SCC Meeting Minutes

September 17, 2024   

 

In attendance: 

• Nicole Maitland  
• Ron Wardrope  
• Jeff Bohnert  
• Heidi Stouffer  
• Monica Rae  
• Stephanie Dayman  
• Kayla Maitland  
• Jim Vermeersch, Board member  

 

Regrets:   

• Wendi Matthews  

  

 

 

Principal's Report  

General Comments:  

• Welcome to Jim Vermeersch, our local area Board member 
• The staff really appreciated how we did the back-to-school BBQ this year! We would like to keep the same format moving forward.  
• Shout out to Wendi and everyone who was able to help out with the SCC fundraiser this past weekend at the Arcola Craft Fair; over $2,000 was raised  
• Our enrolment is up slightly from expected  
• School improvement plan will be focused on the four provincial priority areas: learning and assessment, Indigenous education, mental health and well-being, and student transitions. (see handout)  

 

Staffing Updates:  

• We have four new student teaching interns with us this fall  
  • Ms. Mansfield in the grade 2 class with Mrs. Ellis  
  • Ms. Haupstein in the grade 5 class with Ms. Lawrence  
  • Ms. Temple in the grade 6 class with Mrs. Annis  
  • Ms. Kenyon in the high school with Mrs. Walbaum  
• Update re. Brenda Johnston  
• Ms. Chapman was added to the teaching team this year (replacing Ms. McPhee who went to Lampman)  
• Our CEL position was increased to full-time this year, so Monica will continue with half time CEL and Alaina will be half time CEL (and half time our Student Services counsellor)  

  

Facilities Updates:  

• New student parking lot  
• We are finally getting an upgraded VOIP phone system  
• We are also getting a technology refresh this year   
• New AC units were purchased last year and some were installed and used; still waiting for electrical panel upgrades for the rest  
• Second basketball net was installed over the summer on the elementary playground – shout out to Mrs. Annis and her husband  

 

Upcoming Dates:   

• Thursday, September 26 = Terry Fox Run at 2 pm  
• Monday, September 30 = No school for students; PD day  
• Tuesday, October 1 = Truth and Reconciliation Day; Cadmus Delorme will be speaking at Prairie Place; joint initiative between PRNFN, the Town of Arcola, and Arcola School – please promote as you are able to  
• Monday, October 14 = No school; Thanksgiving Day  
• Monday, October 21 = No school for students; PD day  
• Tuesday, October 29 = SUTIL Job Fair in the gym for grades 9-12 after lunch  

  

 

CEL Report (Monica)  

•  Expanded CEL role will involve "student success coaching", more family engagement, focus on attendance, etc with Monica and Alaina  
• TRC day on Oct. 1  
• New approach to breakfast with a toaster in the CEL room and self-serve toast and you can't be late to class  

 

 

SRC Report (Kayla)  

• First meeting was last week  
• Started planning out our assemblies  
• Birthdays are being celebrated again... suckers and a card  
• Next meeting will be next Tuesday to start planning spirit days – fake injury day was a big hit last year  
• Not doing Mom's Pantry this year, Ms. James found out they were going to start charging crazy fees for delivery under the new ownership – we are looking at some alternatives  
• Will check with Mrs. Walbaum to see if her team is doing pizza fundraiser again this year; if she doesn't SRC will take it on  
• We will only do games at the assembly every second month...  
• Kayla is Pres., Reese is VP, Bree is my Secretary with Mr. Callfas, Ms. James, and Ms. Bates helping  

  

 

Chairperson's Report (Nicole)  

• Nicole and Monica cleaned the servery last spring  
• Back to school BBQ 
  • Expenses were $310  
  • Brought in $280, so lost maybe $30  
  • Nicole kept records so we have something to go off next year  
  • Fed the teachers early which was much appreciated  
  • Kids being able to drop their backpacks off ahead of school starting was really nice (avoids a school full of parents on the first day)  
  • e.g. Mrs Ellis had half of her kids sorted out with lockers and so forth on the first day  
• Pancake breakfast, Friday, October 18, Open to everyone   

 

 

Open mic with Jim …  

  

Next Meeting(s):  

• Oct. 22, AGM  
• Nov. 12  
• Jan. 14  
• Feb. 11 
• March 11 
• April 8  
• May 6  

