Howard Junior Public School Council

Wednesday night, during our monthly School Council meeting, there were a number of issues that arose regarding the immediate future of our school and what impact that will have on our children.

If you missed the meeting, please Watch the recording and consider taking action.

Here’s a summary of what was discussed:

• School boundaries
  • The boundaries are being re-drawn to better align with population changes in our area
  • What impact will this have on you? Watch the recording of the meeting, particularly starting at minute 22.
  • Want your voice heard? email Kathy.Narraway[at]rogers[dot]com (aka Pizza Grandma)
• Black student success
  • Suzy updated us on what is happening in the school for Black History Month
  • Monica provided overview of an event for grownups being hosted along with Fern, Parkdale and other area schools. Details TBA
  • Alice gave us insight into the important work of the Black Student Success Committee, a parent-led group supporting Black student achievement and well-being in Parkdale. There is a role for each of us in raising awareness and taking action.
• Monica updated us on
  • The state of our library and opportunities for improvement
  • TDSB’s process PR728 – find out what that means about reporting racist, sexist, homophobic language and incidents
• Key Dates
  • March 7 – Black Student Achievement Community Advisory Committee meeting
  • March 14 to 18 – Spring Break
  • March 23 – Next council meeting [add it to your calendar]

Just like our kids, our community is growing: a new Principal, a possible Library revitalization, and possible expansion of the Howard catchment boundaries!

Miss the meeting last night? Watch the recording to catch up on:

Meeting Howard’s Interim Principal, Dr. Monica Francis

• Dr. Francis is a retired principal who has worked at TDSB schools such as Braeburn, Calico, Garden, Indian Valley Crescent and Mill Valley, as well as international schools in Abu Dhabi, Kuwait and China)
• Dr. Francis will hopefully remain at Howard until a permanent replacement is found
• The new playground is wonderful and almost completed – just need to move a storage shed away from the fence which will happen soon
• idea for the community to consider: revitalizing the Howard library – can we consider some low-cost changes to make this more of a multifunctional space? 

Key Dates

• February 16 – Next council meeting [add it to your calendar]
• February 18 – PA Day
• February 21 – Family Day holiday