April
Meeting began at 6:05 pm
In Attendance:
Kelly Freitas - Principal
Sarah Cannataro - Vice Principal
Sandra Lee
Ashley Walsh-Perfetto
Candice Gocht
Kiran Persaud
Jan Thomas
Erin Ruppel (Library tech, joined for part of the meeting)
Welcome: Sarah Cannataro and Sandra Lee
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Land Acknowledgement: Honouring the Land and Territory
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Review of agenda, no meeting minutes available for review
Principals report: Kelly Freitas
March and April, so far:
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Art Night and Take Home a Book event –Thank you to School Council for your time and support
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Celebrated the lead up to March break with some spirit days, thanks to Mrs. Marrows for suggesting
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Mrs. Hendrix’s class celebrated with a hot chocolate party for for winning the Code of Conduct whole school Kahoot
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Ms Wysocka and her team have been working tirelessly to prepare for our Annie Junior musical performance
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Grade 8 senate wants to work on a washroom campaign so that washrooms are safe and clean across our board
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Our school community officer Mr. Sandhu has been in working with Ms. Rivera’s grade 8 class on social media, cyberbullying and being a positive digital citizen
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We’ve been working through staffing and so far we are status quo; it looks like we will be posting a 0.41 planning time position
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Long and McQuade have finished their work on updating our sound system–just in time for our May performances of Annie Jr.
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Our CPE classes attended a Sports Festival at the Milton Velodrome
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We welcomed Amanda Curtis back to work and said goodbye to our LTO Kristen Statema; we also said goodbye to Stacey Foy, and have welcomed LTO Kelly Burke to our contained CPE class
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Senior Boys basketball club has been meeting at lunch and one day a week after school–where they have the opportunity to play with high school students; we will be switching to junior basketball and are hoping that there will be greater interest from the junior boys and girls
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We recognized International Day of Pink and World Autism Day–on World Autism day in addition to wearing red, yellow and blue, Mrs. Walton also shared a read aloud on google meet
Up and Coming:
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Knowledgehook will be coming in on Friday (Apr 17th) to do some training with our grade 3-6 teams
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April 22nd is Earth Day, we will be doing a clean up that is being organized by our Green Team
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Primary concert is April 23rd, from 6-7:00 pm
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Community event to be aware of: Bike Swap–sale date is Saturday April 25, 2026, from 10am to 12pm at the Gellert Centre, Parking Lot, 10241 Eighth Line, Georgetown. Browsing early is permitted but sales will not start until 10am. Donated bikes, trikes and cycling equipment will be accepted by volunteers April 20 through 24 from 5 to 7pm at the Gellert Centre parking lot. Look for the Hey Rey bin. Donations will also be accepted the morning of the sale (April 25) from 8 to 11 a.m.
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We are switching over our Electives to new choices this month
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PA day on April 24th, and our EAs will participate in regional learning at other locations, and the rest of staff will be at SCP learning about AI and working on our literacy and numeracy SIPSA
Book Fair: Erin (Silver Creek’s library tech)
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The book fair will be happening the week of May 18th, with two night time sales happening during the Annie Jr performances (May 20th & 21st)
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Looking for parent or student volunteers for the night performances.
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Erin will email Sandra with the Scholastic Book Fair flyer for posting on Parent Council’s social media pages.
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Ashley can help Wed and Thur (Apr 20/21) and Kiran on Wed night - Kelly will pass on this information to Erin.
PIC Representative Update: Kiran Persaud
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Confirmed that PIC event cannot occur the same night as the Fun Fair (PIC is intended to be a free community event, but the fun fair includes a fee to join)
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Ethel Gardiner PS invited us to to be part of their PIC night (speaker)
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A suggestion was put forward to use a portion of PIC funds to support the Welcome to Kindergarten school event, specifically by including books in the welcome bags for new students. Council voted in favour of the idea, pending Kiran’s follow‑up to confirm that this use of funds is allowable.
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The group discussed some challenges in finding a STEM‑focused event that aligns well with the school’s needs and fits within the available PIC funding of $500
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Kiran will also follow up to see if 25/26 PIC funds can be used towards a PIC event in Sept.
Treasurer’s Report: Ashley Walsh-Perfetto
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February bank balance was $10,476.47
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Fun Fair inflatables deposit ($2,759.43) was made in Feb
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The Angel Fund balance stands at $887.54, with additional expenditures from last month still pending
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$5,015.50 was spent on school sports jerseys in March.
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A school request for $1,000 to support Annie Jr was reviewed. Council voted not to approve the request at this time due to the current bank balance and several upcoming financial commitments, including funds to be remitted to Krispy Kreme (approximately $1,000) and the next scheduled payment for Fun Fair inflatables. Council also noted that $1,000 is typically allocated to support Grade 8 graduation, which further limits available funds at this time. This will need to be voted on at a later date after financial review.
