The Student Council has several events planned for the fall:

•          October 10-14 - Student clothing sale (there will be an online form on the website)
•          October 27-28 - Leadership camp at NDDHS (sleepover in the gym) (October 28^th is a PA Day)
•          Monday, October 31 – “Wear your Halloween costume” Spirit day
•          Friday, November 18 - Old Hollywood spirit day
•         Thursday, November 24 - Black Light Dance
•          Friday, December 16 - Winter Olympics (1/2 day) ** thinking of moving this to February
•          Friday, Dec. 23 – “Dress like a Christmas tree” Spirit day and Christmas concert (tickets are sold)

7. Correspondence

·       PRO Grant  - NDDHS applied for funding under the “Parents Reaching Out” program, and received confirmation that $1000 had been approved.  The project called “What NDDHS Parents Need to Know... in writing” will pay for a mailing of information.  Also covered by the grant was the creation of a new floor plan for the school that parents would find helpful.  A copy of the floor plan was distributed to everyone at the meeting.  It was also suggested a copy be posted on the website.

·       SPC Card – This is possible fundraiser with $9 SPC cards sold at the school, with $3 coming back to the selling organization.  Agreed that it was a bit late this year, but consider for next year, starting earlier with sales starting right away in August.

·       People for Education – Three pieces of correspondence was circulated.  More information is available at www. peopleforeducation.com

Communication (from Business) – In addition to the letter to parents that went out in the summer, the school’s website has copies of the letters and newsletters posted on the website at www.nddhs.ca .  School vice-principal, Derek Cole highlighted some features of the website including the spot for forms such as the Community Involvement (under “About Us” then “Student Services”), the daily announcements (posted on the main page), the handbook, newsletters (posted on the main page) and also featured stories (such as the one on the Specialist High Skills-Health & Wellness).  Sometimes it has been difficult to get photos for the website, and it was suggested that parents could take photos and submit for posting.   Note that there is a new intermediate newsletter online but it was distributed in print.  In the print version, parents were asked to indicate if they wished to receive the newsletter by e-mail (or print).

8. Reports

Intermediate School – Nicole Touchette, French teacher, provided an overview of activities.  The move of the Grade 7 and 8 students is described as a soft segregation, with a separate area for Grade 7 and 8 students (on the second floor of the school), but also with some integration.  Students have access to after school activities such as guitar (on Tuesday) and instrumental music (Monday and Wed combined with the secondary students).  With respect to sports, cross-country has started (with Ms. VanderMeer) and the intermediate and secondary cross-country practicing together (and able to go to some combined meets).   Ms. Cloutier and Ms. Thomson have started soccer and are taking a girls team and a boys team to tournaments the first week of October. Students participated in the “Wear a Jersey Day”, which was organized by the Secondary Student Council, and points were awarded by grade, as is being done in the secondary section.   This fall, Ms. Durant has arranged for a Hip-Hop Instructor, and grade 7 and 8 students have been invited to participate. Teacher Ab Carr is starting to organize an Intermediate Student Council, which will meet separately but also join with the Secondary Council for specific times.  

With respect to the logistics, it was noted that there were some issues around the schedule with a few time changes needed.   However, it has not changed that students are supervised at all the time; on a daily basis, students have access to the paved area and grass on the west side of the school; and also have 30 minutes of daily physical activity as part of their schedule. The staff have been working with trustee Jeff MacMillan on project-based learning, and the students will have access to the “Get-a-Life” program which will integrate some life skills like resume writing.

Secondary School – On behalf of Mike Deighton, Geoff Trasuk reported that sports are starting up with cross-county and golf already competing.  The boy’s volleyball and girl’s basketball programs have started up .  Intermediate students will practice with secondary but will not participate on secondary midget teams since it might affect their 5-years of eligibility in secondary school. 

One issue with sports is the need for more uniforms, especially if several teams are going out on the same day.  Some shirts just say North Dundas but some say NDDHS.  Earlier, Debbie Banks had asked about fundraising to get more uniforms, and brought it as an item to the Council (which can be discussed when we get to fundraising).  Geoff Trasuk mentioned that as an interim measure, they may buy some t-shirts that say North Dundas. 

Geoff commented that the reaction to the changes have been good.  For example, parking is now only available on the east side, and while tight at first, is sufficient.  The gym time seems fine, especially as there is a multi-purpose room for some of the activities, like dance.  There are enough lockers on the second floor for all intermediate students, with the secondary students on the first floor, with locks supplied by the school (this system uses a master key system as well). 

