Fundraising Survey

McKenzie Towne School Council Establishment Meeting & MTSPA AGM

On Monday September 14th, the McKenzie Towne School Council was established in a meeting held at the Haultain library. The attendance for the meeting was quite good and we thank everyone who took time out to come for this important meeting. There was a lot of rather formal, but necessary business to attend to in order to establish the school council, specifically, discussions and decisions on Membership, Governance, and the Executive. Future meetings will utilize and build on this foundation.

The executive positions were voted in as follows:

Chair – Sherri M.
Vice Chair – Sean T.
Secretary – Jamie N.
Key Communicator – Tiffany V.
Volunteer Coordinators – Kerrie S. and Jenn H.

It was determined that the executive positions will be held for a period of two years.

Annette Sarginson and Patrick Murphy provided an informative leadership report. Highlights included an update regarding school enrollment and a reminder of upcoming events such as the Terry Fox run happening at Acadia and Haultain. The school is looking for feedback as to interest for an in-line skating program and regular gabuccino times where parents can meet with Annette and Patrick to discuss topics of interest. Patrick talked about the change to Lifetouch Photographs for the upcoming school pictures and a possibility of some fundraising opportunities with this company.

We were also informed of the generous donation from the Haultain Memorial School Parent Association of $5000 for McKenzie Towne students as well as a fieldtrip bus for every class at Haultain. The McKenzie Towne School can provide a fieldtrip bus to the children at Acadia. We’d like to take this opportunity to thank Haultain Memorial School Parent Association for this donation. It is greatly and truly appreciated.

The McKenzie Towne School Parent Association (MTSPA) also held its AGM following the school council meeting. The MTSPA was officially registered and received its certificate of incorporation June 5, 2009, enabling work to occur over the summer. A few areas of the bylaws were reviewed, specifically with respect to the Membership and Executive. It was agreed that the MTSPA executive be per the MTSC (and existing MTSPA bylaws). The additional/unique MTSPA executive members voted in are:

Treasurer – Sherry T.
Fundraising Director – Tina P.
Casino Director – Jenn H.
Playground Chair – Annika C.

Annika C. provided an update regarding the playground. The playground committee has been busy over the summer obtaining site approval, researching grants and generally preparing for the work that needs to be done to start the playground process. There are plans to begin requesting corporate donations and applying for funding grants. The playground is estimated to cost $200,000 and the goal is to build in September 2010.
Sherri M and Sherry T discussed the current SUTP fundraiser (details can be found on our website).

Finally, Sherry T. provided a Treasurers report including some discussion about budget, banking and the wish lists of parents and the school. The budget will be built as revenue sources are identified and come in and expenditure items are prioritized. Items will be brought forward at future monthly meetings.

Future meetings of the school council and the parent association will be held monthly on Monday evenings beginning at 6:30 pm. Meetings will be held in the Haultain library until such time as we can begin to hold them in our own school. Please watch the website calendar for updates regarding meeting dates. For those that were unable to attend this meeting, minutes will be approved at the next meeting and then posted on our website.

Key Communiqué

This bulletin comes from the CBE's Communications Advisor and is to be shared with the school council and parent community.

Welcome Back!

I hope you had a rejuvenating and relaxing summer. As you're aware, the school year is in full swing, so welcome back! I look forward to working with you this year.

If you are no longer taking on the position you held last school year, could you please ensure that either a staff member, or school council member fills out this form and fax it to 403-294-8172 Attn: Katie

System Orientation Session - Update

Every year the CBE organizes a System Orientation Session for Key Communicators and School Council Chairs. I am in the process of securing a new date for the System Orientation Session as there is a conflicting event on October 28th, the date it had originally been scheduled.

I will send out information on the meeting as soon as it is rescheduled.

Area Meetings

If you are a returning Key Communicator or School Council Chair, I would really appreciate your input with regard to Area Meetings. If you could please take a moment to fill out this brief survey it will assist us greatly moving forward.

Report to the Community

We are currently starting to work on our Report to the Community for the 2008/09 school year. If you have not seen last year's report, you can read it here. Your input on this publication is most welcome. Do you find the stories interesting? Are there areas you'd like to see less of, or expanded? What would you like to see in a report from the CBE? We would greatly appreciate your thoughts and feedback on this publication. Please email me.

Key Communicator Steering Committee

There are some vacancies for the Key Communicator Steering Committee this year. If you are interested, please email me for details.

