ST. THERESA SCHOOL

BOARD OF EDUCATION

Meeting Minutes – November 16 , 2004

 

 

Attendance --

Dan Brown                  

Dan Bates                               

Brigid Alford

Faith Curran

Livvy King                               

Barb Wise

Gina McNally              

Kathy Grogan                          

Bill Hunter                                           

Patty Butala                 

Principal Margaret Barrett        

Asst. Principal Eileen McMullin            

                                   

 

Excused Absence --   Msgr. Richardson, Rhonda Houseman, Pam Barbush and Anne Gilbertson

 

 

I.          OPENING PRAYER

 

Dan Brown called the meeting to order and the Board Members’ Prayer was recited by all.  Dan thanked Stephanie Kreysar for bringing the prayer to his attention.

 

 

II.        SMART TUITION

 

Lee Soffer spoke at the meeting regarding the Smart Tuition Management Services (STMS) that 2200 private schools (primarily Catholic) in the country use as a tuition payment program.  It is a service that will cost the school approximately $35.00 per family.  STMS manages tuition collection by offering automatic checking account deduction on a monthly basis, payment booklets, etc..  STMS is not a collection agency.  STMS manages the collection of tuition and will send out letters (as approved by the school) when a family falls behind in payments.  The program will take into account school policies on tuition collections, including due dates and any exceptional circumstances regarding past due accounts and the Money Tree tuition rebate program. 

 

The school administration is spending a considerable amount of time dealing with tuition collections and payment processing.  We are looking at ways to ease this burden and STMS is an option we are considering.  Barb Wise agreed to obtain more information and speak to Principal Barrett.  We will have a further discussion at the January meeting.         

 

 

III.       CHAIRPERSON’S REMARKS

 

Dan Brown’s remarks were brief given Mr. Soffer’s Smart Tuition presentation.  Dan indicated that he only received input from 2 individuals regarding short and long term goals of the board.  He would like input from everyone by the next meeting.  Please e-mail suggestions to Dan prior to the meeting. 

 

The Ad Hoc committee on parish finances (which Dan is a member of) has met twice with nothing formal to report at this time. 

 

The Parish Finance Council has requested all the parish organizations and programs to look at budgets and make reduction suggestions. 

 

 

IV.       PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

           

            Mrs. Barrett’s report is attached.

 

 

V.        FINANCE REPORT

 

Bill Hunter’s report is attached.

 

 

VI.       FACULTY LIAISON REPORT

 

            Rhonda Houseman’s report is attached.  In Mrs. Houseman’s absence, Mrs. McMullin provided an overview of her report.

 

VII.     COMMITTEE REPORTS

 

A.                 DEVELOPMENT

 

-         Barb Wise and Pam Barbush’s report is attached.  Some highlights include a recommendation to sponsor the Race for Education on an annual basis (instead of every 2 or 3 years), Simply Grand Event ideas and Money Tree sales.

 

B.        MARKETING

 

-         Some highlights include sponsoring an open house at the school, updating the information package for potential or new families and putting the school’s name on the water bottles sold at school events such as the basketball games.                     

 

C.            DAY CARE

 

-         Anne Gilbertson was absent and no report was presented.  Mrs. Barrett did mention that enrollment is down in the day care and they are looking at ways to attract more students. 

 

D.           TECHNOLOGY

 

-         We are still looking for a chair for this committee.  It is imperative that we fill this position given the important role technology plays in coordination efforts from fundraising, curriculum and general information.

 

E.            POLICY AND PROCEDURE

 

-         Faith Curran is chairing this newly-established committee.  The first meeting was taking place on November 17, 2004.  The committee is charged with establishing a manual which contains all policies and procedures of the school board and school administration.

 

 

VIII.    HOME SCHOOL ASSOCIATION REPORT

 

            No representative from HSA was present.  Barb Wise covered some HSA issues in her Development Committee report which is attached.

 

 

IX.       OLD BUSINESS

 

A reminder that the volunteer forms (child abuse and criminal history clearance forms) must be completed by all school volunteers, including board members.  The parish and Diocese are sharing in covering the costs associated with filing the forms between now and March 31, 2005.  There is also a 30 minute video which must be viewed by all volunteers.  There will be dates established for volunteers to attend video viewing sessions at the Little Flower Social Hall.