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$5,521.15 current account balance
Events/Fundraising Report: Sandra Lee / Candice Gotch
Concession stand at Annie Jr: Council had previously discussed hosting a concession stand at Annie Jr. as a potential fundraising event.
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At this meeting, Council voted not to proceed with the concession stand.
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The decision was based on several factors, including:
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Limited availability of volunteers
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Challenges associated with accepting and managing cash at the event
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Concerns about potential mess and cleanup requirements
Fun Fair:
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Sponsors and donations:
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Sandra has been actively seeking sponsors and donations. To date, $250 has been received from Georgetown Toyota, along with an additional $1,000 donation (The Mechanical Group). Many items have been donated from companies for the silent auction.
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Food Trucks:
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Candice provided an update on efforts to secure food trucks. This has been challenging, as several other schools are hosting events around the same time period.
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Council discussed a range of potential food truck options. It was noted that some vendors offer a portion of sales returned to the school.
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A variety of food options will be needed to accommodate different preferences. Current options under consideration include pizza, ice cream, poutine, hot dogs, and tandoori food.
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Some food truck vendors have restrictions on the number of other food trucks permitted at the same event.
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Kiran will follow up with one vendor and report back to Council.
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It was noted that decisions need to be made promptly, as a permit application must be submitted to the City for the event.
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Other confirmed items: Jumballoo is joining and will bring games; Kids Inc. is coming and will provide facepainting.
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More games are needed: Kelly to make one and will follow up with Jan about making more. Sarah will email the school community to ask if other families might have games to donate for the night. Candace might be able to provide one.
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Sandra suggested a bubble garden and sidewalk chalk for the younger children; council loved this idea; Kelly had some supplies that she has provided to council
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It was confirmed by Kelly that the silent auction and snack shack can be in the gym. We will need to come up with ideas to get the crowds to come into the gym
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Jan is looking after the silent auction; she will email around some ideas for council’s input. Themes will be given to classes as we have done in the past.
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Sandra asked that we have more tables and chairs (compared to last year); Kelly will look into this.
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Council wants to have a snack shack at the Fun Fair; Ashley to email Julie (cc’ing Kelly) to ask about taking cash at this event
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We still need volunteers, Kiran will follow up with some parents that signed up and will advertise at the high school; Kelly to reach out to teachers
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Council will vote in May for costs associated with the Fun fair (e.g., bracelets, snacks, basket supplies)
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Ticket sales will start in May, with pre-tickets at $15 and $20 at the door.
Meeting adjourned at 7:20 pm
November
November 3, 2025
Meeting began at 6:04 pm
In Attendance:
Kelly Freitas - Principal
Sarah Cannataro - Vice Principal
Sarah Luskey - Teacher Representative
Ashley Walsh-Perfetto
Karlene Stokes
Jan Thomas
Candice Gocht
Sandra Lee
Kiran Persaud
Bal Gill (Online)
Welcome: Sarah Cannataro and Sandra Lee
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Land Acknowledgement: Honouring the Land and Territory
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Review Meeting Norms
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Review and acceptance of minutes from September meeting, Sandra first, Karlene second, minutes approved
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Review and acceptance of current agenda, Karlene first, Candice second, agenda approved
Principal’s Report: Kelly Freitas
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Had Open House in October, it was a success. GDHS was in attendance handing out cookies, working on recruiting students to stay in the public sector and no move into the Catholic sector once they move into High School
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Grade 7 Immunization Clinic
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PA Day - focus was on ministry mandated anti-racism training, suicide prevention plan; looking for parent input, will send out electronic communication prior to the next committee meeting
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Coaches and teams very busy with volleyball and Intramurals
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Thanks to Council for an awesome Riff Whims dance, students had a great time
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MYSP - Multi-Year Strategic Plan
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Starting a “Kindness Campaign” with hope to release in November; also a book talk about cultivating kindness
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Student Senators have been selected; we have two Grade 8 student representatives this year
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Save the date for our Pot Luck party/Holiday Market - December 4; we have a local photography business that offered to take free family photos with a winter backdrop at the event for every family in attendance
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SEE NOTES for more details**
Teacher’s Report: Sarah Luskey
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Phys-Ed Update - the Grade 8 flag football team won the tournament at MDHS Milton, this was very exciting for our team!
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Volleyball underway for Grades 7 and 8 Girls and Boys
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Intramurals have started, Grade 8s are keen and signed up; running Intramurals at all first breaks, every time slot is full!