Public Board Meetings:

All parents are welcome to attend public board meetings, held every second Tuesday from 5:00 - 8:00 p.m. at the CBE Education Centre (515 Macleod Trail SE). The next meeting is Tuesday, October 5th. If you've never been to a Board meeting, you may find it very interesting to see how decisions are made about your child's education. Agendas and minutes and all reports are available online here. Check it out!

YMCA Peace Medals:

Do you know someone making a difference?
Since 1991, YMCA Calgary has been acknowledging local peacemakers who inspire and impact others. The 2009 YMCA Calgary Peace Medals will honour young people & adults from all walks of life who commit time to advancing peace in their own community or abroad.

Students, teachers, parents, schools, and community groups have been honoured with Peace Medal nominations. Click on the links to see nominees from the last two years or to view all past Peace Medal recipients.
We would love to receive nominations from CBE staff, students, and parents again this year. If you know an individual or group deserving recognition, visit www.ymcacalgary.org to learn more, submit an online nomination form, or download a copy to print or email. Nomination deadline is October 1.

Please forward this email to others in your school or community. For more information, contact:
Dan Taubensee
International Manager, YMCA Calgary
403-531-1655
dtaubens@calgary.ymca.ca

Resources:

CAPSC:

CAPSC is Calgary’s city-wide, public school parent association. CAPSC’s primary goal is to keep parents up to date and involved in their children’s education, and to help make individual school’s Parent Councils as effective as possible. CAPSC provides parents with resources, learning and sharing opportunities. They represent parent concerns to the CBE and all levels of government. For more information or to subscribe to their newsletter, visit www.capsc.ca.

School Council Development

School Council Development (SCD) provides workshops and resource materials to assist school councils.

School Council Development provides the following services:

• Workshops for school councils anywhere in Alberta
• Toll Free School Council Consultation Line - 1-800-661-3470
• Instructor training to deliver workshops to school councils
• Resource manual and materials for school council

Alberta Education

School Council Resource Manual

Student Union Ticket Pak Fundraiser

The McKenzie Towne School Parent Association is having its first fundraiser with sales of Student Union Ticket Pak coupon books. This is an important fundraiser for the MTSPA as we look towards providing such things as a playground, field trips and other priorities. If you were not able to purchase yours at your parent/teacher conference or are interested in ordering these valuable books, click here to download an order form. Simply complete the form and send it along with your payment to school with your child. Orders will be filled within 4-5 days.

Volunteers Needed

This is a call out for volunteers to assist with selling Student Union Ticket Paks at Parent/Teacher conferences this week. This is an important fundraiser for the McKenzie Towne School Parent Association. We will have tables set up at both Acadia and Haultain during P/T conferences to sell
the ticket paks and need volunteers to work the tables. Any and all help would be appreciated, so even if the time you can give to do this is short, please put your name forward by emailing volunteer@mtsparents.com.

Once we have a list and schedule of volunteers in place, we will send an email out on Wednesday confirming times and any other details.

Parent/Teacher Conferences

Parent/Teacher conferences are coming up this week on Thursday and Friday. Classes will be dismissed at 12:15 on Thursday to accommodate this. Kindergarten students do not have class on Sept 17th or 18th. You can book your appointment with your child's teacher here.

The Calgary Board of Education puts out a publication about Parent/Teacher conferences which gives some ideas as to what questions parents may want to ask. You can link to this publication here.

Student/Parent Handbook

The 2009-2010 Student/Parent Handbook can be viewed on-line here. The handbook contains important information pertaining to McKenzie Towne School, such as busing and lunch information, staff names, school expectations, agendas and homework, etc.. Parents are encouraged to review the handbook with their children.

As we go through this year of transition, communication between parents, students and school staff will be more important than ever. Please read the notices and other forms of communication that go home with your children or are found on the school or MTSPA website and feel free to ask questions or voice your opinion at school council and parent association meetings.

Upcoming School Council Establishment Meeting and MTSPA AGM

The McKenzie Towne School Council establishment meeting will be held on Monday September 14th, beginning at 6:30 pm in the Haultain Memorial School library. This meeting will form the school council and its members and we encourage all parents of McKenzie Towne School students to attend. The McKenzie Towne School Parent Association will hold its annual general meeting immediately following the school council meeting.

Our first fundraiser, Student Union Ticket Paks will also begin at the meeting on September 14th. Ticket Paks for Calgary, Red Deer and Edmonton will be available for sale at a cost of $20 per book. $10 from the sale of each book goes directly to the McKenzie Towne School Parent Association for its fundraising goals.

Please support your children, school and community by attending these important meetings on September 14th!