This web site is always "under construction", new information will always be added. Please, bookmark the link and visit often.
The purpose of this web site is to increase communication between Ontario School Councils, something that is greatly desired. The goal is to help you help each other. The web site is meant to assist you in your role as a School Council member, not to tell you how you should be doing things. An email network is being established that can be used to send requests for information and assistance for many different subjects. Anything including accommodation studies, safe school issues, recruiting members, how to keep minutes and financial records, work-to-rule, PLP issues, the list is endless. This web site will be used to post the received information where the School Council member who requested the assistance, or any other member that is interested at that time or in the future, can view the responses. Any School Council member can email their request and then the information request will be emailed to the Network members.
At anytime, also, feel free to send any information that you would like to share with other School Councils, such as your latest advocacy topic, best practices, upcoming events and conferences, links to web sites, any information about what is happening with School Councils in your area. This information will be posted to this web site as well. The networking system will grow from there.
The main content of the pages to come will be supplied mostly from your input. There is no cost to using this web site... it is a free service offered by yahoo geocities. There are no start-up costs and no maintenance fees attached to it so no money from any Board's budget is being used to run it. There is, also, no charge for being a member of the School Council Network. It is not an official web site of any one group or organization and no one is being paid to do any of the work... it is being done purely on a volunteer basis.
To create the beginning network list of members I emailed all the School Councils from across Ontario that I have email addresses for. Please, pass on this Networking web site and idea to all the School Council members that you know anywhere in the province.... from this we will continue to grow. If you would like to be a member of this new network, please email me, Brenda Hopkins. I will be sending the emails without anyone's address viewable, so there is not any worry of receiving large amounts of email. This is also true for the web site.... I will only be posting the feedback not the contact information... unless you request it to be posted.
I am a parent School Council member at my daughters' elementary school in Ingersoll, Ontario and the Chairperson of the Thames Valley District School Council. I have been involved in School Council since their creation in 1997. In my position as Chairperson of a District School Council I have had opportunities to speak with many School Council members from across Ontario. There was always a common subject in these conversations... a need to be able to communicate with other School Councils.
In April, 2003 the Thames Valley District School Council hosted the 1st Annual Western Region School Council Symposium (the 2nd Annual Symposium is currently being planned). This was a forum where School Council members and principals from thirteen school boards from southwestern Ontario were able to meet and discuss "How School Councils can contribute to improving student learning". Throughout the day one of the major points of information that was reiterated over and over again was that School Councils need to communicate with each other. There is a great desire to be able to network between School Councils across the province. The Thames Valley District School Council announced at the event that this was going to be the next step in assisting School Councils to effectively work toward "advancing student achievement" if others agreed. This was met with very much enthusiasm and support from the School Council participants. The goal was to create a forum that School Councils can use to communicate with each other. The ultimate goal is to create a provincial umbrella School Council oganization. Again, a step that many School Council members support. This is a start toward achieving that. All of this will be done by all of us, the School Council members of Ontario. No one person is running things and no one person is in charge. There will be a need for assistance from School Councils for future plans.
If you have any concerns, questions, comments, please always feel free to email me.
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