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There’s been a few field trips already this year
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The musical Annie is underway; the cast has been chosen
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We need to invest in new uniforms; request for fundraising endeavours to help support this need. We are looking to use a multi-purpose style jersey, as opposed to buying separate uniforms per sport. Currently we are sharing the pinnies in place of proper uniforms. Nased off past experience, Kelly mentioned it’s approximately $10,000 for about 9000 jerseys. We will need to get updated quotes based off our requirements.
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Maybe one type of sport per year over a few years is an option for council
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Tent wasn’t bought at the end of
Treasurer’s Report: Ashley Walsh-Perfetto
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June to Oct - $11,477.34 revenue in June, $3325.92 expenses, funfair made $6,364.78
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$500 donation over the summer
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Sept $2332.47
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Need to top up angel fund (not done last year as discussed and voted on) $548.00 current; Ashley put forth a motion to ensure the funds are transferred, topping the account up to $1000.00, Karlene first, Sandra second, motion approved.
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Prof jams:
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SEE Sandra’s report and Ashley’s report for details
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Current balance but we still need to issue the payment for the cards once they are delivered. The amount owing is $2663.00 due upon delivery, November 12. We received a $75 rebate, Mrs Ford’s class won the pizza party with a total of 17 orders.
Events/Fundraising Report: Sandra Lee and Candice Gocht
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December 4 - Potluck and Vendor Market; we have approximately 16 tables for vendors with approximately 25 total vendors planned, and Kelly confirms that we have plenty of seating for the potluck; Party Aire has donated Silver Creek-coloured balloons for an arch; we will need volunteers to assemble the arch; Sandra will reach out to the mascots that we had last year to see if they are available. Candice suggested a gift-wrapping table, Sandra mentioned a beverage table; she wants to have a School Council table at events where we can generate more funds. Sandra put forth motion to set up a wrapping table, with a proposed budget of $50 for the wrapping paper and tape but we are going to put out a community call out for material donations, Jan first and Candice second, motion approved. Sandra put forth motion to also set up a hot chocolate table; in respect of time we will discuss this further offline and vote via email if necessary.
Future Business: Sandra Lee
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Art Night (Feb or Mar); Kiran suggested working with the Board’s printer to make prints of the student’s art to sell to the parents
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Fun Fair, we could really reduce our rental fees if we book outside of a Thursday or Friday; is a Wednesday night ok? Kelly to confirm. Candice is going to get quotes for inflatables. Dates are June 3, 10 or 17 for Wednesday options.
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Book Fair in April, possibly coupling this with Art Night?
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Monthly Movie Night, potential start in the new year to support the yearly $1000.00 license
Meeting adjourned at 7:12 pm
December
December 1, 2025
Meeting began at 6:04 pm
In Attendance:
Kelly Freitas - Principal
Sarah Cannataro - Vice Principal
Sarah Luskey - Teacher Representative
Ashley Walsh-Perfetto
Karlene Stokes
Candice Gocht
Kiran Persaud
Jan Thomas
Sandra Lee (Online)
Bal Gill (Online)
Welcome: Sarah Cannataro and Sandra Lee
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Land Acknowledgement: Honouring the Land and Territory
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Review and acceptance of minutes from November meeting, Candice first, Sandra second, minutes accepted
Principal’s Report: Kelly Freitas
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During November we sent home Progress Reports and held Student Led Conferences
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Former students came in and we got to meet some of our staff’s children on “Take Your Kid to Work” day.
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We are grateful to Mrs Walton, Ms Carter and Mrs Wysocka for their support with planning a beautiful Remembrance Day assembly. Our students and choir made the assembly a special occasion and we also shared a slideshow that Mrs Marrows compiled of our students’ family members who have served or are currently serving our country.
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Grade 8 teachers working collaboratively with our HREIE IPL and our Indigenous Education IPLs to support proactive teaching around Human and Indigenous Rights; and to combat harmful and discriminatory language.
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We have updated our Bullying Prevention and Intervention Plan and are looking for parent input via the Kindness Form; link to be shared soon. This form was curated based on information we received from our students when we asked them “What does Kindness mean to you?”.
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Time to refresh on our values and commitments, looking to continue building based on parent input
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GDHS info session was attended by many of our students/families. Some of the GDHS band members and musician-students also visited Silver Creek to share about their music program and inspire future musicians.
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We collected food for the Georgetown Bread Basket; 440lbs of food were donated to give assistance to many families in our community.
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Our Mental Health and Well-being Club followed up their Kindness Campaign to scare away bullying in October with many activities and theme days for Anti-Bullying Awareness and Prevention Week.
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Our Leadership Team just hosted Tiger Jeet Singh Jr to get our students excited about donating new and unused toys for the Miracle on Main event in Milton. This is a free event being held in Milton on December 6; looking to host a Georgetown event in the future. We will continue to collect toys until December 12.
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We have booked a Black Canadian History presentation by Tracy Cain. She uses a mix of song and storytelling for our Juniors and Intermediates; this presentation will be scheduled for the end of January.
