Woodbine School Council

All Woodbine School parents and guardians are invited to attend the monthly meetings of our school council.  Woodbine School Council is comprised of both parents and staff representatives. Our goal is to work together to create a positive learning environment for our children. Through the council, we can strengthen communication between home and school. We discuss and plan for our school’s future. We also support special events. 

You can find School Council minutes under the Links section.

New Website!

Our Parent Association have a new website – it’s where families will find out latest events, fundraisers, volunteer information and FAQs:    https://woodbineparents.com

Meeting Dates/Schedule

I would like to invite every parent and guardian of a student at Woodbine school to join us, in supporting this amazing school, by attending our monthly School Council meetings. At these meetings we have the opportunity to hear directly from the school's administration; collaborate with many parents and teachers, each of whom bring exciting ideas to the table; and work together to support our school community benefiting each and every student. 

Our monthly meetings will be held at the school, in person.  Our first meeting will be held in September when school resumes after summer break. 

Parent Association Meeting Dates 2023-24

September 7 

October 19

November 16

December 7

January 25

February 22

March 14

April 25

May 30

June 13

We welcome and encourage all to attend. If you are unable to join us and have any specific questions you would like to bring to our team, or would like to introduce yourseIf.

Thank you.

Our School Council Members

Chairperson:  Vacant until October 2023 AGM

Vice Chairperson:  Tina Wheeler

Secretary:  Lisa Bergmann

Treasurer:  Sarah McHardy

Fundraising:  Tina Wheeler

Director at large - Social Media - Samantha Griffin

Director at large - Events - Lindsay Mills

Director at large - Playground - Stefan Underwood

Woodcreek Community Liaison:  Pooja Sharma

Casino/AGLC - Jess Stoy and Ed Wheeler

Contact the School Council 

Email: woodbineparentcouncil@gmail.com

Facebook: Woodbine Elementary Parent's Page - A forum for connecting with parents, sharing ideas and information related to the school and assisting with our children’s learning opportunities. 

If you would like to join this closed group, please email woodbineparentcouncil@gmail.com with your Facebook username and go to the Facebook group page, "Woodbine Elementary Parent's Page" then request to join the group.

Website: https://woodbineparents.com

Woodbine School Council Needs You!

The School Council raises approximately $40,000 yearly that benefits our children by helping with programs such as field trips, music and art. They also donate funds to purchase computers which ensure that our kids have the most up to date equipment. Please consider being a part of the Woodbine School Council to ensure that your children's time at our school is the best it can be.

Position Descriptions

Chairperson

It is expected that the school council chairperson will be a parent of a student attending the school. The chair should be someone who can work collaboratively with others and knows how to organize both programs and people. The chair should actively encourage others to become involved in meaningful ways.

Duties include:

• calling regular school council meetings
• meets with principal monthly and preparing agendas for school council meetings
• chairing and maintaining meeting decorum
• working with the secretary to ensuring that minutes are recorded and maintained and that
• School Council’s portion of the school website is posted monthly
• communicating with the principal on a regular basis
• following existing school council by-laws/operating procedures
• soliciting input from all members
• promoting teamwork between the School Council, principal and staff
• Prepares and files an annual report as part of the school’s annual report
• Is the official spokesperson for the School Council unless another person is identified
• Time commitment 3-4 hours a month (includes monthly council meeting)

Vice-chair

On some school councils, the role of chair is shared, either through the creation of co-chairing positions or through the chair‘s dependence on the vice-chair to undertake part of the work. Typically, the vice-chair‘s duties are to:

• chair meetings, in the event the chair is unavailable
• work with and support the chair in agenda preparation
• promote teamwork and assist the chair in the smooth running of the meetings
• keep informed of relevant school and school board policies
• prepare to assume the responsibility of chairperson in the future.
• Time commitment 1-2 hours a month (includes monthly council meeting)

Treasurer

The treasurer will:

• keep accurate records of all transactions
• report to the school council on the receipt and expenditure of funds
• ensure that records are available, upon request of the school board
• work with the parent council executive to prepare a yearly budget
• Time commitment 2-3 hours a month (includes monthly council meeting)

Casino Coordinator:

The duties of the Casino Co-ordinator are:

• fill in application to gaming commission and send
• recruit volunteers and keep chart of positions (previous contact list of volunteers provided and about half will volunteer again)
• sit at table at school event (ie: open house, student led conferences, etc.) to recruit only if you haven’t recruited enough people via phone or in person
• be at casino for the first shift (2 day event) to hand over cheque to the casino helpers that we pay to help run the event (they are there for the entire 2 day event to tell us what to do at every step - absolutely no experience is necessary )
• either be there at end of last shift to close off or have your casino co-ordinator assistant do this

Time for this position is difficult to estimate as it depends on so many factors. At least half of the volunteers you need will by repeats from a quick phone call from the previous year and if you have people cancel at last minute you need to call in your back-ups. Paperwork is minimal. Most of this position is doing nothing until a few months before casino when you’re making calls for volunteers between cooking dinner and doing the laundry! I would estimate 10-25 hours of work (not including any shift you would do at the casino) for the entire term. The casino is held every 16-18 months.

Key Communicator

Every school council benefits from providing one or more parent representatives willing to serve as Key Communicators for that year. Key Communicators are encouraged to send substitutes when unable to attend sessions to ensure that information is exchanged and every School Council is kept updated.

• Build and enhance connections between parents/school communities and Calgary’s Public Education System
• Members of, or liaise with, School Councils
• Enable more informed input
• Share information, ideas and concerns as part of a system-wide network of involved parents chosen to represent their School Councils and serve as links between individual school councils and the school district
• Attend large system-wide and area meetings held during the school year

Community Member

School Councils are encouraged to have a community member attend meetings. The community representative can play a strong role in bringing the community perspective into the school. The member helps the school and School Council build partnerships with the larger community and, in many instances, acts as a resource to promote cooperative ventures between community and school to enhance student learning.

Volunteer Coordinator

This individual will work with the school and have direct contact with all the Homeroom Parents. They will handle all requests for volunteers on a school wide basis. Some of the activities which you will coordinate or help coordinate are:

• Picture day
• Special lunches (pizza day and subway lunch day)
• Responsible for planning two major events: Volunteer Orientation Tea (beginning of the year) and the Staff Appreciation Luncheon (end of the year)

This position has been well organized for several years and has an easy to follow binder with contact information and past templates to follow in planning school events.