Save Garibaldi Annex!

2010-07-24T10:35:00.001-07:00

This is the first time I have knowingly used a blog! Whew!!

One New Thing: week 1

2010-07-24T10:33:00.000-07:00

One New Thing: week 1: "Today i made a fried egg for the first time. it was tasty."

Did you cook it on a low heat? I always cooked mine really hot and fast and they were rubbery!!

Garibaldi Annex Website

2009-12-02T09:58:00.000-08:00

The Garibaldi Annex Parents and Community Website can be found at http://garibaldiannex.com

Queen Elizabeth Annex to Stay Open

2008-07-15T17:52:00.000-07:00

See this media link.

Community Meeting Notes for June 25, 2008

2008-06-27T11:46:00.000-07:00

Minutes of Wednesday's meeting have been posted on the Garibaldi Community Website. Click here to view.

B.C. reverses view on school closures

2008-06-25T17:32:00.000-07:00

"The B.C. Education Ministry has abruptly changed its message on school closures and is now urging school boards to think long and hard before shutting more schools."

From the Vancouver Sun today: click to read full article

Thanks to Randi Gurholt-Seary for the link.

June 17 Meeting Minutes

2008-06-21T08:56:00.000-07:00

Minutes of the June 17 Garibaldi Annex Implementation Team (GAIT) meeting can be found on the Friends of Garibaldi website at http://garibaldiannex.com/node/23

Meeting Tonight!!!

2008-06-17T11:37:00.000-07:00

Meeting to form Friend's of Garibaldi Action Committee

Date: Tuesday, June 17th 2008
Time: 6:30 - 8:30 p.m.
Location: Garibaldi Annex 1025 Slocan St., Vancouver
For Info call: Kate 604-254-1060

Agenda:
1. Decide on Committee Structure
2. Select name
3. Decide on who will fill roles and and responsibilities
4. Update on GAIT meeting
5. New business

June 3, 2008 Celebration/Planning Meeting at Garibaldi

2008-06-02T23:22:00.000-07:00

See details at http://garibaldiannex.com/june03reminder

Sir Matthew Begbie Elementary School Protest

2008-05-21T22:59:00.000-07:00

For more information see this post on the Garibaldi Website.

June 3 2008 Meeting Notice Available in Chinese

2008-05-21T16:20:00.000-07:00

The meeting notice for the June 3 meeting on the future direction of Garibaldi is now available in Chinese on the new Garibaldi website at http://garibaldiannex.com/june032008meeting_ch.

Garibaldi Parade on YouTube

2008-05-17T07:45:00.000-07:00

A musical parade, featuring the Carnival Band, preceded the VSB vote on May 5, 2008. This video shows part of the parade as it marches from 10th Avenue at Fir counter-clockwise around the block and into the south entrance and around the board room. (thanks to Seanna McPherson for the link)

Former VSB Trustee Sends Congratulations

2008-05-07T22:06:00.000-07:00

The following article and letter came from former VSB Trustee, and liaison for Garibaldi Annex, Noel Herron.

From the upcoming COPE newsletter:

BRAVO GARIBALDI!

Against all odds Garibaldi, a small kindergarten to Grade 3 Eastside school, slated for closure in September, recently won a signal victory by convincing the NPA- dominated Vancouver school board to keep their school open.

Over a six month period this small school- community put together an innovative 60 page plus brief that COPE trustee Al Blakey described as “ a remarkable and visionary educational document “.

The VSB, while offering a modified proposal that differed from the original Garibaldi submission, recognized the value of the school’s detailed submission with several NPA trustees commending the community for its persistent efforts.

And what an effort.

This involved a remarkable community mobilization project encompassing sustained and varied series of community events, activities, and happenings including all of the following : countless small and large group meetings; door-to-door canvassing for potential new students ; community–wide surveys; a I,000 plus save-our -school petition; a community fair attended by 500; researching and writing an innovative and forward- looking brief with strong emphasis on early childhood education and child care; bussing parents and their children to two separate VSB public meetings;’ hiring’ an amazing local marching band to announce with a flourish their arrival at the final decision-making board meeting and even swamping VSB trustees with over a 100 small teddy bears at a previous board meeting.

All of this -and indeed much more background planning and activities -went into this truly remarkable and sustained community victory which COPE trustees, Allan Wong hailed as “astounding”.

Both COPE trustees flatly stated that while they preferred the original Garibaldi plan, they would vote for the NPA motion before the board, which they amended to include specific mention of an early childhood component.

Bravo Garibaldi parents, community organizations and community activists for a superb achievement!

--------------------------------------------------------------------
Noel Herron
--------------------------
Former elementary school principal and former Liaison Trustee to Garibaldi school ; he is seeking, through the office of the Freedom of Information commissioner, a full copy of the original VSB district-wide facilities review document tabled, in camera ,at a board meeting on June 27,2007. The FOI office has promised a decision on or before September 5, 2008.

From a letter to the Garibaldi community:

Hi folks :
Congratulations on a great victory last night. All of your hard work ,energy,creativity and innovation paid off in spades,although the NPA board should have accepted plan B --your plan -in full as it is the most relevant and cutting edge in terms of the future for public education in primary classes in this city.
Garibaldi parents were collectively light years ahead of this board and it is truly ironic that they did not accept plan B while on the same evening they were voting to accept a VSB FRAMEWORK for early education.
Al Blakey and I ,as the oldest,--I would prefer most experienced--trustees on the former board agree that we have never seen such positive activism and dynamic enthusiasm--including that wonderful band--- from a small school-community.
All of you deserve official recognition from some other public body or external organization for the outstanding work in community development and parental involvement.
.There is an ongoing story here- a truly inspiring story--behind the meetings(small and large).the telephone calls,the emails.the website, the surveys,the lobbying, the research, busses and band, including the non-stop drive that culminated in last night's victory. As the former Liason Trustee for your school I was delighted to observe your splendid work from the side lines and watch you reach your well -deserved goal.
.BRAVO GARIBALDI !!
Noel Herron

Thanks, Noel, for the encouraging words throughout the process. It helped keep us on track.

Links to Media Reports on the VSB Vote

2008-05-07T15:13:00.000-07:00

Click on the following links for media reports on the vote to keep Garibaldi Open

... from CUPE
... from The Vancouver Courier
... from The Vancouver Sun Education Blog
... from The Vancouver Sun

(Thanks for Hal Milne for the links)

The vote was also covered by CBC Radio One, CKNW, Chinese press and probably many other media.

Victory!

2008-05-05T23:08:00.000-07:00

Tonight the VSB Trustees vote unanimously to keep Garibaldi Annex open.

The District Management Team presented recommendations as outlined in their May 2, 2008 Memorandum to the Board of Trustees. The memorandum outlined three options for consideration,

Close the annex
Proposal submitted by Save Garibaldi
Working group
Modified Save Garibaldi Working Group proposal.

Option 3 was developed by the District Management team to address shortcomings they perceived in option 2, namely the likelihood of drawing new students into the district. Their recommendation to the board was that they accept option 3. One feature of this option different from the community proposal is that the distributed learning at Van Horne would be relocated to Garibaldi, replacing the home learning part of the proposal, and a consequence is that space would not be available at the outset for an early learning component as currently provided by the Frog Hollow Neighbourhood House.

The motion was entered as
1) Approve Option C (the Modified Save Garibaldi Working Group Proposal) as an
acceptable alternative to closing Garibaldi Annex;
2) Approve the establishment of a joint community, school and district committee to
support and promote the educational programs at Garibaldi Annex and to
monitor growth in enrolment over the next three years.
3) If the projected growth of 36 new students to the district is not achieved by
September 30, 2010, Garibaldi Annex will be closed effective June 30, 2011.

Allen Blakey moved to amend the motion by altering point 2) to read:

Approve the establishment of a joint community, school and district committee to
support and promote the educational programs, particularly the need for and early learning component, at Garibaldi Annex and to
monitor growth in enrolment over the next three years.

Trustee Blakey's amendment was accepted.
There was some discussion on the DMT motion. Allen Blakey thought the Garibaldi Working Committee proposal was the better proposal, but was happy the that school would likely stay open. Most Trustees express admiration for the community proposal and the effort of the community to keep it open and some said that it moves education in the direction it should be going.

There was much festivity this evening. Two packed bus loads of parents and children arrived on the VSB grounds just before the meeting and joined in a parade with a 20-odd person carnival band led by saxophonist Ross Barrett. The musical parade, complete with tubas, trombones, trumpets, saxophone and drums marched around the block then entered the south entrance of the VSB and right into and around the board room. Trustee and Chairman Clarence Hansen noted opened the meeting by saying that he believed that the community was present, and Superintendent Chris Kelly noted in his opening comments that the community's entrance would be a hard act to follow. However, in approving the modified proposal they did just that. Much jubilation followed the vote, as the party spilled out onto the VSB grounds.

Now, on with our new vision for the school and community.

(photo by Hal Milne)

May 5th Vote and Rally - Reminders

2008-05-03T22:48:00.000-07:00

The following is from Garibaldi email distribution from Diane Wilmann of Frog Hollow Neighbourhood House, reminding us to attend the VSB vote at the public meeting Monday, May 5, on whether to close Garibali Annex.

Hi Everyone,

Just a reminder about getting everyone out on Monday. The Carnival band will be there to cheer us on and buses are now finally confirmed for those needing transport to VSB. 2 Buses will be at Garibaldi at 6pm for loading and will leave promptly to go to VSB at 6:15. Two buses will return at 8:15 – if the meeting is not finished the drivers are willing to wait if we ask. There will be entertainment for children outside the building with the Carnival band and there will be less waiting around than last time. The kids will also get their bears back!

See you all Monday,

Diane

MEETING LOCATION会议地点: Vancouver School Board温哥华教育局,
1580 West Broadway St., Vancouver（位于温哥华1580 West Broadway 街）
MEETING TIME会议时间: 7pm – 9pm (approx.) 晚上7－9点

New Garibaldi Links

2008-05-03T22:38:00.000-07:00

Tuyen supplied the following links:

District Management Team report wherein they recommend a modified Garibaldi proposal:
http://www.vsb.bc.ca/NR/rdonlyres/1ACF0905-B43A-4AEB-9B77-EC7288FB87A8/0/ReporttoTrusteesRev08May02.pdf

Vancouver Sun article on the Monday meeting: http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=4cf6b64d-687f-4311-a9c0-70d28fbd4f25&k=74165

Come to the VSB Vote on May 5 - Free Bus Ride

2008-04-30T11:18:00.001-07:00

Click to enlarge

2008-04-29T12:18:00.000-07:00

The following was sent to us by Vancouver School Trustee Sharon Gregson.

My name is Karen Georgi and this (members.shaw.ca/stopbcschoolclosures/) is a link to my website and petition. Please have a look and help me to circulate this petition Province wide. There is also a Facebook group "stopbcschoolclosures" to help circulate the petition.

I am a parent with two children in public school and started to become interested in the issue of Functional Capacity during our school district's (SD42) school closure process back in September 2007. At this time there were information sessions which welcomed public feedback. Over and over again members of the public asked why classrooms that were utilized by daycares, sensory rooms and other community uses didn't "count" when calculating functional capacity. There are programs the government has implemented such as strong start and this too cannot be factored in. A school can have every classroom utilized and it's official functional capacity could be 75 or 80%. I feel that changing the determination for what constitutes the functional capacity of our schools will help to keep schools open. Please feel free to call me or email if you have any questions.

Karen Georgi

19559 115 Avenue

Pitt Meadows

604-465-0612

VSB Meeting Report

2008-04-21T23:16:00.000-07:00

Last night the VSB Trustees met to decide a the fate of Garibaldi. However, a motion by Ken Denike passed 5 to 2 to first study the financial aspects of the proposal. The issue will next be addressed at the Monday, May 5th meeting.
The meeting room was packed with Garibaldi students, parents and community members. Dozens of teddy bears were delivered to trustees to remind them that a community of children are depending upon a positive outcome to the vote.
About 20 children were in attendance but were so well behaved that it was up to Kate Mulligan, Seana McPherson and others to set an example by speaking out of turn and creating a community ruckus. Afterwards, the kids played tag and carried as per usual in the gardens behind the VSB. One child remarked what a great time he had had. He especially liked the part with the delivery of the teddy bears to the trustees.
More details tomorrow.

Tonight's VSB Meeting

2008-04-21T13:58:00.000-07:00

The VSB Trustees will discuss the Garibaldi proposal at this evenings meeting. A vote on whether to keep Garibaldi open will not happen tonight but at some future date.

The Garibaldi Agenda materials can be viewed from this VSB link.

VESTA has provided a free bus for those in the Garibaldi community wishing to attend the meeting. The buses will be available for loading at 6:00 PM and will leave by 6:20 PM. (Children under 5 are not permitted on the buses due to safety rules). The bus will return aroun d 9:00 PM.

For those wishing to drive to the meeting, the address is:

Vancouver School Board
1580 West Broadway
Vancouver, BC, Canada
V6J 5K8

Main Switchboard: (604) 713-5000

Wear you blue Garibaldi T-shirt and be counted! (or just wear blue!)

Garibaldi in the Press

2008-04-20T15:14:00.000-07:00

In the Saturday Courier: http://www.canada.com/vancouvercourier/news/story.html?id=73fd1c8e-1344-4681-9a78-f52a2aead962

Garibaldi T-shirts for Sale!

