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Meeting called to order on or around 7:10 pm. Meeting was held electronically (via Zoom).
Attendance: Cliff L., Sheeba F., William A., Irina R., Jennifer J., Jessica L., Jevy W., Vicky P., Principal Andrew
Lee and various parents (approximately 3 with some leaving early)
Absent: Jason H., Sena A., Head Teacher Casey Armstrong
Opening Remarks
The PAC Chair gave a brief introduction and touched upon items such as school activities in the last couple
months (hip hop and tennis) and fundraising efforts (Hot Lunch, upcoming Fun Fair).
The PAC appreciates everyone’s time to attend these meetings. To maintain meeting etiquette and
efficiency, a time limit and a time check will be given for each agenda item to keep the meeting length under
a reasonable time.
Adopt Minutes from last General meeting held January 10, 2024:
The Minutes from the last General meeting were not available for circulation at time of this meeting.
Adoption of the January 10 th minutes will be tabled to the next General meeting (scheduled for May 8,
2024).
Executive Updates
Constitution and Bylaws (C&B) Update. The Chair briefly updated (during his Opening Remarks) that the PAC
has initiated steps to updating the C&B. Members of the Executive team have come together to start the
process and hopefully have a preliminary draft available near the end of the school year.
DPAC Update. The last DPAC meeting had a presentation and discussion on Sexual Orientation and Gender
Identity (SOGI) and how it is an integral part of the academic structure, which has been around since 2016.
Slides were presented of what it true and not true (regarding implementing it into the school curriculum). If
anyone has questions – please communicate with teachers, principal, and local community representatives
for more information.
DPAC has recently formed a new interim executive team. New elections will happen within the next couple
of months for the upcoming year, as roles are turned over.
DPAC will be launching a survey to canvass to entire school community pertaining to the budget allocation
for all schools in Burnaby.
CPF update. The last CPF meeting discussed the following items:
 French Film Festival – although the film title was not revealed until 2 weeks before the viewing date,
1 of our French Immersion classes did attend and it sounded successful
 BBQ Event – the date has been confirmed for June 15 th ; location is still be announced; once it has
been confirmed, a flyer should come out to communicate it to schools
 Summer Camps – CPF still in process of securing a location to hold the summer camps – stay tuned!
Budget update. The Treasurer provided general updates and overview regarding the February 2024
financials and banking activities in the Fundraising and Gaming accounts, as well as a summary of the
current Cash Flow statement:

 Fundraising account – Hot Lunch (incoming sales and outgoing expenses for Term 2 to date); Grade 7
(incoming popcorn sales); Quebec Trip (incoming KK donut sales)
 Gaming account – Pancake Breakfast (outgoing expenses)
PAC-sponsored and Standing Updates
Hot Lunch. Term 2 execution has been running quite smoothly. The committee plans to roll out a survey to
canvass families about feedback, experience, volunteering and general comments for the committee to
consider. The Committee is finalizing details for Term 3 to be rolled out by end of the week before Spring
Break. We are on track to surpass the proposed budget for the year.
Tomorrow is the last hot lunch for the term (Pizza Day) and the grade 7s will be fulfilling all the volunteer
duties and shifts. They are excited to help and show appreciation for the PAC’s in-kind donation towards
their year-end leaving event. Special thanks to Danielle Millar for her assistance in coordinating with
applicable parties.
The committee is thinking of ways to potentially engage the intermediate students (gr 5-7) to help in a light
and minimal capacity on hot lunch days, perhaps even a stewardship of some form. The Chair will reach out
to the school admin and staff with a proposal.
Website. No updates to provide for this meeting. There was some light discussion on liability concerns,
which stemmed from a conversation at a DPAC executive meeting. Our website coordinator provided a
general background on the host website server Sperling currently uses which was handed down from the old
legacy system and somewhat archaic. It was agreed that further discussion is needed, and this topic should
be revisited further.
Safety. The next Stay Safe workshop is coming up on April 29th (pro d day) and registration is full. The PAC
is looking for parent volunteers to help supervise kids during recess and lunch break – please reach out to
vice-chair@sperlingpac.com if your child is attending the workshop that day and you can help out with
supervision.
The Babysitting course is scheduled for June 7th (pro d day) and registration is ongoing; there are still some
spots available to date. The course is open to kids 11 years and up (eligible to participate if they are turning
11 in the 2024 year). The registration cutoff timing for the babysitting is at the end of May.
Fun Fair. Lots of brainstorming happening with the committee. The following are activities in the works: Fire
Truck; Food options; Stage Entertainment; Games – using activity (punch) cards; Basket Raffles – with class
involvement – aiming to make themed baskets that will be bundled together for raffling off – each class to
have a theme for suggested donations; Silent Auction – will be smaller this year – just a few big ticket items;
50/50 cash draw – for purchase online.
The Committee is asking if DPAC might be able to find out if we could book human hamster ball rentals as an
activity (booked in the past) – is it considered an inflatable? At the meeting, a DPAC Rep looked it up and
found that ‘inflatables’ could pose a liability and safety risk.
The next Fun Fair meeting date is scheduled for either April 4 th or April 11 th at 6:30 pm, watch out for an e-
mail after Spring Break to confirm.
Grade 7 Committee. The committee has quickly now grown to 6-7 parents and have raised approximately
$4,000 to date with a target amount of $7,000. Fundraising plans are popcorn sales in Term 3; additional hot
lunch day earning extra funds; Neufeld Farms frozen goods – orders between April 8 th – 22 nd ; delivery date on
May 1 st ; possible fundraiser for movie night and raffle.

Yearbooks (71 orders) will cost about $2,000 and are in progress. The year end (grad) event has been
confirmed for June 18 th at Central City Fun Park (4 – 7 pm). The year end leaving ceremony dates are June
26 th and June 27 th .
Quebec/Ottawa Trip committee. The committee held its first Krispy Kreme fundraiser at Kensington Plaza; it
was a great success and sold out in 2 hours! There will be a second donut sale after Spring Break
(Kensington Plaza as well as a second location). Other proposed fundraising plans include holding a second
bottle drive – welcome to drop off bottles this Sunday; possibly a plant basket sale; possible Domino’s
fundraiser; planning for a clothing drive/donation – looking to find a date and space that might work.
The committee continues to face challenges in communicating out their fundraisers without the school’s
involvement.
Fruits & Veggies Program. All is well and moving along; no further updates to provide for the meeting.
Lost & Found. The committee is looking for volunteers to help manage the Lost & Found as one of the
volunteers is no longer available to help. They are also looking for volunteers now to prepare for succession.
New Business/Items:
School Spirit/Merchandise. There was roundtable discussion about school spirit and brand identity – such as
a new mascot and logo; school merchandise was also suggested. The principal mentioned that at his
previous school, school merchandise was quite successful as a part fundraiser and raised school spirit –
enough funds were raised to give every student and staff a spirit t-shirt. The logistics of distribution
orders/sites to facilitate would be something to consider and discuss further.
See further related notes on this topic in the Principal’s Report below under School logo.
Principal’s Report
The school thanks the PAC for continuing sponsorship – such as Hip Hop and Tennis programs.
The principal provided the following updates and information:
School activities:
 Tennis program (after Spring Break) – every class will get 5 sessions; allows for individual classes to
do a session at a time, versus pairing up with classes (less crowding and will enhance the lessons)
 Primary Days of Music Festival (held today) – for primary grades only; classes commuted to another
Burnaby school to watch
 Sperling Intermediate Concert – will be held on May 23 rd ; morning and afternoon concert
 Assemblies – being split into two separate assembly times due to capacity limits and gym space
 Literacy Week (this week) – lots of fun ways to help celebrate literacy for the kids, such as a Scrabble
themed activity on the school field
Website matter. The District has been discussing potential liabilities of outside sites, such as PAC sites; it has
trickled down to the DPAC level which is where the PAC has been receiving some information by the DPAC
reps.
Yearbook. The yearbook company that the school uses, Edge Imaging, recently had a data breach, which
caused a bit of a holding pattern. The breach affected our past grade 7’s from last year only; there was no
data breach that affected the current grade 7’s as they hadn’t submitted anything (images etc.) to the
company yet. Notice will be sent to the PAC community and to past grade 7 families from last year regarding
this matter.

