November 2015 Minutes

Bowcroft School Council and BPAC Meeting

November 2 2015, 7:00pm

Location: Library

Executive: 
Chairperson - Lia Haus
Co-Chairperson - Tara Neish
Secretary - Teryn Aurini
Treasurer - Tamara Ross
Fundraising Coordinator - 
Casino Coordinator - Barb Rocca
Volunteer Coordinator - Trish Braaten
Key Communicator - Fran Lochbihler

Attendees: Barb, Becky, Chris, Fran, George, Lia, Sonja, Tamara, Tara, Teryn, Trish, Wayne, Matt
Total Attendees: 13

Call to order:  7:11

October Minutes approved by: Trish, Barb seconds

Administration - Matt 
• Barb is back! We’re so happy to get our admin team back together and to get back on track in the office!
• One of our ed assistants (Helen) has resigned from the school and has moved to Invermere. 
• We will be looking to hire a replacement (1 to replace Helen and another .5).
• Our We Scare Hunger food drive was the most successful we’ve ever had! Some of our students went to We Day in accordance with this. Rae Ann got to go as a volunteer, it was an exciting and inspiring day!
• The art room has been cleared out and painted and will be converted to an aboriginal pre-start program (pre-kindergarten). This ties into one of the initiatives the CBE is currently undertaking is to help increase the rate of graduation for first nations students (currently at 12%). 
• Upon completion of the pre-start program these students will join our school community in kindergarten.
• The CBE has given us money towards a teacher, as well as to upgrade the wireless infrastructure and provide coaches for first nation students in high school. 
• We received .6 of a teacher, some schools got more but could not accommodate an increase in staff and requested that they give that bit to another school. We are now getting a .8 teacher (which equates to a Monday-Thursday staffing position). We are going to use this to focus on literacy, and looking at bringing in a teacher to help throughout the school in smaller group and individual settings. 
• We are expecting this teacher to arrive sometime between November 16 and December 1. 
• Tanya in kindergarten has written a proposal for Spark Bikes. A local donor has given us the money for 6 bikes ($4500)!
• She also helped Erna with the Indigo Adopt-a-School program which brought in over 200 new books.

Volunteer Coordinator - Trish 
•  Book fair went really well, we exceeded our goal of $3000 and sold $3848.46 worth of books!
• We got $2531.29 in rewards!
• Trish would like to have another book fair, the week before spring break to coincide with Parent-Teacher conferences. She will contact scholastic tomorrow morning.
• Trish went to the Kids Up Front orientation, it was a great! The big take aways were that they offer three programs; people who can’t use tickets (the most popular), kids count (box seats for Hockey games etc - could we tie this into Hockey Heroes?), and the pay it forward project (teachers nominate students to receive an award, this could tie into ROARS and citizenship). 
• Another thing Trish learned is that the more contacts we have for our organization, the better. Trish is looking for volunteers to assist with the program. The only thing about pickup is that there is a lot of construction right now at the Kids Up Front office and no parking spot. Tamara can help with pick up.

Meeting Closed:  8:03pm

BPAC Meeting

November 2 2015, 8:00pm

Location: Library

Executive: 
Chairperson - Lia Haus
Co-Chairperson - Tara Neish
Secretary - Teryn Aurini
Treasurer - Tamara Ross
Fundraising Coordinator -   
Casino Coordinator - Barb Rocca
Volunteer Coordinator - Trish Braaten
Key Communicator - Fran Lochbihler

Attendees: Barb, Becky, Chris, Fran, George, Lia, Sonja, Tamara, Tara, Teryn, Trish, Wayne, Matt
Total Attendees: 13

Meeting opened: 8:04pm

Treasurer - Tamara 
• We have $95,000 in our accounts.
• We have a few opportunities to go to AGLC training sessions coming up.

