Dear Parents,

The SHS PA has been hard at work wrapping up the STERLING HALLiday Sale financials, preparing for the Faculty and Staff Tribute, and organizing two upcoming Parent Education events. 

We are also starting to put together the PA team for 2008-09. If you would like to get more involved, please speak with Adrienne Waterman before the end of March or complete the nomination form available for download at the bottom of this page or on the PA bulletin board and return it to the Advancement Office. You can also email your expression of interest to pa@sterlinghall.com .

MANDATE:

The PA was created to coordinate parent volunteers at the school and fulfill its mandate to:

·    Promote spirit and goodwill within the community
·    Provide a useful service to the community
·    Act as a liaison between the school and the community

2008 PA MEETINGS:

Wednesday, April 16th @ 8:40 am

Wednesday, May 14th @ 8:40 am

Parent Education Program Update

Thank you again to a record number of parents who filled out their Parent Education Questionnaires in the fall.  Complete results were presented at the November PA meeting and are available if you are interested, through Mireille Millette or Gale Wilson.  The top five topics that parents would like to see covered at parent education events are as follows:

            1.         Peer Pressure
            2.         Socialization/Bullying/Stewardship
            3.         Building Your Child's Self-Esteem
            4.         Social Networking (Facebook, MySpace)
            5.         Internet Safety

We are pleased to announce two upcoming events that, between them, will address all five of these issues.  The first is a panel called Internet Safety:  Protecting Your Kids.  It was held on Tuesday February 26, 2008. The hand out from this session is available for download in the PA Minutes section of this site. We look forward to programing more sessions on this hot topic in the future in an effort to keep parents up to date on this ever evolving and important topic.

The second event is a Parenting Workshop to be led by local expert and co-founder of The Parenting Network, Beverley Cathcart-Ross.  This will be an interactive session that focuses on raising secure children with strong values.  It will help parents prepare their kids to stand up for themselves and make good decisions in the face of peer pressure heading into their pre-teen and teen years.  We are delighted to be hosting this special event with Interguild and will welcome representatives and parents from as many as 30 private and independent schools across Ontario.  Save the date now:  Thursday, April 17th, from 9:30 - 11:30 a.m. in the Eaton Shier Gym.  

We look forward to seeing you at both of these events and will provide more details as they become available.

QUESTIONS/SUGGESTIONS

·    Please be sure to contact me, or other members of the PA executive with any questions, suggestions etc.  The more input, the better the association.

Alison McDonald
President
Parents Association 2007-2008