Summer School Session. Registration begins on April 16 th at 10:00 am with enrollment closing on May 29 th .
The sessions are always very popular and will fill up fasts. Sperling will be a host school (full day sessions)
this year; a new host school this summer with sessions will be University Highlands Elementary.
School logo. Teachers have been exploring the school logo and whether to re-start with a new logo or revive
the old one (Storm). Sperling does not actually really identify with any specific logo or mascot. This could tie
into Spirit Wear discussions down the road (as referred to above in these Minutes).
Construction. Updates on the interior and exterior parts of the school:
 Interior – overdue for revitalization; painting will be the first step; it will be a long process –
about a week per classroom – and 23 classes so it will take the remaining part of the school year;
after that, carpentry and electrical work, trim work will also be done.
 Exterior – utilities work around the school and streets are not great but not a disaster either; we
have adapted pretty well all things considering; raised crosswalk – this has been approved along
Adair (across from the fire hydrant) with a curbed bump on the north side (cannot on the south
side because of the hydrant which needs to be flush); timing of works – will begin with Hycrest
(over Spring Break) and then move onto Sperling, and lastly Adair (Told it was going to be
working on it during the summer; may affect Fun Fair traffic and summer school traffic)
Question: there is a crossing guard along Holdom by Halifax, and one along Hastings too…how does that
happen?
Response (by Principal): The District allocates those based on high-risk traffic areas (busy busy roads); the
school is working on getting the District and the City to see that Sperling is now a high-risk traffic area, like
Holdom was when they initiated the crossing guard there.
Question: Could student crossing guards be used at the new raised crosswalk Adair (once completed)?
Response (by Principal): Sperling staff will have to look at these in phases, starting with the adult guard, then
shifting the student guards over.
There being no further business to attend to, the meeting adjourned at 8:40 pm.
Next General Meeting (AGM) – May 8, 2024 at 7:00 pm

Meeting started on or around 7:10 pm.
Meeting started with 18 parents (11 Exec; 2 school; rest parents); some parents joined afterwards
(cliff/Sheeba) Land acknowledgement

• Cliff intro:
  o Pancake Breakfast – shoutouts
  o C&B update
  o PAC meeting dates
  o PAC table sessions (coming back)
• Adoption of last Meeting Minutes – motioned (Jenn J.); seconded (Vicky) – adopted
• DPAC Update (Irina):
  o Last meeting Nov 20 th
  o Social emotional regulation topic (Will):
   Mental health; diff levels of community; diff levels of support
   Emotional development goes all the way up to age 25
• CPF update (Vicky):
  o French film festival – Feb 9 th (12:30 at Metrotown Cineplex); CPF still in working progress
   (Andrew) more interest this year by teachers/classes; also because of earlier
  notice; the name of the movie would be good to have to make the decision for
  classes whether to go

o Book subscriptions – currently delayed (from France) but it’s on its way
o Summer camps – planning to hold them still; however, the location will be different this
year – Charles Rummel is not available

• Budget update (Jevy):
• Pancake Breakfast (Liv):
• Hot Lunch (Livia)
• Safety:
  o (Sheeba) Stay safe/babysitting
   Reminder of dates
   Will be sending out reminders closer to the dates
  o (Cliff/Phil) Emergency Preparedness
   Replenished all the backpacks (the ones in each of the classrooms)
   Good for another year on the supplies
• Fun Fair (Kelly):
  o Solid team; got a treasurer
  o Date has been set for Friday, May 31st
  o Received volunteer contact list (from Pancake Breakfast)
  o Next meeting coming up Jan 21 st
  o Starting to setting some goals; will need to start canvassing (late January/early February)
  o Setting fundraising goal – Emergency Preparedness, including tents, tables, chairs etc
• Grade 7 Committee:
  o Twoonie Tuesdays – selling Kernels popcorn Jan 23, feb 20 th , mar ?
  o Starting to collect gr 7 parent contact information
  o School leaving ceremony and graduation ceremony event

o Looking for suggestions for graduation event venues
o Yearbook in the works – looking for photos

• Quebec/Ottawa Trip committee (Karin):
  o Roughly about 40 students; about 12 students that are participating in the fundraising
  efforts (proceeds will be divvyed up amongst those that help with the fundraising)
  o Did some fundraisers:
   Bottle drive; Purdy’s chocolate
  o Doing some more fundraisers
   Me & Ed’s night
   Krispy Kreme sales (in February)
• Fruits & Veggies (Eva):
  o Halfway through the program; 5 delivered and 5 more for rest of the year
  o Upcoming item is cheesestrings but too many allergies so school declined that delivery
  o Mandarins, apples, mini cukes, apples (again)
  o Some changes since last year:
   Used to be fully gov’t funded; this is the first year that it’s only 75%
   PAC covers the 25% balance
• Lost & Found (Sheeba on behalf of Alessandra/Naila):
  o All items were cleaned out before winter break
  o Reminder to label all kids items – helpful to get a way back to the student in their
  classrooms
  o Grade 5 stewardship (Casey):
   Unfortunately no response/feedback from grade 5’s, but a few grade 4’s have
  shown some interest
   It’s a tough project to gain interest and purpose for the students
   Work in progress
   One thing Casey requested is to find out when the L&F comes to clear the items,
  so she can coordinate with the students and their organizing etc

o Website (Ian):
 Few small updates to the PAC website: calendar, meeting minutes, PAC
committee roles and contacts
 CommunyHub – Ian touched up on it…see if it’s something the school can
perhaps leverage with it
 Hot Lunch inquired about working to put up some things on the PAC website
also
Principal’s Report:

• Pancake Breakfast
  o Shoutout on its amazing operations, was very positive in how things came together and
  made it such a joyful experience
  o Recognition on a very active and strong PAC; leadership of the PAC; very enriching to
  see
• School Goals:
  o Taken school goals from before and investigated with staff

o Taking a different angle and shifting a bit
o Now have some very powerful working groups:

 #1 – SEL social emotional learning (committee)
 Using the Heart and Mind Project; CASEL; by taking care of our self we
can help others and work on self-regulation

o Ready, Do, Done
 Executive Functioning – ability to move through projects or tasks and ascribe to
the goal of that task
o #2 Reading (committee)
 Core foundational subject

• These 2 goals will:
  o PAC opportunity – we will be a school that will be a ‘visit’ – around April
• Clubs and Groups at Sperling:
  o Set of rich opportunities to provide ‘extra’ at our school – organized and planned by
  teachers
  o (Andrew showed a list of clubs)
  o Andrew will provide that list to PAC and will have it for distribution to
  o Sports teams – usually grade 6/7 – depending on how conducive the sport it may be
  that only one team and one grade can participate (ie. Basketball only for grade 7s)
• Construction:
  o Hycrest project is moving forward – sidewalks
  o Challenging but it is looking good
• FRIMM info session evening – Sperling is hosting this session at our school
  o Late immersion coming up (Grade 5 and up)
• Hip Hop (Casey):
  o Will be 2 performance times – Friday the 19 th
  o Basketball is under way
  o School goals is under way
• General comments:
  o Nod to Neda about her book launch and proceeds going to PAC – approx. $120
  o Nod to Guts & Seeds and some proceeds were given to PAC – approx. $51
• Reminder and general discussion about cutlery on hot lunch dates
  o Had a huge amount of need for disposable as of recent
  o Find ways to remind the kids and parents to bring cutlery
  o Brought back suggestion to have it mentioned in the school’s announcements (ie during
  the week of hot lunch)
  o
• (Cliff) Parent engagement and participation :
  o (Andrew) tend to see a lot at the beginning and then it waivers
  o Train up/partner up to keep them engaged and keep for succession

Meeting adjourned at 8:52 pm

Meeting called to order at on or around 7:04 pm. Meeting was held electronically (via Zoom).
Attendance: Sheeba F., Jessica L., Livia H., Jason H., William A., Cliff L., Irina R., Jevy W., Kelly Z. (Past-Chair) Principal
Andrew Lee and various parents
Absent: Head Teacher Casey Armstrong
Adopt Minutes from last General meeting (AGM) held May 17, 2023
The Minutes from the last General meeting were reviewed and a motion was made to adopt them; a motion to pass
was made and seconded. Minutes adopted.
Introductions
The PAC Chair welcomed all attendees and started the meeting with a self-introduction, followed by a general
introduction of the principal and head teacher and the PAC Executive members appointed during the AGM in May.
The PAC Chair spoke briefly about recent attendance of a PAC 101 information session (hosted by DPAC) including
emphasis on encouraging parent commitment, volunteerism and support for all students and the community.
Executive members and vacancies/nominations
Subsequent to the appointments made at the AGM in May, William A. wished to step down from him role as CPF
Representative with an interest to fill the vacant DPAC role (subsequent to Clifton L.’s appointment as Chair). It was
reminded further that Livia H. and Kristin W. had stepped down as co-Secretaries, leaving both positions vacant. Livia
H. further expressed interest to fill the co Vice-Chair role.
The PAC Chair proceeded to open the floor for nominations for the following: co-CPF (1 vacancy); co-Secretary (2
vacancies); co-Vice-chair (1 vacancy) and co-DPAC (2 vacancies – it was noted at the meeting that a school of more
than 500 students may increase their DPAC representation from 2 to 3 members).
The following nominations and appointments were made:
CPF Rep: Nomination made for Vicky P. and seconded. No other nominations were brought forward
and Vicky P. was voted in by acclamation. Adopted.
Secretary: Nomination made for Senanur T. and seconded. No other nominations were brought
forward and Senanur T. was voted in by acclamation. Adopted.
*Note a co-Secretary position is currently vacant.

DPAC: Nominations made for William A. and Jennifer J. and both were seconded. No other
nominations were brought forward and William A. and Jennifer J. were both voted in by
acclamation. Adopted.
Co-Vice-Chair: Nomination made for Livia Hong and seconded. No other nominations were brought
forward and Livia H. was voted in by acclamation. Adopted.

The 2023-2024 PAC Executive Committee is as follows:
Chair: Clifton L.
Past Chair: Kelly Z.
Co-Vice Chair: Sheeba F. and Livia H.
Co-Secretary: Senanur T. and (open vacancy)
Co-Treasurer: Jessica L. and Jevy W.
Co-DPAC Rep: Irina R., William A. and Jennifer J.
Co-CPF Rep: Jason H. and Vicky P.

