1. Land acknowledgment
2. Principal’s report:
a. May 2, 2024:
i. Jump Rope for Heart – This was a perfect weather day and was met with huge
excitement from students and staff. Thanks to the generous support of the
community, just over $3500 was raised. The day fostered a great sense of
community, camaraderie, physical fitness, and, in Trish’s opinion, was one of the
best days yet at Gerth. Trish extends her thanks to the parent volunteers and
the educators that spearheaded the event: Mrs. Heard, Mrs. Fuller, Mrs. IJ, Mrs.
MacGregor, and Mrs. BA
ii. Great Gulp Challenge – staff and students simultaneously took sips of water
from reusable water bottles to spread awareness about the need to reduce
single use plastics. There was a great build up and excitement surrounding this
event.
b. Junior high jump competition over nutrition break last week. Many students
participated and earned ribbons for their efforts.
c. Kodaly Choir – rehearsal and performance at Centre in the Square on Wednesday May 8 th . Two JW Gerth students have been selected for solos. The students have been
practicing all year.
d. May 9 th – Primary Astronomy in Action in the JWG gym – the school is paying for this
event.
e. Tuesday May 28 th – Welcome to School (formerly Welcome to Kindergarten) will take
place for new kindergarten students and their families.
f. Jewish, Polish, Asian, and Speech & Hearing month are all being recognized by the
WRDSB this month.
g. Lost and Found is currently located at the main entrance of the school in the front hall.
Families should claim lost items by this Friday. After this, items will be donated.
h. Items for Kirstan and Trish to complete:
i. Principal Profile – done in the event that a Principal moves schools. This covers
the characteristics and qualities that council thinks are beneficial to the school.
Trish does not anticipate that she will be at a different school next year.
ii. School Council Survey – discuss council’s initiatives and accomplishments over
the past school year.
i. Nutrition for Learning – Husband and wife have been running this initiative over the past
several years but will be retiring. The school is looking for Nutrition for Learning
volunteers. Stephanie’s Mom may be interested.
j. The school Track and Field day will take place on May 22 nd (weather dependent) and a
dump truck full of sand was delivered to fill the long jump pit.
k. A boundary review was held on Wednesday at Huron Heights. The committee is looking
for community input. Natalie and Kirstan may volunteer, but would like to give the
opportunity to others before they commit. Trish will share information about the impact
of the boundary review as it becomes available.
l. Jackie Barr, kindergarten teacher and Eco Club leader, is interested in acquiring
seedlings for the school planter boxes. Kirstan will follow up.
3. Graduation:
A) Families to be invited to a grade 6 graduation ceremony to see students get diplomas. Grade 6
students are also planning a trip to the park at the end of the year – would council supply pizza
or popsicles? Council is in agreement.
B) Kindergarten graduation – no ceremony has been planned. This doesn’t seem to be celebrated
across the school board. Kirstan proposed buying the Kindie grads cheese string that are made
to look like a diploma or ring pops “class rings.”
4,Book Fair Wrap-Up: Scholastic Dollars – Trish and the Leadership Committee are discussing how
to spend these. Trish asked if they expire do they need to be spent this year? Natalie will look
into this.
5. Yearbook
a) We had a huge amount of entries – approximately 90. Council will narrow this down to 5-10
covers and students will be given the opportunity to vote.
b) In order to ensure that each student only votes once, we will make a Google Form and adjust
the settings so that students must use their WRDSB email address within a specific timeframe.
Trish will ask staff to allot a small amount of class time for this. Kindergarten and Grade 1
students may opt to vote as a class or perhaps we will give them a sheet of paper with the
pictures on it and they circle their choice.
Lindsay will ask teachers to identify students who do not have consent to appear in the book.
For group photos, an emoji will be put over their face.
c) Lindsay will follow up with Pegasus regarding the due date, but anticipates it is the end of May.
d) Many field trips and events are coming up in May. Trish will ask teachers to upload their pictures
to the Google Drive and email Lindsay to let her know when pictures have been added.
6. Parking Lot signs – who puts them out in the morning? A cart was purchased to put the signs on
and wheel them out. The signs tend to blow over, and Kirstan is looking into purchasing weights
to prevent this.
7. Website: Council has a page linked to the JWG website – we want to be open/transparent about
funds raised, what they are being spent on – Trish to review document after Kirstan updates.
8. Other:
a. Year end event – no volunteers and not enough time to plan
b. Council would like to purchase treats such as Freezies for the school as an end of the
year celebration. Trish will ask educators for ideas at tomorrow’s staff meeting.
c. Yearly review for school board needs to be completed.
d. Fun Fair item clean-up – Kirstan to organize a clean-up of all the Fun Fair games and
props that are taking up a lot of space in the school.
9. Next meeting – June 12 th