CSAC - Catholic School Advisory Council

The Blessed Sacrament CSAC (Catholic School Advisory Council) acts as an advisory group to the school administration in determining community needs and formulating policies that will address these needs.

All parents and community partners are invited to join the committee and to participate in the many volunteer activities at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Elementary School. Monthly CSAC meetings are open to all parents and items can be submitted for the agenda by emailing the CSAC chair at csac@blessedsacramentcs.com. Minutes and financial summaries will be posted in the Parent's section of this website as well as posted on the parent bulletin board located by the entrance to Kindergarten Alley.

Throughout the year, CSAC organizes various fund-raising activities that are used to fund special events, activites and purchase equipment for the school.

Information from CSAC to parents

CSAC brochure - contains information about CSAC at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Elementary School.

CSAC Survey results - results from the CSAC survey sent to Blessed Sacrament families in November 2008.

CSAC meeting

CSAC meetings will be held on the first Monday of every month (except when there is a holiday) in the school library starting at 6:45pm. The schedule of CSAC meetings for the 2009-10 school year is:

- April 12, 2010 (Monday) *upcoming meeting
- June 7, 2010 (Monday)

A review of 2008

Students, teachers, staff and parents of the Blessed Sacrament school community have accomplished many things during the 2007-08 academic year including:

Raising funds through the annual Fun Fair, the annual Magazine Drive , the Silent Auction Dinner Dance and the annual Walkathon.
Operating a Safe Arrival program to ensure the safety of the students.
Running extra-curricular programs such as Scientist in the School (2 per class), T-ball and Baseball, the Chess Club, a Swim club, a Knitting Club, and theatre productions for all grades
Hosting a Spirit Week.
Hosting a Banner Day celebration (where the grade 8 graduates present banners to the grade 2 students who have made their First Communion), a Grade 8 Graduation celebration (hosted by the grade 7 parents and students) and Carnival.
Successfully petitioned the Board of Trustees to adjust the school boundary to allow for a more flexible school enrollment.
Donating funds and items to those in need through events such as Pass It On (items donated to the St. Paul's Parent Child Center), the annual Christmas Wish Food and Gift Drive (over 50 boxes of food and toys were donated to St. Paul's Church for distribution), the Halloween Candy Drive (donated to the Canadian Food For Children and sent to South Africa), the annual Shoebox for Lent (items sent to needy children through the Canadian Food For Children), the annual Snowball Dance (funds donated to support St. Gaspar's Primary School in Dodoma, Tanzania in East Africa), and bake sales/raffles (funds were donated to a family in need).
Providing milk and pizza to our students.
Providing funds to pay for student agendas, Code 81 days (use of substitute teachers when teachers volunteer for sports events or special trips), presentations to students (Stand Up for Respect), presentations to parents (Kid's Stress), subsidies for school trips, upkeep of instruments, maintenance of the school library, upgrading technology (wiring a projector to the Smart Board), and annual teacher stipends.
Providing funds to help our students pay for Destination Imagination (teams of students from grade 5, 6 and 7 are given various problems which require creative and critical thinking to solve; 4 teams won the Toronto competition and they proceeded to the international competition in Tennessee) and the grade 8 yearbook.
Organizing community events such as the annual Welcome Back BBQ and Fun Fair.
Creating a Marketing Committee (to help increase enrollment to the school) and purchasing Welcome to Kindergarten packages for new families.
Purchasing ten new computers for students to use in classrooms.
Publishing an anthology of unique family stories and artwork (the Tellery) that was introduced by author Dan Yashinksi and culminated in a day-long celebration to launch the book.

Information about the TCDSB CSAC

According to the Toronto Catholic District School Board's (TCDSB) CSAC guidelines, the CSAC should be as representative as possible of the Catholic school community, should be chaired by a parent/guardian of the school elected by Council members, and shall be composed of a majority of Roman Catholic members as definied in the Education Act:

Parents/guardians of students enrolled in the school (parent/guardian representatives - they will make up a majority of the council membership)
The principal of the school
One teacher who is employed at the school, to be elected by teachers who are employed at the school (teacher representative)
One person who is employed at the school, other than the principal, vice-principal or any other teacher, to be elected by persons other than the principal, vice principal or any other teacher employed at the school (non-teaching representative)
One pupil appointed by the principal after consultation with the other members of the council
The Pastor or Parish designate
One or more community representatives appointed by the Council

For more information about the Toronto Catholic District School Board CSAC, please click this link.

Constitution and By Laws

These are the most up-to-date Constitution and By-Laws for the Blessed Sacrament Catholic Elementary School CSAC (as of January 1998):