MTS Meeting Reminder at 6:30 & 8pm on Monday, January 23rd

Monday marks the first School Council and Parent Association meetings of 2012.  Attached (below), you will find the proposed agendas for both meetings.  We have extended the duration of the meetings for this month, as there are some critical issues that require discussion.  Two particular areas are outlined below.

In addition to regular business, during the School Council meeting we will have special guests Trustee Carol Bazinet, Brent Hughes and another representative from the CBE's planning department, as well as our Area Director, Jane Rogerson.  As some of you may know, there were concerns raised last year about sufficient space in the school for all classes for this school year.  We were happy to receive the announcement in June 2011 of the four relocatables currently in the process of installation.  Our guests will be providing an update with respect to those relocatables.  We have also asked for some information regarding the process involved in receiving additional relocatables in future.  As our school population continues to increase, the potential need for additional relocatables exists.  We are hoping to understand what our needs may be for the next school year and what, if anything, we as parents can and should be doing to ensure our children have the appropriate space in which to learn.

In the Parent Association meeting, we will hear updates from the various committees regarding events and activities.   We have also set aside time to have a discussion regarding spending of casino funds.  This discussion began at our last meeting in November, with some spending proposals outlined.  We anticipate the opportunity to discuss the details of the proposals and make some decisions about spending for the remainder of this school year as well as for the 2012-2013 school year.  These discussions and decisions are incredibly important as they affect all students in the school.  Included in MTSPA Agenda is the proposed plan as presented in November.   If you would like to have input, comment on or have a better understanding of the details regarding the proposed plan, we strongly encourage you to attend Monday's meeting.

The School Council meeting begins at 6:30 pm on Monday in the staff room.  All parents are welcome and encouraged to attend.


Links:
MTSC Agenda
MTSPA Agenda and Casino Spending Proposal

--

Sean Tyson

Chair - MTSPA | chair@MTSParents.com

MTSC/PA Meetings Cancelled

This is a reminder that the School Council and Parent Association meetings originally scheduled for tonight have been cancelled. Please mark your calendars for our next meeting, on January 23, 2012. Details and an agenda will be out prior to that date.

On behalf of the MTSPA, we'd like to wish everyone a happy holiday season. See you all in 2012!

Christmas Concert Raffle and Refreshment Volunteers Needed

A message from the MTSPA fundraising committee.

Hello all! The MTS Christmas Concerts are quickly approaching and the Parent Association is looking for volunteers interested in helping out during the events. There are two roles we are looking to fill:

1. selling raffle tickets; or
2. serving drinks/cookies and collecting donations for Toy Mountain at the
refreshment table.

We are looking for 6-8 volunteers for each of the concerts.

Wednesday Dec 14th (Kindergarten Concert):
5:30 - 7:30 - Raffle Table
5:30 - 7:30 - Refreshment Table

Thursday Dec 15th (Grade 1/2 and 3/4 Concert)
5:30 - 8:30 - Raffle Table
5:30 - 8:30 - Refreshment Table

We will stop sales during the performances so if you are volunteering on the night of your child's concert, you would still be able to watch.

Interested parents can e-mail fundraising@mtsparents.com indicating the night and/or shift they would prefer.

Thank you in advance!

Gift Card Pick-Up Reminder

Reminder! For those parents who have ordered gift cards, they will be available to be picked up at the school this Thursday, December 8th between 3-4pm or 6-7pm. Please make arrangements to pick them up during one of those times as we will not be able to send them home with students.

Meeting Recap

Last nights meetings were filled with so much information it is going to be hard to fit it all here in a short recap.  Thank you to Mrs. Youngstrom and Mrs. Addison for discussing their classrooms learning plans.  We were able to watch videos of some Grade 1 students discussing what they think different people in their school do all day. They then interviewed them to find out what they really do.  We learned how in Mrs. Younstrom's class students use literature to apply math concepts - very cool.

School Council is still in need of 1-2 people to fill the Volunteer Coordinator's position.  Most of the work from the begining of the year is done so it is a good time to ease into the position. The Christmas Concert needs 8 volunteers for each night.

In the Parent Council Meeting we had an update from the Fun Lunch Committee - thank you Bronwen for taking on the Chair position.  They discussed having something every month on a consistent day so parents know when to plan for it.  Our Fundraising Committee has been very busy planning some events and initiatives for the school. Some things to watch for include a bottle recycling program where the bottles kids bring to school go directly to supporting the school's green initiative.  Campbell's product labels will help raise funds for new technology.  Feb 9 will be our next family dance.

The Christmas Concert this year will be on 2 nights.  The first night (Dec 14) will be for Kindergarten parents and the next night will be staggered with grade 1-2 and then 3-4.  2 tickets for each family will be issued due to fire code regulations.  Dr. Slater and Mr. Murphy explained how in past years we have come very close to capacity so doing the concert this way will make it possible for us to still have one.

Finally we discussed what we would like to see done with the Casino Funds.  Administration presented their priorities list to Council.  Some of the items included - presentations, technology, new instruments, and bussing.  We motioned to support 3 Left Feet coming in March dependent on the availability of casino funds.

Our next meeting will be on January 23, 2012. Carol Bazinet, our Area 5 Trustee,  has offered to attend to discuss the portables and what we see for the future for MTS.

Meeting Reminder

This is a reminder of our Parent Council and School Council meetings happening on Monday, November 28.  The School Council meeting runs from 6:30-7:30, (print the agenda here). The Parent Council follows at 7:40-8:50 (print the agenda here).


This months meeting will focus mainly on the casino funds and what we as Parents and the School would like to see done with them. Please come out to have a say in where you would like to see the funds spent. 

Thank You to ALL Our Casino Volunteers!

The first McKenzie Towne School Parents Association (MTSPA) Casino event took place on Tuesday and Wednesday last week and was a great success.  We expect that the event will raise over $60,000, which will be spent over the next 2 years, to enhance the educational experience of our children.

A huge thank you to the volunteers who donated their time, their partners who took care of parenting duties on their own, babysitters, our advisors, and everyone else who participated in the event.  It was lots of fun and a great way to get to know other parents within the community.  We also want to thank Laura Rye from Screaming Panda Design for designing our poster, and Staples for the printing service.  Many thanks go out to the following volunteers:

Nelson E                                         Lori-Anne P                                    Rosaleeh H

Rob C                                             Gary C                                            Sean T
Kerri B                                             Amy M                                           Melanie B
Aaron S                                          Joie C                                             Judy V
Tami A                                            James K                                         Joanna A
Laura T                                           Stuart C                                          Stuart G
Shawna D                                       Tania U                                           Linda B
Irene K                                            Pat S                                               Nicole D
Chad F                                           Tiffany V                                          Sydney G
Roswita D                                       Stacey I                                           Dawn C
Michelle SC                                    Launa K                                          Jennifer A
Robert M                                         Heather O

The money from the casino will arrive in February next year but the important job of allocating the funds begins now.  There are some restrictions in how casino funds can be spent, so we will be working over the next few months to determine how best to utilize ours.  We would love to hear from anyone who has a suggestion.  To make a suggestion or be part of the process, either contact the Casino Director by writing to casino@mtsparents.com or come to the next MTSPA meeting being held at the school on Monday, 28^th November.   

Stuart Gannon
Casino Director