Minutes April 19, 2021

LPCI School Council Zoom Meeting

School Council Attendees:

Liz Hanson  — Chair
Kristen Glenister — Vice Chair
Anne Marie Armstrong — FundraisingJen Tse — Secretary
John Hiddema — Co-Treasurer, Special Treasury Subcommittee Chair
Marina Chernyak — Communications Co-Chair, Parent Engagement Subcommittee Chair
Lori Rosenberg — Marketing Chair (New role)
Leigh Felesky   – Communications Co-Chair
Karen Barasch — Wellness Committee Chair
Erika Boone — Ward 8 Rep
Robin Conliffe — Community Member
Andrea Fry – –Safe & Caring School Rep
Lucy McSweeney  — French as a second language Rep
Principal Flahat
John W, Alyssa D – Student Liaison Reps

** 47 People In total joined the virtual meeting! Thank you!

Dates to Remember:

  • Wednesday, April 21 & Thursday, April 22 – Student Success Days
  • Friday, April 23 – Start of Quad 4
  • Friday, May 14 – Student Council Election Result Announcement
  • Monday, May 31 – Next Ward 8 Meeting hosted by Shelly Laskin

Student Liaison Reps – John Williams, Alyssa D’Souza

  • currently in planning stage for Quad 4 events
  • first big event (currently in the “ideas” phase) is Games Night – 3 segments – looking for opportunities for students to interact, especially Grade 9 students.
    • dedicate a week in May for each grade to have separate game night
    • LP trivia via Kahoot – link to be provided
    • Interactive trivia event in breakout rooms online to collaborate together
    • The date will be advertised in the Eye once it is set.
    • Partnering with Buddies to encourage Grade 9s to participate
  • Student Council – Campaigning May 3 – May 13; election via Google Form – 20 candidates currently; election results will be shared on May 14
  • Grads:
    • Students are planning for a 2-week event leading up to the virtual grad ceremony; coordinated with Lawrence Leaders (council with all student leaders at LP) planning one or more activities
    • Virtual Ceremony at end of the 2 weeks for grads
    • Grad Hoodies on sale (white, navy and grey with LP Crest on front and customization for name on sleeve, and “Grads” printed on back) $50.00 available via School Cash Online until April 23
  • Yearbooks in the works – $4K being raised by parent contributions to go towards yearbook costs (via School Council)

Last Meeting Minutes:

Lori Rosenberg – Motioned to approve; John Hiddema – Seconded approval

Council Portfolio Updates:

  • Kristen Glenister, Vice Chair – no update
  • Anne Marie Armstrong, Fundraising
    • Yearbooks are in progress- $4K being raised by parent contributions to go towards yearbook costs (via School Council). School Cash online to be sent out soon.
    • Normally yearbooks cost $25 per book. LPCI has made the decision to purchase a yearbook for every student for the 2020/21 school year. The school council would like to raise funds from parents to contribute towards the yearbook cost. Thank you to LPCI for this contribution.
  • John Hiddema, Co-Treasurer
    • Not much to report, regular expenses coming through incl. annual email service payment; currently $4,900.59 available in funds
  • Marina Chernyak, Communications, Parent Engagement
    • website update done with Council photo from start of 2020-21 year, new parent engagement chair filled by Marina
  • Lori Roserberg, Marketing
    • no update; owing Aiman a letter to go to teachers/staff to elicit more student bios & photos for the yearbook (to be done this week)
  • Karen Barasch, Wellness – no update due to change in Wellness Committee meeting date
  • Erika Boone, Ward 8 Rep
    • no updates for Ward 8; Shelly Laskin’s next Ward Forum is Monday, May 31 (School Building in Toronto due to increased enrollment and lack of space)
  • Robin Conliffe, Community – nothing to report
  • Andrea Fry, Safe & Caring School – no update
  • Lucy McSweeny, FSLAC – nothing to report