2008-04-17T17:08:00.001-07:00

The Garibaldi PAC is offering T-shirts with the Garibaldi logo at the low, low cost of $10 (corrected from $8 and $6). They will be on a blue background. If you'd like to have one, please go to this link: http://garibaldiannex.com/?q=node/12 and enter your name and shirt size. They will be available for pick up at the SocHop from 7-8:00 PM Saturday April 19 at Garibaldi School, or from 6:00-6:20 PM on Monday, April 21, in front of Garibaldi, where the bus will be waiting to take us to the VSB meeting.

Think what a powerful message of solidarity we would show if we were all wearing these T-shirts at the meeting!

-Garibaldi PAC

SocHop Social - Saturday, April 19!

2008-04-16T11:08:00.001-07:00

Free Bus Ride to VSB on Decision Night

2008-04-09T09:42:00.000-07:00

On April 21st Vancouver School Board Trustees will be deciding whether or not Garibaldi Annex will remain open.

The GARIBALDI ACTION COMMITTEE has been working very hard and has provided a strong proposal for a viable future for Garibaldi Annex. The committee is asking for your support now by showing Trustees that our community is committed to a wonderful small school with a BIG heart.

PLEASE COME OUT FOR BOARD DECISION DAY: April 21st

FREE TRANSPORTATION TO VSB: Buses will be leaving GARIBALDI ANNEX located at 1025 Slocan St. at 6:20pm

MEETING LOCATION: Vancouver School Board,
1580 West Broadway St., Vancouver, BC

MEETING TIME: 7pm – 9pm (approx.)

We will be providing FREE stuffed bears to the first 165 individuals arriving for transport to the meeting.

For more information go to the Garibaldi Annex Blog: garibaldiannex.blogspot.com
or call Hal @ 604-879-0170 or Kate 604-254-1060

To help us determine how many buses we'll need, please fill out this form (click here!) to indicate that you intend to ride the free Garibaldi bus to the meeting.

Garibaldi Proposal

2008-04-06T21:35:00.000-07:00

The Garibaldi Proposal as presented to the Review Committee is now available on-line here: Garibaldi Proposal.

Let’s Agree Not to Dispose of Schools

2008-04-06T21:24:00.000-07:00

BURNABY – CUPE BC is encouraging members to participate in an action to highlight school closures and the sell-off of school lands.

On Monday April 7 at 11:30 a.m. Let’s Agree Not to Dispose of Schools (LANDS) is holding a province-wide rally at the Legislature in Victoria to highlight and stop the sell-off of public school lands.

LANDS is working to unite parents, students, citizens, school districts and municipalities to convince the B.C. government to fully fund capital spending and support sustainable public education for future generations. The Ministry of Education requires districts to bring money to the table for capital projects such as new schools, thereby forcing school districts to close schools and sell the land.

LANDS believes that school lands were given in public trust for all generations of children and they are not ours to sell. Part of securing the future is keeping these lands in public hands.

For more information go to bc.lands@gmail.com.

[CUPE Link: http://cupe.ca/media/School_closures_and_]

Decision Schedule

2008-04-04T10:17:00.000-07:00

[UPDATE] The Garibaldi Working Committee will be meeting with the VSB on April 10 to present the Garibaldi proposal. A meeting of the Garibaldi Review Committee will follow. The Trustees will make a decision on Monday, April 21, 2008.

Invitation: Please Attend Think Schools Conference - April 6

2008-03-24T10:58:00.000-07:00

How can we turn our public schools into vibrant community hubs?

Think City invites you to attend Think Schools – a one-day conference on how citizens across the city can develop a vision for renewing schools taking place on Sunday, April 6.

According to a Vancouver School Board (VSB) report published in September 2007,our city may only have nine of its 64 historic schools left still standing once the school board's facilities renewal process is complete. In place of these important public buildings, the city's schools may be systematically reduced in size, unique programming that defines schools will be excluded from these new buildings due to space limitations, and valuable community amenities such as daycare, seniors care, after-school care and auditoriums will be cut from these neighbourhood anchors.

Keynote speaker Seattle School Board Building Excellence Program Manager Don Gilmore will share solutions that helped preserve and renew his city's public school buildings.

Lunch and reception are included in the registration fee. Pre-registration is required.

When: Sunday, April 6, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm
Where: Roundhouse Community Centre, 181 Roundhouse Mews
Tickets: $25 regular, register here
Scholarships: Call 604.216.7246 for details.
Childcare: Call 604.216.7246 for details.

Garibaldi Community Fair March 16th

2008-03-22T23:01:00.000-07:00

March 16th was a big success with over 500 estimated attendees! The community sent a message loud and clear that GARIBALDI ANNEX needs to stay! Here are a few snapshots of the day!

Randi of CUPE with the street theatre crew!

Gary and Diane of Frog Hollow receiving the Garibaldi PAC Community Award!

The Community came out in support of the cause!

We ran out of hotdogs and hamburgers, I lost count at 500!

Community businesses came out in support!

And community organizations!

And a great band thanks Bonkers!

Thanks to all who made this such a wonderful day! A special thanks to Meike, Ginette, Leanne, Sharon, Robin, Meaghan, Rebecca, Hal, Scott, Randi and CUPE, Gary and Diane and the rest of Frog Hollow, Yoko, Janice and Beth, Vig, Tony, Marco, the children of Garibaldi and surrounding schools, Allen Wong, Allen Blackey, Shane Simpson, the community, Cecil, Seanna, Community Policing, Pomegranate, The local firehouse, the sponsors and everyone else (I am sure I am missing many people who contibuted)!

Thanks to Tony Lee for the pictures!

If you would like to see the rest of the pictures, they will be posted at a later date or simply e-mail kamulligan@aol.com

Garibaldi Proposal Submitted

2008-03-22T19:55:00.000-07:00

On March 20 the proposal to make Garibaldi viable was submitted to the VSB. We have applied to present the proposal in person to the board and are awaiting word on whether we will be permitted to do so. Rumours are that the board will make a decision around the 7th of April.
The Garibaldi fair was a great success and hopefully the community goodwill that oozed from that gathering will be carried by the trustees in attendance to infuse those trustees not able to attend.

2008-03-11T22:04:00.000-07:00

This Sunday March 16th is a very special time for the Garibaldi Community as we host our Community Fair!

Come out to see children's group BONKERS

Join us for a BBQ and Pot Luck

Reggio-Emelia Craft Area

Face Painters and Children's Games,  Including all levels Soccer Game

Visits from Community Policing and the Fire Hall

Community Information Tables and

Local Businesses and Groups

Special Guest, Shane Simpson MLA

Special Surprise Guests and more TBA

Lots of fun for the whole family!

In the case of rain, the event will be held in the gymnasium.

Write your “SAVE GARIBALDI ANNEX” letter and let your voice be heard!

2008-03-11T21:54:00.000-07:00

Take action by writing your own letter telling the VSB and Parliamentary Representatives why GARIBALDI ANNEX should stay OPEN.

Some points to help you:

· Think environmental impact: housing density of neighbourhood as a result of the Garibaldi Annex site being developed, further use of cars by parents commuting their children to schools should Garibaldi close;
· Think safety issues: Young children crossing major streets with a long history of fatalities which is monitored by children at present;
· Think loss of community: One less school will only further the school board’s plan to consolidate students into larger schools away from the Annex model. The larger schools will mean children will be traveling greater distances from their neighbourhood, not ensuring children know each other within their immediate community and may ultimately lead to larger classrooms and crowded schools;
· Think finances: We all know that successful children lead to successful adults taking the burden future financial support from society. Children who receive an opportunity for quality early childhood education have been proven to be more successful in the future. This means a financial savings ultimately for the school board;
· Think seismic upgrading: Garibaldi Annex is on the low priority list for the VSB, meaning the facility is much safer than many aging buildings within our neighbourhoods. Further to that, two of the major elementary schools in the neighbourhood are due for seismic upgrading in 2009, which will require over 50% of the school population to be vacated. Where are those children to go? Portables?
· Think opportunity: The proposed theme of “Arts, Culture and Sustainable Community” and the new innovative program components have been developed by the community to address concerns by the VSB will fulfill the financial requirements of the board and Ministry of Education.
· Think partnership: Garibaldi Annex holds strong partnerships with community institutions such as Frog Hollow Neighbourhood House, Canucks Family Education Centre, Pacific Immigrant Resource Society, Vancouver Public Library, Evergreen Community Health Centre
· Think children: Think happy faces, knowing your schoolmates, knowing your community. Garibaldi offers a nurturing environment for young children from Kindergarten to grade four to ensure children are equipped with the right tools for a successful future. These tools include, empathy, teamwork, leadership, kindness, creativity, and a strong value placed on community;

Should you wish to mail trustees directly, please write c/o Vancouver School Board, 1580 West Broadway, Vancouver, B.C. V6J 5K8

Trustees:

Allen BlakeyPhone: 604-433-6844allen.blakey@vsb.bc.ca

Ken DenikePhone: 604-889-0564ken.denike@vsb.bc.ca

Carol Gibson (Vice-chair)Phone 604-734-6610carol.gibson@vsb.bc.ca

Eleanor GregoryPhone: 604-737-1980 eleanor.gregory@vsb.bc.ca

Sharon GregsonPhone: 604-505-5725 (cell)sharon.gregson@vsb.bc.ca

Clarence Hansen (Chairperson)Phone: 778-239-9602clarence.hansen@vsb.bc.ca

Don Lee Phone: 604-325-9474don.lee@vsb.bc.ca

Allan WongPhone: 604-437-6074allan.wong@vsb.bc.ca

Shirley WongPhone: 604-897-8389 (cell)shirley.wong@vsb.bc.ca

BC Ministry of Education:
Honourable Shirley Bond, Minister and Deputy Premier
Parliament Buildings - Room 248
Mail: PO Box 9045, STN PROV GOVT,
Victoria, BC V8W 9E2

Shane Simpson
MLA Vancouver-Hastings2365 Hastings St E. Vancouver, BC V5L 1V6
Phone: 604-775-2277shane.simpson.mla@leg.bc.ca

New Survey

2008-03-10T14:03:00.000-07:00

The new survey is on-line at cdanalysis.com/Garibaldi. If you have children and live in the area, please fill out the on-line form.
This survey will collect more detailed information than the first one and will try to capture data for all of the kids in the area around Garibaldi. The data will be used to help justify to the VSB why Garibaldi should stay open. In particular, we would like to show that if Garibaldi offers programs of interest to local parents, we could draw students back into the school and bring the attendance numbers back up to a point that would make it financially viable.

Garibaldi Information Meeting - Tonight!

2008-02-26T14:20:00.000-08:00

The entire Garibaldi Community is invited!

Subject: Community Information Session regarding the future of Garibaldi Annex

Date: February 26th, 2008
Time: 7-9pm
Location: Garibaldi Annex, 1025 Slocan St., Vancouver (upstairs in the Library)

Garibaldi Annex needs you! Thanks for all your important feedback at the last Community Meeting on February 12th. Our various committees are working hard to keep up with a tight time-line, and want to keep you up-to-date on our progress!

Come learn about:

the proposal the community is developing to keep the school open
the survey we are conducting to determine support for the school and the proposal
the fantastic community and media event we're planning for Sunday, March 16th
how to get involved in this community movement!

We are committed to an open process and welcome your input.

Tell your neighbours! Tell your friends!

We look forward to seeing you there,
The Garibaldi Action Committee

Seeking Local Artists

2008-02-26T14:17:00.000-08:00

Frog Hollow Neighbourhood House is hosting a series of community-focused art workshops on Saturdays starting in March. These workshops are directed at parents and children (age 5 and up), are 2 hours in length, from 2:00-4:00 p.m., and will explore a range of arts media.

Frog Hollow is seeking local artists interested in leading the sessions. Each artist will do one series of 4 workshops over one month (4 Saturdays.) The focus is on creating a fun, engaging process for children and families to explore creativity. Both visual and performance artists are invited. The artists will be paid for their time.

If you are interested in participating, please respond by email by March 4, 2008, with your name and contact information, a brief description of your work, and the type of workshop you are interested in leading.

Jane Fitzgerald
Project Coordinator
jfitz@direct.ca

Proposal for Garibaldi Annex School

2008-02-25T12:46:00.000-08:00

Dear Community,

The working group has written an overview of the proposal they are developing to Save Garibaldi Annex!

Come out to our Community Information Session on Tuesday the 26th of February to get the full story: 7-9pm at Garibaldi School.

