6. Think about why you became a member of your school council.
Communicate, Communicate, Communicate
Be positive !!
Have a presence at every school event
Kindergarten Registration – Get those enthusiastic new parents
Share the successes of the council and future goals

10. Meetings must have a purpose and offer value to every
person that attends
Consider having a speaker at each meeting that will
interest members and attract other parents.
Have a short and long term plan which members are
committed to.
Create an orientation/member package. Place in a
binder which members can use to keep their agendas
and minutes from meeting.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Volunteer recognition is vital.
VALUE ADDED MEETINGS
RESPECTFUL MEETINGS
GOAL ORIENTED
TAKE TIME TO GET TO
KNOW EACH OTHER
APPRECIATE VOLUNTEERS
RETAINING MEMBERS

11. Support the ethnic and diverse culture of the school i.e. translators,
speaker on special education, french language etc.
Keep meetings on time. When parents commit to a certain
amount of time, you will lose their support if meeting constantly
run overtime.
Give everyone a voice. People want to know they can contribute
and their opinion will be heard and considered by the council.
Treat everyone with respect, dignity, trust and courtesy.
Mentor new members. Match up experienced members with new
members to answer questions and provide resources and
information about council’s past work and processes.

12. Provide refreshments and take a break to take
time to get to know each other.
Greet new members at the door and welcome
them to their first meeting.
Provide child minding (consider asking Secondary
School Students who need community hours).
Keep members focused on matters affecting all
students/school and not on individual issues.
Take suggestions from member’s for the next
meeting’s agenda.

13. Consider having meetings each month. Although
Reg.612 only requires 4 meetings per year, it is
impossible to keep parents committed when
there are months between meetings.
What are school councils talking about today?
School Safety
Student Achievement
School Transportation
Community Events
School Budget
Increasing Parent Engagement
School Facilities

14. September
Annual General Meeting – Present Annual Report including Finances, Presentation on Role of school council and
parent engagement, By-laws etc.
October
Welcome from Principal and School Council Chair, Review the roles and responsibilities of school council executive
and members. Provide orientation kit to members. Review by-laws. Set-up Sub-Committees. Provide training for new
members (i.e. voting procedures, quorum, Reg.612, Board school council policy, meeting ethics)
Establish school council budget.
Prepare communication to school community introducing new school council.
November
Get to know your school – Ask Principal to provide information about the school including:
Enrolment numbers by grade, Special Education student numbers/special programs, Diverse culture of
school represented at the school, Safe school committee, anti-bullying initiatives at the school, facility
issues at the school i.e. major improvements, repairs needed, additions etc. , technology at the school,
block budget including how it is established, what it pays for etc.,
Volunteers in the School – where are they needed, who already volunteers?
Communication tools to keep parents informed – Trustee newsletters, Board E-Blast/News, Link to Ministry of
Education “Parent Section” on website, Link to Ministry “Open News” which sends updates automatically, Link to
board website featuring Trustee Board Meetings etc.
SUGGESTED TOPICS FOR MONTHLY MEETINGS

15. December
Rather than not meeting at all consider hosting a Christmas Tea and opening it to all parents at the school.
January
School academic update – what are the school statistics saying about the first few months progress?
Are there academic supports that the school council can provide to assist?
How are teachers supported to achieve the academic goals of the schools i.e. Professional Development days
How does the school learning plan relate to the board learning plan?
Invite teacher from JK/SK to speak on the kindergarten program goals, how children are learning etc.
Invite teacher from Grade 9 to speak on how students are adjusting to secondary school, learning strategies etc.
February
School Council Status – is the team meeting the goals, should plan be adjusted for the year?
Reports from all Standing/Sub-Committees on progress.
Review any board policy changes that affect students/school/council.
Invite representative from Toronto Health to speak on healthy lunches, snacks, winter health precautions etc.
Invite representative from the Board psychology dept. or Toronto Health to speak on student stress management,
test stress, value of parent support etc.
SUGGESTED MONTHLY MEETING TOPICS

16. April
EQAO Preparation – If possible invite Grade 3 or 6 teachers to speak to how they are preparing students for the test
and how parents can support them at home.
Same applied to Secondary Schools except Grade 9 teacher and Grade 10 for the Literacy Exams. Even more
important because marks count!
Provide resources to parents on how they can assist their children such as:
http://www.eqao.com/Parents/Elementary/036/BookletsandGuides.aspx
Have PRO grant sub-committee present ideas to council for approval. Establish process for approving application
wording.
May
EQAO Review from previous year including survey of student’s attitudes towards learning. Important information
for parents:
- Students confidence in asking questions at school
- Students who read or do math at home on a regular basis
- The percentage of students at the school who read or work with someone at home to support their
learning.
- The percentage of students who discuss school activities with their parents/guardians on a regular basis.
**This is an important topic for parent engagement. Based on results the council may work with the Principal to
see how they might support areas which require improvement.
SUGGESTED MONTHLY MEETING TOPICS
March
Send out communication to community to have a safe and fun March Break.
Ask School Council members to formulate ideas for PRO grant application.

17. June
Prepare for the next school year School Council elections.
- Establish Election Committee
- Review By-law changes which will be addressed at the Annual General Meeting
- Review election procedures
- Discuss ideas for the AGM that will attract more parents to participate.
Summarize the accomplishments and challenges of the council work this school year.
Process for school emergency contact during the summer.
Discuss community b-b-q or welcoming event for new school year.
THANK YOU , THANK YOU, THANK YOU to all who have participated
this year.

18. Identify parents who may be interested in
playing a leadership role next year.
Provide full information on the roles and
responsibilities of executive members.
Communicate the value of being Chair. It is
not a default position !!
Have interested parents shadow the executive
this year to learn role.
Succession Planning

19. Prepare a document with processes for
executives to stay informed i.e. email, phone
Have a binder with information, resources,
training tools etc. to pass on
Keep notes on executive discussions that may
be ongoing in the new year.
Ask current executives to be available for a
couple of months to the incoming executives.
Succession Planning

20. True parent engagement takes time, don’t get discouraged
or give up!!
Will all this work? Not all of it for every community, but, you
have to start somewhere.
SECONDARY SCHOOL COUNCILS – You are needed more than
ever at school and in your children’s education. Let all
parents know this is the most important time to support your
child.
Conclusion