William Berczy School Council Minutes

William Berczy Public School (WBPS)

Parent Council Meeting Minutes

Date

11-12-2025

Meeting #

Virtual/In-Person

In-Person

Time

6:00pm-7:30pm

Participants

Parent Council reps, Parents, Principal and VP

Principal & Vice-Principal Update

Academic & Instructional Focus

Professional Development for Teachers
- One day per cycle allocated to release staff for professional learning. Teacher-Voice is driven, informed by Teachers input and school needs.
- Priorities: Mental health (Grades 7–8), AI in education, MathUp platform, Community Circles (restorative practices).
MathUp - Board-provided platform supporting math instruction and professional learning for staff.
Community Circles - Focus on building and repairing relationships (student-centric) rather than punitive discipline. Consequences without positive learning do not correct behaviour.
2024/25 EQAO
EQAO Results
Grade3:
Grade6:
Clear drop in Grade3 Literacy scores Year over Year.
100% participation for Grade 3 and Grade 6 cohorts.
The percentage decline is not an accurate measure of student academic performance at school
Factors That May Impact EQAO Scores
Small cohorts (e.g., ~39 students in Grade 3/59 in Grade 6) can affect reported percentages
Technological Shift – EQAO is now administered digitally. This format was significantly shortened as compared to the previous format (e.g. 1/3rd of the length, offering students a single attempt to demonstrate proficiency on a given concept / question.
New Digital format does not provide School visibility into responses (e.g. text from free form answers) typically used for insights to base future analysis of the scores and results which prevents teachers from gaining insight into areas for growth, improvement, and modifying pedagogy accordingly.
Challenges include younger students sitting through the assessment, their technical know-how, thinking the assessment may be more of a game.
EQAO Practice – the current repository of the online format assessments isn’t as exhaustive as the written format. It will require curating over a period of time. Our focus is primarily on instructional quality and not just test taking benefitting students in the long run.
Learning outcomes of the current grades 3^rd and 6^th cohorts have definitely been impacted by COVID-19 since these students were very young during that break.

Literacy Program Strategy & Interventions
Staff will invest Professional Development time to further explore and strategize regarding (but not limited to):
The Reading Recovery Program has shown only about 50% effectiveness over the years.
Teachers have been looking for different, more effective tools to enrich learning.
Empower™ Reading and Learning Group – tool developed by SickKids has been known to higher learning outcomes efficacy
Science of Reading – return to a more phonics- based instruction
Acadience - Literacy screener used in SK–Grade 2 to identify early reading needs.
More targeted instruction programs are also available at our school led by in-house staff.
Family sessions could be planned to provide more information and allay anxiety around the EQAO assessment in the parent community.
Student Experiences & Enrichment:
Our students have exposure to a wide variety of events, experiences and trips.
School prioritizes subsidizing experiences so all students can participate regardless of financial circumstances.
Sewing Activity – opened to the wider audience for a vote. Most parents present wanted it to be a younger grades activity which could potentially break the “gender-task” stereotypes in the minds of young students.
Safe and Caring assemblies will be undertaken to reiterate School Code of Conduct in order for students to gain better understanding of expected behavioural standards. Relevant information may also be relayed to parents to support the initiative as allies.

Grade 8 Graduation & Field Trip Planning
Graduation Details:
Angus Glen; June 22nd, 2026
Ceremony: 5:00pm-9:30pm
Volunteers will be invited once details are finalized
There is no Principal’s Award this year
Field Trip:
Trip will take place in May or June
Gr8 Graduation & Trip planning will resume in January with participation of participating Teachers. Details will be publicized once plans are finalized.
Student safety is top priority for the team
Inclusive trip – all students must be able to participate. Cost constraints are taken into consideration.
Behavioural Expectations – Students and parents will sign a letter of understanding for the trip. Misbehaviour will not be tolerated by the staff and trip facilitators.
School code of conduct guides the behavioural parameters put in place for such trips and activities.
Opportunities for Fundraising and Parent support can be discussed in future Council meeting

Parent Council Update

Operations & Continuity

Continuity Risk - Long-serving council members graduate out; loss of

process knowledge observed.

Improvement Goal - Earlier planning and clearer documentation to ensure smoother transitions.

Election Timing - Elections remain early in the school year to include Kindergarten families.
New Council hand-off should occur in October whereby the existing parent council can take care of the back to school events, passing on the information, etc.

Planning Philosophy - Avoid end-of-year spending that benefits future cohorts more than current students. Grade 8s should benefit from the money raised in the current financial year.
Frequent touchpoints with administration and parent body to ensure uniform flow of communication and engagement
Some proposed activities for the current academic year are as follows:

Financial Management & Cash Handling

Strong board preference for School Cash Online only. Cash deposits and dealings require admin time or paid pickup; inefficient use of resources.
Proper and timely communication out to the parent body can help alleviate cash transactions issues over a period of time.
Most events to be cashless for the remainder of the year. Only School Fun Fair will be partially cash-based due to the nature of activities included.
Our spending intent is to have most funds raised appropriately utilised well within the school year to provide the most benefit to our student body
Fundraising needs to be in alignment with the school principles and philosophy. It needs to support tangible/measurable enhancements in the school.
Examples: Technology, Outdoor Learning Center, Playground improvements, STEM Progress in school, Storage sheds, etc.
All projects have to be covered under the Board approved umbrella. From the nature of the activity to the vendors supporting – all items have to check the board approval parameters.

(Please note this number is dynamic and changes based on fundraising revenue and expenditures in a given time period. For any further questions, please write to the Parent Council and we will be happy to answer your questions.)

Parent & Community Engagement Ideas:

We currently are aspiring to have one parent-involved event each month. (Thursday evenings)
We are looking for parent volunteers for upcoming events.
One of our KPIs is increased parent volunteering. We are looking for new volunteers. This also instills a sense of belonging in the parent community.
Evening events can include but aren’t limited to – yoga events, informative events, expert parents sharing knowledge, cultural events like evening floral market, club events – trivia, film camp, etc.

Events Calendar:

Completed event - Hindu Heritage Month – Samosa and Lassi Sale: We broke even, volunteer turnout was good, students definitely enjoyed the treats.

Next Steps

Further communication between various teams regarding upcoming events, volunteer needs, etc.
Reiterate admin messages to the larger parent community
Earlier planning routines for the Council and outcomes to be communicated to the admin teams
Feedback on Chai and Chat session engagement
Process initiation for Lunar New Year, Eid, Easter. We are going to be forming sub-committees and delegating responsibilities for the events.

Meeting #

Date

Virtual/In-person

Time

Attendees