It was noted that the PAC Volunteer Coordinator role was under consideration to be an Executive position but will
remain a committee role for the time being. Jason H. was considering this role.
Subsequent to the meeting, Jason H. advised his intention to withdraw from fulfilling this position due to capacity
limits while remaining a CPF representative. This committee position currently remains vacant.
If anyone is interested in this role, please contact the PAC Chair at chair@sperlingpac.com.
The PAC is looking for someone to help maintain and update a volunteer database. This person would also coordinate
and liaise with committee members on PAC organized events and activities held throughout the school year, such as
hot lunches, pancake breakfast, Sperling Sprint, Fun Fair and would work together to set up volunteer sign ups.
Committee Updates
Lost & Found. The committee plans to continue posting lost and found items on Instagram (handle is
@ecolesperlinglost). The committee is looking for help with sorting and organizing items from time to time. Please
contact the PAC at chair@sperlingpac.com if you are able to assist.
The committee is also proposing a Grade 5 stewardship program, to get those students more involved and help within
their community. The committee will work with the school (Head Teacher) to potentially bring that forward.
Safety. The Emergency Preparedness committee discussed emergency backpacks and the items inside; there is one in
every classroom. A reminder that the school has a kiosk outside (near the basketball court); inventory includes tarps,
shovel, hard hats, 2 canopy tents, some first aid kits, emergency water (replaced once in the past 2 years). There was
past discussion on having bottled water (would be $600 for entire community) but storage would be an issue; hence
changing the water out every 6 months would be the route for now. The committee would consider increasing the
amount of supplies in the first aid kits (perhaps even more kits in general). With the Great Shakeout coming up, the
school will work towards a full earthquake release (quite overdue on planning and preparing for).
PAC Website. Information was provided about the PAC website (https://new.sperlingpac.com/). It is a good source of
information and is being updated
Hot Lunch. The Hot Lunch Committee has been busy planning for Term 1 and will be launching the dates and food
themes later this week; there will be 5 hot lunches this term. As in past years, the orders will go through
Munchalunch. There will be a new vendor this term (PeriPeri) and another round of in-house Hot Dog Day. Volunteer
signup will be setup online similar to last year; it seemed to work really well.
Grade 7 (Grad) Committee. This school year’s committee has yet to be formed and identified but is in the works.
Grade 7 Quebec/Ottawa Trip Committee. This year the trip is open to all grade 7s in both language track programs. In
the past, it was planned for those in the French Immersion program only. The first meeting was held tonight. This
school year’s committee has yet to be formed and identified.
Executive Updates
DPAC Update. (summarized with minutes notes from DPAC meeting) The first DPAC meeting of the school year took
place on September 18 th . The executive team from the School District was there to update DPAC reps on upcoming
programs for the year:

• This school year will be the implementation year of new initiatives such as student evaluations/ feedback and
  Indigenous studies
• Another area of focus will be supporting select elementary and high schools through Feeding Futures Fund –
  subsidized lunch for students in need will be expanded to 6 additional schools. High school food cards will be

expanded to include breakfast (this is new) in addition to lunch (already included). Survey will be sent to
parents later in the year to identify students in need

• Letter grades and percentages will remain in place for grades 10-12. Younger grades will receive strength
  based feedback/scale. Proficiency is the goal for all learners
• Indigenous studies – grades 10-12 will have some required courses for students to complete in order to
  graduate
  CPF Update. The PAC representative spoke briefly about CPF – Canadian Parents for French. CPF has their own formal
  executive team; our PAC is a part of the local BC chapter. The PAC representative(s) attend meetings and are invited
  to certain events and also inform our school of upcoming events hosted by CPF. They are a wealth of resource for
  French immersion families and also provide many different programs.
  Budget Update. The co-Treasurers went through the budget and financials in detail (incoming and outgoing) of the
  PAC’s fundraising account (incoming revenue and outgoing expenses) and PAC’s gaming account (government grant
  funds used for specific purposes and under specific guidelines). It was noted that the budget is very tight based on
  the anticipated proposed revenue/incoming funds for the fiscal year. There is anticipation that revenue from hot
  lunch fundraising will be above the proposed estimate.
  Principal Andrew Lee made a request to the PAC to propose an increase to the budget expense for the Pumpkin
  Patch, in particular the fees for the pumpkins due to increase in costs. The proposed increase is from $1,500 (initial
  expense) to $1,800 (difference o $300). A motion was made to propose the amendment and was seconded. Majority
  vote was in favour and the amendment was approved. Adopted.
  PAC Sponsored Events and Fundraisers
  Pumpkin Patch. The PAC has funds set aside in the budget to provide pumpkins to the school for a pumpkin patch.
  The school organizes the pumpkin orders and delivery; the grade 7s help lay the pumpkins out on the field and then
  divisions are scheduled to go out with their buddy classes to pick out pumpkins together. The Hot Lunch Committee
  also organizes hot chocolate to be handed to the students and staff during the event. There will be a chance to
  volunteer for this event.
  Pancake Breakfast. The PAC is anticipating to run its annual holiday Pancake Breakfast (usually the last day of school
  before winter break). A brief summary was provided on how the event has run in past years and plans to reach out to
  past committee members to get the ball rolling. The event is run entirely by the PAC and Sperling community and will
  need many volunteers for the event.
  Stay Safe/Babysitting. The PAC has organized these courses to be offered at the school and acts as a fundraiser as
  well. The sessions held last year were very popular and this year we are hoping to schedule at least 2 session dates
  (one more than last year). Tentative dates have been booked for November, April and June (on pro-d days). Each
  session would be held at Sperling in a classroom.
  Fun Fair (2025). The Fun Fair has been proposed for this upcoming Spring, which has been overdue since Covid. It
  has typically been done every 2 years in the past; the last one was in 2018. The Fun Fair is usually planned with a
  specific ‘need’ for fundraising efforts that will benefit the school. One of the possible needs might be Emergency
  Preparedness items. The Fun Fair requires lots of help and will a main committee with smaller sub-committees will
  need to be formed soon. Kelly Z. is happy and willing to chair this committee; another parent, Christina C. has also
  offered to assist.
  Principal’s Report
  It has been a busy start to the school year; the first week had a great deal of influx with approximately 16 to 17 new
  student registrations. There was consideration to expand an additional division class but eventually the District
  approval remained at 22 divisions for Sperling.

The principal reported on some great opportunities coming up as well as ongoing:

• Grade 6’s are off to camp in October (Timberline Ranch)
• Grade 7 parents/families meeting on upcoming plans for Quebec/Ottawa trip in May
• Traffic concerns and patterns:
  o Focus on safety and accessibility
  o Some are learning experiences to work on; some are already in place and how to improve
  o City of Burnaby are making improvements – committed to making a crosswalk along Adair Ave.;
  traffic calming methods along Sperling St. and create more crosswalks; improve signage, curbs and
  sidewalks
  o School District is committed to working with the City as well
  o Some discussion on a multi-use pathway on Sperling St. such as a bike path/walking pathways
   will require removal of some of the older trees along Sperling (with a plan to plant new trees
  as replacement)
   will remove parking along Sperling eventually
• School accessibility updates:
  o new paint job over the summer on various exterior parts of the school
  o School staff are installing new walkways and stairs; making sure we have full accessibility pathways
• Educational updates:
  o School Goals – to provide focus on where the development is going to be
  o Focus on reading
  o Touched upon the Heart and Mind from the Dhali Llama Institute – a program to work on social
  emotional wellness and learning; students needing this type of support; how to self-manage
  o Teachers and staff will be spending some pro-d days on these reading, social emotional and
  Indigenous learning goals
• Emergency Preparedness:
  o Focus on keeping students safe
  o Sperling is fairly well prepared; but looking at the size and capacity of the school, we need to
  consider the accessibility for every supply we have and how well we can use the supplies, such as
  lifting items out of the kiosk rather than being able to roll it out
• Foundation Skills Assessment (FSA) tests:
  o Tests will occur around October to mid November for grades 4 to 7
  o FSA’s can be found as a useful tool to finding out where your student is at
  o Should not be taken as an assessment of your school’s learning
  o Information regarding FSA’s have gone home to all parents (grades 4 to 7)

Overall, the school and administration have lots of goals for this school year and the principal and head teacher are
excited to get to know the Sperling community more.
There being no further business to attend to, the meeting was adjourned (time unspecified).
The next General meeting is to be determined.

Sperling PAC
Annual General Meeting Minutes for May 17, 2023

Meeting called to order at on or around 7:10 pm. Meeting was held electronically (via Zoom).

Attendance: Kelly, Sheeba, Jessica, Livia, Jason, William, Cliff, Irina, Jevy, Principal Andrew Lee and Head Teacher Rosemary Venos, and various parents

Absent: Kristin, Head Teacher Rosemary Venos

Adopt Minutes from last General meeting February 15, 2023

The Minutes from the last General meeting were reviewed and a motion was made to adopt them; a motion to pass was made and seconded. Minutes adopted.

Old Business From Last General Meeting

PAC Table. Lots of nice feedback from parents on this. It hasn’t been done in a while and It’s been working out really well; sounds like something we would like to continue and keep going during the school year. It’s also a way to get to talk to staff from time to time. The PAC will switch up stations around different sections of the school.

