Heydon Park Secondary School Parent Council Meeting Minutes - DRAFT September 14, 2011 Present: Donna Drummond

(Principal), Jocelyn Luck (Vice Principal), Kathryn Grimbly (Teacher Representative), Cathy Mallove, Kasembe Nyindu, Solomon Chrom, Cate Sandilands, Maria Sequens, Susan Lowe, Avril Kingston, Elliette Portal-Stanley (Parents), Mario Thomas (Teacher) 1. Welcome and Introductions (all) 2. New Business (D. Drummond) - Council Elections: Cathy Mallove was acclaimed as Parent Council Chair and Susan Lowe as Ward Council Representative - Principal and Vice Principal Profiles: The Principal is responsible for overseeing curriculum, staff and all students at the school, including questions of discipline; the school is working to implement a model of restorative practice, in which students are encouraged to consider the consequences of actions and develop empathy for others in the context of a collaborative, school-parent response to issues. The Vice Principal is responsible for the day-to-day activities of the school, including timetabling and daily staffing, and shares responsibility for discipline. The two also jointly organize school events and oversee the introduction and implementation of extra-curricular activities. 3. Principals Report (D. Drummond) - Enrolment: As of last June, enrolment was 176. As of September, confirmed registration is 206 (with a further 20 pending). Classes are full, and prospective students are being turned away in order to maintain small classes. The positive side to this situation is that enrolments are very healthy and the TDSB will not be looking at HP as a place to cut. One focus for enrolment is on keeping the retention rate of our students: are there things we could do better to keep our students in school? Another focus is supporting transitions and tracking of our students when they exit/graduate from Heydon. - New Staff: Paula Driscoll has been hired in Co-op and Technology; Ninfa Wisdom has been hired in Cosmetology: welcome! Three teachers are currently on leave and have been replaced temporarily with long-term occasional teachers for the school year. A further three Positions of Responsibility (interim) are being hired from an internal pool, including Student Services (guidance), Technology, Coop & Business Studies and Physical Education. A staff vacancy has just been announced for non-credit Physical Education and English, and interviews will commence shortly. - District Review: The TDSB has identified HP for review this year: how effective is the school in terms of the learning that takes place here? There are several elements to this review. A self-assessment will be undertaken, including input from Parent Council. On December 13, TDSB superintendents will visit the school and visit classes (including interviewing students, in a manner appropriate to our students). Feedback from the visit will be shared immediately with staff, and a full

report will be made before the end of January and shared with Parent Council. We encourage your input in this process. - EQAO Results (J. Luck): Two applied level courses are offered at HP (English and Math); 2010-11 saw the first applied Math class taught at the school, and seven students (with the considerable help of Mr. Patnaik worked very hard and achieved excellent results (competitive with other schools in many areas). The applied Math class, including the EQAO component, will continue this year, and we wish Mr. Patnaik and the girls all success. - Budget: HPs operating budget is starting the year completely balanced. A budget plan will be submitted before October 31. - Start-up Initiatives: - Professional Learning Communities (PLCs): Our late starts on Wednesdays are designed to enable staff to develop and enrich school-wide, nonacademic initiatives that contribute to the culture of HP as a whole. Examples include consideration of school best practices and environmental initiatives (the eco-team). - CLUBS Project: The Friday girls club will resume in January, 2012 after Fall meetings to plan and organize club activities. - Curriculum Night: On Thursday, September 22, there will be a dinner at 5:30 p.m. in the Cafeteria (before the 6:30 p.m. activities) to allow parents, students and staff to meet one another, to talk about our concerns, and to listen to a speaker who will talk about issues related to our girls needs and concerns. Special guest are Karen Chan & Hilary Okeke- Toronto Public Health, and Althea Reid & Melanie Clarke Central Toronto Youth Services). - Student Success: The focus of these activities is on character education (the introductory assembly on September 9 was on the theme of respect), in the context of building a safe and caring community in the school and beyond. There is a new student leadership program that will include peer mentoring on character education. - Other Initiatives: - U Got Dance: There will be an introductory assembly on September 30. The U Got Dance program will be a high energy hip hop class for fitness and fun, every Tuesday and Thursday at lunch. - Transition from High School Night: Thursday, October 20, 6:30 8:00 p.m. A PLC is focusing on the questions of where our girls are going after high school and how we can help them achieve their goals. Parents will be invited to this event. - Volunteers in the School: Parents are reminded that volunteers are always welcome at the school, including regular activities, special events, parentteacher collaborations, and class field trips. If you have a particular interest or talent, please contact the school and talk about where your talent might

shine. This term, we also have a group of student volunteers from Niagara College. - Silent Reading: In order to build literacy skills, students are given dedicated time every school day for 15 minutes of individual silent reading. - Language Lab/Resources Room: To accommodate an additional Math one period per day,the Language Lab/Resource Centre will be closed for that period, but is otherwise open and available to students. - Gym open at lunch: For all students. s 4. Other Business (C. Mallove) - Communicating with parents/parent participation: In order to foster better communication between the school and parents, and in order to encourage more parents to participate in school activities, Parent Council is organizing a sign-up drive to collect parents emacil addresses for regular electronic mailings (newsletters, calendars, important information, volunteer opportunities, etc.). There will be a sign-up desk at Curriculum Night, at which parents are also encouraged to ask any questions about Parent Council. - Newsletter (K. Grimbly): One important PLC activity this year will involve the monthly distribution of a school newsletter on the last Thursday of every month. The newsletter will include descriptions of past events, lists of coming events and important dates, and information of interest to both students and parents. Parent input and assistance is welcome. Depending on resources, we would also like to make the monthly newsletter available online, in the context of an updated Heydon Park website. - School Community Dinners: At 5:30 p.m. before the 6:30 start of evening school events such as the upcoming Curriculum Night, a school community dinner will be served for parents, students and staff. The dinners are a great time to get to know each other, to ask questions, and to share information and concerns. We are also planning to include, during each dinner, a talk about an issue of interest to the school community (e.g., on health, relationships, etc.). - Camp White Pine Consultation and Evaluation: Every May, students and teachers participate in a three-day camping trip to Camp White Pine in Haliburton. Outdoor education is essential and important for our students, and they have great fun; however, the White Pine program costs a lot of money, requires an extensive staff commitment, does not involve all students , and may not be serving the diverse needs of Heydon Park students and staff. We would like to take the opportunity to engage with the school community about whether or not this particular camping experience fulfills our objectives as a school and community. We are, therefore, forming a working group to evaluate the Camp White Pine experience, it will have its first meeting at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, September 22, right before the 5:30 p.m. dinner. We will also be distributing a survey to get your opinions. 5. Next meeting

The next Parent Council meeting will be Wednesday, October 12 at 6:30 p.m. We hope to see you there.