AGEC Update - Sonja 
• Thank you to all the volunteers who helped during our Casino!
• AGEC has written a cheque for 16803.95 to BPAC for AGLC approved funds.
• We will be holding a German Book Fair during the bilingual Christmas Concert on Tuesday, December 15th, from 6:00-8:30pm.
• Wednesday November 11th will be the St.Martin’s parade at Edworthy Park at 5:30pm. Bring your lanterns and dress for the weather!
• The European Film Festival will be held from November 12th-15th. AGEC is showing a German movie on the 15th.

Casino Coordinator - Barb  
• Barb has 7 shifts that still need to be filled. Please let her know if you or someone you know can help. You do not need to have your security clearance to volunteer at the casino.
• Can we post the available shifts online? 
• Barb will be including this in the newsletter.

Parent Liaison - Naomi (not in attendance) 
• Naomi would like to act as a bridge for the two parents and to be a contact for parents questions or concerns. She can be reached at: bpacparentliaison@gmail.com

New Business 
• Lia motions that our Christmas fundraiser be Poinsettias, Trish seconds, all in favour motion passed. All the orders will be taken online, with the delivery date being December 9th.
• We also have a beautiful Quilt by Didi to raffle off during the Christmas concerts.
• Lia motions that we sell coffee and cookies in the cafeteria during the concerts, Tara seconds, all in favour motion passed.

Old Business 
• Trish amends the motion to approve the $8965 for the Trickster residency, Barb seconds, all in favour motion passed.

Vote on Funding
• George motions that we approve the 2015/16 wish list to a total of $43,378, including: $4000 for the German Showcase, $1700 for Math resources, $1000 for art supplies, $3600 for Field Trips ($300/class), $3000 for the Library, $1650 for IXL Math Program, $850 for RAZ Kids, $2400 for Teachers Discretionary ($200/teacher), $400 for Principal’s Discretionary, $1000 for Music Program Supports, $1000 for Physical Education Equipment, $8965 for the Trickster Arts Residency, $3000 for in-school Music Performances, $5313 for the Alien In-Line Physical Education Residency and $6000 for one Light Ray Projector, Wayne seconds, all in favour, motion passed.

Meeting Closed at: 8:20pm

October 2015 Minutes

Bowcroft School Council and BPAC Meeting

October 5 2015, 7:00pm

Location: Library

Executive: 
Chairperson - Tara Neish
Co-Chairperson - Shian Hunt
Treasurer - Susanne Morris
Fundraising Coordinator - Barb Rocca
Casino Coordinator - Barb Rocca
Volunteer Coordinator - Trish Braaten
Key Communicator - Janis Giroux
Secretary - Teryn Aurini

Attendees: Chris, Fran, George, Lia, Shian, Sonja, Tara, Teryn, Trish, Vicki, Tamara, Naomi, Wayne, Simone, Matt, Cheryl
Total Attendees: 16