On a related note, Cliff and Livia plan to attend the Welcome to Kindergarten session on May 24th. As PAC representatives, it is a great opportunity to talk to new parents and meet and greet. Also a great time to provide them with information on PAC sponsored events, activities, volunteering and executive and committee positions.

New Business

Updates

1. Grade 7 Graduation (Alessandra). Things are going pretty smoothly; raised close to $3,000, largely from the popcorn sales which were all sold out. The final cost will be about $23/student. The venue is booked (playcentre in Surrey); decorations and invitations have been dealt with.

2. Lost and Found (Alessandra). The Committee has been working with Ms. Venos on a project to get the grade 5 students involved with L&F. There seems to be a void and less opportunities for students to volunteer within the school and community stewardship. It would be a good legacy project to bring in the grade 5s and involve them with putting out the items during school community events. The plan is to put out the items this upcoming Sports Day. Posting online to Instagram is the easiest thing to do and would be more difficult to get images posted up on the PAC website. The L&F crew is always welcoming to more volunteers to come on board and help out! E‐mail the PAC Chair at chair@sperlingpac.com if interested.

Alessandra confirms she would like to continue to stay on the L&F Committee. Also, Kate Neale‐Hughes has joined the Committee.

3. Grade 7 Ottawa/Quebec trip (Joanne). The Krispy Kreme donuts fundraiser has been a great success – the Committee thanks the entire PAC for supporting them and helping them on the accounting side of things. The Committee is now on their 4th sales weekend (locations at Lynn Valley, Park & Tilford, and Safeway Willingdon. The Committee has currently raised abut $4,000 so far, and expect another $2,000 after their May 20th and May 28th sales. The fundraiser was labour intensive with onsite shifts running from 8:30 am until 6 pm and then counting money afterwards; however, it is a profitable one more than other types of fundraising. Generally the students are out there selling for about 4 hours (one day was about 6 hours before selling out). The trip dates are from June 5‐9th.

4. Hot Lunch (Livia). The Hot Lunch Program has been running smoothly and the Committee has been improving the system every next lunch event. The parent volunteers on the day of have been great and the general feedback has been very positive, and appreciative! The in‐house (hot dog) days have been great also and has become one of the highest generated profit days. It’s been great to have Mike Tse on board to organize it. The Committee hopes to have the Term 2 and Term 3 reports available in time for the Executive Budget meeting in June.

The Hot Lunch Committee is also organizing the Teacher & Staff Appreciation which will likely be around late May/early June. The catered and individually packaged lunches remain a hit and preference among the teachers and staff so we will likely continue with that route.

Livia confirms she will remain part of the Hot Lunch Committee and happy to take on the Committee Chair position.

5. PAC Sponsored Events:

‐ Stay Safe/Babysitting (Sheeba):
o 1st event was on April 24; 29 kids in attendance; good feedback from parents; had some parent volunteers who helped during recess and lunch; another event coming up is on June 2nd – 2 different workshops – the 2nd round of Stay Safe and also a Babysitting workshop; babysitting is full with 30 kids; Stay Safe still has a few more spots available to fill; will need parent volunteers again to help with recess and lunch supervision (Kelly offered to volunteer)

‐ Body Science/Sexual Health (Sheeba):
o Took place last week; consisted of a parent info session (Zoom) – facilitator provided the content of what would be for each cohort; gave parents the opportunity to ask questions; info session was well‐received; the workshops were over 3 days, varying ; there will be an opportunity for parents to share feedback via survey, which will come out by e‐mail in the next few days. Would like to consider and budget for future sessions
o School staff were very impressed with the content and presenters; presented information in a way that is very factual; teachers felt the sessions were well done;
o Ideal timing is to have these workshops every 2 years (based on the content per 2 year grade levels)

‐ Fun Fair 2025 (Kelly):
o PAC is hoping to send out something to parents asking for a committee to get setup –and help to delegate;
o The planning needs to start happening sooner than later;
o Fun Fair is a huge fundraiser to help raise large ticket items for the school; for instance, the previous Fun Fair helped to obtain ADST items (sewing machines, 3‐D printer);
o We do need to discuss and come up with a cause for the large fundraising; one possible theme is an external storage pod/emergency container; typically we ask the school/staff what they think might be beneficial for the school (like a staff ‘wish list’); lighting in the gym; new chairs (must consider storage space); speaker system in the school; request to plant some trees to beautify and enhance the grounds, also adds as extra shelter and offering some shade for natural way of cooling (tree planting would be a combined effort with the District)

6. PAC Website Update (Ian). The Sperling PAC Website has had some updates. Please check the site for posted Minutes and other additional information, such as calendar info, PAC member info, school events and more.

Ian spoke about a past project he had created and been working on a few years back (pre‐Covid) – CommunyHub. It is slightly outside the school’s purvue; when he was a Kindergarten parent Ian had found parents were looking to come together as a community and build a cohort of kids; during Covid and then post Covid there was a missing piece of getting together and finding that community building, so he thought it would be helpful to create an online community to augment this connection; something to allow us as parents to connect, share and collaborate together; a place where information can be shared and posted; a forum for parents to meet and provide information; encouraging parent community and engagement. If there is enough interest, Ian is happy to bring this back to life ‐ every single classroom would have their own blog; the setup would be a website and also as an app (for phones). Ian would set this up based on divisions as well as an overall Sperling tab (public for everyone). CommunyHub would be a great vehicle for the engagement by parents.

The Principal provided a teacher/staff perspective – parents may be interested but they may just gravitate to their own means and what they’re used to. He also wants parents to be reminded to not use images of children outside their own personal use. The principal cautions about the rules and violations regarding posting social media items (ie pictures and images of other children) on a public forum; need to still make aware that there are still limitations on certain postings. Some things to consider.

Ian confirms he is happy to continue on as the website coordinator, alongside Estralita if she wishes to assist as well.

7. CPF Update (Jason/William).
‐ BBQ scheduled for June 17th – more details to come;
‐ CPF is also promoting a new program for new teachers: anyone that is a French teacher, CPF has a fantastic program to build relationship and promote integration and support infrastructure
‐ Currently waiting on the minutes to be received from CPF
‐ French Summer Camps – has rolled out but still looking for more information via the CPF Minutes

8. DPAC Update. Monday was the AGM; elected DPAC reps; looking for one more DPAC Rep within our District (Brentwood). They are also looking for a minute taker ($50 renumeration/per meeting). Prior to this meeting, there was a presentation on Emergency Preparedness; from that information, our PAC felt it would be good to have an Emergency Preparedness coordinator implemented.

School Visits ‐ our PAC team chose Capitol Hill school for an organized visit with other school PAC members, which will be attended by Cliff on May 18th. The choice for this school was based on:
‐ critical mass similar to our school;
‐ has a multi‐track with FRIMM and MACC programs;
‐ Capitol Hill is centred around 2 goals – reading and social and emotional learning (part of the curriculum for all schools)

Cliff is looking forward to gathering information and bringing it back to Sperling. Another possible School Visit the PAC is looking to attend may be Parkcrest.

PAC is also looking to re‐visit and update our school’s Constitution and Bylaws. Cliff has reached out to BCCPAC for a workshop to be slated for sometime in June or September.

9. Budget Update.
Fundraising account:

   a. Incoming funds received:

      i. Hot Lunch orders and payments (via Munchalunch Stripe deposits)

   b. Expenses disbursed:

      i. Hot Lunch expenses (vendor invoices; in-house food and supply items; general operating expense items)

 

Gaming account:

   a. Incoming funds received: Nil

   b. Expenses disbursed:

      i. Body Science Workshop invoice

 

Grade 7 account:

   a. Incoming funds received:

Cash Flow – $30,900; Gr 7 outgoing will be $5,700 and $4,173 (

Square Chip Reader – $157.89; PAC is proposing to adopt an amendment to the budget to include an expense for the Chip

(Kelly – proposing); (Jessica – second the proposal); 12 in favour; 0 opposed. Amendment approved (Jessica will update budget)

Motion for the current budget as provided was proposed for adoption. Motion was seconded and approved by a majority show of (online) hands. The budget was approved.   Adopted.

10. PAC Executive Positions – Nominations and Elections:

Chairperson*: Nomination made for Clifton Lo (previously the Co‐DPAC rep). No other nominations were brought forward. All were in favour and Clifton (Cliff) was voted in.   Adopted.

Past‐Chairperson*: As Cliff has become the new Chairperson, the previous Chairperson, Kelly Zecca, has officially moved into the position of Past‐Chairperson for the upcoming school year.

Vice‐Chair: Nomination made for Sheeba Faqih. No other nominations were brought forward. All were in favour and Sheeba was voted in.   Adopted.

*Note a Co‐Vice‐Chair position is open and vacant.

Treasurer*: Nomination made for Jessica Liu and Jevy Wu. No other nominations were brought forward. All were in favour and both Jessica and Jevy, as Co‐reps, were voted in.   Adopted.

DPAC: Nomination made for Irina Robertson. No other nominations were brought forward. All
were in favour a both were voted in and Irina was voted in.   Adopted.

*Note a Co‐DPAC Position is open and vacant.

Secretary: No nominations were brought forward. It was noted that both the current Secretaries, Livia Hong and Kristin Wessel, expressed their decision to step down from this role due to capacity and scheduling conflicts. *Note the Constitution allows that in the absence of a nomination for any Executive position, the Executive Officer(s) shall continue in that position until a nomination is received and the nominee is elected to the position at a General
Meeting

*Note there are 2 Co‐Secretary positions open and vacant.