OVERVIEW OF GARIBALDI SCHOOL PROPOSAL – FEB 2008
The VSB has stated that it will close Garibaldi School in June, 2008 because of low enrolment unless an acceptable proposal to keep the school open is delivered to them by March 20^th, 2008. In order to address the concerns of the VSB regarding the low enrolment at Garibaldi Elementary School and the high cost-per-student of keeping the school operating, the Garibaldi Action Group – made up of the Garibaldi Parent Advisory Council, local residents, interested professionals, Frog Hollow Neighbourhood House, and other stakeholders – is developing a proposal for keeping the school open and financially viable.
Garibaldi School currently operates a regular elementary program for kindergarten through grade 4 and has a range of linguistic and culturally inclusive Family Support Programs operated by 5 community agencies. We propose that Garibaldi School operate a Distributed Learning Program in parallel with the regular school program, expanded Family Support Programs for families with preschool aged children, and a Reggio Emilia Inspired Group Daycare for 3-5 year old children. We further propose that these school components be drawn together by a common set of values based on the importance of “Arts and Culture” and a Mission Statement inspired by those values. Each program in the school will emphasize the importance of fine arts and cultural diversity, but this will not be a formally designated program in the way “Fine Arts” is a special District Program at Nootka School, for example. In this way, the diversity of our community will be reflected and respected in all of the activities at Garibaldi.
DISTRIBUTED LEARNING PROGRAM
Research has shown that there are more than enough children in the immediate area to meet the 165 student capacity of the school but many are currently enrolled in private schools, are home-learners, or are enrolled in other schools because of concern about the school closing. In order to keep the school financially viable, it is important to enroll students for whom the VSB will receive full funding from the Ministry of Education.
Van Horne Model (VSB)
The Vancouver Learning Network is a district-wide program which operates an “Elementary Distance Education” program at Van Horne School, located at 5855 Ontario Street. This program provides support for approximately 89 children who either choose to be home-schooled or cannot attend regular classes because they are out of the province or involved in extra-curricular advanced athletic or other performance activities. More than half of the children at Van Horne do not live in Vancouver and there are no classes offered for them at the school. They are encouraged, however, to participate in sports days, school performances and the Grade 7 Graduation Ceremonies. Van Horne also operates a regular school program with approximately 400 students.
New Westminster Homelearners’ Program
The Homelearners’ Program in New Westminster is also a Distributed Learning Program that receives full funding from the Ministry of Education for each enrolled student. They offer classes and academic tutorials to support subjects such as English, Math, Social Studies, Science, Second Language, P.E. & Fine Arts. They also offer the following:

Development of an Individual Learning Plan to focus the child’s learning, guided by the Ministry of Education’s Prescribed Learning Outcomes
Portfolio development and three formal reports for each child per year
Foundation Skills Assessment (FSA) testing in May - Grade 4 and 7 students are required to write the government mandated FSA’s

They provide students with a Resource Library that gives families access to homelearning-friendly resources such as: thematic kits, books, audiovisual materials, manipulatives, CDs, educational board games, work books, text books, and unit plans. A “portfolio” is created for each child that reflects the Individual Learning Plan. Portfolios are comprised of a collection of student work samples that highlight learning done at home, in the community and at their school. Portfolios are handed in at the end of each term (November, March, June), followed by three-way conferencing. The conference includes assessments and time to develop learning plans and future goals. Reporting by teachers consists of anecdotal comments for K-3, with the addition of letter grades for grades 4 – 8. (This information is available on their website: http://142.33.122.45/nwhl/glance.htm). This program is focused on families who choose homelearning as a choice, rather than families who require online schooling because of travel or demanding special athletic or performance activities.

Garibaldi Distributed Learning Model
Our proposed model is based on the New Westminster Homelearners’ Program. Although the program would be open to any student in the Vancouver Lower Mainland, we would hope to attract a majority of students living in East Vancouver. We propose to design the program to meet the needs of families who prefer home-schooling with ongoing, consistent support from teachers and some classroom learning. We would propose two days per week of classroom time for each student with access to the regular school library and gym. Also, we would encourage participation in special events, sports, celebrations and other “extra-academic” activities with the students enrolled in the regular school program at Garibaldi.

We would have approximately 30 students as a goal for enrolment. Classroom space would be available in the current resource room and shared space with the Family Support Programs operated by Frog Hollow Neighbourhood House and Canuck Place. We expect that one FTE teacher would be required to meet the needs of these students.

EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS

In June 2006, the VSB signed Memorandum of Understanding entitled, “Advancing an Integrated, Neighbourhood Based System of Early Childhood Development, Learning and Care Services in Vancouver” and broadened its mandate to include support for Early Childhood Development. Frog Hollow Neighbourhood House currently provides quality Early Learning Programs for children aged 0-6 and their parents/caregivers focused on supporting preschool children and their families to prepare for school at Garibaldi. We also offer Early Literacy Programs and resources for children and families and ESL classes for newcomer parents with school-aged and preschool children in collaboration with Pacific Immigrant Resource Society. Canuck Foundation through Partners in Education also currently offers family literacy support for parents with young children, and Vancouver Public Library partners with Frog Hollow to offer literacy programs such as Mother Goose. Evergreen Community Health is also involved in programs at the school by providing health education, health assessment for preschool children and medical referrals as required.

We are proposing to offer a Reggio Emilia Inspired, Group Daycare for twenty-five 3-5 year olds. This full-day child care centre will operate out of the current Kindergarten room and will be a “state-of-the-art” program for children in the community and will meet a great need for such care.

“ARTS, CULTURE AND COMMUNITY” SCHOOL THEME

The Garibaldi community is richly diverse and is characterized by families with different first languages, artistic and creative gifts, alternative lifestyles and many strengths. We propose that the different components of the school, which reflect the diversity of the community, be drawn together by the common thread of “Arts, Culture and Community”. We will develop a set of values and a Mission Statement for the school that recognizes the importance of using artistic expression as a universal language and means of communication. Similarly, the valuing of the richness of the cultural diversity of our community will be equally fundamental in the values and Mission of the Garibaldi. Garibaldi will be a centre of learning within the community, a recognized learning hub where community building activities are essential. This “Arts, Culture and Community” theme will be embraced by all programs, but will not be a special program in itself, as is the Fine Arts Program at Nootka School. Families will be attracted to this general emphasis on Art, Culture and Community without the need for a designated program that would be District-wide.

The Parent Advisory Council (PAC) will support this theme through funding programs such as “Learning Through the Arts” – a program that regularly works with schools to enhance art opportunities – and by creating a resource library with teaching aids for art and culture and other child-centred, project-based learning initiatives.

THE VISION

Our vision for Garibaldi is one of a vibrant, inspiring, diverse centre of community learning where families with different but complimentary interests and strengths come together with children from birth to school age to support one another, to create art and to celebrate their cultures. This exciting learning experience will attract many families who have been looking for a richer opportunity for their children and themselves and will make Garibaldi School a vital, sustainable and exciting centre of learning.

Garibaldi Community Information Session - Tue 26 Feb

2008-02-21T13:25:00.001-08:00

the proposal the community is developing to keep the school open
the survey we are conducting to determine support for the school and the proposal
the fantastic community and media event we're planning for Sunday, March 16th
how to get involved in this community movement!

We are committed to an open process and welcome your input.

Tell your neighbours! Tell your friends!

We look forward to seeing you there,
The Garibaldi Action Committee

Garibaldi Survey Committee - Meeting Minutes

2008-02-21T13:21:00.000-08:00

Garibaldi Survey Meeting
Wednesday Feb 20th 4.30-6.30 pm
Laughing Bean / The Slocan

Present: Robin, Scott, Crystal, Sharon
Regrets: Kirsten

Agenda:
1) Assess the information we already have
2) Workshop the questionnaire itself
3) Develop a game-plan for conducting the survey

Minutes:

1) Information we have:
Crystal will have a list of all community members who have been contacted for the petition by the end of the week. This list will be divided into 3:
• those who have been contacted and have children (English and ESL)
• those who have been contacted and do not have children
• those who have still not been contacted

2) Survey:
The survey has 3 purposes: 1) to inform the community of our process, goals, and proposed program; 2) to determine the level of support for keeping garibaldi open and the proposed program; 3) to solicit further involvement from the community.

We workshopped the questionnaire and Robin will do it up, including a brief history of the process and a description of the proposed programming when it becomes available. Sharon will translate.

Robin will ask Gary re: the distinction between daycare for pre-school aged children and after-school care for those who are school-aged.

3) Game plan
Geography:
We have agreed to focus our efforts within the perimeter of Hastings, Nanaimo, 1st, and Renfrew. This is our priority. If individual surveyors are willing to go beyond these limits we welcome their enthusiasm!

Method:

Begin with calling all those we have a phone number for.
Scott will set up an online survey so that when we contact people by phone, we can enter all their info and responses directly into the online database. This way answers can be in a drop-down menu, the data gets complied immediately, and everyone involved in surveying can see who has been contacted and what remains to be done.
Go door-to-door for the rest, assigning each person a street or set of streets. The surveyor will fill out the form while on the community member’s doorstep.

We would like the survey to be ready to go for Wednesday the 27th, the day after the Community Info meeting.

February 12 Action Committee Outcomes

2008-02-13T09:47:00.000-08:00

Last night the Action Committee (open to anyone) met at the school to discuss a few more options, present the decision process and choose committee members.

The committee members and agenda follow. This information, plus the time line, can be downloaded in spreadsheet form from here.

Garibaldi Action Committee	Accountable	Responsible	Consulted	Informed	Decription of Role	Additional Support
Committee Coordination	Hal Milne	Committee Members	Community, FH, Randi - CUPE, Committee	VSB, Community	To include facilitating meetings, working with committee members, liaising with VSB
Frog Hollow Representation	Gary Dobbin	FH Staff	Randi - CUPE, FH, VSB, Community	Community	To ensure that Frog Hollow's plan integrates successfully with proposed enhancement, to provide guidance in our overall plan and so that FH is engaged and informed	Survey Preparation: Robin - PIE
Media Outreach	Rick	Committee, Randi - CUPE, VESTA, DPAC, Shane Simpson	Randi - CUPE, FH, VSB, Community	Community, VSB, Ministry of Ed	To inform media and Community, VSB + Ministry through media about the success stories of Garibaldi, the emphasize the good work being done by the Community and to advocate for non-closure	cheryl taylor lee - flyers
Integrated Proposal Preparation	Diane Wilman	Committee, Randi - CUPE	VSB, COPE Trustees, Noel	Community, VSB, Media	To draft the final proposal to be presented to the Trustee with the help of the Decision Review Committee, and outside consultants
Advocacy	Kate	Kate, FH, Randi - CUPE, ?	Randi- CUPE, FH, Community, Committee, DPAC, VESTA	VSB, Ministry, MLA, DPAC, VESTA	To ensure all levels of government, the VSB Board of Trustees are aware and are felling pressure regarding community concerns surrounding the closure of Garibaldi	Advocacy: Vivian
Community Coordination	Crystal	Committee, Community, Randi - CUPE	Community, FH, Randi -CUPE, Committee	Community, VSB	Engagement and coordination of community in Volunteer roles for flyer distribution, signage, working on events, etc.	Kirsten - 732-7355 (Survey)
Event Planning	Mika	Those accountable for proposals	VSB	Committee, Community	Plan community event to facilitate media exposure to gain awaremess of the Garibaldi situation and to engage the community in being part of a wonderful Community space	Event planning: Kamal/Terri Bishop
Approved Enhancement to Proposal Liaison	Seanna/Kate/Meaghan	Those accountable for proposal	VSB, Community, CUPE, FH	Community, VSB,	To provide guidance and coordination to enhace the integrated plan being prepared, to provide updates pertanent to the success of the integrated plan around special programming
Asian Community Liaison	Sharon/Leanna	Committee, Community, Randi - CUPE	Community, FH, Randi -CUPE, Committee	Community, VSB	To share information, gather insights and suggestions towards the enhancement of the integrated plan
Secretary	Rebecca	Committee	Committee	Community, VSB	To record events, action and deliverables of both committees

Garibaldi Program Working Committee	Accountable	Responsible	Consulted	Informed
Parent 1	Hal	PAC	FH, Cupe, Proposal Groups, VSB	Garibaldi Action Committee, Community
Parent 2	Kamal	PAC	FH, Cupe, Proposal Groups, VSB	Garibaldi Action Committee, Community
Frog Hollow Representative	Diane Wilman	FH	FH, Cupe, Proposal Groups, VSB	Garibaldi Action Committee, Community
Frog Hollow Representative	Gary Dobbin	FH	FH, Cupe, Proposal Groups, VSB	Garibaldi Action Committee, Community
Community Member 1	Nora	TBD	FH, Cupe, Proposal Groups, VSB	Garibaldi Action Committee, Community
Community Member 2	Cheryl Taylor Lee	TBD	FH, Cupe, Proposal Groups, VSB	Garibaldi Action Committee, Community
Facilitator	Scott	Program Decision Committee	FH, Cupe, Proposal Groups, VSB	Garibaldi Action Committee, Community

Garibaldi Review Committee	Accountable	Responsible	Consulted	Informed
Distritc Management VSB - Facilities	TBD	TBD	TBD	Community, VSB Board of Trustees
Distritc Management VSB - Finance and Administration	TBD	TBD	TBD	Community, VSB Board of Trustees
District Management VSB - Learning Services	TBD	TBD	TBD	Community, VSB Board of Trustees
Parent 1	Kate	TBD	TBD	Community, VSB Board of Trustees
Parent 2	Seanna	TBD	TBD	Community, VSB Board of Trustees
School Staff	TBD	TBD	TBD	Community, VSB Board of Trustees
School Staff	TBD	TBD	TBD	Community, VSB Board of Trustees

February 12 2008 Garibaldi Action Community Meeting Agenda

1	Acknowledgement of community process	5 minutes
2	Matrix	10 minutes
3	Timeline	10 minutes
4	Stakeholder presentations	30 minutes
5	Formation of committee	10 minutes
6	Volunteer Recruitment	10 minutes

7	Event Planning -Working Group Recruitment	10 minutes
8	Other business/working groups	35 minutes

Sustainable non-coercion

2008-02-12T15:48:00.000-08:00

Keira McPhee has posted a new blog item on sustainable non-coersion, which you can read by clicking here.