 

 

October 22, 2024   

 

In attendance: 

• Nicole Maitland  
• Ron Wardrope  
• Jeff Bohnert  
• Heidi Stouffer  
• Monica Rae  
• Kayla Maitland  
• Velda Weatherald  

 

Regrets:   

• Stephanie Dayman  
• Wendi Matthews  
• Alaina Buchanan  

  

 

 

Principal's Report  

General Comments:   

• Pancake breakfast was a huge success! Thank you to everyone who came and helped out and cleaned up afterwards. 
• School board elections will be held in the Arcola School library on Wednesday, November 6 from 4 pm to 7 pm and again on November 13, from 9 am to 8 pm. 
• The annual east area SCC workshop will be at Manor School this year on Wednesday, November 6 at 7 pm 
• Safe Schools charter update 
• Handouts re. SCCs 
  • Purpose, Vision, Role… 
  • Community Involvement examples 
• Annual report of activities 
  • Back to School bbq in September 
  • Pancake breakfasts in October and May 
  • Distracted driving presentation in November 
  • Treats and meals for teachers around report cards and at Christmas 
  • Snacks for students at exam time 
  • Trade show canteen fundraiser 
  • One School, One Book support 
  • Banners for grads 
  • A/C units for the east end of the school 
  • Support for the new basketball hoop on the elementary playground 
  • Financial update of our locally-held funds 
• One School, One Book request to consider?  
  • Heidi made the motion to approve  
  • Nicole seconded  
  • Max of $700  

 

Staffing Updates:   

• Reminder, we have four new student teaching interns with us this fall   
  • Ms. Mansfield in the grade 2 class with Mrs. Ellis   
  • Ms. Haupstein in the grade 5 class with Ms. Lawrence   
  • Ms. Temple in the grade 6 class with Mrs. Annis   
  • Ms. Kenyon in the high school with Mrs. Walbaum   
• A reminder that Mr. Callfas will taking his paternity leave in second semester. We will be looking for a teacher to fill Ms. Chapman’s 0.80 position at that time so that she can take over Mr. Callfas’ full-time teaching load.    

  

Facilities Updates:   

• The town of Arcola will be putting a 15 min. parking only bylaw in effect in front of the school this fall.   
• The gym was temporarily shut down due to an issue with one of our basketball nets. This has now been fixed.  
• New panel is being ordered for the ACs to work properly in the spring  

  

Upcoming Dates:    

• Tuesday, October 29 = SUTIL Job Fair in the gym for grades 9-12 after lunch  
• Saturday, November 2 = we are hosting Sr. Girls volleyball playoffs 
• Wednesday, November 6 = east area SCC annual workshop at Manor School 
• Friday, November 8 = no school; teacher convention in Weyburn 
• Tuesday, November 12 = SCC meeting 
• November 27-28 = Student led conferences 
• Friday, November 29 = no school; prep day for teachers 

 

CEL Report (Monica)  

•  Working to support students (Alaina and Monica), working on academic progress, advocating with teachers, teaching accountability, working with their parents  
• Nutrition program, the new toast program is going well. We are discussing ways to monitor this and encourage kids who are able to to eat at home.  
• We are going to be out looking for donations for our nutrition program soon. Let us know if you can think of someone. We have a letter that we use.  
• TRC day was great, we did have some pivots in the morning that we had to adapt to. We had some local businesses that shut down for the afternoon just to support the day.  
• Ron, Monica, and Alaina are going to the ISSI conference in Saskatoon in early November  
• Alaina accompanied one of our students to a recent Board meeting in Weyburn to make a presentation  

 

SRC Report (Kayla)  

• Tomorrow is Purple vs. Orange day  
• SRC meeting tomorrow to plan November's activities  
• Will be doing a Purdy's chocolate fundraiser this year – Mrs. Bates and Mrs. James are organizing for us  
• Planning to do a second fundraiser in the spring – something food related  

 

Chairperson's Report (Nicole)  

•  A few different ideas for pancake breakfast to have some other ideas for community engagement  
• Do we have any ideas about potential members?  
  • Milton McArthur  
• Chair is Nicole  
• Vice Chair is Wendi  
• Secretary is Ron  
• Other items to spend money on?  
  • A new stove for the servery (old one is on it's last legs)  
  •  