CPF member: Nominations made for Jason House and William Au. No other nominations were brought forward. All were in favour and both Jason and William, as Co‐reps, were voted in   Adopted.

*Per Section 12.4 of the Constitution:
‐ Clifton Lo, as newly elected Chairperson, will now be added as a Signing Officer for execution of banking and legal documents for the Council;
‐ Kelly Zecca, who has become the Past‐Chairperson, will now be removed as a Signing Officer for execution of banking and legal documents for the Council;
‐ Jessica Liu, as current and re‐elected Treasurer, will remain as a Signing Officer for execution of banking and legal documents for the Council;
‐ Jevy Wu, as newly elected Treasurer, will be added as a Signing Officer for execution of banking and legal documents for the Council

PAC Committees and Coordinators (note the following committees are non‐Executive positions)

Lost and Found Committee: PAC appoints Alessandra Pagliardi as Committee’s Chair

Hot Lunch Committee: PAC appoints Livia Hong as Committee’s Chair

Fruits and Veggies Committee: PAC appoints Eva McQueen as this Committee’s Chair

Website Designer/Coordinator (King of the Web): PAC appoints Ian Chan as Coordinator

Emergency Preparedness Coordinator (new): PAC appoints Phil Sutherland as Coordinator

Volunteer Coordinator (new): No appointment made at the meeting

11. Principal’s Report.

Staffing. Staff will be changing for the fall, with postings for a number of different positions at the school – maternity leaves (Cirka and Shroeder‐LSS); Head Teacher Venos will be moving to a different school next year (Marlborough); new Head Teacher Armstrong coming from Capitol Hill. Principal Lee will aim to keep us in the loop on the changing staff as it progress, but still many moving parts actively trying to fill these positions; potential for shifting around. Sperling is embarking on a couple things (and with new adminstrators coming in) and considering school goals. Our school goal revolves around reading (foundational stones that we build upon for all subjects) ‐ do we need to change our focus? There has been a push to tweak that and consider how we are creating opportunities for readers in our school, for advancement. Teachers are also seeing the need for social emotional regulation; motivation and resiliency to make the most of our opportunities – this has been seen throughout all the schools, not just Sperling ‐ are students ready to learn? Are they willing to learn? What is it to be ready for learning? Our teachers want to be exploring that goal and will be a discussion during the pro‐d day session at Sperling on June 2nd.

Emergency preparedness. Many schools really need to put a push on it and our school has not had a drill in a long while.

Grade 6 camp. Teachers have had an interest to move the schedule back to the beginning of the year rather than towards the end of the year; extra benefit of starting at the beginning to help bringing community together

Grade 7 Quebec/Ottawa trip. A parent information meeting was held; the school and District are looking to create more going forward.

Track season. The students just coming out of the season; the track meet ended up being a miserable day with terrible inclement weather.

Seasonal temperatures. We should be hitting more warmer days; the school discussed plans on how to deal with that. The school spoke with the District about buying more air moving fans; the school has a budget to get it, but are looking for sources and connection. Discussion also raised on other alternative plans – plans to use evaporative cooling, spray water down onto the portables. AC units are not conducive – not big enough for our buildings/portables, and those portable units require closure of windows which is not good.

Meeting adjourned at 9:12 pm.

The next General meeting will be held sometime in September (date to be confirmed).

Sperling PAC
General Meeting Minutes for February 15, 2023

Meeting called to order at on or around 7:08 pm. Meeting was held electronically (via Zoom).

Attendance: Kelly, Sheeba, Jessica, Livia, Jason, William, Cliff, Irina, Jevy, Kristin, Principal Mr. Lee and Head Teacher Ms. Venos, and various parents

Adopt Minutes from Last General Meeting November 16, 2022

The previous Minutes from the last General meeting held on November 16, 2022 were passed and adopted. The motion to adopt was moved and seconded.

Items discussed:

Old Business from Last General Meeting

PAC Table. The PAC received lovely feedback from parents. The PAC plans to hold another one possibly at end of March (March 31st ).

New Business

After School Programs/Activities. In the past, Burnaby Parks and Recreation have offered programs held onsite at the school (after school). Other outside organizations often provide programs as well. All of these programs are provided and implemented outside of the physical school’s administration. All programs have to be approved by the District that considers safety plans, community values, and organizations that are proven as good entities to work with. Burnaby Parks and Recreation has been having a hard time getting enough staff to facilitate and offer more programs. While they are looking to increase the opportunities available, it should be noted that all organizations need to go through an approval process through the District.

The school admin (such as the secretary) are not involved or can assist with any questions regarding the programs and registrations, etc. Parents would need to contact the organization directly in relation to program information.

Volunteer Coordinator Position. The PAC is looking for someone to help maintain and update a volunteer database. This person would also coordinate and liaise with committee members on PAC organized events and activities held throughout the school year, such as hot lunches, pancake breakfast, Sperling Sprint, Fun Fair and would work together to set up volunteer sign ups. If anyone is interested in this role, please contact Kelly at chair@sperlingpac.com

Updates

1. Hot Lunch. The committee provided a general update and feedback from Term 1’s rollout. Positive feedback overall by parents and students. Mixed feedback on some of the food and vendor (one in particular due to undercooked items). Overall, many parents were appreciative on the return of hot lunch and the hard work by the committee. Term 2 is in progress and included its first in-house Hot Dog day. The hot lunch could not be done without the volunteer help by families. Thank you to all that have signed up and helped thus far.
   
   
2. Pancake Breakfast. The event was a success and an overall amazing effort by everyone. So many volunteers and many happy and smiling faces from the students. Everyone was so happy to have it return after COVID and 2-year hiatus.
   
   
3. Grade 7 Committee. The committee has finalized the year-end event it will be held on June 26th at Central City Fun Park (Surrey). The venue was chosen based on a majority vote by the students. In regards to fundraising, the committee thanks the school and PAC for all their help and support. The recent fundraising efforts by the committee were Shopfunds, Winter Concert Concession and Winter Concert Raffle (lottery draw of the coveted front row seats). Some upcoming efforts include Popcorn Day(s), including a Popcorn and Juice ‘store’ during lunch – on March 2nd which lines up with a hot lunch day. Another planned fundraiser is the Neufeld Farms (frozen foods) fundraiser, which will begin on Friday, February 17th until March 8th . The pick up date will be April 3d (5:30 – 6 pm) at Sperling School. There is also a parent who is hosting a photo shoot session – taking place in May (more details to come out).
   
   A reminder that the Grade 7 committee also has a bottle depot account (located at Kensington Plaza). The account is (by phone number: 604-839-0311).
   
   
4. DPAC Update. There was a meeting on January 16th which focused on Long Range Facility Planning. The District is looking at enrollment (which is going up rapidly) within the broader community. They will be going to the province with a master plan and seeking funds; the project is currently at the phase of community engagement. No school closures are being considered (good news!) The requirements of schools are being considered and possibly new boundary lines and catchment areas, as well as current projects for seismic upgrades.
   
   There will be an Open House Meeting that is scheduled for February 22nd from 5-8 pm at various District offices. If one cannot attend there is an online form survey.
   
   The next DPAC meeting will be on February 21st , which will discuss the topic of Emergency Preparedness.
   
   
5. Lost & Found. Many items were around just before Christmas. The Committee will post the items on the Instagram account (@ecolesperlinglost) soon. The committee parents will also be doing another empty run of unclaimed items just before Spring Break. The Committee is looking for more parent volunteers – please contact Kelly at chair@sperlingpac.com if you can help out!
   
   
6. PAC Website Update. The website has now been updated with current information, including:
   – (under News Link) to-date and past Minutes
   – (under the Calendar Link) events connected to the school calendar and any other PAC related events
   – (under the PAC tab) – you will find email addresses for all PAC Executive and Committee representatives; outlines of all the PAC meeting dates and times; general descriptions and Q&As about PAC
   
   The link, which was also posted on the chat at the time of the Zoom, is: https://new.sperlingpac.com/
   
   
7. CPF Update. CPF held a recent French movie showing but many schools weren’t able to make it unfortunately as transportation was an issue. Another session of French language learning classes (for parents/adults) are being made available in April. L’Ecole (book subscriptions) are underway; Sperling will receive 3-4 books due to the amount of subscriptions by families this year.
   
   The next CPF meeting is slated for February 21st.
   
   
8. Budget Update.
   
   Fundraising Account:
   a. Incoming funds received:
      i. Hot Lunch orders and payments (via MunchalunchStripe deposits)
   b. Expenses disbursed:
      i. Invoice for Hip Hop sessions
      ii. Invoice payments disbursed to various hot lunch vendors
      iii. Unused Munchalunch credits since 2020 (due to Covid) disbursed to various parents per written e-mail instructions. Note there are still approx. 30 more accounts with unused credits that require follow-up; there are also funds to be donated to the school that are still in progress.
   
   Gaming Account: There were no funds received nor expensed since the last General Meeting.
   