Chair Update – Liz Hanson

Principal Report – Aiman Flahat

  • Teachers are missing seeing students at school; lots of thanks from parents to teachers for the incredible job they had been doing prior to the April Break
  • Covid safety protocols – kids are following the rules and doing their part, everyone trying to stay safe, staff volunteers were at the doors every morning to ensure hands were sanitized, students were supervised at entryways
  • Quad 4 starts this Friday! Students are coping, managing and moving forward and being successful on the whole as far as academic achievements
  • Wed (4/21)/Thurs(4/22) designated as Student Success Days (April 21, 22) – everyone required to check in with their teacher
  • Graduation/Commencement is usually managed by staff committee (teachers, guidance, admin, VPs) – awards, decorations, organization, etc.
    • This year, Grade 12s will be working on Grad planning, everyone will have a Grad shirt, including bursary for those unable to purchase $50 shirt, all students would wear the Grad shirt on designated day to create slide show to be aired during virtual Grad assembly
    • Grad caps and gowns have been purchased for every student
    • Activities to span 2-week period to create multiple days of celebrations for these students with a focus on equity to ensure all families are included and connected to these events
  • 2019/20 Grad Diploma & Yearbook Pickup – More than half 2019-20 grads have collected their diplomas and yearbooks; remainder will be arranged on another forthcoming date. Students were greeted by LPCI staff and there was a balloon photo op set up.
  • Student awards for 2019-20 school year were presented in a virtual celebration and was a good trial for commencement.
    • The Awards Event was posted on LPTV (YouTube) and was mentioned in The Eye a few weeks ago – all new videos and events are now being posted on LPTV.

Parent Question: For a student who is learning virtually and has received an award from the 2019-20 school year, how do they collect their award?

Principal Flahat: They should have received a phone call from office staff, if not, contact VP Ms. Johnson-Lee for an update.

Parent Question: Is there going to be an online commencement for last year’s grads

Principal Flahat: Yes, that is the plan, there will be a commencement for 2019-20 Graduates.

  • Yearbook – still a lot of photos missing from current students with deadlines coming up – encourage your students to send in their photos so we have them in the yearbook despite the lack of clubs, sports, etc. this year
  • Wellness Committee update from Principal Flahat
    • Student Survey completed by roughly 300 students – regarding stress levels, areas of stress (home / school / academics, etc.)
    • Survey results – 140 of the participants were Grade 9 students, very few Grade 12 students completed the survey
    • LP making every effort to share resources and events with students via Wellness Committee
    • a lot of stress related to lack of engagement under pandemic circumstances
    • The school recognizes that there is a sense of identity attached to activities that are not currently available (clubs, activities, sports, drama, dance, music, plays, etc.) and this is impacting wellness of our students; important to ask students how they are doing, how they are feeling

School Council Wellness Chair Karen B. Suggestion: Suggestion to ask if Sports Coaches could reach out to connect with last year’s team members for an opportunity to reconnect with their identity as an athlete with existing relationships outside of their immediate school cohort

Principal Flahat: He will take that suggestion back to the large LPAC team.

Parent Question: Any chance for outdoor teaching on school grounds or a park, even once a week while kids need to stay home?

Principal Flahat: No, we are under a stay-at-home order and are not permitted to gather outdoors at this time. All directives with respect to teaching come from our MOH and TDSB Board.

Parent Question: Is there any update from the Board on their tentative plans for the time tabling this coming fall, and the possibility to have a semester format?

Principal Flahat: Right now, no hard decisions have been made. Appears we will go into Quadmester format in the fall, moving the semester system later in the year; will not be a full 8-subject model at the start of the year.

  • LP Field Use
    • There has been a lot of use of the LP field over the April break – people should be staying home and being safe; there are a lot of people on the field daily when school is not in session; the field is not a dog park and there is a by-law in place stating no dogs are permitted (not only that, dog dirt is also often left on the field).
    • Principal Flahat is getting a lot of pressure from community members, condo residents via email that he needs to address about people gathering on the field, kids playing sports as groups on the field without masks or social distancing, and dog owners gathering during a time when we are not to be gathering outdoors.
    • Council Secretary suggested Bylaw is the only way to keep dog owners off of the field, although Principal Flahat has ordered several new large “no dogs” signs to be installed soon.

Motion to adjourn: Jen Tse

Seconded: John Hiddema 8:30pm