Education Commission Meeting Minutes – September 15th, 2005
Members Present:
Martha Siegel, Kim Neltner, Kevin McCabe, Tony Mastriani, Dick Klus, Lisa Renken
Ex Officio Members present:
Jean Margello, Jodie Bender, Michele Heyob
1. Prayer
Martha opened the meeting with a prayer.
2. Announcements
Martha announced that the second Sunday in March will be Donut Sunday and the Education Commission will be hosting this event with Parish Pastoral Council. Martha will also continue to be the laison to the Finance Commission. She gave a reminder to all that the meetings need to keep moving, so try to keep it short and to the point.
3. Approval of minutes from June 16th
Motion to approve the June 16th minutes by Tony, seconded by Lisa.
4. Communication from parish members
None
5. Reports
a) Father Paul
Father Paul was not in attendance, but Jodie posed a question from Father. He wanted to know if the “Mission Committee” from the Education Commission has met yet to discuss the future of topics to be covered in the Church Mission. Martha was told (nicely) that it would be taken care of by Matthew Kelly, (that it’s not Education Commission’s job), and when he comes to present his lecture series – he will talk about whatever topics we would like. It will be a topic relevant to our parishioners. Jodie stated that the Mission topic will be set by the Parish Staff this year, and that Matthew Kelly won’t be able to come until next year. Father wanted us to know that if a quality speaker is not found for this year’s Mission, then a different thing might be presented each night. (For example: spiritual music one night, a discussion another night, etc…)
b) Jodie Bender
Jodie reported that 29 kids went to the summer Art Camp and that it was a success! Vacation Bible School was exceptionally well attended too, with 102 children participating this summer. However, Coed Softball didn’t go as well. It fizzled out toward the end, with little participation; so they withdrew from the league. Jodie says that information for Teen Work Camp will be coming home soon and that the information for Youth Ministry Programs has been handed out to the Junior High kids. Some kids have been on their first trip to the Kid’s Cafe and have enjoyed it.
c) Jean Margello
Jean handed out a paper showing all of the teachers and the amount of students in each classroom. There are several new teachers this year. The are 382 students enrolled this year so far. She noted that the new Tech. Coordinator, Ms. Davis, is very knowledgeable, and needs all of the parents to return the Internet Approval Form so that the children can start doing even more in the computer classes. Jean handed out copies of the School Professional Development Plan. In it, she showed that our goals are : to continue to address the bullying, to expand faculty knowledge of writing and stress it in the curriculum, and to grow in the areas of technology with the goal of two computers per classroom in the future. Jean also talked about instilling the importance of Catholic Identity in our students. She and Jodie are working on designing an entire day of community service for the children. This special day will take place either in October or sometime in the spring. Jean announced that October 5th is High School Night. St. X, Roger Bacon, St. Ursula and Ursuline Academy will all be represented at St. Vivian. Students can attend Open House Night at any other High School they may be interested in. Faculty in Service Day will be on the 23rd and students will have the day off. There was a change in dates for the OCSSA - see your new updated calendar that got sent home. Jean said that Eric Price has been working hard and has set up the school website. Any information a student or parent needs is now readily available. Kevin Martin has been working on getting the classroom internet connection set up and it should be ready by Sept. 26th. All the teachers were able to get a phone in their classrooms this year.
5. Old Business
The Bullying Policy was brought up. There is now one in place and can be found in the School Handbook. Kim reported that the Emergency Plan is in the works. She is typing and getting things ready to be approved by Jean Margello and Kathy Rothschild, and then it will go off to the printer.
6) New Business
End of June MeetingMartha brought up the Education Commission Constitution. She explained that we need to provide a laison to the Tuition Review Board to review requests for tuition assistance. They usually only meet twice a year, June and late August. Kevin volunteered to be our laison. Jean let us know that she and Father Paul went to a meeting about working out a plan for the ‘07-’08 school year with other Catholic schools in this area (St. Barts, O.L.R., and St. James). They have decided on a committee to plan this, and say that there will be at least two parishioners from each parish on it. Kevin said that Tom Bove needs our information to post on the website, and passed around a paper for us to put down names and email addresses.
Motion to adjourn by Martha, seconded by Dick.