Call to oder: 7:05

Minutes approved by: Trish, Fran seconds

Administration - Matt & Cheryl 

• Good evening and happy October!
• Our BBQ was a huge success, but we went over budget by $25 - we spent about $650. We couldn't purchase the sun chips and went for carrot sticks instead! Theincrease in the cost of food last year and this years was astounding. 
• It was a beautiful day and allowed the parents and teachers to connect with each 
• We finished our Terry Fox Run, the kids ran over 3000 km! This tied into our running and reading program which is at capacity. We have 50 participants and 14 on the wait list 
• Hockey Heroes starts tomorrow, we have had 18 kids signed up for it, the kids are tracked through the program right through High School. 
• SLA’s are on track - we have almost finished the two digital components (reading and numeracy) and next week we will start the Grade 3s on the writing tasks - where they write a story. The next will be another math test where they get to show their process.
• Over the next two weeks we are finalizing our staffing and school budget. We will be adjusting or ed assistants time.
• Hoja (an a cappella group) will be performing on October 14th at 10:30 am. Tammi has booked two other presentations for the year.
• There will be no school Monday October 12th or Friday October 30th
• Since our previous meeting in regards to the math resources they have been ordered and have arrived, we are still waiting to hear back on the shirts, Matt will contact his supplier tomorrow.
• The Gym equipment has also arrived.
• The Wish List: we talked about it with the staff on Friday, we had a tiny url (using google forms) 
• We wanted to get everyones input in regards to what is the most 
• 66.7% would like to see the learning commons: a flexible classroom space - where the bookshelves can move around, a bright space, the carpets would be removed.
• As a group we would need to brainstorm - we would like to get a committee together to address this.
• which we could convene at the end of this meeting, and then Matt and Cheryl could walk away with what those interested parties feel
• Classroom monies and field trips are at 100% support from the staff
• We would like to send the same url to you to have your feedback. Would you like that to be just sent to school council or the whole community? One challenge would be putting things into context.
• Is it simple to get the feedback? 
• It comes back in different formats, but to leave it open for a week would be difficult
• Could we add some clarity by categorizing? This is one way we can make it easier to engage people. 
• Shout outs! First to Fran for the amazing job she’s done with the BPAC website!!
• Erna - for the tremendous amount of work she put into the Terry Fox Run.
• Tammy Bonham for bringing in Spark bikes - self-regulation, silent bicycles that are available for students.

Volunteer Coordinator - Trish

• We have filled all the morning shifts for Book fair but we still need help in the afternoons (Oct 19th - 23rd) from 12-4. If you are available and have your volunteer clearance please contact her at: trish.braaten@gmail.com
• Kids Up front has been very successful, Trish has an orientation with them next week. She has a small list, but would like to expand that. We would like hard copies of a sign up letter to go home. 

Meeting Closed: 7:30

BPAC Meeting

October 5 2015, 8:00pm

Location: Library

Executive: 
Chairperson - Tara Neish
Co-Chairperson - Shian Hunt
Treasurer - Susanne Morris
Fundraising Coordinator - Barb Rocca
Casino Coordinator - Barb Rocca
Volunteer Coordinator - Trish Braaten
Key Communicator - Janis Giroux
Secretary - Teryn Aurini

Attendees: Chris, Fran, George, Lia, Shian, Sonja, Tara, Teryn, Trish, Vicki, Tamara, Naomi, Wayne, Simone, Matt, Cheryl
Total Attendees: 16

Meeting opened: 7:35 

Treasurer - Susanne 

• Not in attendance

Fundraising Coordinator - Barb 

• Entertainment Fundraiser is over! Lia put in over 30 hours, and we will need more help next year. We still have 20 books outstanding, we made over $3000 that goes straight into our general account, meaning we do not have the same spending restrictions we do with our casino funds. 

Casino Coordinator - Barb 

• Casino is going well, we have a few spaces left. It’s really fun and the food is excellent. If you know anyone who can come out please let us know. You don't need your security clearance and we welcome all volunteers.

New Business 

• No new Business

Old Business 

• Last year we approved some funds for 2015/16,
• We were unsuccessful in our Grant application for Trixster (the cost is approximately $13,000)
• We found some money left over in some areas from the 2014/15 wish list, we would like to move those funds to the trickster.
• We could put in some money from our fun lunches (about $600).

Secretary  - Teryn

• Fran will communicate with the bottle depot in Montgomery and sign us up as a donee

AGEC Update - Sonja 

• Our casino is at the end of the month, October 28th and 29th - we need more help! Please let us know if you are available, even as a backup by emailing: agec.president@gmail.com . AGEC donates a huge amount of money to Bowcroft in support of the German program, and the Casino is their main fundraiser.
• We will have a cheque for $16803.95 for BPAC very soon!