   Grade 7 Account:
   a. Incoming funds received:
      i. Popcorn fundraising proceeds
      ii. Hot lunch program donation proposal of $500 (see paragraph below)
   
   Motion for the current budget was proposed to be adopted with an amendment to increase the grade 7 donation from the Hot Lunch proceeds from $500 to $600. Motion was seconded and approved by majority show of (online) hands. The budget was approved and the Treasurer will amend the budget accordingly.
   
   
9. Principal’s Report. The principal thanks everyone for the warm welcome to Sperling; he is trying to get out there and be visible. He is encouraging of all communications that are happening or should happen.
   
   At the District level, he emphasized the Long Range Facility Planning as summarized by the DPAC Representative at this General Meeting.
   
   The school has been able to secure Metro Transit Police/Speed Patrol onsite to observe and analyze as well as provide some bylaw enforcement.
   
   Thanks to the grade 6/7 basketball coaches; teacher time and their efforts is very appreciative. Sports is about building sportsmanship and camaraderie and we wish them a successful season. Track and Field (grades 4-7) is coming up in May and June.
   
   Wheelchair Basketball will be coming in shortly for the next gym session – all ages.
   
   We are approaching that time when report cards are coming out soon and the whole process of student communicating learning. Report cards alone are not just the only part of the whole learning picture; conversations help to consistently and continue to open up the lines of communication among parents, caregivers, teachers and students.

Meeting adjourned at 8:15 pm.

The next General meeting will be May 17, 2023 (AGM).

Sperling PAC
General Meeting Minutes for November 16, 2022

Meeting called to order at on or around 7:08 pm. Meeting was held electronically (via Zoom).

Attendance: Kelly, Sheeba, Jessica, Livia, Jason, William, Principal Mr. Chow and Head Teacher Ms. Venos, and various parents

Adopt Minutes from Last General Meeting September 26, 2022

The previous Minutes from the last General meeting held on September 26, 2022 were passed and adopted. The motion to adopt was moved and seconded.

Items discussed:

Old Business from Last General Meeting

No follow up items. Some further updates to previous items are noted below.

New Business

1. Elections for vacant Executive roles. PAC has vacant positions for DPAC (2 co-rep spots) and Treasurer (1 co-rep spot). Two parents, Clifton Lo and Irina Robertson, have shown interest to fill the DPAC co-reps; one parent, Jevy Wu, has shown interest to fill the role of Treasurer co-rep. Nominations were made, seconded and voted in favour of
   electing the above-named parents to fill the respective roles until the next Annual General Meeting (AGM) in May. Pursuant to section 9.6 of the school’s Constitution and Bylaws.
   
   Updates
   
   
2. Hot Lunch (Liv). The rollout of hot lunches has been great so far! The Hot Lunch team is back at it and any volunteers on board and eager to help. The first one was held on October 17 th (pizza) and another on November 3rd (Sushi/Rice Bowl). The feedback from parents has been overall positive and very appreciated. We are going through
   new vendors and also working out logistics and mechanics with each hot lunch.
   
   Hot Lunch received an e-mail from a family wishing to (anonymously) sponsor/donate some funds to put towards providing hot lunch(es) for families in need. Kelly C mentioned that the family can give this donation through SchoolCash Online and can specify where they would like their funds allocated to (ie hot lunches); the school can work on the families that would benefit from this and keep it as anonymous and discreet with the hot lunch committee.
   
   
3. Pancake Breakfast (Liv). The PAC run Pancake Breakfast has been approved by the school – happy to have it return! The date for the event to be confirmed and will be sent out through School Communications. The event has been organized and run by the Hot Lunch team with many Sperling community and family volunteers lending their hands before the event and on the day of. The event is held in the gym and volunteers would help prepare and serve breakfast; families would loan out their personal griddles and pancakes would be flipped by rotating volunteers on the gym stage.
   
   In prior years, the breakfast was held before school hours (7 to 9 am) with half hour seatings assigned to families. In 2019-20 year the school tried a different approach and held the breakfast during school hours (9 – 11:45 am). The students would enjoy breakfast with their buddy class and teachers get a chance to sit and enjoy. Parents/families were still welcome to join, but if they couldn’t make it, every student was still able to partake in the event and sit with someone (buddy).
   
   
4. Grade 7 committee. A parent of the Grade 7 committee was present and provided brief information on their fundraising efforts. They have been discussing a fundraiser with The Pie Hole bakery; and potentially the Kernels popcorn fundraiser, similarly to last year. Fundraising will likely be more in the spring; no plans at Christmas time; however, for the winter concert they may be considering some type of lottery draw for front row seats – ie purchase tickets to enter the lottery which would be a prize of reserved seating; promoting more chances to get drawn rather than highest bidder which would make it more fair.
   
   The committee has also been discussing the year end venue and event for the grads. The theme is looking at more casual and fun.
   
   
5. Fruits and Veggies (Shannon). Great to hear it’s back (since post-Covid hiatus)! A small group of parent volunteers have been overseeing and organizing it. The recent produce items delivered were blueberries, carrots and pears; next up are expected to be mandarin oranges.
   
   The committee will send communications to the school to let the teachers know the delivery dates and expected produce item (subject to change). Delivery to the classrooms is usually around 2:00 pm on the day of.
   
   
6. Lost & Found (Sheeba c/o Alessandra). The Lost & Found rack is getting quite full; the parents overseeing this task will post the lost items on Instagram (handle is @ecolesperlinglost). Watch out for them!
   
   
7. PAC Website update (Sheeba). A PAC Executive has gone through the current PAC website for updates, revisions and consolidations and have been sent over to the parent volunteers (Ian and Estralita) who manage the site. The updates are coming and the new link will be sent out soon. The site is meant to bring awareness of all the PAC information available and provide access to the general meeting minutes.
   
   
8. Stay Safe/Babysitting (Sheeba). PAC is organizing a couple of workshops run by Sea to Sky Safety Training services. They are scheduled for April and June and will be open intermediate students (grades 4-7 age):
   – Stay Safe (First Aid) – tentatively for April 24 th and June 2 nd (both on Pro-d days)
   – Babysitting Course – tentatively for June 2nd
   
   Registration and payment are still being worked out; information to come out in the new year, so look out for that. This event will be noted in the calendar on the PAC site once confirmed. Any questions on this can be directed to the Vice Chair (Sheeba) at vicechair@sperlingpac.com
   
   
9. Body Science (Sheeba). PAC has been looking into the body science workshop training operated by Saleema Noon and her team. The workshop would be held over 3 days (May 10 th – 12 th ) and held in person/class for all grades. There would also be one evening information session for parents/caregivers prior to the start of the workshop. The evening workshop for parents will be virtual via Zoom (on May 8th).
   
   The age appropriate workshops would be divided up by: grades K to 2 (30 minutes); grades 3 to 5 (45 minutes) and grades 6 to 7 (45 minutes).
   
   An inquiry was raised on whether parents would getting a heads up on what would be talked about – this would be in the parent information session (evening).
   
   
10. CPF Update (Jason). The French book subscriptions (Ecole?) have been distributed out to parents; if we get 10 subscriptions, the school will benefit with French books in the school library.
    
    Upcoming Events:
    – French film festival (further information to be provided)
    – Patinage/skating day scheduled for December 10 th (location TBD); free for CPF members or a small cost for non-members
    – French lessons (for adults/parents) – these have begun and will run through to Spring Break; it is now sold out; if you looking for more information, reach out to the PAC rep at cpf@sperlingpac.com
    
    
11. Budget Update (Jessica). Updates since the last budget circulation:
    
    Fundraising Account:
    
    – Disbursements issued for the following items:
    — Classroom consumables
    — Pumpkin patch expenses – note the bill ended up higher than what was budgeted ($80 difference); the school covered the balance. PAC to consider increasing the budget amount for the next year. The budget includes the pumpkins and the hot chocolate supplies.
    
    – Hot lunch
    — Expense disbursements issued
    — Munchalunch funds received (via bank deposit from Stripe account)
    — Invoice payments disbursed to hot lunch vendors
    — Donation to grade 7 fund – flat rate of $500 – subsequent to this meeting, it was noted that the donation in the budget line will be reviewed at the next General meeting
    
    Gaming:
    
    – Transfer of a budget line for field trips ($800) was made; the Treasurer noted that if there are any residual funds regarding field trips, the school will give back to PAC.
    
    
12. Principal’s Report (Kelly Chow). Themes coming out:
    
    Rise of illness in schools and in general (workers):
    – not all Covid related, even cold and flu season
    – Continued effort to keep up safe practices where appropriate; never question mask wearing
    – Staffing shortages – if too many become away and can’t be replaced; Sperling has been fortunate that the ones that have been away have been able to find TOC’s; but there may be a threshold (what’s that limit) and when that comes what are we able to?
    – Other schools have already shown a high absenteeism within the District
    – Stress patience
    – Encourage everyone to stick with common sense and keep child home if they are sick with any symptoms, even if it’s not Covid
    
    Pro-D Day:
    – Coming up next Friday (November 25 th ); staff attending many workshops; Kelly C and Rosemary are already in discussions on what to work on for next year to work collectively as a staff and how to support each other
    
    Winter Concert:
    – Primary classes only during the Winter (the Intermediate classes perform at the Spring Concert)
    – 2 tickets per family (due to capacity) and will be either for the afternoon or the evening show (not both); if there are extra tickets available the school will send communications out to parents
    – Inquiry was made on whether there is a way to video the concert, to mitigate people using their phones etc. but the concern is the liability and obtaining disclosure/signoff by every parent from a student that was in it
    
    Student Leadership Group:
    – Mme Altman is working with the students to develop a mission statement; broadening their horizons; not representing themselves but the entire group/population
    – Coming up with a statement that asks the question ‘does the activity or what they are doing, fit everyone collectively’ (rather than only a certain group)
    – Leadership Group is collecting for a toy drive – bring an unwrapped gift for donation; the Group have set goals and incentives – x amount raised allows for some extra stuff

Meeting adjourned at 8:04 pm.