Community Meeting Called for Tuesday, February 12

2008-02-06T10:07:00.000-08:00

Subject: Community Meeting regarding the future of Garibaldi Annex

Garibaldi Annex needs you! The objective of this meeting is for the community of Garibaldi to engage in a community process with community groups, organizations and the VSB in developing viable programming options for the continued operation of the Annex.

Date: February 12th, 2008
Time: 7-9pm
Location: Garibaldi Annex, 1025 Slocan St., Vancouver

Agenda:

Acknowledgement of community process 5 minutes
Process and Responsibility Matrix 10 minutes
Possible Process Timeline 10 minutes
Committee Formation 10 minutes
Stakeholder presentations 30 minutes (approx.)
Survey - Volunteer Recruitment 10 minutes
Event Planning – Volunteer Recruitment 10 minutes
Other business/Q&A/Working groups 35 minutes

To sign up for stakeholder presentations (please keep presentations to 5 minutes), please contact Hal Milne at 604-879-0170 or Kate Mulligan 604-254-1060 or please email your request to be added to the agenda to garibaldi.annex@gmail.com.

Childcare is being arranged and will be confirmed here

Minutes of Feb 1 Meeting regarding the ongoing process to for continued operation of Garibaldi Annex with Frog Hollow/VSB/Cupe and PAC Representation

2008-02-05T21:49:00.000-08:00

Friday, February 1st, 2008 9:30 am, Frog Hollow Neighbourhood House
Minutes submitted by Kate Mulligan

Meeting Attendance:
Dan Marriott, Acting Superintendent, VSB
Jennifer Cook, VSB Coordinator, Education Services, Support to Superintendent.
Gary Dobbin, Executive Director, Frog Hollow Neighbourhood House
Diane Wilman, Director of Family Programs, Frog Hollow Neighbourhood House
Randi Gurholt-Seary, CUPE BC
Hal Milne, Community Member and Member of Garibaldi PAC
Kamal Lal, Community Member and Member of Garibaldi PAC

Agenda:

Introduction

Dan Marriott
Goals/Roles of liaison with VSB

Overview of community process and vision for the school: some of the emerging options-alignment with VSB broader goals.
Meeting schedule and VSB resources available.
Other
Community Group

Goals/ Roles of liaison with VSB
Dan Marriott will contact Gary and Hal to discuss.
Dan made clear that he would not be able to pre-approve any proposal. His role is one of communication and assisting with any need for information regarding the implications of various options and around process and procedure.

Dan Marriott mentioned that the individuals who signed the list to participate in a “committee” and provided their emails have not been contacted, he will look into it.
Dan was to get back to the group regarding the confusion around another interest group that he had heard made contact. It was thought that he was likely referring to the Community/VSB committee and not a parallel group. He wanted assurances as to how information would be dispersed to the broader Community. Information was provided by Hal as to the communication tree and process.

Community Group:
Frog Hollow’s Proposal will be proceeding with the community’s endorsement as part of the overall proposal put forward.
Community Meeting time will be extended to 9pm at Garibaldi should there be agreement by the Vice Principle of Garibaldi. Dan has spoken with the school Principal to support meetings. Recognized that this would have to be agreed on with the Engineering department as they have a schedule. Cost is considerable to run and keep open but he acknowledged time was needed beyond the 1 hour currently in place; he would talk to departments involved.
Frog Hollow has space to hold community meetings; however, Garibaldi is in walking distance for most people therefore meetings will take place there, should it be feasible.
Dan Marriott stressed the importance of community involvement and support from the community on initiatives. Dan stressed the importance of being unified and having a solid front with openness to community input.
Rumors within the community regarding the possibility for closure led to the reduction of enrollment at the school. Dan said that he would contact DRPC to ensure that they do not refuse registration for Garibaldi as had happened to one family recently trying to register as referenced by Hal. Dan indicated that they would continue to disclose information of the impending closure but accept registration.
Program proposals will be considered by the community on feasibility

Special Programming:
Presently the PAC and Frog Hollow are looking into the feasibility of the following programs: CUPE BC is supporting the PAC, Frog Hollow, and Community in actions that support keeping the school open. CUPE BC is involved to support the collaboration of the partnership between Frog Hollow and Garibaldi CUPE BC and to support Community action. CUPE’s actions of support have to be confirmed by their office.

French or Mandarin Immersion
Fine Arts
Home Schooling

Presently the aforementioned programs have waiting lists.
Dan Marriot commented that special programs such as French Immersion and Fine Arts are “cost neutral”, meaning there are no extra costs to the board to implement French Immersion or Fine Arts programming when compared to regular programs.

Home Schooling: Diane will find out more about program specifics and provide information to access the viability to implement such a program at Garibaldi Annex. Jennifer provided some information on home-schooling.

Gary referred to a special program in New Westminster which is a Distributed Learning School. [Following the meeting, Jennifer confirmed that there is such a school in Vancouver operating out of Sir William Van Horne Elementary jointly with the regular school and is referred to as the “Vancouver Learning Network” (see website: http://www.vsb.bc.ca/NR/rdonlyres/B8AD1772-2938-4088-828B-928B32809734/0/03998004.PDF. In this model, the VSB receives full funding for students enroled in the special program, as opposed to students who simply “register” as homeschooled children. Dan Marriott will look into this model further to assist us in evaluating its viability for Garibaldi.]

Dan Marriott said that a Specialty Program joint application normally takes approximately one year to realize. Applications are jointly done by the School Administration and the Community. They receive the same dollars as regular schools and decide internally how they distribute and use funds.

Gary Dobbin suggested that maintaining the enrollment at a minimum of 100 students would likely be necessary to ensure the ongoing viability of Garibaldi. Dan indicated that the issue as to whether additional children at Garibaldi come from other VSB schools or are “new” students would have to be considered. The value of the property could be an additional consideration, however, there have been no discussions regarding the sale of the building or land to date. The sale of School property would be subject to the right of the provincial and civic governments to claim it for their own purposes.

Questions were raised regarding the stated cost of operating the facility that would be saved if the school were closed ($200K). For example, is the VSB looking at recovering more than this through the sale or rental of the property (“loss of opportunity cost”)?

Action Items:
Dan Marriott agreed to bring the following information back to the group:

the criteria for creating French Immersion, Mandarin Programs, Fine Arts Programs at schools;
the criteria for considering Garibaldi for a model similar to the New Westminster Distributed Learning School (which we now know is already established in Vancouver at Van Horne Elementary, so the question is can we create a second Distributed Learning School as part of Garibaldi?);
would the VSB support us in a bid to request funding for “rent” from MCFD (and others, such as VCH) for community programs run by Frog Hollow at Garibaldi;
will there be an opportunity for the Garibaldi Community Group to present the final proposal to the VSB in person?

Jennifer Cook agreed to provide information on the following:
1. the number of kids who live within the Garibaldi catchment area but do not attend Garibaldi.

Vancouver Coastal Health was mentioned as a potential resource. We will explore and talk to the Community Developer at Evergreen. Also, Letters of Commitment from Partners such as Coastal Health and MCFD were suggested as a potential source of support.

Next Meeting will be after the Community Meeting Feb/12/2008.

Once again I would like to thank Gary, Diane and Randi and Hal for all their support to keep Garibaldi open.

Meeting Adjourned.

Community Meeting Called for Tuesday, February 12

2008-02-05T16:28:00.000-08:00

Acknowledgement of community process 5 minutes
Process and Responsibility Matrix 10 minutes
Possible Process Timeline 10 minutes
Committee Formation 10 minutes
Stakeholder presentations 30 minutes (approx.)
Survey - Volunteer Recruitment 10 minutes
Event Planning – Volunteer Recruitment 10 minutes
Other business/Q&A/Working groups 35 minutes

Lion Saves Garibaldi!

2008-02-05T13:58:00.000-08:00

Today a lion visited Garibaldi Annex and scared away any evil spirits that may be threatening it, leaving it with good luck for another year. Thank you, Lion! Gung Hay Fat Choy!

(photo by Hal Milne)

Save Queen Elizabeth Annex

2008-02-02T12:11:00.000-08:00

The Queen Elizabeth Annex in Dunbar area of Vancouver is experiencing the same threat of closure as we are at Garibaldi. I've added a link to their website on the Links section on the left side of this page.
View Larger Map

Vancouver Board of School Trustees, December 2005-December 2008

2008-01-31T22:38:00.000-08:00

Below is a list of the Vancouver School Board Trustees. We encourage everyone to write to them with your concerns about the future of Garibaldi.

Allen Blakey Phone: 604-433-6844 allen.blakey@vsb.bc.ca	Secondary Schools Gladstone, Point Grey Elementary Schools Beaconsfield, Cunningham, Kerrisdale & Annex,Quilchena, Norquay, Selkirk & Annex, Southlands Tyee Education Centre Main Street
Ken Denike Phone: 604-889-0564 ken.denike@vsb.bc.ca	Chair Finance & Legal (Committee V) Secondary Schools John Oliver, Prince of Wales, Tupper Elementary Schools Brock, Carnarvon, Dickens & Annex, Livingstone, McBride & Annex, Nightingale, Shaughnessy, Trafalgar Henderson & Annex, Mackenzie, Moberly, Tecumseh & Annex, Trudeau: (Sharon Gregson)
Carol Gibson (Vice-chair) Phone 604-734-6610 carol.gibson@vsb.bc.ca	Vice-Chair of the Board Chair Personnel & Staff Services (Committee IV) Secondary Schools University Hill, Vancouver Technical Elementary Schools Begbie, Maquinna & Annex, Mount Pleasant, Queen Alexandra, Secord, Thunderbird, University Hill Education Centre Gathering Place
Eleanor Gregory Phone: 604-737-1980 eleanor.gregory@vsb.bc.ca	Chair Education & Student Services (Committee III) Secondary Schools Eric Hamber, Killarney Elementary Schools Carr, Cavell, Champlain Heights & Annex, Cook, Fraser, MacCorkindale, Olser, Van Horne, Waverley, Weir, Wolfe Education Centre Downtown East
Sharon Gregson Phone: 604-505-5725 (cell) sharon.gregson@vsb.bc.ca	Secondary Schools Lord Byng Elementary Schools Kitchener, Queen Elizabeth & Annex, Queen Mary, Jules Quensel
Clarence Hansen (Chairperson) Phone: 778-239-9602 clarence.hansen@vsb.bc.ca	Chairperson of the Board Secondary Schools Britannia, Magee Elementary Schools Britannia, Grandview, McKechnie, Maple Grove, Queen Victoria Annex, Seymour, Strathcona
Don Lee Phone: 604-325-9474 don.lee@vsb.bc.ca	Chair Management Co-ordinating (Committee I) Secondary Schools Churchill, Templeton Elementary Schools Franklin, Garibaldi, Hastings, Jamieson, Laurier & Annex, L'Ecole Bilingue, Lloyd George, Lord, Macdonald, Nelson, Tillicum Annex, Sexsmith Education Centre South Hill
Allan Wong Phone: 604-437-6074 allan.wong@vsb.bc.ca	Secondary Schools David Thompson, King George Elementary Schools Dougas & Annex, Elsie Roy, Fleming, Kingsford-Smith, Oppenheimer, Lord Roberts & Annex Education Centre Roberts Education Centre
Shirley Wong Phone: 604-897-8389 (cell) shirley.wong@vsb.bc.ca	Chair Planning & Facilites (Committee II) Secondary Schools Kitsilano, Windermere Elementary Schools Bayview, Bruce, Carleton, Collingwood, False Creek, Grenfell, Gordon, Hudson, Nootka, Renfrew, Tennyson Education Centre Hastings

Posting to this Blog

2008-01-31T22:34:00.000-08:00

If you'd like to create your own posts in this blog (as opposed to just replying to mine), please send me and email at scott.morgan@telus.net and I will send you an invitation. This will make it easier for you to get your ideas out to the community (and make less work for me!).

VSB Telling New Parents that Garibaldi will Close

2008-01-31T11:19:00.000-08:00

I was disturbed to hear from a parent enrolling (at the registration building on East 43rd Avenue) her son at Garibaldi that the VSB strongly urged her not to enroll her son in Garibaldi because it would close at the end of June. The parent persisted and her son joins the grade 3's at Garibaldi next week, bringing the total number of students to 44.
It appears the administration at the East 43rd Avenue site has been misinformed regarding the current process to keep Garibaldi open.

Notes from January 29 Meeting

2008-01-30T11:13:00.000-08:00

Last night we met the community and stakeholders to exchange information and discuss our options for keeping the school open. Amongst the speakers were:

Gary Dobbin and Diane Wilmann of Frog Hollow Neighbourhood House spoke of their offerings.
Sam Fillipoff spoke about Acts of Transformation: From War Toys to Peace Art and the possible use of Garibaldi as a demonstration centre.
Randi Gurholt-Seary of CUPE
James of New Westminster Home Learners spoke on home schooling options.
Helen Hughes spoke on Windsor House School parent participation school.
Giovanna Cortese spoke on her over-flowing daycare and her interest in using space at Garibaldi.

