MarchHSA Meeting Minutes
March 14th,2018 (rescheduled due to snow day)
Call meeting to order: 8:34am
Opening Prayer:
Heavenly Father, we come to you today asking for your guidance, wisdom, and support as we begin this meeting. Help us to engage in meaningful discussion; allow us to grow closer as a group and nurture the bonds of our community. Fill us with your grace, Lord, as we make decisions that might affect the students, staff, faculty, parents and friends of Greenwich Catholic School. Continue to remind us that all thework we do here,every day, and all that we accomplish, is for the benefit of our children, for the service of this school and for the greater glory of You. We ask these things in your name, Amen
Our Mission:
Greenwich Catholic School provides students with a life-long intellectual and spiritual foundation through a rigorous and innovative curriculum focused on faith, critical thinking, responsibility and service.
Our Motto:
ROOTED IN FAITH - SURROUNDED BY COMMUNITY - COMMITTED TO EXCELLENCE
Approve minutes of the February meeting: 1stJennifer LaPietra 2ndTricia Caputo
HSA Board Members: Megan McHugh, Susan Condon, Maria Elena Gaztambide, Meg DeCaro, Susan McKee
Excused Members: Mike Ballangee, Joanne Cavaliere, Pilar Quartarolo, Jennifer Koenigsberger, Michele Hopson, Colette Lesperance
HSA Members: Elaine Guiffreda, Meghan Novack, Janice Sorial, Stacy Mack, Veronica Buzzi, Andrea Kopilak, Jennifer LaPietra, Alexis Paksi, Diana Taro, Sarah Gengo, Ric Anderson, Meg Caraher, Kimberly Garcia, Carrie Vomacka, Janine Corticelli, PierangeloCorticelli, Brigid Futch, Mary Beth Brown, Kristin Galvin, Tricia Caputo, Jan Montana, Trip Curtis, MarloTamilio, Christine Keen, Lauren Schick, Katherine Blanding
Correspondence: Miss Welge, Mrs.Murray
Important Dates:
Mar 12th-23rd– Easter Drive
Mar 13-23rd - Iowa Testing Grades 1-7
Mar 16th – Family Bingo Night, 6pm gym
Mar 18th – Greenwich St. Patrick’s Day parade, 2pm Greenwich Town Hall
Mar 27th – PreK-5th – Science Fair during school
Mar 28th – African Choir performance, 7PM
Mar 29th – April 2nd – No school Easter Break
April 4th – April HSA Meeting
April 6th – End of the 3rd Quarter
April 6th – First Friday Mass, 10am
April 9th – 13th – Spring Break
President’s Report:
There’s plenty going on in the coming weeks! You’ll hear about most of it as we go through our committee reports and updates. One thing that the board is doing is looking forward to next year and figuring out what holes we need to fill on boards. We are so fortunate to have a great group of volunteers to work on all of our committees and events, but a number of you are graduating out and we always need more people to step into positions. If you have a lot of time, or just a little time – please talk to us if you are interested in getting involved on a committee. All of the committees are listed on the website under the parents tab. We will find a place for you!
Open Positions –Meg DeCaro, the chair of the Nominating Committee discussed the slate of Board positions and the process by which nominations and voting occurs. The current open positions are President and Vice President. She mentioned that nominations can still be made from the floor and the vote will take place in April. The Nominating Committee met on March 2ndand presented the following slate of positions:
President - Nicole Hartman
Vice President of Events – Magda Chrostowski
Vice President of Volunteer Opportunities – Maria Elena Gaztambide
Meg called for nominations from the floor. There were no nominations.
Treasurer’s Report: Meg DeCaro distributed the Income Statement. She mentioned that in April, the board reviews the budget for the past year and puts together a budget for next year. In the next few weeks, she will be emailing the committee chairs their budget from this year and will ask them to respond with any changes that they feel will be needed for next year. Then, next year’s budget will be voted on at the May meeting.
Old Business:
Back to Basics:ElaineGuiffredagave an update on Back to Basics. She mentioned that about 210 people attended. GCS made $30K on the silent auction items. She gave a special thank you to the Marchetti family that donated three auction items. This year, we made over $116K.
Bookstore update:Susan Condon mentioned that the bookstore will not be open for the rest of March due to testing going on.
Annual Fund update: Tricia Caputo discussed the Annual Fund. Our goal is to raise $250K. We are already at $170K and 49% family participation. We ended last year at 84% participation. She asked that if you haven’t donated, please do so. So far, the Seventh grade, Kindergarten and Second grade are at the highest participation.