The next General meeting will be February 15, 2023.

Sperling PAC

General Meeting Minutes for September 26, 2022

Meeting called to order at on or around 7:03 pm. Meeting was held electronically (via Zoom).

Attendance: Kelly, Sheeba, Jessica, Livia, Kristin, Jason, William, Principal Mr. Chow and Head Teacher Ms. Venos

Adopt Minutes from Last Executive Meeting May 19, 2022

The previous Minutes from the General (AGM) meeting held on May 19, 2022 were reviewed and no corrections to be made. The motion to approve and adopt the Minutes was moved and seconded.

Items discussed:

Outstanding Business (from Last General Meeting)

There was no outstanding business discussed.

New Business

1. General Introductions
The PAC Chair started with a self-introduction, followed by a general introduction by each PAC Executive member:

• Kelly Zecca – Chair
• Sheeba Faqih – Vice-Chair
• Jessica Liu – Secretary
• Livia Hong – Co-Secretary
• Kristin Wessel – Co-Secretary
• Jason House – CPF Co-Rep
• William Au/Gloria Au – CPF Co-Rep

The DPAC position is currently available and the Exec team is looking for new reps – ideally 2 co-reps to spread the load. A brief explanation of the role was given (attend monthly meetings, represent Sperling PAC); If anyone is interested, Please contact chair@sperlingpac.com

2. Meetings
PAC General meetings are held every 2 months – November, January, March, May (AGM). The Exec team will meet shortly before each General meeting as well as monthly in between General meetings. All meetings will continue to be held via Zoom.

3. PAC Committees
There are various PAC sub committees and ongoing events that welcome volunteers:

Fruits and Veggies

Big thanks to our parent volunteers who were in the school Monday delivering blueberries to the students. This program is facilitated by the PAC. Suppliers will deliver fresh produce weekly or bi-weekly to the school to be distributed to all classrooms. If you’d like to volunteer to help on delivery days (around 1:30 pm to wash and dry fruits/vegetables and deliver to the classroom) please email hotlunch@sperlingpac.com

Grade 7 Committee
A committee is usually formed by the parents of grade 7 students to help with fundraising and grade 7 events throughout the year. If you would like to organize or be a part of the committee, please contact chair@sperlingpac.com and Kelly will connect those that are interested.

Lost and Found

The Lost and Found is managed by 1-2 parent volunteers (Alessandra and one other) throughout the year. There is an Instagram account @ecolesperlinglost where lost and found items are posted. Please keep an eye on this account if you’re missing something! The lost and found items/rack is located in the hallway just beside the primary boys’ washroom (near the school doors nearest the portables). Your child can ask their teacher to check the lost and found if they are missing anything.

 

Emergency/First Aid Supplies
Sperling has a large earthquake bin (behind the basketball court facing Adair), as well as emergency backpacks in every classroom including the library. The bin and backpacks will need to be checked over for supplies to see if anything needs to be restocked or replaced. Ms. Venos, Mme Day and one parent volunteer (Phil) have currently been on top of this duty each year. The school and PAC would like to do a bit more for the earthquake bin.

Hot Lunch Committee

The committee is currently comprised of about 6 parent volunteers who are ready and excited to roll out hot lunches again – planning is underway and help is needed! There are lots of opportunities for volunteering, in various capacities and both during school (about a 1 hour commitment on lunch days) and outside of school hours. The hot lunch dates and vendors are currently in the works with a projected start of mid October. The PAC committee is also planning to send out a survey shortly to get some insight, feedback and provide more volunteer information. If you are interested to help with the committee or volunteer, please e-mail hotlunch@sperlingpac.com Stay tuned!

4. PAC Table
The PAC Executives plan to set up a PAC table on a Friday morning for a meet and greet and to welcome any families to stop by with any questions or sign up for volunteer opportunities. There are lots of different ways to help out with the PAC and the Sperling community.

The PAC has its own website, separate from the school site (although you can find the link on the school’s tab titled “Parents”). The site is currently being updated but you can check it out and find out all the Meeting dates, Minutes to meetings, and PAC Team contacts at: https://new.sperlingpac.com

5. DPAC Update
As there is no current DPAC representative on the committee, there was no update to provide at this time.

6. CPF Update
The first meeting was held last week. Flyers will be sent out next week.
CPF will be holding French lessons/classes for parents again – a great way to learn or refresh the language skills. Sign up asap to get a spot as the courses are very popular and fill up fast.
The AGM date is coming up – October 15th – there will be an option to have an online presence if it is not in-person.

7. Budget
The Treasurer shared (on-screen) a copy of the 2022/23 Proposed Budget. The PAC has 2 accounts – a Fundraising account and a Gaming account.

Fundraising Account

These funds are generated through the school’s fundraising efforts and community donations. The proposed revenue (incoming) budget for this school year is estimated at $13,400, which includes various items such as:

• parent donations
• Sperling Sprint
• hot lunch sales
• Other small fundraisers

The proposed expenses (outgoing) budget for this school year is estimated at $14,545, which includes:

• Classroom consumables ($150 per teacher; 22 divisions)
• Community night (see further notes below regarding discussion)
• Hip/Hop dance class (to be confirmed)
• School bus rental (re Track and Field)
• Banking/Admin expenses (ie stop payments and cheque replenishments)
• Teacher/Staff Appreciation (see further notes below regarding discussion)
• Pumpkin Patch
• Special School Project (extra curricular activities) – ie, this could be for tennis
• Fruits and Veggies
• Traffic Safety
• School bus rental (Cultus Lake)
• Sport boxes (rainy days)
• CPF/DPAC membership fees
• PAC domain name

 

Gaming Grant/Account

These funds come from the community gaming (ie casino revenue) and is distributed by the government and based on the amount of students in the school – approx. average $20/student as an estimate (can change each year). The school must apply for this grant; the cutoff to apply is June 30 of the prior school year; submission of financial statements and other documents required; it takes a couple months to process; if approved, funding will be released to the school around September/October; the school does not know the amount until it actually comes in. There is also a guideline that must be followed on how and where these funds are used.

The proposed revenue (incoming) budget for the grant, based on previous years, is anticipated at $10,000. The proposed expenses (outgoing) budget is estimated at (estimated amount to be confirmed), which includes various items such as:

• Emergency supplies
• Body Science Workshop (see further notes below regarding discussion)
• Mental Health Workshop (for parents only) (see further notes below regarding discussion)
• Other budget items typically accounted for in past years

The account appears as a negative balance but this is due to residual funds which were unused from last year.

Summary of new proposed budget items:

Community Night

• Thought it would be nice to budget for this community event; looking into this to build community; PAC has been discussing for a while and want to do this for the community

Teacher/Staff Appreciation

• In the past the Teacher/Staff Appreciation has been an in-house potluck luncheon with a small budget allocated towards a gift; since Covid we shifted to a catered lunch ordered from a local restaurant for the Sperling teachers and staff at the end of the year

Body Science (Saleema Noon)

• Thinking about trying to organize workshop(s) by Salima Noon
• Targeting age groups
• Discuss body science – a sexuality component for older children
• Get a different perspective on things and learning information

PAC is working to see if we can make this happen and will follow up with Principal Chow on details/approval on Body Science Program from Saleema Noon.

Guest Speaker Presentation

• Meant for parents/caregivers
• Presentation that discusses mental health, anxiety, how to help parents cope and manage
• Provide information and guide us on these topics and during this pandemic time

Motion was made to adopt the proposed 2022-23 budget. The motion to adopt was moved and seconded. Budget passed.

8. Principal’s Report

Introduction from the new Principal, Kelly Chow with school updates. The first week of school went smoothly from a staff perspective. The principal read a book “Circles All Around Us” – encapsulates our circles and extend out and make bigger connections; why we are doing this and what we are doing, all over the world; building community; reconnecting with each other; school is one place to do that and other places as well (ie. PAC table is a way).

The first staff meeting talked about building community; getting clubs back on track, re-introducing programs. Covid is still around. The recent Pro-D Day on September 21st was a jam packed day for Sperling teachers who discussed building community, under the idea of 4 pillars:
(1) Vision (what do we value most, what does it mean as a Sperling student) – want to engage the staff and parents throughout the year.
(2) Expectations – are they clear? Not just to students, but to everybody; let’s not make it a mystery.

(3) Instructional Practices – social emotional learning – what are teachers needing to help support students.
(4) Home school piece – what are the current things we’re doing and what more can we do to build even stronger connections.

The principal also mentioned a Coffee Curriculum – an opportunity to engage parents with the principal about questions around school matters; another way to bridge the connection between school and parent community; goal is to try and gather more parent engagement and we will continue to do things moving forward as to what’s best for our community and work with everyone’s comfort levels.

