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.