... and possibly others whose names don't come to mind.

Gary made the point that while the VSB's mandate is to provide the kinds of programs Frog Hollow offers, the VSB is handcuffed by the economic restraints imposed by the BC government. So, it is important that the economics issues be addressed by any proposal we put forward.

February 12 is the likely next date for a community meeting. We'll confirm and give details in coming posts.

When You Come to a Fork in the Road, Take it: Public School Education, Community and State

2008-01-30T10:50:00.000-08:00

This is David King's (former Alberta Minister of Education) lecture at the University Manitoba, March 14, 2007. Many of the points are relevant to the interest in community focused schools such as Garibaldi.

Click here to download the lecture (.doc format).
Here is a link to the original lecture notice.

Thanks to Hal for bringing this to our attention.

The Role of Frog Hollow Neighbourhood House: Garibaldi School Threatened Closure

2008-01-29T15:54:00.000-08:00

Frog Hollow Neighbourhood House is a volunteer-driven community services organization which has offered services in East Vancouver for over 40 years. We support the residents of our community to improve the quality of their lives by providing community programs and services, and building community capacity. Our goal is to work together with residents, other community organizations, all levels of government, and business in order to respond effectively and efficiently to the changing needs of our diverse community. We are committed to serving all members of our community and to building our community through encouraging citizen engagement, skill development, self-reliance, and by providing a place to feel a sense of belonging and support.

In response to community need, Frog Hollow first became involved at Garibaldi Annex in 2006 to offer programs in unused school space for children and their families aged 0-6. Over time this model has expanded and developed to become a partnership model of service delivery which includes the school, Frog Hollow, Pacific Immigrant Resource Society, Partners in Education (Canuck Foundation), Vancouver Public Library and Community Health. Through this model families with children from birth to grade four can find education, family support, ESL and early learning opportunities at Garibaldi school. Currently, non school programming uses two rooms in the school as well as occasional use of the gym.

With the onset of the VSB facilities review and decline in school enrollment, the issue of school closure has reached a crucial point. The local community has clearly voiced its desire to keep the school open: over 600 signatures have been collected to date from local residents who wish to see the continuation of their local community school. A strong parent group has met and organized and presented to the Vancouver School Board, as has Frog Hollow Neighbourhood House, to propose that the issue of low enrollment should be addressed not by school closure but by a strong community-based, collaborative solution. This solution should be based on both multi-use of the school facility and a shift in programming at the school to better meet community needs.

The role of Frog Hollow Neighbourhood House is to support community leadership in realizing this new vision for Garibaldi Annex School. We are committed to working with parents, community members, partner organizations, the VSB and potential funding agencies to build on the existing multi-use model and develop a proposal acceptable to the Vancouver School Board. Please feel free to contact us if you have specific ideas or comments with regard to this proposal.

Gary Dobbin, Executive Director
Diane Wilmann, Director of Family Programs

Telephone: 604 251 1225

Frog Hollow Neighbourhood House Proposal

2008-01-27T09:02:00.000-08:00

Diane Wilmann of Frog Hollow Neighbourhood House has made available the Frog Hollow Proposal for programs at Garibabldi. You can download a copy by clicking here. There is also a link in the Links section at the left-hand-side of the page.

January 29 Garibaldi Meeting Update

2008-01-25T15:58:00.000-08:00

Note that time of the January 29 community meeting at Garibaldi (1025 Slocan) has been changed to 7:00 PM.

Charles Menzies Education Blog

2008-01-25T15:11:00.000-08:00

Charles Menzies, an Associate Professor of Social Anthropology in the Department of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia, has written to tell us of his education blog called In Support of Public Education. I've placed a link to this excellent blog on the Links list on the left side of this page. In the blog he references Garibaldi and other schools in a similar situation as well as Noel Herron and the Vancouver Sun's blogger, Steffenhagen.

PAC Meeting set for Tuesday, January 29. 2008

2008-01-22T09:45:00.000-08:00

A PAC meeting has been called for (Note time change!) 7:00 PM, Tuesday, January 29, 2008, at Garibaldi Annex, 1025 Slocan Street. Likely, discussion will centre around how to implement our plan of Frog Hollow and multi-use programs and how to communicate and plan the programs with the community. Free childcare will be provided at the meeting.

If you'd like to help out with any of the following roles, please attend. There is room for more than one person per role.

1. Liaison with Media
2. Liaison with Ministry of Ed, City Representatives, MLA
3. Liaison with VSB
4. Liaison with Interest groups (Frog Hollow, CUPE, VESTA, DPAC, etc.): Kate and Hal (Temporarily)
5. Liaison with Community: Crystal Hollywood + ?
6. Liaison with Asian Community: Sofia + Leanne + Ann + ?
7. Liaison with Parents
8. Liaison with other PAC’s and Schools of Interest

VSB REORGANIZATION AND FUTURE OF SCHOOL ANNEXES

2008-01-21T21:25:00.000-08:00

The following article was passed on to me by Hal Milne.

With the possible closure and sale of the Westside's Queen Elizabeth School Annex (129 kindergarten to Grade 3 students) by a cash-starved Vancouver School Board, to raise an estimated $ 25 million to fund the relocation of University Hill Secondary students in UBC's vacant National
Research building, questions now arises about the continued viability of Vancouver's entire network of small school annexes.

Why Annexes were built

Unique to Vancouver, and dating back to the mid 50's, these 16 small (see list), primary, buildings serve young children by emphasizing a close knit, nurturing, educational environment. Size, proximity and adaptability of instruction
were important considerations in the setting up of this distinct network of schools.

Most annexes were specifically located to avoid having students younger than Grade 4 cross busy arterial intersections. Spread across the city and averaging 100 students, these educational entities are highly regarded and strongly supported by parents.

Indeed many of the VSB's significant curriculum changes to its early childhood programs-- the writing of the province's first all-day kindergarten program; the introduction of the informal, influential, British Infant School approach to early learning-- emanated from the collaborative work of primary teaching staffs and parents in these buildings.

The first cuts to Annexes

Because of financial constraints due to declining enrollment (the board has lost 4,300 students since 1997), and pressure from the ministry of education on Vancouver to reduce excess capacity in the recently announced UBC/Dunbar review, (the first phase of a three-part reorganization plan), the board, it seems, has now made the decision to zero in
for possible closures on its network of small primary annexes.
Apart from the closure of Shannon Park Annex over four years ago these cuts now represent the first of a string of closures across the city.

Many annex parents have voiced concerns about the transfer of their children to what has been called 'big box' schools.
While Garibaldi annex's financial sustainability is in question with only 41 students, parents in this school feel that VSB has not, up to recently, explored options such as a full-service (providing an array of local social/health and ancillary services) school to ward off closure.

Challenging the ministry

Despite the fact that Queen Elizabeth Annex with three times the number of students-129- that Garibaldi has, it remains on the chopping block. This has led some parents to strongly challenge, for the first time, using a comparable economic/business model, the practicality and fairness of the forced closures stemming from the 95% occupancy rate imposed by the ministry of education on Vancouver.

The future?

Within the past few months the NPA-dominated Vancouver
Board has been examining the closure of both Garibaldi and Queen Elizabeth annexes and this trend now points to the closure of at least five or six other Vancouver annexes with declining enrollment when the next two phases of the board's reorganization plans are announced.

An under-100-sudents mark has been suggested as the at- --risk figure for closure, but confirmation of this cut off statistic is difficult to obtain.

In a recent report in the Vancouver Sun VSB chair, Clarence Hansen, insisted that "the proposed closures and program changes to redistribute enrolment in the rest of the city remain confidential" despite calls from COPE opposition trustees to release the original, city-wide, review prepared by the former director of facilities, Les King, and tabled, in camera, last June.

Because of the NPA-dominated board's three-phased approach to school reorganization and closures-- termed "fragmented and rushed "by opposition trustees-the system-wide debate on the future of small school annexes in Vancouver, it appears, will not now take place.

Will many annexes quietly disappear from the scene without analysis or discussion?

It's ironic that the VSB's in its recent hand-outs at ongoing school meetings speak, (using ponderous terminology), about a "desire for alternative options for elementary students" within a" broadened common neighbourhood of learning" yet, the current trend now points to the questionable elimination of many stellar and long-established school annexes for young children.

Lastly, the question must be asked: are these closures really the balancing "of needs with opportunities" that the Vancouver school board seeks in its initial foray into city-wide school reorganization?

VANCOUVER'S ELEMENTARY SCHOOL ANNEXES

SCHOOL POPULATION

Champlain Heights Annex 85
Collingwood Neighbourhood
(Bruce Annex) 154
Dickens Annex 104
Douglas Annex 199
Garibaldi 41
Henderson Annex 105
Kerrisdale Annex 122
Laurier Annex 136
Maquinna Annex 109
McBride Annex 97
Queen Elizabeth Annex 129
Queen Victoria Annex 133
Roberts Annex 146
Selkirk Annex 99
Tecumseh Annex 114
Tillicum Annex 119

___________________________________________________-
Note: The second school-based meeting on the closure of Queen
Elizabeth Annex will be held at 7:00 pm on Jan 29, .while the board
will vote on the closure of Garibaldi in March.

Noel Herron is a former Vancouver school principal and school
trustee. This article will appear in an upcoming edition of the
Vancouver Elementary School Teachers' newsletter.

Minutes from January 15 PAC/Community Meeting

2008-01-17T22:33:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday, January 15, we met to plan our proposal to the VSB to meet their viability criteria. Below are Kate Mulligan's notes.

The meeting went over stakeholders interests in keeping the school open and was well represented by varying community and interest groups. The meeting discussed possibilities for programming options to be brought to the table. It was decided that Frog Hollow would take action immediately and that that Frog Hollow would to pursue discussion with the VSB board regarding the committee that was proposed as a result of the meeting on December 12th. They will also start the process of working with other community organizations and stakeholders to enhance their plan.

Further to that the majority agreed that the Multi-Use program (pre-school, daycare, afterschool care, literacy and immigrant) idea would be the most realistic approach to take with the board considering:

· The time frame

· The fact that Frog Hollow has a basic plan that could be enhanced

· All agree that the neighbourhood could use a school/community space offering these particular services

· The board indicated on December 12th that the most tangible presentation was that of Frog Hollow's and that it would be something the board would consider

These are the roles that were determined for the internal Garibaldi stakeholders committee would be (two individuals per role if possible):

1. Liaison with Media
2. Liaison with Ministry of Ed, City Representatives, MLA
3. Liaison with VSB
4. Liaison with Interest groups (Frog Hollow, CUPE, VESTA, DPAC, etc.): Kate and Hal (Temporarily)
5. Liaison with Community
6. Liaison with Asian Community: Crystal Hollywood
7. Liaison with Parents
8. Liaison with other PAC’s and Schools of Interest

If you'd like to volunteer for any of these roles, please call Kate Mulligan at 604-254-1060 or Scott Morgan at 604-630-8750.

Vancouver Sun blog quotes VSB Superintent on Phase 1 - Annexes too expensive

2008-01-16T23:21:00.000-08:00

Follow the following link to read Janet Steffenhagen's blog following a meeting between VSB Superintendent Chris Kelly and the Sun editorial board.

Vancouver Sun Blog by Janet Steffenhagen

Diane Wilmann's (Frog Hollow) Presentation to the VSB December 12, 2007

2008-01-16T16:35:00.001-08:00

Full Presentation To VSB December 12th

Good Evening, my name is Diane Wilmann, Director of Family Programs at Frog Hollow Neighbourhood House. I live in the Garibaldi neighbourhood and I am the mother of two school aged children, one of whom was fortunate enough to spend her Grade Four Year at Garibaldi School.

Let me begin by saying that there are few who would argue that a school population of 40 can be sustained in an urban context. The issues facing the school board in terms of budgets, declining enrollment and lack of Ministry Funding for new mandates around Early and Lifelong learning are real problems that need to be addressed. Not problems which can be addressed easily, but problems that the Vancouver School Board need not face alone.

If we agree that the current situation is not tenable, where to we go from here?

That depends on what matters to us - and what we willing to do for the things that matter.

Does it matter to us that according to the UBC research body HELP that 45.8 % - think about it almost ½ - of children in this community arrive in school vulnerable to failure? Does it matter that out of this group of vulnerable kids, in our community, unlike many other parts of Vancouver, most of those kids will be failing to meet expectations by grade four? Does it matter that kids who fail by grade four, will likely continue to struggle, will require expensive additional resources to support their learning, and some will run the risk of leaving school learn nothing so well as their status as failures.

I believe that to these children, to their families, to our community as a whole and anyone involved in education - this matters deeply.

And if it matters deeply, we need to be willing to make stronger decisions than closing a wonderful school in a community of great need. We need to make other choices that locking the gates to Garibaldi and getting back to business as usual, when “business as usual” is failing our children and failing our community.

So are there other realistic solutions? Absolutely.

