can admin take a look at that because it is a safety concern for students.
- Response from admin – This will be looked in to.

Closing - C. Lennox, I. Petre

8:33 p.m. - motion to close the meeting made by Irene.