Inspiring Minds - Developing Character - Seeking Christ

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St. Dominic Catholic School Advisory Committee

Meeting Minutes November 12, 2018

Those Present: Jill Fischer (Principal), Fr. Dennis Saran, Maggie Spada (Chair), Mike Johnson (Vice Chair), Nicole Staehler, Erika Rutley, Melissa Magliocco, Sara Daggett (Teacher Representative), Joel Vandendriessche (Pastoral Council Liaison). Excused: Elissa Bowlin, Joe Gahli Opening Prayer Guests Erin (Parent) introduced Yell and Tell a non-profit that empowers kids to speak up and yell and tell an adult when they see something that looks or feels wrong. The Yell and Tell program is offered K-4th grade. The program is free. If we are interested in offering something like this at St. Dominic all information is online PowerPoint or DVD. Fifth grade and up can do junior trainer program. The website www.yellandtell.org. Perhaps Mrs. Weinfurter could incorporate in her curriculum. Mrs. Fischer will discuss it with her. Ada & Adam (Parents) are concerned about inappropriate behavior on the playground/bullying etc. As the school population has grown, there are more children at recess and not enough supervision. The children need to be able to feel safe in their environment and comfortable speaking without being labeled a tattle tale. Perhaps the faculty needs additional tools, or implementing a prevention program such as Not in Our School or reviewing our communication plan. Erin echoed many of their concerns. Fr. Dennis remarked this is a complex issue. Jill and Father Dennis will put together a proposal and get back to the committee. Parish Update – Father Dennis identified the main focus on: 1) Formation, specifically for middle school and high school and Confirmation. There are changes to come to the Confirmation program. 2) Tuition reduction (considering an endowment program, or perhaps a philanthropic society to help with tuition). Father is focused on opening up communication to learn what great ideas bubbles “up” from the parish members & school families, vs. ideas coming from the top down. Joel Vandendriessche shared that Pastoral Council’s focus over the next 12-18 months is “the Weekend Mass Experience” aimed specifically at increasing Mass attendance. Joel would like us to ask ourselves: how can the school parents and children make the weekend experience better. What can we do and how can we measure it (SMART objectives). SAC’s contributions will be vetted through Parish Council. SAC requested a separate stand-alone meeting with Pastoral Council representatives to brainstorm ideas, Dec 17 at 6:30 PM was suggested in place of subcommittee meetings. Bruce will contact Maggie to finalize time/place. Principal’s Report – Jill shared the Teacher Responsiveness survey. Parents will take one survey per teacher. She will bring the final draft to Meg to be sent through our Parish survey system. Jill will share feedback with each individual teacher along with an overall percentile vs. their peers to identify strengths and any areas for improvement. Jill shared St. Dominic Top 10 (also posted in bulletin). She is taking a course and was asked to think about what sets us apart. Jill would like feedback on what to add the Top 10 and asked what our #1 “wow” about St. Dominic’s is? What can we do to capture the hearts and minds of those not in the school and encourage them to enroll? SAC members to respond to her with their answers. Jill shared Fall MAP data- Overall the students continue to score very high and we teach very high. Jill also touched on development: the more Parish giving grows, the less tuition will be. Father stressed the importance of school families turning in their pledge cards with accurate numbers vs. just turning it in to check a box with inaccurate numbers. Parent Concerns - Out of uniform policy: for example sports shorts and length. Jill and teachers go back and forth on it every year. Ultimately, teachers make the call if they feel shorts are too short and they send to Mrs. Fischer for her final decision. The handbook clearly states shorts must be no shorter than 2 inches above the knee. Jill wants to make sure the boundaries are there.

Inspiring Minds - Developing Character - Seeking Christ

Hiring of new staff: Jill shared the standard hiring process. We post the position through the Arch of Milwaukee & it typically stays up for 2 weeks. Jill puts a team together to review the applications. The teachers on the team choose the top three. Jill then contacts top three for interviews. There is a rubric to follow and scoring. This is usually a two-month process. Candidates who applied but were not selected are notified. Fr. Dennis stated that this latest situation was an emergency hiring where Jill accessed her own networks to find a suitable teacher. Both Jill and her partner teacher met with the interviewee. Fr. Dennis is always involved and kept informed. Mike Johnson asked if Jill could communicate to the SAC when a position is opening up or recently posted, so we can relay to our networks as well. Jill agreed to do so in the future. Extended Care Communication: parents are now receiving a newsletter that discusses what happened during the week so they are kept informed. Recess supervision: There is a lack of supervision. It was suggested that we consider asking mature 8 th graders to assist at recess, or giving credit toward tuition for volunteering to do recess duty. SAC will first ask parents for help. In past years when recess duty was required of school families, it did not go well. Meet and Greet Forms: There is a frustration over of all the redundant paper forms at Meet & Greet. Can we move to electronic forms? Jill explained that yes, someday we will have things electronically through Power School or Google forms. This is being explored. Sub-Committee Reports Marketing - The parish will soon be rolling out new website, met with Jeff R. who works in marketing in Catholic schools. He gave us the marketing plan and we are currently working on Open House marketing and building up enrollment of the preschoolers. Catholic Identity - Rolling out the service project for the 175th anniversary. Welcoming service and virtue program ideas. We are matching up the Armor with the Virtue and Saints and St. Michael prayer. Mike Urban found a website that we can use as a resource for virtues. The virtue project is on a 3-year program. Father suggested the day schoolers partner with the Senior group of parishioners and engage with them (reading? singing?). Development – Danita is working on a letter going to all alumni. They are planning an event in March (“welcome home” event) perhaps a summer festival event. An alumni from 1959 (the first graduating class) has been located. Closing Prayer Meeting Adjourned. Respectfully Submitted, Erika Rutley, Recording Secretary

Inspiring Minds - Developing Character - Seeking Christ