We are not just a community of need, we are also a community full of people who are creative, resourceful, intelligent and willing to work for a better place to raise their children. We are a community full of young children. We are a community with a committed group of local agencies who need a meaningful partnership with the Vancouver School Board to address the issues we face and support the Board in fulfilling its new mandates for Early Learning and Lifelong learning. We are a community where alternatives such as Fine Arts programming, specialized language programs or home school support programs are in high demand, and could revitalize the school and community – increasing enrollment and lowering student costs of attending the school. We are a community asking for a commitment from the school board to work with us in our diversity; families who are seeking enrichment for their children, families who need extra support. We want to work on assisting the Vancouver School Board to

“ensure the highest quality of learning experiences for all students, with a focus on student engagement, learning and development in a safe, inclusive environment”
(and these words are taken directly from the VSB website)

We need to reinvent Garibaldi so that the needs and capacities of the whole community can be expressed and acted upon. We need to demonstrate that collectively, Garibaldi Annex can become a story where statistics like the 36.1% of adults who did not complete high school (the lowest educational levels outside the downtown eastside), the 45.8% vulnerability of children will not be ignored but instead overcome by new and innovative models of learning.

Frog Hollow provides service to 532 local families with children under six through family resource, daycare and preschool programming. Our summer program at local Clinton park was attended by hundreds of local preschool children, almost all of these families live in walking distance to the school. Frog Hollow family program staff are forced to turn away families with young children on a daily basis – we still simply do not have the space.

In spring 2006 as part of an effort to address this issue, Frog Hollow Neighbourhood House met with the Vancouver School Board to explore the idea of possible partnerships at Garibaldi annex. The School Board seemed open and by spring of this year we had worked with other local community service providers to leverage funds from the United Way for a new Early and Lifelong learning project centred at Garibaldi school. Pacific Immigrant Resource Society, Partners in Education (Canucks Foundation), Vancouver Public Library, Vancouver Coastal Health have been working together at Garibaldi Annex since Spring 2007 to provide Family Resource programming, ESL classes and preschool, child and family literacy programs, parenting programs, active living programs and health supports. Since initiating programs 80 families with preschool children have already been involved. We secured $70,000 annually of new money to run these programs. The approach is a team one and the school staff and administration have been very much part of the team. The array of programs offered are open to the whole community – as the EDI information shows – vulnerable children can come from any part of the socio-economic spectrum.

Building something new takes time to demonstrate successful outcomes. Our vision is to continue to offer these programs, work with MCFD to access dollars to add childcare to the facility( we have 100 families currently on our waitlist for spaces and 20 years of experience to bring) and support the Vancouver School Board in working with families to explore new options for school programming at the site. With a meaningful commitment from all partners, the long term possibilities are unlimited and exciting.

So what are we willing to do for the things that matter?

Ignore the needs and capacities of our community, and the future of its children, just hoping that business as usual might somehow result in different outcomes. Or pretend that bigger is always better. Buy into some counter-intuitive notion that huge buildings and hundreds of children is the perfect environment for every six year old. Or should we think a little bit about what David and Tom might say (these are not their real names). David was a classmate and friend of my daughter when she spent her year at Garibaldi Annex. His parents spoke little English, worked hard to provide for David and their family. They had come to parenthood later in life. David lives with Downs Syndrome as well as other developmental issues but was known and loved by students, staff and parents involved at the School. Through the year, my daughter came home and happily shared the successes and milestones achieved by David, as she did her other friends. David graduated together with his peers, his support worker sharing his long list of accomplishments at his graduation to rousing cheers from the audience. Before their journey to the “big school” the Grade Fours were excited to visit their Grade 5 school on an orientation visit. David joined the visit with his buddy Tom. As they walked the corridors, a child from the big school approached Tom and asked him what he was doing hanging out with David, “you don’t look special needs”. I’m not said Tom. David is my friend. With that the tour continued. I am sure Tom has made his transition to the big school and is doing well. I am also sure that his sense of worth, the value that was put upon his accomplishments, that he was known so well to all his small school community gave Tom the foundation he needed to succeed in a bigger school environment and gave David and many others a friendship that they will always value.

So for things that matter, are we willing to shift gears, create a new vision, take the time, energy and effort to approach long term problems in ways that are realistic and innovative and to give all the children in our community, the start they deserve? Tom, David and hundreds of other children living in our community are counting on it.

Keira McPhee Blog

2008-01-16T12:37:00.000-08:00

Keira McPhee has a personal blog and often posts on the subject of Garibaldi Annex. You can read her blog at tothequick.wordpress.com.
Articles about Garibaldi can be found at
http://tothequick.wordpress.com/2008/01/16/school-dreams/
http://tothequick.wordpress.com/2007/12/12/school-blues/
http://tothequick.wordpress.com/2007/12/14/reprieve/

or type Garibaldi in the Search bar and click Go!.

Garibaldi Viability Plan Kick-off Meeting Tonight!

2008-01-15T10:57:00.000-08:00

Tonight we meet to discuss how and what programs we can put in place to meet the VSB criteria for keeping Garibaldi open. Please bring your ideas and show your interest in what programs you would like to have for your children and the community. We meet at

Time: 7:00 PM
Location: Frog Hollow Neighbourhood House, 2131 Renfrew Street

Free childcare will be provided. We have hired experienced teenagers Wendy and Emily, former Garibaldi students, with a brother still at the school. Wendy and Emily have provided childcare for past Garibaldi PAC meetings and know most of the children well.

COPE Press Release - NPA School Closure and Reorganization Plan

2008-01-14T22:58:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Halford Milne for passing on the following press release.

Immediate Release: Jan 14, 2008:

Vancouver COPE School Trustees blast NPA school closure and reorganization plan.

"Utter stupidity," is how COPE School Trustee Allen Blakey describes the Vancouver NPA school trustees' UBC/Dunbar Street Study of school closures. Blakey says the study, which reviews only one part of the entire district in isolation from the rest of the district’s schools, is "a fragmented and totally inadequate approach."

All three COPE trustees want a report prepared by former Vancouver School Board facilities director Les King to be released immediately to counter the current piecemeal approach to school closures. King's report, commissioned by the previous Board, was tabled in camera last June by the NPA. COPE trustees say this is the only document thatprovides a district-wide perspective on school closures, as well as program consolidation, amalgamation and re-location.

Rushed agenda mocks public consultation:
COPE Trustee Sharon Gregson said scheduling six back-to-back meetings, the first at University Hill Secondary on January14, and the last on January 22, “makes a mockery of the board’s claim to meaningful consultation." Parent and teacher representatives have also strongly criticized the Board's rushed agenda.

Gregson notes that District Parent Advisory Committee representatives are concerned that parents do not have adequate time to study all the detailed documentation released by the Board.

Sale and leasing of school building challenged:
COPE trustees say plans to sell off school property and lease some buildings is flawed. The decision to reach an agreement with UBC by this March to eventually move University Hill secondary students into a building vacated by the National Research Council in the University Endowment Lands, is particularly ill-conceived. COPE trustees point out that UBC is offering the Board only a limited lease on the NRC building.

“There is an urgent need for proper facilities for U Hill students, as their current school is cramped and inadequate,” said Blakey, “But this rushed plan skews the entire proposal and could impact negatively on other schools in the Dunbar area."

COPE trustees also strongly disagree with the rush to sell taxpayer owned land at Queen Elizabeth School Annex in order to defray the cost of new schools before considering other options. Furthermore, with the ongoing explosion of the school population in the University Endowment lands, the possibility of needing two new elementary schools, not one, was very much in the mix.

Vancouver's 16 school annexes at risk:
Within the past six weeks the Board has announced the possible closure of two of the city's 16 school annexes - Garibaldi, on the Eastside, and Queen Elizabeth on the Westside- without considering the district-wide implications of closing these valued, entities.

With an average of 100 students each, these small, closely knit annexes are unique to Vancouver and have been providing services for young children from kindergarten to Grades 3 and 4 for over 45 years. So far there has been no district-wide consultation with parents and teachers about the continued existence of annexes.

Seismic upgrading concerns emerge:
“I am appalled that since this NPA-dominated board has come to power in 2005, not a single Vancouver school has been approved for seismic upgrading," said COPE Trustee Allan Wong.

Wong notes that the UBC/Dunbar Study schedules University Hill Secondary and Queen Elizabeth Main Elementary for seismic upgrading, bumping them above other schools that were accorded a higher priority on the VSB list of designated schools. Wong says this is as an example of how the current isolated approach is distorting district-wide planning.

-30-

Information: Trustee Al Blakey 604-433-6844, allen.blakey@vsb.ca
Trustee Sharon Gregson 604-505-5725, sharon.gregson@vsb.ca
Trustee Allan Wong 604-437-6074, allan.wong@vsb.bc.ca

Childcare Confirmed for PAC Meeting

2008-01-14T13:31:00.000-08:00

Free childcare for tomorrow's meeting has been confirmed. The meeting details are

On Tuesday, January 15, we will hold a
meeting to discuss the VSB criteria for keeping Garibaldi open, create a
plan to achieve the criteria and call for volunteers to help out with
whatever needs to be done.

The meeting will be held at 7:00 PM at the Frog Hollow
Neighbourhood House at 2131 Renfrew Street.

See you there!

Comments on VSB Proposed Process and Criteria for Continued Operation of Garibaldi Annex

2008-01-11T13:44:00.000-08:00

Last night the VSB held a public meeting in part to discuss the District Management's document entitled Proposed Process and Criteria for Continued Operation of Garibaldi Annex. The document proposed a tight time line for the community to generate proposals and for the board to consider the proposals and vote on whether they are sufficient to justify keeping Garibaldi open. I've heard second-hand that, thanks to the input of members of the Committee II/III, the time line has been extended by the board, closer to that of the original December 12 amendment to the motion to close Garibaldi. I believe the final vote would take place on or after April 8, 2008. Meeting minutes are not yet available, but when details are made known I will link them here.
The proposed criteria (I don't know if this description will be changed based on the meeting discussion before being voted upon, but will update if found to be otherwise) is as follows:

potential for enhanced education opportunities
consistency with Board policy on alternate external use of facilities; and
impact on VSB staffing and revenues and expenditures

A grave concern with criteria 1 and 3 is that they are not measurable and as such are meaningless. There is no way for the community to design a solution if the goal posts are not known in advance. Useful metrics might have been along the lines of: put in a plan that would

reduce the cost per student to $8,000/year by 2013,
offset the operational costs by $50,000/year (through night programs or third-party daycare and preschool providers)
eliminate the lengthy French Immersion waiting list at Hastings school

As such, the Board's members cannot be held accountable to how they vote in April as it will be up to each member to make up their own minds as to whether the criteria have been met rather than to measure against a self-evident metric. Comments?

Update to the Garibaldi Viability Plan Kick-off Meeting

2008-01-10T11:30:00.000-08:00

The Kick-off meeting has been postponed to Tuesday, January 15, and now will be held at 7:00 PM at the Frog Hollow Neighbourhood House, 2131 Renfrew Street (click here for a map). Everyone is welcome and encouraged to attend. On the agenda is the VSB's stated criteria for keeping the school open. We'll be discussing options and assigning roles. Come get involved!
Free childcare at the site is being arranged and will be announced here when confirmed.

VSB Commitee Meetings called for Thursday, January 10

2008-01-07T22:08:00.000-08:00

There is another joint committee 2/3 meeting Thursday at 5:30, followed by an open board meeting at 7:00 PM with 2 items on the agenda:
1. Garibaldi Annex - proposed criteria and process for continued operation (report to be provided at the meeting)
2. Education Facilities Review - phase 1 implementation

At least 2 DPAC executives will be in attendance for both meetings.

Source: Julianne Doctor, DPAC

Links
Meeting Schedule
Board Meeting Agenda

Vancouver Sun Article on Appeal Process

2008-01-07T15:55:00.000-08:00

The following link to a proposed student appeal process was left as a comment to the previous post:

Click here for Vancouver Sun article

Garibaldi Viability Plan Kick-off Meeting

2008-01-07T12:12:00.000-08:00

Update - Meeting Postponed to Tuesday, January 15 at Frog Hollow
see January 10 post

Welcome back to school, everyone!
The Parents Advisory Council will meet Thursday night, January 10, to start putting a plan together for achieving the VSB viability goal. Please call Kate at 604-254-1060 if you'd like to get involved. Calling is important as space may be limited.
Still outstanding from the school board is what measure they will use to determine whether the school is viable. We hope to receive such a measure in the next couple of weeks.

Save Public Education in Vancouver

2007-12-31T13:08:00.000-08:00

A group of citizens concerned about the declining health of the Vancouver school system have started a public letter and invite your support. Visit their link at http://www.publiceducationproject.blogspot.com/

PAC Meeting with Dan Marriott, acting Associate Superintendent

2007-12-21T13:51:00.000-08:00

Dan Marriott, acting Associate Superintendent (temporarily replacing Tom Grant who is leaving to accept the Superintendent position in Coquitlam), came to Garibaldi to meet with the Parents Advisory Council (PAC) this morning and there was an open dialog regarding the possible closure of Garibaldi. In January Parents will receive further details about options for parents and the VSB conditions for keeping Garibaldi open.
Thanks to Dan for making the trip to meet us and answer our questions.

Program Interest - Results from the Survey

2007-12-20T16:12:00.000-08:00

Here are the survey (click here to take the survey) results showing interest in the possible programs at Garibaldi. The graph is based on the first 42 respondents (there are about 48 to date). Multiuse refers to preschool/daycare and after-school care.
Fine Arts, French Immersion and Multiuse received the most interest.