Vote on Funding 

• Chris motions that we fund the Trixster residency with the remaining money from Classroom and Field trips - from $2965, as well as the $6000 from the Trixters funds earmarked in March to a total of $8965 Lia seconds, all in favour, Chris tables the motion 

Meeting Closed at: 8:12pm

Chair: Teryn nominates Lia for Chair
Co-chair: Trish nominates Tara for Co-chair
Secretary: Fran nominates Teryn for Secretary
Treasurer: Fran nominates Tamara for Treasurer
Key Communicator: Trish nominates Fran for Key Communicator
Fundraising Coordinator: currently vacant
Parent Liaison: Lia nominates Naomi for Parent Liaison

No position is contested so all positions are acclaimed!

September 2015 Minutes

Bowcroft School Council and BPAC Meeting 

September 14 2015, 7:00pm 

Location: Lunch Room 

Executive: 

Chairperson - Tara Neish 

Co-Chairperson - Shian Hunt 

Secretary - Teryn Aurini 

Treasurer - Susanne Morris 

Fundraising Coordinator - Barb Rocca 

Casino Coordinator - Barb Rocca 

Volunteer Coordinator - Trish Braaten 

Key Communicator - Janis Giroux 

Kids Up Front Rep - Karen Larrivee 

Attendees: Barb Chris Fran Lia Shian Sonja Susanne Tara Teryn Trish Vicki Becky Matt Cheryl Tammy Fran George Wayne

Total Attendees: 18

Call to order: 7:03pm  

Minutes approved by: Trish, Lia seconds. 

Teacher Representative Tammi, Rooms 3 & 21 

• Tammi has asked BPAC for the following 

• A new snare drum stand and drum sticks 

• New mallets for the xylophones 

• $300 for the repair of instruments 

• $2700 for in-school performances ($900X3) 

• $150 for the winter concert 

Administration Matt & Cheryl 

• Welcome back everyone! It’s great to see so many people here for our first meeting. 

• Tammi Neufeld is here. We will have a different teacher attend the school council meeting each month to keep us appraised about what is happening in the classroom. 

• The first thing we will talk about is bussing: They will be adding many new stops and routes. Brenda Wilson spoke to us and one of the things they need is for people who intend to use the bus to register for the bus by September 24th. 

• All alternative programs were significantly impacted by this. We did lose some  1 children because of those congregated stops. 

• Wayne Proposes that BPAC appoint a sub committee to address the transpiration issue from a Bowcroft perspective. He will be in contact with George and get back to us at January’s meeting. 

• We have twelve teachers with 228 students; 111 in German, 117 in regular program 

• We are getting new paint throughout the school. The painting should be done by mid October. Everything but the inside of the classrooms is getting done. The children will be helping design 

• Our welcome back BBQ is September 24th from 5-7pm

• Request for funding for food: George works for Community Natural Foods - Matt will submit a request to them! 

• Rae-Ann our librarian is desperate for volunteers, please let her know if you can come in! 

• Sonja would love to come back and help with the german cataloguing again. 

• The Grade 3 formative assessments will be happening soon. They will be short components over time. We will be taking a few of them at a time to do these. There is no time limit, everyone will get ample time and support to do this. 

• We have lots of after school activities occurring in our school. City of Calgary is running Boy sports and Girl power. 

• On Wednesdays we have Start to Finish for grades 1-6. It will be every Wednesday starting October 7th (3:15-5:15). This is heavily supported by volunteers. They run and then are read to and get a journal. 

• We will also have Hockey Heroes supported by the Calgary Flames. They give each kid new hockey equipment and is stored at the arena. The kids get to meet real coaches and are bussed to and from. Children who were in it last year are able to continue this year. 

• For our next meeting we request $625 for the BBQ (buns, hotdogs and veggie dogs, sun chips and a juice box). 

