St. Clare School Advisory Council

9/8/05 Minutes

 

Present: Cartie Beckett, Renee Cline, Linda Fanning, Fr. Tom, John Ferraro, Tom Fitzpatrick, Stephen Michels, Amy Leahy, Sr. Moe, John Oswald, Phil Ralston, Vicky Werner, Kim Wisniewski

 

1. Call to Order and Opening Prayer – The meeting was called to order and Sr. Moe said our prayer.

 

2. Recommended Actions

      a. Routine Matters:

      i. The Agenda was accepted.

      ii. Minutes for the May 12th meeting and May Retreat were approved.

 

      b. New Business:

i. Change in SAC officers: John Oswald will take Renee Cline’s position as the Vice- Chair.

ii. The SAC approved to have Sr. Moe engage with the Archdiocese to accept up to 3 students displaced by Hurricane Katrina for up to one year, tuition free and unencumbered by other fees and obligations.

 

      c. Old Business

i.  Middle School Uniform Policy – Cartie reviewed why we have a Uniform Policy for the middle school. There have been some questions from parents related to sizing.  The Planning/Process/Policy Committee will look for an additional vendor. At the current time, the policy remains as written.  This can be an agenda item for the Town Hall meeting later in the school year – to give everyone a voice. The Planning/Process/Policy Committee will also look at a K-5 Uniform.

 

3.  Information/Communication Reports

a. Pastors Report – Father Tom gave the following report:

• The parish raised $2000 in the collection last Sunday for victims of Hurricane Katrina.

• The Presbyterial Council met today.  They discussed the mediation process related to the bankruptcy.  Four mediators feel that the process is going well and they are hopeful.  The judge is working to expedite this process.  Mediation will end 9/15.

• New Youth Minister – Anne Marie L. is the New Youth Minister.  She is working part time at present.

• This Sunday and next Sunday anyone can nominate people for the Pastoral Council.  There will be a discernment process in October.  The Pastoral council sets direction for the pastoral ministries related to the parish mission. This commitment is for 3 years. 

• Preschool – Background checks will occur with all preschool parents who are in the school more than 15 minutes at a time.  As part of the parish process, the preschool will add religious education to their curriculum.

• The theme for the parish this year is “Relationship Building”.  This will begin Sept. 25th and continue for 4 weeks.  The Metropolitan Alliance for the Common Good will help bring 9 parishes together on October 22nd from 9a.m. -12 to forward this cause and give people a safe place to be.

• Fr. Tom wants to meet with each SAC member over the next week or so.

• A final draft of the Elementary School Financial Operating Plan will be reviewed by the Principals in Sept and the Pastors in Oct.  Sr. Moe and Fr. Tom will forward copies to the SAC members for review as soon as they are available. We need  to review them and provide feedback as soon as possible.

• The Parish Picnic will be after the 11:15 mass this Sunday.

 

b. Principal’s Report – Sister Moe distributed the following report:

•Enrollment stands at 228 students!

93.8% are Catholic; 6.2% are non-Catholic

Ethnic Diversity: 8.8%

Asian                Hispanic                       African Am.                  Indian               Eurasian

  7                         8                                     3                               1                      1

•Displaced Students from the Gulf Coast - We have been asked to take in displaced students from the Gulf Coast in classes where we have openings should a student be flown here to live with relatives.  We would like to open our doors to anyone who has been in a Catholic school there and offer them this experience tuition free. 

•Child to Child: A Catholic Campaign will run through September 15th.  Already a parent has stepped forward to match up to $1,500.

•Back to School Night - This event is being changed to strictly an evening with teachers and the principal.  We will begin with classroom presentations from 6:30 – 7:15.  From 7:15 – 8:00 there will be a presentation to parents on Differentiated Learning, Assessment, Peer Mediation, SIP Plans, and the state of the school.  From 8:00-9:00, middle school parents will attend three sessions with middle school teachers. 

•Paddle Bid Bonanza! 

As a result of the paddle bid and matching gift from the Maybelle Clark Macdonald Fund, we were able to complete the following improvements this summer:

ü      New desks and chairs in grades 4 & 5

ü      New tables and chairs in the library

ü      New stools in the art room

ü      Carpeting in grades 4 and 7

ü      From 2 to 9 outlets per classroom

ü      New lighting in all classrooms

ü      Joined preschool/parish in purchasing a carpet extractor

John Mealy will install tubes/vents from daycare to this room to share the AC.

• Student Teachers: We agreed to take on two University of Portland student teachers.  Robert Young, a graduate of St. Clare, is working with Mrs. Maher in Kindergarten and Erin Harvey is assigned to the 5th grade classroom with Mrs. Monahan. They will be working through Thanksgiving.

•BASC: Christina Reilly is our new daycare director, also a graduate of St. Clare.  She has planned for an easy transition.  Everything is going well, although she is waiting on background checks on one or two new employees.

•Uniform Changes: This seems to be going well.  Many girls opted for the skirt over the pants, but we do have a more uniform look in the middle school grades.  There have been some complaints about sizing and cost.  SAC needs to see if we extend this policy to shirts and pants in K-5 as well.

•SUMMARY The year is off to a great start with a superb staff, student teachers, increased enrollment, improved classrooms, financial stability, and great kids.

 

c. PTC Report – There was no PTC report this month.

 

d. SAC Committee Reports: 

i. Finance Committee Report:  Phil reported that we are in great financial shape this year.  Assumptions for this year included: 228 students, 5.5% increase in tuition, teachers at 81% of Portland Public Schools, and a 25% increase in Auction proceeds. The net worth of the school has an increase in cash and liquid assets.

ii. Marketing and Enrollment Committee Report:  Renee gave the following report:

•The Marketing Committee will be meeting with Sr. Moe to discuss the benefits of having a kindergarten Open House separate from the other grades. Mrs. Maher will be part of the Open House whether the kindergarten Open House is separate or with the other grades.  A marketing video may be developed for the Open House.

• This committee is considering doing a presentation during a mass this winter.  This would communicate the great things about our school.

iii. Process and Policy Committee Report: 

•This committee will investigate an additional uniform vendor.

• By the Oct. SAC meeting, this committee will prepare recommendations related to a Full Day Kindergarten. This will take in to account all aspects of such a program. Sr. Moe will look at the room.  We will look at curriculum, supplies, furniture, personnel, minimum number of students to run such a program, etc.

•This committee will make recommendations related to a Technology Plan for the school. This project will be the next task to work on after the kindergarten recommendations.

iv. Development Committee Report:  Tom Fitzpatrick gave the following report:

• This committee will work with the Admin Council and review the Master Plan for some direction on Landscaping.

• The Adopt-a-Student process will be a focus of this committee this year.

• The Science room had some improvements made over the summer.  Tom F will consult with Sr. Moe on further improvement needs.

• The question was raised about having “Children in Our Lives” luncheon benefit operations rather than the endowment.  This committee will research this.

 

e. Chair Report:

• John will post an updated schedule of food/drink/prayer on the web site.

• Please let John know of agenda items a week ahead of each meeting.

• John will provide us with a format for Committee Reports that includes progress that we have made and a plan for the next month.

 

Next School Advisory Council Meeting: 

•Thursday, October 13th from 6-8 p.m.

 

Meeting adjourned.

Respectfully Submitted,

Linda Fanning