St. John's - St. Andrew's Catholic School

St. John's - St. Andrew's Catholic School

of Meire Grove and Greenwald

115 Co. Rd. 13 (Meire Grove)

Melrose, MN 56352

(320) 987-3491

stjohnstandrew@gmail.com

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School Board Minutes

Board of Education Meeting

St. John's - St. Andrew's School

October 18, 2011

Members present: Susan Hennen, Tim Meyer, Eric Dehmer, Karen Meyer, Wanda Ahrens, Brenda Nathe, Kristen Young, Lisa Wuertz; Fr. Omar came later

I. Call to Order

A. Opening Prayer

B. Roll call

II. Routine Matters

A. Approval of the Minutes: Lisa made a motion to approve, Brenda seconded it, motion carried.

B. Approval of the Agenda: Item added to new business: E. Personnel committee. Lisa made a motion to approve with additions, Brenda seconded it, motion carried.

C. Approval of the Financial Report: Lisa made a motion to approve, Karen seconded it, motion carried.

III. Old Business

School Board Proposal & Maintenance Log.

Energy audit. Susan collected as much information as she could on energy audits and gave it to Jim Leukam on September 30^th. He was going to bring it to the parish council meeting the following Monday, but noone has heard anything regarding the outcome of that meeting. Susan will check with Jim Leukam on the status of an energy audit.

All School Weekend Masses/1 per month The first All School Weekend Mass was on Sunday, September 25^th at 8:00 am at St. Michael’s, Spring Hill. About 60% of the SJSA students were in attendance. Worship aides were provided with the names of students serving in the various ministries. Following Mass, cookies and juice were served. Student work was displayed on a bulletin board. SJSA brochures were available. SCRIP was also available for purchase. The next mass is scheduled for October 30^th 8:00 am at St. John’s.

Board of Education Representative at Parish Council Meetings No meetings were held since the last school board meeting. The next parish council meeting dates are: St. Andrew’s on Dec. 5^th at 7:30 pm, St. Michael’s on Dec. 6^th at 7:00 pm, and St. John’s on Dec 7^th at 7:00 pm.

Subsidy Each of the three main parishes has agreed to support SJSA with $500/student for the 2011-2012 school year. The three parishes have all paid Sept. & Oct. subsidy. Susan will contact the other parishes (1 student each) with a letter and/or visit to the parish council.

SJSA bussing Kristen did some searching on small busses and passenger vehicles, but found they were quite expensive. The annual cost to maintain the bus is also quite prohibitive. Freeport paid $14,000 - $17,000 per year to run their bus when they had it. The board discussed checking with Sauk Centre to see if they would consider dropping students off in Meire Grove. The board agreed to drop the idea of having our own bus and instead check into starting a before & after school program. Freeport and St. Mary’s both have this type of program, so Kristen is going to check with them for ideas. We would need additional staffing for this program, perhaps two individuals to help with homework and lead activities. More information will be gathered.

Recruitment Potential students/families have been invited to Oktoberfest. Becky distributed invitations and coupons to all the preschool families. Thirteen more invitations were also mailed out to families on the recruitement list.

Angel Statue Restoration. Wanda volunteered to paint the angel. Eric Eisenschenk recommended painting it with an acrylic latex paint. Once the angel is painted, we will get the base and have the angel moved on to the base, hopefully before winter. Lisa will contact Shawn Orbeck to get the base delivered.
Heather Davis Piano Lessons Thirteen students have signed up for lessons, which are held on Tuesdays and Thursdays during recess and AR time. Heather will donate $1 from every lesson to the school.
Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament Deacon Steve Arnold and Fr. Omar introduced the K-2 students to Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament after Mass on Oct. 6^th. The 2 minute adoration went well. The St.
Andrew’s students will be participating as it is offered once a month. The length of time will gradually increase. The St. John’s students will be introduced to it on October 19^th, starting with 5 minutes and increasing gradually to 10 minutes. The Adoration rotates amongst the parishes and an announcement will be in the bulletin.