• Raz-Kids request $850 

• Martina Urmetzer is asking for maximizing math, its in english and german $1740 

• This is on top of iXL 

Meeting Closed: 7:55 

BPAC Meeting September 14 2015, 8:00pm 

Location: Lunch Room 

Executive: 

Chairperson - Tara Neish 

Co-Chairperson - Shian Hunt 

Secretary - Teryn Aurini 

Treasurer - Susanne Morris 

Fundraising Coordinator - Barb Rocca 

Casino Coordinator - Barb Rocca 

Volunteer Coordinator - Trish Braaten 

Key Communicator - Janis Giroux 

Kids Up Front Rep - Karen Larrivee 

Attendees: Barb Chris Fran Lia Shian Sonja Susanne Tara Teryn Trish Vicki Becky Matt Cheryl Tammy Fran George Wayne

Total Attendees: 18

Meeting opened: 7:56 

Treasurer Susanne 

• We have $50,000 for this school year, we are asking for a formal budget request for 2015/16 at our next meeting. 

• We need to approve the following expenses: $570 on the Teacher appreciation lunch, $660 for liability insurance, $1197 for the Albertaner advertisement and $25 for an appreciation gift for our outgoing key communicator. 

• After this we have about $4500 for AGEC funds 

• Sonja is still trying to find out what the agreement between AGEC and BPAC is. 

• $2800-from 2013/14 and before….Advertisement is one thing that we have always been approved for. There should not be a problem if the money was spent on this. 

• For all future AGEC funding applications we would like to have requests come in for upcoming expenses. 

• Our next AGEC meeting is next week. 

• This will be Susanne’s last meeting as Treasurer 

Casino Coordinator Barb 

• Casino is motoring along. Tara has finished the application form. Our Casino is December 9th and 10th, there are 4 shifts each day (early morning, midday, evening, and late night). If you do two shifts you have to do the same position. Our key positions need to be filled first - General Manager, Banker, Cashier, Chip Runner, 

• Barb will begin by contacting volunteers from last time. 

New Business 

• A wish list for 2015/16 funds will be submitted at our October meeting. 

• Bowcroft Bobcats merchandise: we have designed a new shirt with Emily Feist. 

• We will be putting an order in with them in October 

• Hats and things can happen as well, can Trish come in this week and see what we have! 

• Kids Up Front: we are a small school and have too few people to do this. 

• What about having a volunteer who coordinates this? Trish could coordinate, Shian would be willing to go pick them. 

• Can we send out a letter asking for emails? Yes as long as it is clear that it is from BPAC and not the CBE 

Vote on Funding 

• Susanne motions that we approve $570 on the Teacher appreciation lunch, $660 for liability insurance, $1197 Albertaner advertisement, and $25 for an appreciation gift for our outgoing key communicator, Tara seconds, all in favour, motion passed. 

• Trish motions that BPAC provide $625 for the BBQ, on the condition that a request for funding is sent to Community Natural Foods 

• Tara motions that we approve $850 for Raz-Kids, Shian seconds, all in favour motion passed. 

• Susanne motions that we approve Maximizing math for $1740, Tara seconds, all in favour motion passed. 

Meeting adjourned at: 8:31pm

June 2015 Minutes

Bowcroft School Council and BPAC Meeting 

June 1 2015, 7:00pm 

Location: Library 

Executive: 

Chairperson - Tara Neish 

Co-Chairperson - Shian Hunt 

Secretary - Teryn Aurini 

Treasurer - Susanne Morris 

Fundraising Coordinator - Barb Rocca 

Casino Coordinator - Barb Rocca 

Volunteer Coordinator - Trish Braaten 

Key Communicator - Janis Giroux 

Kids Up Front Rep - Karen Larrivee 

Attendees: Cheryl, Chris, Heike, Janis, Lia, Matt, Petra, Shian, Tara, Teryn, Vicki 

Total Attendees: 11

Call to order: 7:03  

Minutes approved by: Janis, Tara seconds. 

Administration: Matt & Cheryl

• It’s June, and the election brought a big change. The government has announced that it will put 1.03 million back into education. The money won't be coming until September, but the board will be looking to hire teachers! 