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PIC school representative orientation December 4 @ 6:30pm
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We are still looking for wrapping supply donations for our Holiday event on December 4; currently we have about 10 rolls of wrapping paper.
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Looking for donations towards the school’s musical, a license for the script is approximately $1200, and we have costumes and props to get as well.
Teacher’s Report: Sarah Luskey
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The outdoor education committee is meeting December 2 to start a plan for this year; focus on taking the learning outside. The Committee was formed last year; working on making learning meaningful once it’s outside.
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Junior Volleyball tryouts starting for Boys and Girls.
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Working on quotes for athletic uniforms; more info to follow.
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Intermediate ski trip forms have gone out earlier this year to assist with the cost.
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Madame Watson has put forward a request for Council’s involvement in Carnivale again this year; event planned for January 15. Request was for Council to provide $200.00 to purchase cups and hot chocolate. Karlene put forth motion to donate the requested funds, Candice seconded, motion approved.
PIC Representative Update: Kiran Persaud
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PIC Conference held in Milton on November 15. Kiran attended and highly recommends parent attendance. There are many workshops available that cover topics such as screen-time, mental health, building awareness for minorities, children and online presence, fundraising for your school, and so many more.
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Looking at getting Pardeep Nagra, the Human Rights & Equity Advisor for HDSB, into our school to discuss important topics relevant to our students. We are also going to book in Paul Davis to speak to our families about AI involvement in the school, what it means for our students and how we can protect and educate them. What initiatives can we offer to make such talks more inviting to the parents? We want a good turnout as these topics are important and worth taking the time to attend. Kelly mentioned involving the GDHS students to add a STEAM part as well as encouraging our families to look at the public secondary system instead of the Catholic secondary system. We have the grant ($500-750) that we can draw from for any supplies. Proposal of adding it to the current Art Night event. Kelly says available dates are March 26 or April 2; it has to be a Thursday because of our permit. The Council believes that March 26 will be the best night. We can solidify this date and discuss event plans via email prior to the next scheduled Council meeting.
Treasurer’s Report: Ashley Walsh-Perfetto
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There was $2008.00 in funds that came in over November, $4000.00 in expenses went out
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$1000.61 in Angel Fund
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$11,285.35 current account balance
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Ashley and Sandra attended the Financial Training in November. The Board is looking for parent input on the current budget planning. Sarah can share information on the weekly.
Events/Fundraising Report: Sandra Lee
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December 4 - Vendor tables will be placed down the office hallway and the main hallway up to the bathrooms. The wrapping table will be positioned to the right of the main entrance against the wall in the foyer. The photographer to be posted just past the bathrooms/vendor tables in the main hallway, near the Kindie classrooms. Sandra will be on hand right after school to assist vendors with tables/set up. Pot luck currently has 12 recipes submitted not including staff, this is similar to last year’s numbers around this time and we ended up with way more food/families attending. Kelly says we have enough tables to supply one for the wrapping table. We need help setting up the tables prior to the event start time. Ashley, Kiran and Jan will be available to assist with table set up.
Future Business: Sandra Lee
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Fun Fair - Candice received a quote for inflatables for a Wednesday/Thursday $6200.00; not as much of a discount as we anticipated moving it from a Friday. We will need to put half of the amount as a down payment and the sooner the better to secure our preferred date. Suggestion for Silent Auction is smaller items that students could bid on (ie. Starbucks to go cup, small gift cards). Kelly suggests not renting the games but having our Intermediate students running simple and engaging games; this will save us money and involve our students more. Candice says that we can save $800.00 by not renting the games. Candice proposed a ticket price of $15 ahead of time and $20 on the day; to be voted on in the future. We should have an idea of our expenses before solidifying ticket prices. Proposed date of June 4 or June 11 for the Fun Fair; let’s confirm when Ethel Gardiner is hosting theirs, once confirmed we will hold a vote via email to secure the date. We currently have the money in our account to cover the down payment of $3100.00 as per the current quote. Karlene proposed delegating the funds from our current account balance, Kiran seconded, motion passed. Council is looking at hosting a Sugar Shack table; Ms. Luskey suggested selling tickets ahead of time, for example 10 tickets and each item is worth a set amount of tickets. This would reduce the need for cash/QR codes and allow us to budget/supply-shop accordingly. Council will work out these details at the February meeting.
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Krispy Kreme - we will start advertising the week that we return from winter break, this would give us 5 weeks; Krispy Kreme needs the final order by February 5. Sandra will make a flyer and work with Julie and Ashley about the School Cash Online part. Our cost is $8.00/dozen; Sandra put forth a motion to charge $15.00/dozen, Ashley seconded, motion passed.
Meeting adjourned at 7:18 pm