Comments from the Survey

2007-12-20T11:34:00.000-08:00

Below are comments from the survey (click here if you'd like to do the survey).

Garibaldi is a fantastic community school offers so much more than just K-4 education. Closing the school would be detrimental to the neighbourhood.

We moved into the neighbourhood 3 years ago and heard immediately that Garibaldi was going to close, and that it was primarily E.S.L. focused. Our son is now starting French Immersion kindergarten at Hastings. If a compelling program was offered at Garibaldi, F.I., Fine Arts, we'd love to come on home to our small, neighbourhood school.

The fact that Hastings is so huge, with 2 F.I. kindergartens and a huge waitlist demonstrates that the need is here.

The focus on E.S.L. students needs to continue- that's the neighbourhood. But E.S.L or Mandarin immersion could work in cooperation with other programming that would also appeal to the many families who live here whose first language is English.

There is a tremendous opportunity at Garibaldi to build a school that appeals to and celebrates the incredible cultural and linguistic diversity of this neighbourhood.

I am very impressed by the daycare program offered by Capilano College. Recently they were approached by The York House private school because they want to have the same kind of program offered for their Kindergarten level. Why not having a publicly funded one?

If I had to choose one of the above programs, I would choose Mandarin Immersion, since there is (as far as I know) only one public school in Vancouver that offers that program

I lived 2 blocks from Garibaldi until 2006, but never considered enrolling my kids there due to lack of special programs. I now live at Adanac and Victoria, and still have been unable to find the types of special programming I want for my children, so I'm paying alot of money and spending time in transport to go to Waldorf. Our #1 choice would be Nootka, but at our place on the waiting list we're told it will be probably 4 years to get in. Same story for French Immersion at Hastings or Laura Secord, and might as well forget about Montessori at Tyee. There are obviously many many parents like us who want non-mainstream programs for our kids who don't want to drive to Dickens, Wondertree, etc out west, nor to Waldorf or Windsor House across the bridge. Why can't VSB honour this need and provide it here in the East Side where we live? Garibaldi would be a perfect, intimate, community-based location for any special program. Something along the lines of Nootka, Montessori, Windsor Ho

We also visit the playground daily - what a tragedy to lose this space!
We would welcome any preschool/recreational programs as well, which would be ideal for us in this location.
(Submitted by signed Letter of Commitment)

Don’t close Garibaldi School!!!!!!

Garibaldi is very close to our house and would be convenient. However, my daughter likes the challenge of French Immersion. My younger daughter will start school in 2011, and will go to the same school as my older daughter. Because Garibaldi only goes to grade 4, and there is a four year gap between my kids, it would mean having them in different schools most of the time. If Garibaldi could offer FI and K-7, I would send my daughters there.

Our house is surrounded by incredibly busy main streets, so if Garibaldi closes we would choose to enroll our children in the private school within our neighbourhood. This, however, is not our first choice as we as parents both believe in public education, however our children's safety is obviously first, and we would prefer them to not have to cross such busy streets until they are a bit older.

Secondly, we feel that a smaller school best serves the needs of young children. Smaller is always better in education as it easier for students to learn about each other and to be more accountable for their actions, versus being simply "one of the crowd" in a larger school; essentially being anonomous.

Cutbacks are inevitable, but the safety of our children and a positive educational experience are essential. This being said, please reconsider the impact that the closing of Garibaldi will have on our community, our neighbourhood, and our children.

We believe in the importance of neighbourhood schools and also feel that Hastings is very big and overwhelming for young children - especially those in K-4. We would love to have an alternative in our neighbourhood. We are interested in French Immersion or a Fine Arts curriculum. But also would support Mandarin Immersion or any of the other programs - even if our daughter did not attend. We would value this in our community.

If there was an alternative for french immersion at a smaller, closer school I would love that.

Garibaldi is a fantastic community school offers so much more than just K-4 education. Closing the school would be detrimental to the neighbourhood.
We moved into the neighbourhood 3 years ago and heard immediately that Garibaldi was going to close, and that it was primarily E.S.L. focused. Our son is now starting French Immersion kindergarten at Hastings. If a compelling program was offered at Garibaldi, F.I., Fine Arts, we'd love to come on home to our small, neighbourhood school. The fact that Hastings is so huge, with 2 F.I. kindergartens and a huge waitlist demonstrates that the need is here. The focus on E.S.L. students needs to continue- that's the neighbourhood. But E.S.L or Mandarin immersion could work in cooperation with other programming that would also appeal to the many families who live here whose first language is English. There is a tremendous opportunity at Garibaldi to build a school that appeals to and celebrates the incredible cultural and linguistic diversity of this neighbourhood.
I am very impressed by the daycare program offered by Capilano College. Recently they were approached by The York House private school because they want to have the same kind of program offered for their Kindergarten level. Why not having a publicly funded one? If I had to choose one of the above programs, I would choose Mandarin Immersion, since there is (as far as I know) only one public school in Vancouver that offers that program

I lived 2 blocks from Garibaldi until 2006, but never considered enrolling my kids there due to lack of special programs. I now live at Adanac and Victoria, and still have been unable to find the types of special programming I want for my children, so I'm paying alot of money and spending time in transport to go to Waldorf. Our #1 choice would be Nootka, but at our place on the waiting list we're told it will be probably 4 years to get in. Same story for French Immersion at Hastings or Laura Secord, and might as well forget about Montessori at Tyee. There are obviously many many parents like us who want non-mainstream programs for our kids who don't want to drive to Dickens, Wondertree, etc out west, nor to Waldorf or Windsor House across the bridge. Why can't VSB honour this need and provide it here in the East Side where we live? Garibaldi would be a perfect, intimate, community-based location for any special program. Something along the lines of Nootka, Montessori, Windsor Ho
We also visit the playground daily - what a tragedy to lose this space! We would welcome any preschool/recreational programs as well, which would be ideal for us in this location. (Submitted by signed Letter of Commitment)

Don’t close Garibaldi School!!!!!!
Garibaldi is very close to our house and would be convenient. However, my daughter likes the challenge of French Immersion. My younger daughter will start school in 2011, and will go to the same school as my older daughter. Because Garibaldi only goes to grade 4, and there is a four year gap between my kids, it would mean having them in different schools most of the time. If Garibaldi could offer FI and K-7, I would send my daughters there.
Our house is surrounded by incredibly busy main streets, so if Garibaldi closes we would choose to enroll our children in the private school within our neighbourhood. This, however, is not our first choice as we as parents both believe in public education, however our children's safety is obviously first, and we would prefer them to not have to cross such busy streets until they are a bit older. Secondly, we feel that a smaller school best serves the needs of young children. Smaller is always better in education as it easier for students to learn about each other and to be more accountable for their actions, versus being simply "one of the crowd" in a larger school; essentially being anonomous. Cutbacks are inevitable, but the safety of our children and a positive educational experience are essential. This being said, please reconsider the impact that the closing of Garibaldi will have on our community, our neighbourhood, and our children.
We believe in the importance of neighbourhood schools and also feel that Hastings is very big and overwhelming for young children - especially those in K-4. We would love to have an alternative in our neighbourhood. We are interested in French Immersion or a Fine Arts curriculum. But also would support Mandarin Immersion or any of the other programs - even if our daughter did not attend. We would value this in our community.

If there was an alternative for french immersion at a smaller, closer school I would love that.

Kate Mulligan's Report on the VSB Vote to Close Garibaldi

2007-12-18T14:05:00.000-08:00

Good Evening All,

Tonight I attended the VSB Board Meeting where trustees voted on the proposed closure of Garibaldi Annex. The motion was amended for trustees to vote on providing the community and stakeholders until March 20th, 2008 to come up with a viable, sustainable options for Garibaldi to continue operations. This will be evaluated based on the current criteria for program assessment.

During discussions tonight, Trustee Sharon Gregson voiced concern for the 21 day process regarding closures and asked the Board to consider a motion for district management to review the policy set out by the VSB. The board agreed to this.

In addition she spoke to the process for this collaborative committee, asking for district management to provide resourcing/funding for this process. She asked that management provide a liaison and staff along with meeting space for the community during this process.

In addition, Allen Wong, indicated that he supported her comments and added that he has concern that the percentage of students living in the catchments is almost unchanged whereas the number of children attending pubic school within the catchment has significantly declined.

Unfortuately, Trustee Blackey was not at the meeting (he was the first to suggest the amendment). Don Lee did not comment on the process or in fact on any other point regarding Garibaldi.

I would let you all know exactly who voted for the amendment, but it happenned too fast for me to write it down.

Shane Simpson, the MLA for Vancouver Hastings, was present and later gave an interview along with myself to media.

In addition the teachers and administration were present.

I think we have a lot of work ahead of us. There are many opportunities for the community to get involved beyond immediate Garibaldi Stakeholders. I think we need to think of this as an educational excercise for the Board and VSB. This is the time that the community can have input as to what program delivery means within our community. We need to tell the VSB that:

It is not acceptable to comprise education delivery to meet financial targets
The VSB should be advocating for the quality of our education system to the Ministry
Parents and stakeholders should have a say in the delivery of education in Vancouver
Equal education for all children no matter their parents capabilities to provide opportunities
Balanced program delivery in each catchment
pre-school learning available to all children
Community schools

It is important to remember that it is up to us to work at electing the right individuals to improve education for children. We also should be involved in our child's education, whether it be reading to them at home or helping out in our neighbourhood school, to bringing important issues to the Ministry of education. Everything you do for your child's educatoin is a BIG asset.

How can we move forward as a community:

Let's get together in early January 2008!

We need community members representing the educational rights of our community to advocate to the Ministry of Education
We need parents and stakeholders with ideas as to what they see are needs within the community
We need parents and community to pound the pavement

We need to share a common voice!

Please continue to look for more information and updates on this process on our Garibaldi PAC website, blog and forum:

Website: http://www3.telus.net/garibaldi/
Forum: http://garibaldi.freeforums.org/

Information will also be made available on the VSB website regarding the process:

http://www.vsb.bc.ca/default.htm

If you would like to get on the committee to look at options, please e-mail myself and the VSB.
Should you like to be on the PAC committee so that your input can be brought forward please e-mail myself.

I would like to thank to date Shane Simpson, MLA Vancouver Hastings, Diane Wilmann and Gary Dobbin from Frog Hollow, Julianna and Steve of the DPAC, Glen Hansman of VESTA, the trustees who advocated on behalf of Garibaldi and the education process, the teachers of Garibaldi and administration, the PAC and parents who have supported us, Outside PACs and parents from other schools who have stood up for community schooling and Erin, Jean Rasmussen and Robin of Canucks Family Place, Jenny for all your translation services, Noel Herron and to all those I missed!

A special thank you to Crystal Hollywood and the parents and community who helped her with the monumental task of flyering the neighbourhood and obtaining 645 signatures on our petition. Thank you to Scott Morgan for all his wonderful website building, blog building and forum building. Thanks to Hal for your advocacy and input into the environmental, community and safety aspects facing Garibaldi students. To Kamal her hard work and contributions.

I know I am missing parents and people that have contributed and entice you to add your own thank yous!

Happy holidays and we will be in touch!!!!

Kate Mulligan
604-254-1060
778-839-5326

Notes from tonight's VSB Meeting

2007-12-12T22:26:00.000-08:00

Tonight the VSB Trustees, along with Committees II/III, met to listen to delegates' presentations against the possible closure to close Garibaldi. There were eight or nine delegates, covering many aspects of why Garibaldi should stay open. The Trustees decided to amend the motion to allow for the school to stay open if a viable plan to make the school work financially is produced by the end of the 2008 March break. I'll follow up with more details and comments in my next post.

VSB Meeting to hear community feedback Tonight!

2007-12-12T14:57:00.000-08:00

Tonight is our last chance to speak to the board of trustees directly. Join us on the free bus trip to the VSB to attend the meeting. The bus leaves in front of the school at 6:15 PM. The meeting is expected to end around 8:30 PM.

Updated list of speakers:
Shane Simpson, MLA
Diane Wilmann, Frog Hollow Neighbourhood House
Scott Morgan, Parent
Kate Muligan, Parent
Kamal Lal, Parent
Crystal Hollywood, Parent
Halford Milne, Parent

See you there!