  

Next Meeting(s):  

• Nov. 12  
• Jan. 14  
• Feb. 11 
• March 11 
• April 8  
• May 6  

 

 

January 14, 2025   

 

In attendance: 

• Kevin Hengen  
• Nicole Maitland  
• Stephanie Dayman  
• Alaina Buchanan  
• Ron Wardrope  
• Jeff Bohnert  
• Heidi Stouffer 
• Shauna Daku  
• Lindsay Quenneville   

 

Regrets:   

• Monica Rae  
• Kayla Maitland  
• Wendi Matthews  

  

 

Principal's Report  

General Comments:  

• Our Christmas potluck was a big success. Big shout out to the SCC and all who helped organize and serve.  
• Velda Weatherald won the election and will be the Board rep for our area 
• Handout from the RCMP re. online safety. Should we look at bringing a group in to present to parents this year? E.g. the Gambling Awareness Program (GAP) out of Regina provides age-specific presentations to grades 3 to 12 on screen time, video games, social media, and of course, gambling. Or the RCMP? Is this something the SCC could help sponsor and promote? 
• Handout, feedback from the SCC Regional meeting 

  

Staffing Updates:   

• Ms. Anna VanWinkoopwill be the grade one teacher while Ms. Nobert is out  
• Gail Milne will be in for Laurie James for a month 
• Mr. Brown will be in for Ms. Lawrence for a month 
• We are still looking to fill Ms. Chapman’s position for second semester while she takes on Mr. Callfas’ role 

 

Facilities Updates:   

• N/A 

  

Upcoming Dates:    

• January 27-30 = Gr. 10-12 exam week 
• Friday, January 31 = no school for students; prep day for teachers 
• Monday, February 3 = first day of semester two 
• Friday, February 7 = possible high school ski trip toAssessippi(gr. 7-12)  
• Tuesday, February 11 = SCC meeting 

 

Superintendent Report (Kevin)  

• Talked about the PEP  
  • Learning and assessment  
  • Mental health and well being  
  • Student transitions  
  • FNMI education  
• SECPSD also has a real focus on  
  • Attendance  
  • Early years success and support – EYE screener  
  • Graduation rates – we were over 91% last year, way over the provincial average  
  • Grade three reading, "if you can read at grade level at grade three you will graduate by and large, barring large trauma  
  • Last year 81% of our grade 3s were reading at grade level which was our highest ever  
  • Sense of belonging, OurSchool survey  

 

CEL Report (Monica/Alaina)  

• Student Support: 
  • Continuing with grad coaching roles  
  • exploring post-secondary options 
  • ensuring students are connected with the career counsellor 
  • supporting students in obtaining necessary documentation/identification/cards 
  • Alaina and Monica will meet with Sheila Knebush to discuss funding support for Indigenous students as well as transition plans/options  
  • encouraging students to take advantage of homework club at school as well as tutoring opportunities at Pheasant Rump (transportation options are available)  
  • additional counselling is available at the school on Wednesdays through Envision for our Indigenous students  
  • We are pleased to have Elders Kem and Dorothy attending once again on Monday mornings 
  • Nutrition support is ongoing (breakfast, snacks and lunch) 
  • leftover food is sent home with students when possible 
  • Pheasant Rump Preventions supports the hot lunch program  
  • Communicating with families to encourage and support attendance and academics  

 

• Funding opportunities: 
  • We have managed to secure funding for our nutrition program from several local businesses: Arcola Co-op   
  • Carlyle Co-op 
  • Cornerstone Credit Union 
  • We have several applications that have been submitted and are awaiting a response.  
  • Food Bank... they will sometimes have a surplus they would be happy to donate to hungry kids in schools  

 

• Collaboration/PD: 
  • Alaina and Monica will continue to meet with Melanie Pauls (Carlyle) and Sara Goldrup (Stoughton) each month to share resources, ideas, and possibly plan events/trips to support the interests and goals of our students. 
  • We have participated in one Indigenous Leads PLC session in December which was at Sask Arie. It was a fantastic day of networking and learning from Elders, Knowledge Keepers and one another. We will be participating in 2 more before the end of this school year. 

