Many thanks to all those who attended the November SCOCA meeting. It was packed with interesting presentations and activities. For a detailed description of all the reports, please refer to the SCOCA minutes. Here are a few of the highlights …

The teachers truly enjoyed the fantastic food brought in by so many parent volunteers for the first ever Teacher Appreciation Event on November 13. Not only did they enjoy the hot meal and delicious salads, but many teachers were able to spend their break time together, building camaraderie and collegiality. Thank you to all families who supported this initiative. It was warmly appreciated! There continues to be many volunteer opportunities at CA, so please email our Volunteer Coordinators to find out how you can be involved (volunteers@calgaryacademy.com)

Khobe, President of the CA Senior Student Executive, reported that the high school students have been having fun promoting school spirit and planning activities for the holiday season.

Mr. Tim Carlson shared how CA performed on the Accountability Pillar Online Reporting Initiative (APORI) from Alberta Education. Results help to identify areas where initiatives may be implemented in upcoming years. Full results will be posted on the CA website next week.

The Learning and Innovation team, headed by Executive Director Susan Poole, gave a great presentation on how teaching strategies are being individualized to meet each unique learner’s needs. We were introduced to some fantastic Information Technology that is being used to help maximize each student’s academic performance and how Learning Support Teams are supporting students as well as their families and teachers to promote social and self-advocacy skills. Calgary Academy truly offers a unique learning experience in this regard to our children!

SCOCA would love to hear from you! Please email us (schoolcouncil@calgaryacademy.com) with your questions or comments. Our next meeting is January 21, 2019. Please mark your calendars and plan to attend!

SCOCA (School Council of Calgary Academy) has been busy this last month with a variety of meetings and fun activities.

Our second School Council meeting was held on October 15. Thanks to all the parents, teachers and staff that came out to hear the important updates and information presented by our speakers.

School Council Chair, Jackie McDougall, presented some initiatives that the Council would like to launch. This included instituting a Staff Appreciation Committee. This Committee would include council representatives and parent volunteers and would be responsible for organizing Staff Appreciation activities periodically throughout the school year. Council further discussed the possibility of hosting a motivational speaker for the students. Parents are requested to contact council if they know speakers who would be motivational and encouraging for our students.

Principal, Mr. Tim Carlson updated us on several important topics that would be of interest to all parents. Topics included the launch of the new CA website; an introduction to Power School; the change in report card frequency; a change in tuition fees and the introduction of Kindergarten classes to Calgary Academy next year; and the development of an Emergency Preparedness strategy.

Sarah Hoag further advised SCOCA that Alberta Health Services will be hosting a community education service at Calgary Academy on November 8th from 6:30-8:30pm, entitled “Impact of ADHD on Education and Self Regulation”. This is a free public event and all are invited to attend.

The Volunteer directors facilitated our first Volunteer Orientation just prior to our regular meeting. They provided valuable information on the Police Check process, the volunteer sign-up process as well as the current volunteer opportunities which are available. Christine Giles gave a helpful overview of volunteering with CA students and the best ways to create a positive experience for both the students and volunteers. The Volunteer Orientation meetings will be mandatory for all CA parent volunteers going forward so please plan to come out to one of the upcoming School Council meetings for this valuable information. We thank all the parent volunteers who have been busy with a number of different activities this last month including  the Terry Fox Run, assisting teachers in the classroom and on  field trips, and assisting with Dig Pink in a variety of roles. We are steadily increasing the number of parent volunteers that are signing up to assist in the school. Thanks to all!!!

We welcomed Khobe, the new CA Student Council President, to our meeting for the first time. We look forward to his insights and contributions at future School Council meetings. Thank you to all the students who participated in the School Council elections and congratulations to the other successful candidates.

Please mark your calendars for the next SCOCA meeting, which will be November 19 at 7:00pm.