Closing east-side schools, Opening west-side schools

2007-12-10T14:47:00.000-08:00

From the comments to the Survey post:

"Is it true the school board is actually building a new school on the west side? What are we parents being taken for, a bunch of fools? I, for one, am outraged that the school board has told us the whole story". - Anonymous comment

My response:
Yes, it appears to be true. 20% of east side students are leaving their catchment (compared to 3.5% for west side kids). Most are going to the west side where they perceive the educational experience to be better (not actually true - math marks are about the same and literacy is best in the middle income neighbourhoods). So, we are building schools on the west side and closing down schools on the east side to accommodate those who want be schooled across town. Is this a fair use of our tax dollars, or fair to the east side neighbourhoods that are losing the hearts of their communities?
See the article for additional background: http://www.straight.com/article-70975/student-exodus-threatens-east-side-schools

Survey now on-line

2007-12-07T08:07:00.001-08:00

The Garibaldi Annex Survey is now on-line at www.cdanalysis.com/Garibaldi

Garibaldi in Today's Vancouver Courier

2007-12-05T11:00:00.000-08:00

Naoibh O'Conner, staff writer, for the Vancouver Courier has an article in the Courier about our fight to keep the school open. The article is also on the Courier's website: http://www.canada.com/vancouvercourier/news/story.html?id=3deb7366-b65b-4e8b-ac0d-69191e657d53
The article mentions Crystal Hollywood's petition and this blog. The print edition also has a photograph of Crystal and her son, Cristopher, in front of the school (Cristopher does not look happy that his school is threatened with closure!). The article mentions that the Vancouver Elementary School Teachers Association (VESTA) has arranged for a bus to drive anyone interested in attending the VSB committee meeting on December 12. The bus leaves at 6:15 PM from in front of the school at 1025 Slocan Street. At the meeting the committee will be hearing arguments from the public on why the school should remain open. If you'd like to speak, please call Lois Schack of the VSB at 604-713-5019 to register.
So far registered to speak are:

Shane Simpson, MLA Vancouver-Hastings
Diane Wilmann, Frog Hollow Neighbourhood House
Scott Morgan, Parent

The committee will give a presentation, to be followed by presentations by registered speakers. Each speaker will have five minutes, followed by up to five minutes of questions.

Petition Update

2007-12-03T21:10:00.000-08:00

Crystal mentioned that over 600 people have now signed the petition. If you haven't yet and would like to, you can sign at the office at 1025 Slocan Street during school hours or by contacting Crystal at

778-329-3436
Email: cahollywood1967@hotmail.com

Flyer No. 2 and Letter of Commitment

2007-12-03T10:46:00.000-08:00

Kate, Hal, Keanna and I met last night to review Crystal's new flyer and Letter of Commitment. With the Letter of Commitment we are attempting to survey the Nelson/Garibaldi catchment east of Nanaimo to determine how many children would attend Garibaldi in the next few years should the programs they require be offered at Garibaldi. These questions are motivated by the knowledge that 154 students living in the catchment are leaving for programs elsewhere and that, anecdotally, we see many babies born to the many young families that have moved into the area in the last few years. The answers to these questions will help justify keeping Garibaldi open and offering programs the neighbourhood requires. The flyer and the Letter of Commitment are available for download from our website: http://www3.telus.net/garibaldi
We will attempt to deliver the survey to each house in the catchment east of Nanaimo over the next week. If you don't receive one, please download it and deliver your completed survey to Garibaldi School at 1025 Slocan Street.
Thanks!

VSB Public Meeting at Garibaldi (Revised November 29, 2007)

2007-11-28T23:29:00.000-08:00

The VSB put on a public meeting tonight and formally presented the proposal to close Garibaldi. The meeting was well attended our very vocal community. The gym was about 75% full. The VSB's purpose was to inform our community of the process initiated to consider the closure of Garibaldi Annex, to record the concerns expressed by the community and to report those concerns to the trustees, who will make a decision on the closure on December 17.

VSB Attendees (this is from memory -- sorry if I've missed anyone):
? - Area Office
Brenda Ng - Secretary / Treasurer
Chris Kelly - Superintendent
Ken Denike - Chairman
Tom Grant - Associate Superintendent
? - Human Resources
Henry Ahking - Planning and Facilities
Craig Sidjak - Facilities Planner
Laurie Anderson - Associate Superintendent

Media
City TV
Vancouver Courier

VSB Presentation
The board gave a slide show of background information, including the trend of decreasing enrollment in Vancouver schools and the need for seismic upgrades. VSB facilities are under-utilized by 10,000 seats, about 7,000 of which would be elementary students. There are 41 students at Garibaldi out of a capacity of 165. Begbie and Nelson are due for seismic upgrades in 2009. Garibaldi is sufficiently sound seismically that is not slated for seismic work (if kept open) until 2015 or later. Following the board's presentation they opened the floor to questions. There were some excellent and passionate (OK, some were very angry) speakers on the side of keeping the school open (and no one from the audience, if memory serves, suggested the school be closed). The board's presentation will be made available on the the VSB website.

Notes from the question period

Several in the community expressed dismay that the process time-line was so short (19 days from the public meeting to the final decision). Chris Kelly, Superintendent, pointed out that they were bound by the process time-line [as set in the VSB's policies and procedures].
Someone suggested that Garibaldi be kept open to accommodate students displaced by the seismic upgrades at Nelson in 2009. Even if there is space at Nelson during the upgrade, Garibaldi might make for a better learning environment, away from the noise of the construction work.
Many made the point that students are leaving the catchment due to the lack of daycare and preschool. We have identified independent preschool and daycare operators in the neighbourhood who would like to relocate their businesses at Garibaldi (in fact, when I contacted one such operator, she said she had already contacted the school board about using some of their excess space but was asked to wait to the end of the process). The school board said that they would have to charge more for renting the space than would be viable for the operators. However, this model is working at many other schools in Vancouver. Why not Garibaldi? We need to assess the cost and budgets of potential operators. I know one operator whose facility costs are about $2000/month.
The board presented projections for the number of students expected to enroll at Garibaldi. They projected enrollment is 40-50 students annually over the next few years. However, the data have not included any recent surveys in the catchment. In last few five years we have noticed a large increase in the number of young families moving into the area and a large number of babies being born. The children are here. We need to serve the needs of the community by offering at Garibaldi the services that will keep them in the catchment. According to the VSB data, there are 437 elementary students living in the Nelson catchment (which includes Garibaldi) and 283 in-catchment students attending Nelson. This means that 154 students are leaving the catchment for other schools. If we consider the likely proportion that are in the Garibaldi grade range of K-4 (5 K-4 grades divided by 8 total grades) and splitting the remaining students over Nelson and Garibaldi, we get that there are potentially 47 students that would stay in the catchment, attend Garibaldi and be able to walk to school if the Garibaldi provided the services they are leaving for. That would bring the total enrollment at Garibaldi to 88. We believe the many babies being born to the new young families that have moved into the neighbourhood recently will increase these numbers greatly. Perhaps a survey is in order to back up our observations (yes, we're working on it).
Another reason given for students not attending Garibaldi was that for the last three years the community has been told that the school would be closing. Parents, not wanting to submit their children to an unnecessary school change, enrolled their children elsewhere.
Tom Grant was asked the whether the board considered attracting students back to Garibadli by offering French Immersion or other special programs. He answered no. Hastings School, with a capacity of 705 students, has long wait list for its French Immersion program. Why not serve that demand by offering French Immersion at Garibaldi?
Kate Mulligan made the point (amongst many others) that special programs are available in other parts of the city. Why not ours? Why don't our children have equal access to special programs and be schooled in our neighbourhood?
The school is used at almost 100% capacity when you consider the community education programs run by Frog Hollow Neighbourhood House, the Pacific Immigration Resource Services (ESL for children and parents), the Canucks Family Education Centre and other events such as the community song circles. There are 80 additional people involved in the Frog Hollow progam alone. The board responded that the people attending these programs don't get counted when considering the enrollment in the school.

The VSB will bring these points to the trustees. There will be a formal opportunity for the community to make their case to keep the school open at a meeting at the VSB on December 12, 7:00 PM. We are arranging for a bus to drive any interested community members to the meeting Meet in front of Garibaldi at 6:15 PM on December 12. If you'd like to speak or present at the meeting, you need to book with Lois Schack at the VSB: 604-713-5019. The trustees will vote December 17 on whether to close the school.

Some Thoughts
There are enough kids in the neighbourhood to keep Garibaldi open. We need to offer the services that will serve the children and the greater community, increase enrollment and offset facility costs, instead of forcing students to leave the catchment.

What you can do

Contribute to the discussion in this blog and our forum. Give us your ideas and feedback on how to convince the trustees to keep Garibaldi open.
Volunteer to help with distributing flyers, writing letters to the School Trustees, distributing surveys and collecting petition signatures or helping organize. See this link for more information.

Sunday PAC Meeting Update

2007-11-26T17:51:00.000-08:00

Kate Mulligan, Kamal and I met yesterday (Sunday, November 25) to create a statement to media. The Vancouver Elementary School Teachers Association will be translating.

Crystal Hollywood and friends have collected over 500 signatures on her petition to keep Garibaldi open.

Two more days until the VSB public meeting at the school. Come and voice your concerns.

Garibali Annex Public Meeting,
7:00 PM, Wednesday, November 28
1025 Slocan, Vancouver

New Website and Forum

2007-11-23T10:46:00.000-08:00

We now have a website and forum. The website is mostly for downloading documents, such as Kate Mulligan's Frog Hollow presentation. The forum allows for a community dialog.

Please contribute your ideas and concerns on forum!

Family Song Circle Review

2007-11-22T11:52:00.000-08:00

There was a large, vocal and rhythmic turnout to Tuesday's song circle. We had enough parents and children to cover most of the library. There was also a good showing from the community outside of those with children at Garibaldi. Hal brought some drums to share, and Fenton brought his guitar. Thanks to Vice Principal, Noreen Morris, for hosting the music night.
Crystal collected petition signatures that night and there was a strong showing, with much concern being expressed by the community.
There will likely be another community music event (Christmas themed) in December. I'll post details here when dates are set.

Garibaldi Facebook Group

2007-11-16T07:26:00.000-08:00

Note that there is a Garibaldi Annex group on www.facebook.com. Do a search on "Garibaldi Annex Alumni." You may have to join (free) if you're not a member.

Process Time Line

2007-11-14T23:31:00.000-08:00

We'll post a detailed time line of the process here shortly. The key dates to note are (quotes from school board memo):

November 28, 2007, 7:00 PM. There will be a public meeting at Garibaldi Annex, 1025 Slocan Avenue, Vancouver. "District management will present information regarding the possible closure of Garibaldi Annex and obtain input and feedback. The meeting is open to the public.

December 12, 2007, 7:00 PM. "District management will report back and summareize the feedback from the consultation meetings. Delegates wishing to make a formal presentation to Trustees must pre-register by contacting Lois Schack @ 604-713-5019.

December 17, 2007, 7:00 PM. "The Board of Trustees will consider the results of the consultation process and make a decision regarding the possible closure of Garibaldi Annex. This metting is oopen to the public."

December 18, 2007: An announcement of the board's decision will be made in the media and on their website (vsb.bc.ca).

Family Song Circle - Tuesday, November 20, 2007

2007-11-14T23:16:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday, November 20, 2007, from 6:30 to 7:30 PM, we will be holding the second of our monthly Family Song Circles. The community is welcome and encouraged to join in. The format is that we sit in a circle in the library while various participants lead the group in a song. Participants are encouraged to bring musical instruments and any songs they'd like to share with the group.

For more information, call Scott Morgan at 604-839-7268.

Review of November 14 Meeting at Frog Hollow

2007-11-14T22:26:00.000-08:00

An information and organizing meeting was held last night at Frog Hollow Neighbourhood House with parents, members of the community and the media as represented by City TV. Shane Simpson, MLA for Vancouver-Hastings was on hand and provided encouragement and ideas for how to approach the board. Julianne Doctor of the Vancouver School Board (VSB) District Parent Advisory Council (DPAC) attended and also offered some suggestions.

Kate Mulligan gave PowerPoint presentation showing some of the history of the move to close Garibaldi, along with utilization statistics of Nelson/Garibaldi and nearby schools. She also highlighted some of the current benefits of the school to the community through Frog Hollow and the Canucks Family Education programs. Kate's presentation will be linked here shortly.
Jenny Lam translated for the Cantonese speakers. Hal Milne presented his concerns centred around benefits to the community, as did Crystal Hollywood. There was good feedback and suggestions from the attendees.
Crystal enlisted some additional help distributing leaflets to the community and collecting petition signatures. Some of the volunteers enlisted speak Cantonese and Mandarin, so that that sector of the community will be reached.

City TV coverage (cable 13 in Vancouver) will likely air from 6-10:00 AM Thursday, November 15.

Garibaldi Annex Mail List

2007-11-14T13:31:00.001-08:00

If you'd like to join the Garibaldi email list, send an email to garibaldi.annex@gmail.com.

Send a Letter to Shane Simpson, MLA

2007-11-14T13:13:00.000-08:00

If you are concerned about the possible closure of Garibaldi Annex, you can write to Shane Simpson, MLA for Vancouver-Hastings. His contact details are:

Shane Simpson
2365 Hastings St E.
Vancouver, BC
V5L 1V6

Phone: 604 775-2277

Fax: 604 775-2352

E-mail: shane.simpson.mla@leg.bc.ca

Information Meeting called for Tonight, Wednesday, November 14, 2007

2007-11-13T15:36:00.000-08:00

Let's Keep our Neighbourhood School in the Neighbourhood!

GARIBALDI SCHOOL INFORMATION SESSION REGARDING OPERATIONAL REVIEW PROCESS

Tonight! Wednesday, November 14, 7 PM - 8 PM at
Frog Hollow Neighbourhood House,
2131 Renfrew Street,
Vancouver

ALL PARENTS, COMMUNITY and STAKEHOLDERS welcome.

Translation will be provided in Cantonese and Mandarin

Press Links

2007-11-13T15:06:00.001-08:00

Here are some links to newspaper articles about move to close Garibaldi and east side schools in general.

Closure eyed for east side grade school

Welcome

2007-11-13T15:02:00.000-08:00

This blog is for exchanging information about the possible closure of Garibaldi Annex. Please feel free to leave comments in the Comment section.