 

• Family/Community Engagement: 
  • Nicole has suggested we could explore a Cultural day/evening. We look forward to talking more about this and are excited to invite our students to be an active part of the planning process.  
  • We are also open to exploring more ideas depending on the capacity of our SCC members.  
  • We plan to attend events at Pheasant Rump in the coming months.  
  • Sheila Knebush, Amanda Knebush and Vanessa Bigeagle continue to provide us with valuable insight and connection with regard to our Indigenous students and families.  

 

SRC Report (Kayla)  

•  Spirit days this month...  
  • Moustache day, Feb. 4  
  • Colour day for elementary, Feb. 14  
• Purdy's chocolate fundraiser was stressful and did not go well in terms of orders getting mixed up and left out, etc. Probably won't do that again.  

 

Chairperson's Report (Nicole)  

•  Exam week muffins...  
  • Stephanie will bring banana chocolate chip muffins  
• Seed fundraiser... we made $1,500 last year. Vote was to do it again. Do a two week sales blitz in early February. Stephanie moved, Jeff seconded, passed unanimously.  
• Culture fair... Korean, Ukrainian, Egyptian  
• Someone else will need to hand out diplomas with Ron (Alaina will). Alaina volunteered Monica to give the SCC toast/speech/reply and Stephanie seconded this motion.  
• Heidi will create an emergency contact list...  
• We should post some signage re. Being a nut free school   

 

The meeting was adjourned at 8:22 by Stephanie.   

 

Next Meeting(s):   

• Feb. 11 
• March 11 
• April 8  
• May 6  

 

February 11, 2025   

 

In attendance: 

• Ron Wardrope  
• Shauna Daku  
• Lindsay Quenneville  
• Stephanie Dayman  
• Nicole Maitland  
• Jeff Bohnert  
• Heidi Stouffer  

 

Regrets:   

•  Monica Rae  
• Alaina Buchanan  
• Kayla Maitland  

 

 

Principal's Report  

• Thank you so much for your attention to this, Devon, Kevin and Cathy...This fall we have been reviewing and discussing our student-led conference model. Through this review we are examining attendance and authenticity at all grade levels. We are asking that you fill out this survey with your SCC at your next meeting. Please discuss and reflect as a whole group and answer as thoroughly as possible. SUBMITTED  
• The OurSchool survey results. Handout and discuss. 
• We have been chosen along with 1,100 other schools across Canada for the PISA test of 15-year-olds this year. This is an international test done every four years around the world in math, science, and reading. The focus this year will be on science, but all domains will be tested. Canada is one of 90 countries around the world that participates. The exam takes half a day to complete. 
• Anything we want to adopt from the regional SCC meeting list of ideas?   

 

Staffing Updates:   

• A big welcome to Ms. Van Winkoop, our new grade one teacher while Ms. Nobert is on medical leave  
• Also to Ms. Sarah Griffin who was hired (in Ms. Chapman’s position while Ms. Chapman takes over for Mr. Callfas this semester) 
• Ms. Wotta is the new librarian for the school 
• Alaina has accepted the student counselling job in the two Carlyle schools beginning on April 8. An opening for Arcola School has been posted.  

  

Facilities Updates:   

• We are getting two of the old side basketball hoops in the gym replaced soon 
• I would like to look at starting to upgrade our old SmartBoards – is this something the SCC could support?  
  • Stephanie moved that we start fundraising to replace this old technology  
  • Nicole seconded  
  • All were in favour and motion was passed  

 

Upcoming Dates:    

• February 15-23 is our break this year 
• Friday, February 28 = Gr. 6-12 ski trip to Asessippi on three charter buses 
• Wednesday and Thursday, March 26-27 = Student-led conferences 
• Friday, March 28 = No school; PD day for teachers  

 

CEL Report (Monica/Alaina)  

• N/A  

 

SRC Report (Kayla)  

• Elementary Colour day this Friday  
• HS steal a heart game this Friday as well  

 

Chairperson's Report (Nicole)  

• Members will look at potential grant/business opportunities that might support starting to replace our old SmartBoards in the school. Nicole will draft and letter and members will help to distribute.  
• Seeds for the seed fundraiser will be getting ordered this Friday by Shauna and Nicole  
• Teacher/Staff Appreciation lunch will be brought to the school tomorrow for the staff  

  

Next Meeting(s):  

• March 11 
• April 8  
• May 6