New Business:
Bingo update: Susan Condon presented for Bonnie Tuite. Bingo is Friday night and there are still tickets available. Pizza will be served from 6-7pm and Bingo starts at 7pm. The 8th grade is having a bake sale. She reminded everyone to get your tickets now because every year it sells out.You can still donate Easter baskets for Kids in Crisis. Check with Bonnie Tuite for more information.
Greenwich St. Patrick’s Day Parade: Susan Condon discussed the St. Patrick’s Day parade.
She encouraged everyone to attend. We will be meeting at 1pm or 1:30pm at Town Hall. The parade starts at 2pm. It is normally over by 2:45pm.
The Upper School children will receive community service hours as well as she encouraged participation from the lower school because it is a great time to start teaching the kids about service with something easy and fun for them to do. It is also a great story for us to tell the Diocese that our littles participated in community service. The Diocese is definitely encouraging this!
African Children’s Choir: Meg Caraher discussed the African Children’s Choir who will be coming to GCS on March 28th. The concert will be at 7pm. Meg reached out to them about 7 years ago and they finally had a date available. She need volunteers to help while they are here. They would like 7th and 8th graders to help with the children when they arrive and at the dinner in the Convent the night of the concert. She will also need volunteers for the concert itself. She will send out a more formal sign up.
The choir consists of children from 7-10 years old. She specifically thanked the six families who are hosting the children. She asked for help promoting this event in the community. They will be sharing it on social media so people can share it with their friends.
Easter Community Outreach Drive: Kimberly Garcia discussed the Easter Community Outreach Drive. The drive is for 15 families who are moving from Inspirica into their own home. We will get them Easter dinner and things they need for their new apartment. The 4th grade will make Easter signs that we will use the decorate laundry baskets that we will make look like Easter Baskets. From the 12th through the 23rd we will collect items for our Easter Drive. Parents and kids who want to help sort and pack can join us after school on Friday, March 23. If you are interested in volunteering, please let Kim or Mike Ballangee know.
Cultural: Susan Condon read an announcement from the cultural committee:
On Friday, March 23: the organization called Arithmetickles will present two math game show assemblies for K-5 and 6-8
Also on the 23rd, the Stamford Nature Center will do a separate presentation for our PKs titled Barnyard Birds and Farm fun. They will bring different animals for the kids to learn about.
We are also finalizing the Passover Seder discussion for the 5th graders towards the end of March.
Spirit Wear Changeover: Susan Condon mentioned that Spirit Wear will moved to Book Store.
Spring Book Fair: Susan Condon reminded everyone that the dates for the spring book fair are 5/7-5/10.
Play update: Susan Condon mentioned the play dates are April 27, 28, and 29
Advancement: CiciCoutantmentioned that GCS has a literary magazine. They are creating a place for online submissions on the website.
Cici also mentioned that Summer Programs will be coming out soon. There will be a Kiddie Camp for ages 3-5 as well as Summer Academy for older students. They are also having a new program this year where students can go to Summer Academy for the first half of the day and then attend camp with Corbins Crusaders for the second half of the day. Corbins Crusaders are giving GCS families a significant discount.
She also announced that we hit the 50% participation mark for Annual Fund this morning. She asked if people were having trouble with Edilio updates. She will be contacting the company to troubleshoot the problems. Cici said that she will send a mid-year update on the school’s resources that parents can have access to. This will be also put in Parent Resources.
Susan Condon mentioned that Valerie Rickens is coordinating a signup sheet for donating a meal to the Mussolini family.
Principal’s Report:
Mrs. Kopas discussed the importance of volunteering. She said that we are only as strong as our volunteers. Now that we are in the digital age, it is difficult to make connections. We need to remember we need volunteers and community. The theme that keeps coming up in meetings she attends at the Diocese is relationships. It is about knowing that God is doing the right thing by sending people into our lives.
She discussed that the kids are now doing testing. Each grade is only taking one of the tests. The children are either taking the Cognitives or Content Knowledge. She is looking forward to the results.
At the Advisory Board Meeting she asked the Board to form a task force on security to discuss what we need to look at. We have great parent advisors. For the next lockdown, they will have the Greenwich Police attend so they can give advice on anything that needs to be improved. They are working on getting new cameras. Pierre Corticelli who is a20 year veteran of the Greenwich Police Department was in attendance. He is on the Facilities committee and they are looking at the security of the school. Several parents discussed their concerns about security. Mrs. Kopas discussed that addressing safety was part of our strategic planning process and everything was published for parents to review.
Meeting Adjourned: 10:07am