 

 

X.        NEW BUSINESS

 

We discussed the need to do outreach to the parish at large regarding the school program.

 

The school office is in need of a folding machine.  Donations gladly accepted.

 

Everyone was in agreement to re-establish the Safety Committee.  We will need a chairperson(s).  Mrs. McMullin agreed to coordinate efforts with this committee.

 

We discussed the use of the school website for meeting minutes and other activities relating to the school board and upcoming meeting topics.

 

             

XI.       CLOSING PRAYER 

 

            Dan Brown offered the Closing Prayer and the meeting was adjourned at 10:00 pm.

 

School Board Report- Teacher Representative

November 2004

 

 

  • We’re busy already and the hectic time is just getting started.
  • Mrs. Foote sponsored a school wide presidential election for all of the students and teachers.
  • The first grade classes are celebrating book week by sharing their favorite books with each other.
  • Conferences were held and many teachers commented on the wonderful cooperation of the parents.
  • With Thanksgiving approaching the classes are making many different plans.  The fifth graders will be celebrating a traditional feast with their kindergarten partners.  The kindergarten children will be the Pilgrims and the 5th graders will be the Indians.
  • Do you know that the Pilgrims didn’t wear black and brown or buckles on their hats or shoes or that the first Thanksgiving celebration was held at the Berkely Plantation in Virginia because their charter demanded it?  These are just a few things that our 5th grade classes have learned while researching Thanksgiving.
  • 5A wrote odes of Thanksgiving.  What are they thankful for?  There were odes to brothers, odes to dogs, odes to cheerleading, odes to eraser buddies, an ode to a cow and many more interesting topics.
  • The Christmas Eve Liturgy is being planned.  21 of  the 5th grade students are attending.  The parents have been notified about the costume parts and the reading parts will be assigned after Thanksgiving.
  • The teachers had a retreat at Mt. St. Mary’s last week.  The highlight was lunch with the new bishop.  We were very impressed with him.
  • This month’s report is short but sweet.  It has been a hectic time for the teachers because of report cards and conferences. 

           


Saint Theresa School - Development Update

November 16, 2004

 

HSA Update

    The Candy and Paper sale raised for St. Theresa was $19,000 – 20,000 (no final figures)

    The Sub sale raised $2,273.

    HSA will hold a Drug Awareness assembly either 11/17 or the 22nd, k-4 will be 1/2hr. and 5-8 will be about 45 minutes.

    HSA will be putting a note in the December newsletter, regarding left over sweats

    “Muffins with Mom” is November 16h.

    HSA Christmas cookie trays will be assembled on December 16th at 6:00pm in the art  room. There will not be an HSA meeting the cookie tray assembling takes its place.

    The candy and paper pick up in on Saturday Nov. 20th in the cafeteria.

    The Brown envelope will be going home on Dec. 2nd.

 

Money Tree

First Quarter Results:

Total Sales:                                   $214,432

Total Revenue:                                  $6,689

 

 

Vendor

Total Sales

Revenue to STS

1

Giant

56.73%

45.45%

2

Weis

11.19%

26.89%

3

Script

12.94%

9.89%

4

Lowe's

9.62%

7.71%

 

Kohl's

4.09%

3.18%

 

Karn's

3.93%

3.15%

 

Schoolpop

 

1.84%

 

Saints Bucks

1.01%

0.81%

 

Hecht's

0.29%

0.70%

 

Hoss's

0.12%

0.30%

 

Isaac's

0.05%

0.04%

 

Rita's

0.03%

0.03%

 

Holiday Sales:

    A flier will be sent given to each child to take home (sample attached).
 
    Parish bulletin notices will begin to encourage parishioners purchase of Money Tree items to support the Caring Community.  
 
    Incentive program for the month of December is being considered.  A DOUD pass will go to children of all families who purchase $100 or more in Money Tree items during the month of December.  The pass would be given to the children for a DOUD on a specific day in January.  
 
    All retailers/restauraunters participating in Saints Bucks have been contacted and asked to send promotional information, notices of specials and menus.  We will display this during our Sunday sales.
 
    Evening sales over the holidays are being considered.
 
