Wednesday, April 13, 2016

Minutes from RAPT meeting, April 6

Minutes Subject to Approval at Next RAPT Meeting                                Apr 6, 2016

2015-2016 Council:                             Vanessa Appleton, Co-Chair
                                                Krista Sevdalis, Co-Chair
                                                Kelly Pellegrino, Secretary (not present)
                                                Hanna Kamal, Exec Council Member
                                                Jessica Tinkler, Exec Council Member
                                                Georgia Panagiotopoulos, Exec Council Member
                                                Christine Shin, Treasurer
                                                Amran Abocar, Exec Council Member

Staff Present:                                      Lynn Chadder, Principal
                                                S. Cooper, Support Teacher
                                                Reba Ormos, Teacher
                                                Cailin McIntosh, Teacher
                                                Pela Gardiner, Child Care 

11)    RAPT Welcome
Call to Order at 6:05pm         Location: Rippleton P.S. Staffroom
a)      Welcome to all parents and staff.
b)      Jessica motion to approve Feb 1, 2016 minutes, Krista approved

22)    Principal’s Report – Mrs. Chadder
a)      School News
a.      School assembly on Apr 4th saw many classes perform and thanks to all who worked with the students
b.      Poor April weather may push back track and field tryouts ahead of May area meet but they will happen in time
c.       Earth Week begins April 18th with a kick off assembly and will include walk to school day, community clean up and lots of other great initiatives –check school calendar for specifics
d.      School Wish List – deferred to next RAPT meeting after Apr 15 teachers’ meeting
e.      Staffing – student enrollment in 2016/17 is expected to be 343 and  largely in line with this year and 2/3 of student population will be in JK/SK -3 next year
f.        Projection for the Next School Year- 3 Kindergarten Classes, Primary classes will predominately be single grade classes; Junior grades will be mainly combined grade classes with exception of one single Grade 4 class.
g.      Teaching assignments are an ongoing process and are not finalized until the new school year begins. The classroom organization for 2016/2017 will be included in the June report card and the class lists will be posted outside on the first day of school in September. Rippleton staff will make every effort to place students in the best learning environment for each child to be successful. Homeroom teachers in consultation with receiving teachers, appropriate support staff and school administration devote much discussion time to the generation of classes that strive to best meet the needs of all of our students. Decisions are made following careful consideration of a number of criteria: balance of student abilities, interests and talents; gender balance; class size (consistent with Board and Ministry guidelines); learning style; learning partners and social factors.
Often parents have new and /or important information to share about their child which lends assistance to class placement decisions. Recent medical diagnoses, significant negative peer relationships that exist outside the school's awareness or significant individual/family issues that may impact learning are items of information which are appreciated prior to the placement process. Should you wish to provide input to the class placement process with this information, please communicate in writing to Mrs. Chadder.
h.    TDSB has begun the process of realigning its elementary, middle and high schools in areas of the board that previously had junior high schools. Mrs. Chadder will be attending two local feasibility team meetings with our area planning officer and the schools in the current York Mills Cluster, on April 27 and May 10, to consider future possibilities related to St. Andrew’s and Windfields Junior High Schools. In other areas of the board, schools that were previously JK – Grade 6 who transitioned to a Junior High School are becoming JK – Grade 5 schools and the children move to a middle school model of Grade 6 – 8 then high school Grade 9 – 12. As more information becomes available it will be shared with parents and the community.

33)    Budget /Treasurer Report
a)      No major expenditures since last meeting, still healthily funded
b)      Teachers are encouraged utilize their class artist allowance; several classrooms have artists booked for April and May
c)      School Wish List Spending VOTE– deferred to next RAPT meeting after Apr 15th  teachers’ meeting


44)    RAPT Report
a)      On behalf of all parents, thanks to all staff who ran winter activities and invited people into the classroom such as Scientist in School. A big thank you to the teachers and staff
b)      Cadence – two performances by acapella group was very well-received and everyone had a great time
c)      April 13th is Anti-Bullying PINK Day. On April 14th Non-profit group Concerned Kids puppet troupe will put on several grade appropriate shows for nominal fee of $75
The Topics Concerned Kids will address with students – Sticks and Stones, Feeling Safe at School, Don’t be mean on the playground, You’re Not the boss of me, rescue or report, what’s the problem
d)      Discussion held to donate $300 to enable Concerned Kids to put on shows at other schools. RAPT will specifically request troupe allocate funds to its next three visits to other schools.
e)      Danceathon – thanks to parents who donated gift cards and to the volunteers. Raffle Event was a great success, kids had a blast at the dance and fundraiser generated $4,713. RAPT purchased gift card prizes for highest fundraising students in each division. Ice cream party for Mrs. Di Cesare’s class, her class voted to wait to have it until the weather is warmer.
f)       Danceathon entertainment – discussion held about using same group for next year, due to late arrival this year which created much disruption. RAPT seeking refund and/or compensation for having to rearrange so much 
g)      Fundraising 2016/17 – planning meeting upcoming in spring. Parents are invited to attend and suggest ideas for fundraising. Meeting DATE to be decided.
h)      PROGrant – an informative evening with Beverley Cathcart-Ross. About 40-50 people attended the interactive session, which was reasonably priced. Copy of her book is in Mrs. Chadder’s office, PDF notes were sent to parents via their class rep and posted on the RAPT Bulletin Board.
i)        Loveable Labels – Parents are invited to order handy labels from this website, which will be up all year, with deliveries to your home. The school gets 20% of- all purchases. Website to order from is www.Rippleton.lovablelabels.ca . Samples on RAPT board.
j)        Lunch, afterschool programs – spring session activities have been organized. New this term are yoga classes, in addition to art, animation, cheerleading, and guitar Activities begin the week of April 18th
k)      New committee to be set up for parents who want to get involved in selecting and planning lunch and afterschool programs for 2016/17. Please contact Amran if you want to get involved.
l)        BBQ Update – Initial planning meeting took place Apr 5; all parents are encouraged to get in touch with RAPT and get involved. All entertainment donated by Ecko Jay, food to be donated by Panagiotopoulos family, music donated by Graterol family. There will be a map contest for Gr 3-6s, and the winning artists will design the official BBQ map. Social Phone Booth will return this year given they are tried and tested. Please contact RAPT if you want to volunteer to help organize the BBQ

55)    Quick Bits
m)   Lunch Program – two options will be explored to replace current provider; information will be shared at later date. RAPT needs parents who currently use Lunch Lady to come look at possible options
n)      Sub Lunch- Sub provider unexpectedly closed business. A Burrito company has stepped in to provide students with Burritos for the last 3 “sub” lunch days. Parents need to return green form by Monday April 11th.

66)    Grade 6 Fundraising Report
o)      Movie Night will be on May 5th  for Gr 4-6 and feature Hotel Transylvania 2
p)      Breakout Studios is booked for grad party and yearbook is being put together.
q)      Discussion began around how fundraising should be setup for Graduation in 2017, limited to a certain amount of events/money raised by the whole school body

Next Meeting Monday, May 9, 2016 at 6pm

Contact: RAPTraptrippleton@gmail.com
Blog: raptreport.blogspot.com
Facebook: Rippleton Association of Parents and Teachers

Meeting adjourned at 7:55pm



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