STOUFFVILLE DISTRICT SECONDARY SCHOOL
SCHOOL COUNCIL MEETING - MINUTES
Wednesday, February 18, 2026 @ 7:00 pm
Virtual Link: Join Teams meeting
Welcome and Introductions – Melissa Schmidt, Principal
Student Council Report - Saanvi and Aleena
- Had the club fair for semester 2 for students to see what clubs there are in the school
- February Candy gram sales - went very well even though all on School Cash online - sold 150 candy grams.
- Black History Month - Love from Door to Door - homeroom classes decorating the door in themes of love and kindness. Will be judged by admin team. The prize is a $5 voucher to the Grind.
- Planning other events for school spirit days
- Student Council Social media account to follow along with events etc
- Student Council applications for next year will be opening starting around March to be in for May
- Trying to give lots of club support - to start or fund new clubs - come join student council meetings every Friday
Teacher Report – L. Taccone
Hospitality
The White Chip and Grub Grab Initiatives:
o support food insecurity in our community, staff can purchase ‘white chips’ that allow the bearer to any thing on our ‘Daily Bakes’ menu.
The hospitality students discussed that the ‘chip’ program does have limitations due to the fact that they aren’t open everyday.
They are excited to announce a new initiative, the Grind’s ‘Grub Grab’ program to make food more accessible by having lunch and food available daily for those students who need it.
Senior hospitality students will begin the roll out starting Monday, February 23rd.
Food will be in the kitchen, on a separate table so that students can easily come in and get it.
Food items may include homemade soups, stews, chili bowls, dinner rolls and crackers, to start.
If you know of anyone in our building who needs some sustenance please make them aware of it. If necessary, don’t hesitate to come grab it yourself and hand it out to those who need it.
Right now we could do with a few things to help us pull this off.
Firstly, if anyone has any vintage crock pots that hasn’t or might not “fulfil its destiny” we’d gladly take it off your hands and recycle it into our program.
Secondly, any donations of small ziploc bags, boxes of crackers, boxed or canned stocks, bouillon cubes, plastic spoons, and of course money would be graciously accepted. We have a tip jar at the cash/debit station which we use exclusively for the “Grub Grab” program.
The Grind and my TA/Coop employees can pull this off without any help but after talking with them they realize that community spirit is at the heart of this initiative.
Also if you or your family buy margarine and aren’t super picky, please get this 907g Mirage from No Frills. When you are done using the contents, we’d love to have the container for storage.
Yearbooks Now Available for Pre-Purchase
Yearbook sales are through School Cash Online. $48 for students who DID pay their student activity fee. $53 for anyone who did not. Once sales close, there will be no further yearbooks available for purchase.
Slam Poetry Club
Ms. Cockburn is offering to run the Slam Poetry Club again this year. If anyone is interested, please see Ms. Cockburn in the Drama room.
Student Services and Student Success
The Learning Centre and Student Success are now open to support student learning and achievement. After the classroom lesson, students can advocate for an alternate workspace that is supported by Special Education Resource Teachers, the Student Success teacher, and our two Child and Youth Care workers
Admin Report – Melissa Schmidt / Jennifer Thom / Neil Press
From Melissa
-busy time at school with course selection
-started with In School Staffing Committee meeting to start the staffing cycle for next year -
-try to match the student requests with staff strengths for what they want to teach
-computer creates timetable for best match of classes to students
-Board gives us the number of sections we can have next year, then we choose which ones based on the choices of the students made now
-timetabling is very tight -if students change their minds, spaces will no longer be available
-Greece trip for next year underway - working on the itinerary for the trip - approval from the Board takes some time. We will start getting the information out even while we wait for approval
-few weeks and months coming up is about staffing and timetabling
-Starting the process of hiring Department Heads for some departments
From Mr. Press
-OSSLT results have gone out - students who were not successful can write in March
-trying to find a teacher for the After School Literacy Program for semester 2
From Ms. Thom
-Second sitting for OSSLT March 25
-Europe Trip leaves March 30 to April 9
-Reminder to respect the pylons in the parking lot at the front of the school to keep our students safe getting onto buses
-Please do not park along Weldon to keep students from darting out across the street
Presentation - Course Selection, Andrew McCutcheon, Head of Guidance
- Course selection opened last Thursday - closes on Friday - have about half in so far
- Students submit what they want to take, and then My BLueprint sends parents an email, parents need to approve the course selection, then we can move forward with timetabling the school
- What students pick now is what courses we offer next year
- Because the majority are academic/ university pathways most of our courses are at that level. If students change their pathway after, the courses may not be there or they will be full
- Picking the right pathway now is important even though it is difficult to know
- How to decide - students have been given scenarios. If the student has 50-65% in a course in gr 9 or 10 - that is where to think about what pathway is best for you. The decision you make now is not a forever decision but does make some pathways harder
- If getting 65% and working as hard as they can, getting help, submitting all their work - then college level may be the best option. If they could be paying more attention to their school work, then that is a trickier question
- Marks do not tend to go up during high school - so think carefully about choices between college and university
- Some course also only have 1 class all year - that makes it hard to timetable students as many gr. 12 courses are single section so their alternates are really important as they are very likely to get one of their alternates
- We need to know what students really want - so that we can make sure they are offered next year
- Summer school - at this time only asking if students are thinking about summer school - not which course just the idea that you intend to take a course in the summer and therefore you are not putting it into my blueprint - this is NOT signing up for summer school
- Summer School sign up starts in May - some courses may be online asynchronous
- Summer school staffing is based on what students sign up for in May
- You can take summer school with different Boards - parents have to search for those on the websites of those Boards themselves. You must provide the transcript to the guidance office after the course id over to have it added to your overall course transcript.
- There are online private schools - but research those schools carefully as many are not approved by the ministry of education, and if it is not accredited the credit will not count.
- If you say that you intend to take summer school (eg. English) and don’t put it into course selection for next year - then you really have to take it as it may be full with us next year
- Day school and night school online is an option- that sign up is in September - for courses that we do not offer or where we are full. It is NOT for students who have it in day school, or if we have space in day school. Night school is not to take something instead of at our school
- Gr. 11’s cannot take spares except under extenuating circumstances and that is decided between parents and the school admin team.
Cannot have a spare until you have earned 23 credits
Other Business
- Are there any dances or other social events planned?
- Student Council has tried for a few years but there just isn’t student interest and so they haven’t been able to run despite trying
- Student life is becoming more club focused as opposed to dances or social events
- Can we play the Olympics in the caf at lunch? Teachers are showing games etc as possible with the lessons planned. The games are on in the library.
- Are there any dances or other social events planned?
Next Meeting(s) - May 19, 2026