Teacher updates – welcome Jackie Schroeder to the LSS department to provide support to the classroom teacher (social, academic, or both). Mme Rachel Montague has returned from maternity leave as one of the French Immersion teachers for Kindergarten.

Student learning used to just be exchanged through report cards and maybe a parent-teacher conference or two; now we are focusing on building ways to understand how kids are doing and bringing the learning to the parents outside the 9-3 pm daily basis. That’s what schools are trying to change to make things resonate a lot more.

Parent Teacher Intake sessions were scheduled through an online scheduling process. Hoping it was streamlined and easy to navigate. The principal would love any feedback from parents on how it was, helpful, frustrating, etc.

Upcoming Events

National Day for Truth & Reconciliation – no school for students on Friday, September 30th; Thursday September 29th will be Orange Shirt Day and the students will attend an assembly and talk about what trust and reconciliation meants to them.

Terry Fox Run – the date has been changed and will now be on Friday, October 7th in the afternoon. Volunteers are requested from 1:30 pm to help supervise along the run/walk route.

Pro-D Day – the next Pro-D Day is October 21st and is province wide.

Pumpkin Patch – scheduled for Wednesday October 26th, to be supported by the PAC who will also provide hot chocolate to the students. The setup will be how it was in previous years, with pumpkins laid out all across the field.

8. Other Business

Question: What is the school protocol on parent presence on-site?

• The school is considering procedures/best practices for opening the school up to parents for assemblies and school events as well as hot lunch help. Still in consultation phase. No decisions yet.
  

Question: Will we have a Fun Fair this year?

• The PAC Executives discussed this at the end of June last year. This requires a lot of planning and work by the PAC. It was decided to put it on hold for this coming year and more realistic to start now and plan for 2023/24 school year.
  

Question: Will there be a Winter Concert this year? Grade 7 Band?

• Mr. Martin is working on a plan for a Christmas Concert with the hope that parents can attend. Expect there to be limited attendance. Grade 7 Band Concert is also in consideration.
  

There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 8:10 pm.

Prepared by Livia Hong and Kristin Wessel

General PAC AGM minutes May 18th, 2022

Called to order 7:05pm

DPAC (Alessandra)

Monday presentation and AGM. Survey results reviewed. No notes or screenshots

allowed because of the sensitive nature of survey. Perspective of students, parents, teachers, bipoc. Patriarchal and colonial system. Nothing to distribute at this time. But it was hard and we have work to do.

CPF (Jason)

AGM next week. no updates yet. summer camp registration is full now. Mme Therien is the emergency backup for the camp but they’re polling for high school students. BBQ date TBD

BUDGET

Only membership stuff and only 2 transaction the last month. accounted for incoming for gr 7

popcorn sales. Nominal activity.

• Balance the same as before for gaming acct, fundraising acct, and gr 7 acct balance. Budget passed as presented.

PAC CHAIR (Kelly)

Sidewalks looking to be installed on Hycrest in 2022. This should make parking interesting but walking safe.

 

HOT LUNCH / Sports Day (Liv)

Email sent yesterday for June 2 thurs. pizza options for fresh slice. 11:30 sports day activities end. Early dismissal at 12:30. Trying to still get ordering and payment methods and processes figured out. committee in place but may still ask for volunteers.

• Looking to expand hotlunch program for the next year.

 

GRADE 7 (Lorie Siu)

Grad raffle launched this week. great prizes. Samosa made a few hundred. Popcorn sale again this Friday. Bags have been pre-bought so hoping to sell them all. Big thank you to the gr 7 teachers who have been helping Lorie with the students who have not submitted photos and have not answered questions for the yearbook. Susie has also sent an email to the individual parents so big thank you to her. Very slim on gr 7 photos… only 3 pages so far, so if any parents have photos of gr 7’s that would be appreciated. ie pancake breakfast or Christmas craft pics. 4 individual shots of kids to be included. Lorie on school ground hoping to get a few photos today of band and other activities. Books are taking longer to come back so need to submit by June 5 at the latest.

2022sperlingyearbook@gmail.com

• PAC will pay for a slice of pizza for hot lunch for gr 7s on sports day
• $500 float from PAC will go to the grad which was in the budget that was passed in sept.

 

EXECUTIVE PAC Positions for 2022/23

 

• CHAIR: Kelly will stay for 1 more year. would like someone to shadow her. Would like to be on gr 7 grad the following year so hopes someone will take over her position. Nominated and voted in
• VICE CHAIR: Sheeba would like to stay on. Nominated and voted in
• DPAC: Alessandra and Naila will be stepping down. Would like to have 2 new people. will make a call-out for September (learn what the district is doing at the policy level and practice level. Also allows you to share the wonderful things that sperling is doing. Has impact into policy and budget. Advisory committee to district level and trustees.)
• CPF: Jason and William both nominated to stay on and are happy to do so. voted all in favor
• TREASURER: Jessica would be happy to stay on. Nominated and voted in
• CO-SECRETARY: Ruth will be leaving the school this year. Liv would like to stay on and would like
• another helper. Nominated and voted in. Kristin is interested Wessel. Nominated and voted in.

MINUTES

Minutes passed from previous general meeting.

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

Moving to Inman. 5 years of learning and half of them have been pandemic years. New principal is Kelly Chow moving from Inman to Sperling. Dave says thank you and is really proud of the things we have done at sperling and proud of what the community has done and held together.

• New Indigenous display in the school… when you get a change come take a peek. Great catalyst for conversations for classes to use.
• Congrats for Mme Therien who tore up the rug at the dance performance last night.
• Thanks to Dave Kelsey and crew for organizing sports day. Will be doing it in classes. Not inviting parents but also not turning parents away if they show up. Encourages people to be respectful of distance and space. And to follow protocols. Early dismissal
• Hub cycle tmr… bike lessons on upper gravel fields turned into biking track
• Not surplussing any teachers. Asking parents to list kids learning styles as well as 2 kids they work well with in class. This is an opportunity to share what your child is like and not an invitation to be negative
• Track… hard time to find people to run it with volunteers. 2 different events for 4/54 and 6/7. But 4/5 lands on our sports day so that won’t happen. Running club had a great finish at rocky point with a 6k run. Ran most of the year. District decided that meets would happen at 4 different high schools. 1 track meet for gr 6/7… only 5 students on the team. Not that excitement in kids that wanted to be involved.

OTHER BUSINESS

PAC pays for bus for track meet. Jessica already dropped a cheque to school. But they don’t need a bus and nobody has booked a bus. We usually pre-issue the chq. School can cut a chq back to Jessica and if chq hasn’t been cashed yet we should void it.

Q teacher appreciation? We have a budget for it. since pandemic we have ordered catered lunch. Cosmos has closed but we can order from elsewhere. What date would work? June 15th is a Wednesday and has the most teachers present. Budget allotted $350 for teacher appreciation. Motion made to make a one time adjustment to the budget and seconded to move money from teacher lunch room furniture to make it 1200 for teacher appreciation lunch. Seconded and passed. Options ideally local but gray olive was suggested as was white spot

Meeting adjourned

PAC General Meeting February 16th , 2022

 

Held via zoom and called to order 7pm

Adopted minutes from meeting Nov 17, 2021

DPAC

 

No updates since the last meeting where they talked mostly about Covid protocols which would now be outdated. Minutes from meetings are likely online on their website

CPF

 

Another round of lessons for parents link went out. Some people were able to sign up. Secondary event was scheduled high school students read a book to the kids and it’s called bedtime stories… Q&A. no late signups were allowed. There will be another sign up in May.

Film festival info will be sent out as part of these minutes

Budget

 

Only 2 transactions since the last meeting in fundraising account and no transactions in gaming account.

• Tent $335.99
• $75 BCCPAC membership fee.

$577.60 available for grade 7 grad

Budget passed.

Chair

 

 

 

• Parking… not going to get into it. Walking sidewalk will only work with volunteers. We need so many that it doesn’t seem possible. There was an article in the Burnaby Now. Reach out to Kelly if you want to volunteer 15 minutes in the morning when the traffic rush is happening.
• Grade 7 grad committee will report today. Ira and Stephanie spearheading fundraising. Focus there until restrictions ease. Working with Rosemary as school contact. Lori yearbook. Plans pending. Budget made pending approval. 7 initiatives they want to do at the school.

Principal’s Report

Grad committee formed and she is liaison. Working toward event.

Sports equipment for classes has all arrived and has been distributed. Came in less than half the budget. Each intermediate class has a color coordinated set to avoid fights and loss. Labelled. Many types of balls including frisbee and cone. Primary play ball soccer ball and hula hoops.

FEB 28th 2 weeks of wheelchair basketball (or possibly some other sport)

Air scrubbers received a month ago for each classroom. Today received smaller filters for auxiliary rooms like learning resource, counsellor, braille etc and will be put into place in the next few days.

Report cards coming up

Overall calm at the school and it’s a good thing. We are getting excited that we may be able to start some bigger and more fun activities moving forward.

 

 

Open for Questions

Ira asks about legacy gift. Students never see it. Idea needs to come from them. Gr 7 parents not to be responsible.

 

Hepa filters… where did they come from. Came from district… portable units and district installed them as a district wide initiative.

Plug for new members to join exec. We have a great team. Kelly stepping down but will shadow

someone next year. Ruth on her last year.

Next meeting May 18 AGM

Adjourned 7:27