• In regards to what we’re doing with our staffing - we have 12 teachers, we might get one more in September, we have accounted for people going out of the school but not counting on any new students just yet. We’ll look at it again in September and (hopefully) add that 13th teacher right away! It wont change much because we now have Cheryl and Tammy working in the classroom. We do have 1 German bilingual and a .5 kindergarten position that we need to fill. 

• Our hours are tentative but are firming up as we go, some of the dates have not been confirmed (trickster, inline skating). Labour day is September 7th, picture day September 11th. The hours will change slightly, we finish at 3:15 not 3:25. Fees and transportation information have gone home today. One of the pieces is congregated stops for the kids, busing is always a challenge. We are looking for money for June 26th Sports Day, events starting about nine, lunch arriving at 10:50? That’s a bit early, and the kids wont want to sit down and eat - we could do snacks instead? Great Idea - Shian can get freezies :-) for about 300 

• In the office we’ve been working really hard on our budget. We had bills being double paid, things being incorrectly coded. We are up about $4000, we have $15,000 that we are able to spend on needed things in the school. Thank you for the $6000 for the kindergarten room, we’d like to purchase one smart board with that for room 15, and as a school we’ll purchase a portable one for room 16 in the morning and the other classrooms for the afternoon, we will also buy another one for the computer hallway (room 1). 

• The portable ones can move up and down to adjust to the kids height. 

• The kindergarten wish list did go out to parents but we’ve had no response, so we are resubmitting the request for funding. 

• We have had some parents come in and room 19 is starting to get organized as well as the art room! 

• Also, the inside of the hallways will be painted. We will lose the wonderful artwork but not before they will be heavily photographed and documented. We will work with the kids to come up with some ideas for the new design. 

• Our outside renovations have been put on hold. 

• We would like to book alien inline for next year, it costs about $4500. 

• Our welcome to kindergarten evening had about 100 people attend, we served a lasagna dinner for $160, it was a great night! 

Key Communicator: Janis 

• CAPSC is having a volunteer appreciation award at our next meeting on the 17th. This is Janis’s and Heike’s last meeting :-( Janis has been at Bowcroft for 11 years! 

• Thank you both for all your hard work and dedication over the years - we will miss you!!! 

Meeting Closed: 7:30 

BPAC Meeting 

June 1 2015, 8:00pm 

Location: Library 

Executive: 

Chairperson - Tara Neish 

Co-Chairperson - Shian Hunt 

Secretary - Teryn Aurini 

Treasurer - Susanne Morris 

Fundraising Coordinator - Barb Rocca 

Casino Coordinator - Barb Rocca 

Volunteer Coordinator - Trish Braaten 

Key Communicator - Janis Giroux 

Kids Up Front Rep - Karen Larrivee

Attendees: Cheryl, Chris, Heike, Janis, Lia, Matt, Petra, Shian, Tara, Teryn, Vicki 

Total Attendees: 11 

Meeting opened: 7:30 

Casino Coordinator: Barb 

• We have our next casino on December 9th and 10th, we will be looking for volunteers for that. 

Old Business 

• Teacher’s lunch, Vicki heard from Alex at salt & pepper - 19/person (30 people) 

• Lia heard from the rustic sourdough, meat and cheese platters, baking free delivery under $500 with sandwich spreads 

• Big T’s is also an option 

• We have a staff member doing a teacher trade, moving to a different school on the 29th. Can we do the lunch on Tuesday the 30th? We have one ed assistant leaving (maybe - funding), one teacher, our temporary teacher…maybe 3 all together. 

New Business 

• For next year we will have positions vacant, our treasurer Susanne would like to step down now and then mentor the next treasurer while she still has a student attending Bowcroft. Janis will no longer be key communicator as her student moves to junior high in the fall. 

• Vote on Funding Snack for Sports day: Tara motions that BPAC purchase snacks for sports day, up to $300, Janis seconds, all in favour, motion passed 

• Vicki motions that we approve the $4500 from next years budget for the inline skating residency, Shian seconds, all in favour, motion passed. 

Meeting adjourned at: 7:45