IV. New Business

A. School Policies #8050 - 8080. Because of Oktoberfest, no policies will be reviewed this meeting.

B. MNSAA Reviewers Report. Enclosed. Susan plans on attending the MNSAA Conference on Nov. 7^th to gain insight on writing the report.

C. Grants. Kraemer Lumber has a grant through True Value for up to 40 gallons of paint. Susan will apply for this grant. Game Time playground systems also has a grant program. Wanda will give this information to the Greenwald Rec Club or Lions.

D. Subsidy Letter. Enclosed. The board reviewed the letter Susan put together to send to the parishes. Everyone agreed it looked good. If the parishes do not pay after this letter, Susan will visit their parish council.

E. Testing for Grades 1 & 2. Currently Grades 3-6 are tested with the MAPS program at the public school, but there is no testing for Grades 1 & 2. It was decided that testing for these grades is important and that Susan should pursue Iowa Basic testing for them.

F. Science/Social/Religion. Currently these subjects are taught on rotation (Example: Last year grade 4 was taught, this year it is grade 3.) The curriculum is not able to be completed for either grade in a give year. The board discussed teaching the upper grade curriculum over a 2 year period, allowing the entire curriculum to be taught and giving the students more time to understand the material. The board was in consensus to do this.

G. Time spent on AR. Susan brought up the question of our students needing to spend more time on math and perhaps less on reading. Students scored well on reading on the MAPS testing, and while they scored above average on math, it appears that some extra time on basic math facts would be beneficial. The board agreed to have math facts/flash card time two times per week for ½ hour, replacing two periods of AR time.

H. School Board/Staff Christmas Party The Christmas party will be held Thursday, Dec. 15^th at the Greenwald Pub. Social hour will be at 7:30 with the meal at 8:00 pm.

I. Personnel committee. Susan would like a personnel committee that she could call upon when interviewing and hiring new staff or employees. Brenda, Karen, Kristen, and Lisa volunteered to be on this committee. Mrs. Jacobson will be going on maternity leave in April, so a long-term sub will need to be hired to finish out the school year.

V. Information & Proposals

A. Pastor

B. Principal

1. We reached our Work-A-Thon goal of $19,000!

· Top fundraising student will receive $50 SCRIP gift card of choice – Makiya Luetmer

· Top fundraising student in each of remaining grades will receive $25 SCRIP gift card of choice: Gr. 6-Kim Meyer, Damon Van Beck, Gr. 5-Aaron Meyer, Gr. 3-Payton Nathe, Gr. 2-Dana Schmiesing, Gr. 1-Kaylee Nathe, K-Travis Ahrens.

· Top fundraising class will receive a John Dough’s pizza party – Grade 6

· For every $50 raised/student, he/she will receive a $1 DQ certificate. $340 given to students, $3 each to 4 teachers and Sandy.

· An all school bowling party is in the process of being planned.

2. Oktoberfest will be on Wed, October 19^th at St. John’s basement.

3. Nov. 1 All Saints Day Mass at 9:00 am at St. Andrew’s. Students will be giving their saint presentations.

4. 5^th/6^th Grade Audubon Environmental Learning Center Trip is scheduled for Feb. 6-8, 2012.

5. All School Trip will be Friday, April 20, 2012 to see the MN History Center, St. Paul and the Oliver Kelley Farm, Elk River. The school received a $3/student Legacy Grant for transportation.

C. Questions/concerns by Board Members.

1. Status of the computer lab? The computer lab is in need of being updated. There is a wide assortment of machines and capabilities right now. One idea is to contact a local computer business to see if they would make a donation. The idea of going to Ipads was also discussed and the question of whether or not there were any grants available for technology. Susan will ask Sr. Suzanne for input and will also talk to Tim Welch at Catholic Education Ministries for the diocese.