Lady Evelyn Logo Lady Evelyn Alternative School Council

Newsletter #2 – October 2002

http://www.ladyevelyn.ca

Co-chairs

Richard Deadman	Arlene McGinn
231-5112	234-0377
rdeadman@deadman.ca

October Council-Staff Joint Meeting

Wednesday, October 16^th, 2002. 3:00 P.M.

The focus of this council meeting will be “Assessment”. How does assessment benefit your child? What is the school's Alternative approach to assessment? What are the various different alternative assessment techniques available to us?

As well, other council business, such as committee reports, financial statements and budgeting for upcoming events, will also be discussed. Do you want to have a say in what extra programs the council brings into the school this year? Do you want to have your voice heard on some issue important to you or your child? Do you have an idea that you think is great? Come on out on Wednesday afternoon for our special afternoon meeting.

The Lady Evelyn Alternative School Council is an inclusive organization that encourages everyone to get involved. Unlike other schools, you do not need to be “elected” to have a say in what your council does.

Child care will be provided and refreshments will be served.

Cindy reports that we currently have on the order of $5000 in the bank, with around $2000 already allocated for projects this year. Last year we spend a little over $5000 on sports, arts, health, library and other issues.

Thanks to Cindy Burrell for all her hard work over the last year as Treasurer. Nadia Motala has agreed to take on this position for this year – thank you Nadia.

Plans this year include co-ordinating fund raising activities with health themes such as physical activity and healthy heart month. The Health Committee is also planning to have a health corner set up at all breakfasts and pot luck suppers with nutritional information, as well as an allergy free table of foods.

For those new to anaphylactic allergy issues, the Allergy Committee notes that there is a lot of good information available at http://www.anaphylaxis.ca.

Our annual Potluck dinner will be held on Friday October 24^th, 2002, at 6:30 P.M. The theme this year is Multiculturalism.

If anyone would like to help setting up or decorating, or has any ideas, please contact our new Social Convener, Karen Grant at 237-7640 or karenvgrant@rogers.com.

A “Mask-making” day is being planned for October 31^st in the school. If you would like to come in and help out, talk to your classroom volunteer co-ordinator or your child's teacher.

Some people might have noticed the green ribbons tied on the school and wondered what the purpose was. The ribbons are part of a province-wide campaign supporting “you support fair and adequate funding for public education". More information can be found at http://www.ladyevelyn.ca/weblog/archives/00000004.html.

You should have received a form home about this year's Pizza Lunches. Due to feedback last year, the slice size and lunch frequency has been increased this year.

Thanks to Michaela Stone for volunteering to be our representative at the Special Education Advisory Committee and Lauren Walker is our new Alternative Schools Advisory Committee rep. Also Sue Hollingsworth and Laura MacDonald have joined the Education Committee this year.

The swimming program for the Junior grades is off to a great start, by all accounts. The pool is a better temperature than last year, and the kids seem to really be getting a lot out of the lessons.

This year's Family Conference is being held on November 2^nd at Rideau High School. The Keynote speaker is Mary Sheedy Kurcinka, known for her books “Raising the Spirited Child” and “Kids, Parents and Power Struggles”.

At the last council meeting, the council agreed to spend $650 to bring the Solitice Theatre group into the school later this fall.

The council's web page has been upgraded recently to support a more interactive “News” section, where you can post your comments to current issues. A web calendar, with all council events, a search engine and a translation service are also now available.

While we can't send the Newsletter home in everyone's first language, with the web, we can do the next best thing. There is an on-line version of this newsletter available at the council web site, with links to translations in Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese and Spanish.

Co-Chair's Message

Parents are drawn to an Alternative School for a variety of reasons.

Parental involvement either in the classroom or through School Council activities play such a vital role in making lady Evelyn “Alternative”.

What is the foundation upon which a school community is built? The warm hearts and busy hands of parents, guardians and teachers committed to creating an environment that fosters both the emotional and intellectual faculties of a child. A home supportive of a child's endeavors into the thrilling and awesome world beyond his own door is the foundation upon which a child learns how to “build a life”, as Neil Postman would say.

Help support your child in this adventure by being involved in the school community.

Arlene

Useful Stuff – Snip and Save

Upcoming Meetings

Wednesday October 16, 2002 – 3:00 P.M.

Thursday November 14, 2002 – 7:30 P.M.

Tuesday January 21^st, 2003 – 7:30 P.M.

Wednesday February 12^th, 2003 – 3:00 P.M.

Tuesday April 29^th, 2003 – 7:30 P.M.

Thursday June 5^th, 2003 – 7:30 P.M.

CoChairs

Arlene McGinn – 234-0377

Richard Deadman – 231-5112 rdeadman@deadman.ca

Web Site

The council's web site is located at http://www.ladyevelyn.ca. This site contains past newsletters, meeting minutes, events calendar, Alternative information and breaking news.

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