Minutes from All Parents’ Meeting, Monday, February 13, 2016 @7:30 pm – 8:30 pm
All Board Members Present in addition to Mr. Siegfried
Minutes recorded by Eileen O’Sullivan
· Mr. Siegfried started the meeting with a prayer. A special prayer was said for Nadia Fanek's father who passed away last week.
· We had a recap of last month's events
o Catholic School's Week
§ Thursday - Everyone enjoyed bowling at Homefield in Yonkers - There were many parent volunteers in each class and a great showing of our community spirit. Mr. Siegfried thanked all the parents who helped out
§ Friday - Buddy Day - Older children read to the younger children in their classrooms. - Mr. Siegfried is hoping to have more events in the future where there is more interaction between the older grades and younger grades.
o Mid-Terms Week - Grades 3rd through 8th took mid-terms. Mid-terms and Finals are equal to 10% of a student's grade and each quarter's grades are equal to 20%
o January 28th- Second graders celebrated First Reconciliation
o February 10th - Report Card Conferences were held this day
· A 3D printer has been purchased for the school and has been installed in the computer room. The chrome books and the 3D printer will be incorporated into the classrooms.
· Four more pads will be purchased for the basketball courts.
· Reminder of fundraising: operating Costs for the school - 80% comes from Tuition; 20% comes from the Parents' Club, Church, and Region
Upcoming items
o Staff News
§ Ms. Vicente in Pre-K is expecting a baby due in the summer
§ Mrs. Liberatore in Kindergarten is retiring
§ Mrs. Bowerman in Second Grade is retiring
o Other News
§ March 17th - St. Patrick's Day is now a full day of school
§ May 26th- Friday before Memorial Day is now a day off
§ June 19th- School will now be open to make up for the snow day we used in January
§ Second Edition of the School Newspaper has been available on the internet since Friday
§ The following items were purchased for the classrooms:
Coderpillar for Pre-K and Kindergarten - Foundation of coding
§ Tours of our school have been going on since January - So far 19 families have looked at our school. Families are from from 5-6 different schools.
§ Mid-Winter Break - Mr. Siegfried will be conducting basketball/kickball clinics on Tuesday February 21st
§ March 3rd - Progress Reports are going home
§ March 7th - Open House for New Students
§ March 17th - St. Patrick's Day is a dress down day
§ A suggestion was made to put black mesh around the fence of the playground overlooking Wilson Street to make the playground more private. Another suggestion was to fix the gate which does not close properly.
SHPC Update
· New Parents' Night Out - Question was whether or not to have it at school or off-site. Also whether or not to have the kids involved. Decided to have it in the gym with no kids.
· Suggestion: in September, we should have older families partner with new families to show them around and make them feel more comfortable.
· Superbowl Raffle made a $2500 profit; Superbowl Winners were announced:
o 1st Place - Wilma Antonio - $1,000
o 2nd Place - Regina Gratzon - $500
o 3rd Place -Ruben Gini - $250
o 4th Place - Vinny Dolan - $100
o 5th Place - Martina Arellano - $100
o 6th Place - Gerry Kelly - $100
o 7th Place - Gloria Burke - $100
· 8th Place - Ann Deluhash - $100
Upcoming Events
· February 26th - Mother-Son Event to see the Westchester Knicks at Westchester County Center
· March 3rd - Newlywed Game to be held in the gym
· March 10th -Father-Daughter Dance to be held in the gym- Alumni are still welcome
· April 7th - Spring Fling to be held at the New York Athletic Club
Auction Items are needed - Letter and Tax Exempt Forms are given to the different organizations which donate items
· April 29th -Tag Sale - Joan Kelly is chairing. Cookbooks can be sold. The price has dropped down to $10
Miscellaneous
· We made $1,000 at mass selling chocolates, cookbooks, and Superbowl raffle tickets
· Teachers have sent thank you notes for their Christmas gifts
· As of now, we are lower than last year in fundraising goals.
· We have a $31,000 commitment that we pay to the region.
· We are looking into having a thermometer fundraiser sign or some other visual sign put in the hallway showing parents what our events are and how much we raised.
· Next year there will be a Welcome TV monitor in the Gym
· Next year there will also be a well-written explanation, as well as e-mail, of what each of the school events are
· Parents don't know how much behind the scenes preparation goes on for all of the events
· Volunteers - There are a limited number of people who volunteer for the same events
· The Parent's Club now uses the school's copy machines, instead of maintaining the old copiers in the closet
· We need to get rid of the old copiers. Some suggestions were to sell them at the tag sale or get a credit at Staples
· George and Siobhan Klett will be forming a group next year for parents with kids with allergies
Our next Parents' Club meeting will be held on March 13th at 7:30 in the Central Avenue Meeting Room