St. Patrick’s School Board Minutes

January 9, 2006

Present:  Cindy Engel, Mike Socha, Steve Morrissey, Charlie Olson, Pat Adler, Joan Hogue, Kimberly Fangman, Jackie Coco, Don Ridder

Special Visitors:  Ric Benzel and Deirdre DeWald

Visitors’ Report:  Ric Benzel and Deirdre DeWald introduced the new math program from Prentice Hall. They spoke of the need for this program to give our students the best preparation for high school. The new program provides a challenging curriculum for 5th grade through college-level math and includes valuable teaching resources. The new program will be introduced immediately in 5th to 8th grades and will replace Everyday Math. Board members expressed their approval.

Approval of Minutes:  The December minutes were approved with the clarification that Terry Fisher was hired as kindergarten TA, not kindergarten teacher.

Home and School Report:  1) Joan reported that Catholic Schools Week will kick off with students wearing their uniforms and participating in masses on January 28 and 29. A reception and tour of the school will be held after each mass. Special Person’s Day will be held on Tuesday of Catholic Schools Week.

2) Pat Hertel is busy planning our float for the annual St. Patrick’s Day parade. Our theme this year will be, “St. Patrick’s School:  Where Everyday is St. Patrick’s Day.” J

3) The Christmas Elves raised over $4800 for teacher appreciation gifts. This was $1600 more than last year with 230 families contributing.

4) We experienced a loss of $94 from the yearbook last year; changes for this year include adding color pages, taking pre-orders so we have only 40 or 50 extras on hand, and selling ads to 8th grade parents and the community to keep prices down.

5) The Book Fair was again a big success, and 580 books were purchased for the school.  We had $9261 in total sales, which was up 21% from last fall’s sales. The next book fair will coincide with the spring concert.

6) The Younkers fundraiser netted only $300, since it was done differently this year.

7) Burger King Night profits were $320 plus scrip sales.

8) There has been discussion as to whether or not the Yahoo group for parents will continue.

9) The auction item that will be donated this year is a diamond cross.

10) We have new apparel to sell with the St. Pat’s logo.

There were no Parish Council, RF, or CIP reports, since none of the committees had met.

Finance/Development:  Don and Cindy brought up their discussions of PAC -- Parent Action Core -- to ensure that all school families volunteer their time to the school. They considered requiring volunteer time but were unsure how to mandate this. Don shared the 2006-2007 Volunteer Guidelines he had written. A decision was made to support a mandatory stewardship meeting for all parents on either February 13 (2:00 and 7:00) or February 15. (8:15 a.m.) At these meetings, Father Ron would discuss tithing, John Dunne would discuss the capital campaign, and Don would discuss volunteer time. We agreed this would need to be done in an uplifting, positive way, and that all parents would be asked to sign up for volunteer opportunities while at the meeting.

Facilities:   Don shared the new floor plans. A major change included the addition of a science lab, which would allow students to work in the lab while a science class was in progress. The board discussed perhaps switching the counseling office with the conference center so the counselor wouldn’t need to walk through the conference room to reach his or her office.

Principal’s Report:  1) Don reported that the Student Council will attend February’s meeting on February 13.

2) Amy McAuliffe will be unable to work with our library anymore because of a new job. Don would like to recognize her for her tremendous efforts in building our library with a plaque, which would be displayed in the library. After some discussion, it was agreed to present Amy with this plaque at one of the parents’ meetings.

3) Don would like to nominate Sonja Dreher for the Educator of the Year Award. Three letters of recommendation are required. Don will write one; Bob Wolf will write another as a School Board member; and Kimberly will write the third as a parent. Nominations must be received by March 1.

4) Don mentioned that Elkhorn High has offered us the high school for our musical productions. We were all frustrated by the parking and crowded situations at the Christmas musical. After some discussion, we decided to keep the spring musical at St. Patrick’s but have the K-4th graders’ production one night and the 5th-8th graders’ production another night.

5) Don gave us an update on Rachel Raymond, the 2nd grader who has been diagnosed with cancer. He will be sending a written update to parents. Rachel’s doing as well as can be expected, but her family has requested no visitors to safeguard Rachel’s health. Don mentioned that Rachel’s family appreciates cards and emails.

6) Don updated us on classroom plans. The computer lab will become the homeroom for the 8th graders. John Flor put a dropped ceiling and sprinklers in the resource room and will do the same in the 8th grade room. Ron Higoranm also donated his time to put in ceilings, lights, and walls. We are very appreciative of their valuable donations.

7) Anne McClatchey, the parent of a 3rd grader, was recently diagnosed with uterine cancer. Surgery went well, but we’re asked to keep her in our prayers.

Our next meeting will be February 13 at 6:00 in the library. We will have a shortened meeting due to the parent meeting at 7:00. We closed with a Hail Mary.