Tuesday, September 10th, 2002

Lady Evelyn Alternative

School Council

Welcome Back!

On behalf of the School Council, we would like to welcome back our returning families to Lady Evelyn and, especially, welcome our new families to the school. We hope everyone had a fun and relaxing summer break.

You will be receiving lots of information from the school, teachers and the council in the first few weeks of school; hopefully this will not be overwhelming. The council plays many roles in the life of the school, and we thought it might be useful to introduce (or re-introduce) everyone to the various work and activities that the council takes on. The council is, of course, run by volunteers, so don't be too surprised if the right hand doesn't always know what the left hand is doing.

Alternative Education

You should be receiving a "Lady Evelyn Primer" from the council that outlines, in brief, the tenets of Alternative Education. Of course, one of the key elements is parental involvement, be it through classroom volunteering or other activities such as Pizza Lunches, Choir, Social Committee, Fundraising, etc. Supporting and encouraging this involvement is a primary focus of the council. It doesn't hurt that getting involved is a lot of fun.

Council Meetings

The council holds meetings once a month, open to all staff and families of the school, to discuss current issues, learn about "Alternative Education", and discuss current concerns. Generally, decisions are made by consensus. The first meeting will be held at 7:30 P.M. on Tuesday, September 17^th. At this time, we will set out dates for the rest of the meetings, which rotate through different days of the week, with two afternoon meetings. These dates will be sent home in the next council Newsletter. Childcare is generally provided for the afternoon meetings.

Communication

The council strives to be as open with information as possible. To this end, we:

• •Send home monthly "Newsletters" that update you on council events and issues as well as current financial status, and items from the various council committees.
• •Provide a web site at http://www.ladyevelyn.ca. This site contains minutes from past meetings, present and past Newsletters, information of current budget cuts by the board, articles and pictures submitted to local newspapers, information on "Alternative Education", a soft copy of our "primer", reports from our committees, lists of meeting dates, and, perhaps most interesting, a "News" section where anyone can post notices or news.
• •Provide an email mailing list. This list is a on-line discussion forum where news is posted and discussions can take place. The list is open to all such that anyone can post a message by simply emailing to the list address. To join the list, simply send "subscribe ladyevelyn" as the subject of an email message to "majordomo@ladyevelyn.ca".

Of course, keeping these channels of communication open is not without effort. We welcome new help every year in ensuring that the council remains transparent and open to all.

External Committees

The council also takes part in external committees that help direct board policy and allow us to work with other local councils. Examples include the Alternative Schools Advisory Committee and the Ottawa-Carleton Assembly of School Councils.

Supported Activities

Every year, the council invests time and money into supporting the education of our children through special activities. Last year, for instance, the council paid to bring in "Mad Science", three NAC quartet Concerts, "Blues in the School", the Pierre Vaillancourt Quartet, Junior Swimming at Jack Purcell Pool, Clarinet rentals, new books for the Library, emergency lunch supplies and new badminton poles, to name just a some things we sponsored. These expenses are always discussed and approved at council meetings, in consultation with the staff. As the board is forced to cut back more and more, it is left to the council to fill in the gaps in sports, music and library funding.

Fundraising

Of course, these activities cost money, and it is left to our dedicated team of fundraisers to ensure that we have the money to continue offering these activities and resources to our kids. Last year, most of our funds was raised through the "Walk-a-thon", the Friday Pizza Lunches and School shirt and bag sales. In fact, there are still a few bags, shirts and Choir CDs available from last year - contact Richard (see below) if you would like one. If you want to get involved in fundraising, please contact Sue Hollingsworth at 234-2904.

Sincerely,