ACTION - With respect to lockers, it was noted that 174 locker doors were replaced over the summer.  However, some parents did note that lockers are missing hooks and shelves.  This seems to be an immediate need, requiring access to the lockers and some budget for the items.

Geoff did note that for the third summer in a row, there was construction over the summer, this time to replace parts of the roof and upgrade the electrical system  (previous renovation replaced all of the windows, upgraded the fire alarm and heating system and replaced many of the lights to more energy efficient ones).  Some actions were delayed, including the games to the west paved area.  Derek Cole noted that another delay is the installation of the Smartboards.  There will be 20 in total with one in every Grade 7/8 room and the rest on the first floor.  Every Grade 7/8 classroom will have 3 computers, one of which is for the Smartboard.  While the new computer lab on the second floor is ready, the new one on the first floor is not ready.

most secondary classes are held on the first floor, but there are four classes at the end which are being used by secondary classes.  Secondary students in the GPP class (GPP is a course code) have been helping with Grade 7/8 area as well as the Futures classroom (Futures students have special needs).

The room that many know as the library, and which was known as the Student Achievement Centre, is now known as the Learning Commons.  The students can only sign books out of the library on the day when the Library Tech period is there (5 days over a 2 week period).  Access to books was raised as a concern, and this will be followed up with Debbie Banks.  The room beside the library is known as the Student Success Centre, and, with its bank of computers and work spaces, it continues to be available for Grade 12 students but also for students taking online courses and those who might need some extra help.   There is a similar room on the second floor now, with teacher Kelly Hess, offering extra help and access to 6 computers in the former Math office area (the main computer room is 2 doors down).

Secondary students seem to like regular schedule of Day 1 always being Monday and Friday and Day 2(Tuesday), Day 3 (Wed) and Day 4 always Thursdays.  Parents in attendance also seem to appreciate this regular schedule. Students are still adjusting to timing on the “3 period then lunch then Period 4” arrangement. 

ACTION - The arrangement of outside areas was noted earlier, and one parent asked about the placement of the basketball nets since it does not allow students to have a game, can only shoot at the net.   This is to be reviewed.  It was also noted that some markings for collaborative games might be added to the paved area. 

The buses all load/unload in the west side.  In the morning, the buses are not to be unloaded until 7:55.  There has had to be some monitoring of these times and procedures by the board transportation and the bus companies as some are arriving at least 10 minutes early.

9. Business

a) Volunteer Service/Community Service Fair – Every secondary student has to complete 40 hours of community service over their 4 years.  It was decided last year that we would organize a fair at which organizations from the area would be invited toparticipate to provide opportunities for students to get these hours.  This event might be held in the gym or multi-purpose room, but the cafeteria was also suggested as an alternative.  The original date of Wed. Sept 28^th was postponed, and a new date has not yet been set.  Interested individuals should contact Peggy as we’ll do it through a small committee. 

b) Junior Achievement Assembly and Award – on November 3^rd (same day as Grade 9’s participate in “Take your kids to work”), the secondary school honours students who were in Grade 9-10-11 last year.  The School Council has contributed an award in the past.  It was agreed that we should try to get the Chapters Gift certificates again for one student in each grade.  Sheryl Ladouceur will be asked about it, as she looked after it last year.

c) Fundraising – This item was deferred tothe next meeting.  We only have $228 in our account, and if we wish to support items (for example, the request about uniforms, or the outstanding painting of the school bus), we would need more funds.

d) Other –

·       Preliminary reports – there was a question about when the reports would be ready.  Geoff Trasuk noted that on the secondary side, the preliminary reports would be ready 5 weeks into the school year, with the teacher interviews right after that.  On the intermediate side, teachers are being encouraged to contact parents on a regular basis, but there was some concern about this approach.  ACTION – it was felt by some that there should be a “Meet the Teacher Night” especially as there are some different/new teachers than original anticipated.  More information to follow.

·       Yearbook – There was a question about the pick-up for Maple Ridge Yearbooks from last year.  On the secondary side, the photographs of students and the production of the yearbook will be done by PhotoVisions (a switch from Jostens).  The new yearbook supervisor is Deanna Corbett-White.  

·       Representation – It was noted that the Council does not have representation from the school support staff, nor does it have a Community Representative.  These two items should be sorted out, and brought to the next meeting.

10. Next Meeting and Format

People were fine with the format of the agenda with items for both sections being discussed, especially as they overlap in many areas.  It was difficult to agree on a date that would work for everyone, especially as activity schedules are not out for some, and so only the next meeting was set.

The next meeting will be Wednesday, October 19^th, 7 pm in the Learning Commons.

The meeting was followed by a tour of the renovations and the second floor.