June 12, 2003

St. Joseph School
School Advisory Committee (SAC)
Meeting Minutes
June 12, 2003 

 Committee Members

Sr. Christina Marie Luczynski, Principal

The meeting was called to order. 

May SAC Minutes – No changes. H. Wager moved to approve; seconded by L. Donofrio; unanimous approval. 

Budget Review – The budget for the 2003-04 school year was reviewed. Sr. Christina discussed adding a line item to the budget to allocate money for gifts purchased by St. Joseph’s School for the graduating 6^th Graders. This gift is traditionally given, however, has never been budgeted. H. Wager moved to approve allocating $200 for the purpose of purchasing graduation gifts; seconded by L. King; unanimous approval. 

The SAC financial report for the current 2002-03 school year will be completed by L. King and Sr. Christina. It will be mailed home with report cards. 

Sr. Christina and SAC would like to thank Karen Caterisano, Karen Andrushko, and Sheila Katz for their help in obtaining grants for St. Joseph School. 

Committee Reports

Principal’s Report – Sr. Christina expressed her thanks to all the parent volunteers who so graciously gave of their time and talent to the children of St. Joseph School. 

Enrollment for the 2003-04 school year is up over this year’s enrollment by approximately 15 students. Since enrollment for the two third grades is at capacity (29/30 students), Sr. Christina has applied for two  aides to help in the 3^rd grade  classrooms  next year. Kindergarten is full with no waiting list. There are some openings in PreK-4. 

Mrs. Maria Welch will be joining the faculty of St. Joseph’s next year filling the vacancy left by Mrs. Concannon’s retirement. Mrs. Welch has taught for 17 years within the Catholic school system, most recently at St. Ambrose. Mrs. Welch is a parishioner of St. Joseph Church. 

The Rochester Diocese has mandated that all paid employees of the Monroe County Catholic School system have a criminal background check performed. This mandate includes teachers, lunch mothers, music program teachers and maintenance staff. There are 55 paid employees at St. Joseph’s. The cost of these background checks is estimated between $25-35 each and will be covered by the diocese from our school budget. 

The results of the ELA testing for 4^th Graders have been received. St. Joseph’s achieved an 83% passing rate; Penfield School District an 84%. 

The 2002-03 recipient of the Fr. Jack Hedges Scholarship is Celeste Caccavale (2B). Celeste will receive a $1,000 scholarship towards next year’s tuition. 

The National Catholic Education Association (NCEA) convention will be held in Boston, MA from April 12-16, 2004. Educators from all over the world attend this convention, as well as some of the Bishops. Sr. Christina would like to give our teachers the opportunity to attend this convention. A $2,500 wish list item has been added to next year’s budget. The monies would be used for transportation and/or a stipend to assist each teacher attending in the amount of $200-300 each. 

All participants in the After School Care Program next year will receive a handbook outlining the program’s policies and procedures. 

Classes will no longer hold bake sales to raise money for class field trips. Bake sales will be replaced by an occasional Thursday pizza sale that will be run through the hot lunch program. Each class will have the opportunity to benefit from a pizza sale. 

Development – At Sr. Christina’s request, M. Malone has agreed to serve as Development Chair for an additional year. Sr. Christina is looking for St. Joseph alumni who currently have children attending St. Joseph’s to assist M. Malone in implementing an alumni database. Interested alumni should contact Sr. Christina. 

Enrichment – At this time, it appears that Creative Themes will be unable to facilitate the after school activities next year. As such, alternatives are being explored including having teachers coordinate and run activities after school. The absence of an Enrichment Committee chairperson to organize and facilitate after school programs will have a direct impact on the number and variety of programs offered. 

Thank you to Sheila Accorso for organizing the wonderful extracurricular activities that have been implemented during her term as Enrichment Chair. 

Fundraising – The plant sale proved to be successful raising $2,417.02 for St. Joseph School. Many thanks to Kathy Keenahan, Mary Overfield, Debbie Marchand and all the volunteers who came out to help sort and organize plant orders. 

The Entertainment Book sale will not be repeated next year. 

Thank you to Kathy Keenahan for all the time and effort put into fundraising during her term. K. Callahan has agreed to take the position of Fundraising Chair. The co-chair will be M. Lorenzo. 

Public Relations – No report. 

Special Events – The dates for next year’s special events has been set: Parish/School Picnic – Sept. 14, 2003 (12 noon – 4:00 pm); Halloween Sock Hop – Oct. 24, 2003 (7:00 pm – 9:00 pm); Ice Cream Social – Feb. 9, 2004 (12 noon – 1:30 pm); Winter Carnival – Mar. 26, 2004 (5:30 pm – 9:00 pm). 

Thank you to Holly Wager for organizing and assuring the smooth running of special events during her term. J. Caccavale will assume the Special Events Chair; C. Kurzweil will be the co-chair. 

Technology – SAC was able to set aside $2,500 this year in a Technology fund that will be used toward replacement of computers.  

Thank you to Mike Caito for all the advancements he has implemented in the Technology Department during his term. D. Overfield will assume the Technology Chair. The co-chair position will be filled in the fall. 

Welcoming – Thank you to Maria Marconi for all the hard work and many contributions made during her term. C. Manno will assume the Welcoming Chair; G. McAninch will be co-chair. C. Manno and G. McAninch will be meeting with M. Marconi to transition the Welcoming Committee responsibilities. 

Other Topics/Discussion

Filling Open SAC positions – Enrichment Chair and Enrichment Assistant Chair, Development Assistant Chair, Technology Assistant Chair, PreK-4 Member-at-Large and the PreK-3 Member-at-Large positions are open for the 2003-04 school year. Names of interested candidates should be forwarded to Sr. Christina Marie or G. Hebert. 

Extension of School Day – By 7:45 am, the majority of buses have already arrived at St. Joseph’s and the children are standing in line waiting to enter the building. As such, the decision has been made to begin the school day earlier next year. The first bell will ring at 7:45 am; the second at 7:50 am, beginning the school day. Sr. Christina is still waiting to hear from Penfield School District regarding extending the dismissal time to 2:15 pm. 

2003-04 SAC Meetings – The dates of all the 2003-04 SAC meetings can be found on the website. All meetings are open to any parent who wishes to attend. 

An evening of reflection for SAC will be held during the November 2003 meeting.  

Survey – The results of the parent survey was discussed. 

A number of comments centered on the level of fundraising that goes on at school. Many of these survey comments did not distinguish between the SAC-sponsored fundraising activities (Magazine Drive, Entertainment Books, Silent Auction/Hockey Game and Plant Sale) and those sponsored by others (6^th grade donuts/pizza, MDA, $1 dressdowns, etc.). While the level of fundraising will be evaluated, it should be emphasized that with the exception of expected participation in the Magazine Drive, participation in all other SAC fundraising events is purely optional. 

Paying for after school care  during the time a child is participating in an extracurricular activity (“paying double”) was also commented upon. The Monroe County Catholic Schools establish the guidelines for the after school care program. Given there guidelines, it is not possible to eliminate the charges for after school care during participation in another activity. St. Joseph’s after school program is  one of the least expensive in the school system as it is administered “in house” and most of the other s are out-sourced. 

First Day of School – September 3, 2003 – The first day of school will have an Open House atmosphere. Activities will be going on all day in the individual classrooms where parents can come in and participate with their children. It will be a time to celebrate the return to school, learning and friends. More details will come home in the August teacher placement letter. 

Adjournment – H. Wager moved for adjournment; M. Caito seconded. All approved.