    A poster or other visual display will be used during Money Tree sales on Sundays.  This is a way to highlight additional discounts that Script offers during this time.

 

Annual Appeal

The Annual appeal will be our next priority. 

Race for Education

The Development committee is putting forth a formal recommendation to the STS Board of Education to conduct the “Race for Education” annually as a part of the development plan of activities.

Simply Grand Event

SGE Chairman, Joe Lund, has scheduled his first meeting with his work group this week.  This meeting will sent the groundwork for the event and priorities.  The group will also be starting their budget process.

Principal’s Report

School Board Meeting

November 16, 2004

 

 

November marks the end of the first marking period.  Since our last meeting we have been very busy. We have had different fund raising activities such as the Candy/paper sale, Respect Life Holy Bears, Human-i-tees, and the Fall Book Fair, The Respect life Food Drive was a huge success.  It ended up to be a huge competition between classes.  The students took the competition very seriously.

 

STS families have been in for many reasons.  Grandparents Day was a lot of fun.  Grandparents came from as far away as California.  Parent volunteers helped out with our Halloween parties and many parents were here for parent conferences.  This morning we honored the moms of the school.  We had moms lined up out the door.  Many did not leave until way after school started.  It was great seeing so many people enjoying breakfast with the kids.

We also had Red Ribbon Week.  The students learned about drug awareness and participated in different contests sponsored by the Student Council.

Another big day was our toy testing day.  WHTM came in and filmed the students as they played with different toys.  The kids had a great time and so did the Channel 27 people.  They were very impressed by the way our students behaved.

 

In October we also had our 2nd annual Nutrition Fair. This was started by Deb Rodrigues last year and Valerie Black from Nutrition Inc. volunteered to do it this year.  We had many different vendors set up in the gym.  The kids were thrilled with all the free giveaways.

 

This week is Spirit Week.  We had a beautiful prayer service to kick it off.  There are different events scheduled for each day.  The kids are really excited about the Pep rally this coming Friday.

 

Academically, we are in full swing.  The students took the ITBS and Cogat tests in October.  We should have the results in the early part of next year. I reviewed all of the report cards and was very impressed.  Many classes have entered the Mathfax Competition and once again our students are shinning.  Logan Shettle placed 2nd in the first test of the MATHFAX competition.  The 3rd grade placed 4th out of all the Catholic schools in the nation who took this test.  Today we mailed in our paperwork to the American Math Challenge Competition.  Some of Mrs. Bosso’s math students participated in this contest.  Erin Brady, Alexa Ciccerelli, and Dierdre Shelly were the winners of the 1st level of the Lion’s Club Peace Poster Contest.

 

We have received close to $8,000 in Title I money.  This money is from the state and is distributed through WSSD.  It is to be used for Literacy supplies.  The amount we receive is based on the amount of low income students that we have in grades 1 to 4.  We are currently looking into items that we can spend the money on.

 

On November 8th, Trinity students paid a visit to our eighth grades.  They talked to the students about a typical day at Trinity and discussed all of the extra-curricular activities at the school.  The eighth graders were very attentive and asked many good questions. Every month a group of juniors from Trinity come to work with our students.  This is a part of the junior class service retreat. On Friday we will be having a pep rally.  Joe Berrigan is asking members of Trinity’s basketball teams to come for the rally. 

 

On Friday November 12th, the faculty made a full day retreat at Mount St. Mary’s in Emmittsburg MD.  We were very blessed to have the Bishop-elect

Fr. Kevin Rhoades join us for lunch.  We spent over an hour with him.

 

On a sadder note, due to health and family reasons, Mrs. Debbie Kissinger has resigned her position as the Learning Support teacher.  We are sad to see her go because she has done so much for our learning support program.  Mrs. Brenda Skinner, our pre-school teacher, who has a degree and many years experience teaching special education, has agreed to take the position.  Cathy Wall, who retired last year, will be teaching the 3 math classes that Mrs. Kissinger had taught.

 

Also, Mrs. Karen Bechtold, our school nurse, has handed in her resignation.  She has been offered a job working in pediatrics at Hershey Medical Center.  She is very sad to leave and will be greatly missed.  I am working on finding a replacement.

 

Our current enrollment is 507.