St. Charles School Commission MINUTES January 21, 2014 Meeting Logistics Attendance Committee Members: Administration: Invited Guests: Name Name Name Chair: John Dunn Brian Andrew A Laura Anderson X Amy Marshall A Co-Chair: Dan Plas Tammie Clendenning X Father Ken X Renee Horning X Time: 6:30-8:00 PM John Dunn X Father Patrick A Jeff Walloch X Jude Hughes-Kosmider X Robin Thousand X Date: 01-21-2014 Christine Landmann A Dan Murphy X Dan Plas X Location: Science Lab Chris Thorsen X 2/26/2014 1
1. Opening Prayer (John Dunn) 2. Approval of December 17, 2013 School Commission Minutes (John Dunn) (Please review in advance of our meeting the attached draft December minutes) 3. School s Use of Social Media Strategy and Tactics (Jeff Walloch)(20 minutes) (Please review the article linked here in advance of the meeting) http://www.npengage.com/social-media/school-social-media-tactics/ 4. Principal Report (Laura Anderson) (15 minutes) a. Enrollment Update b. Budget Process Description/Timing c. Project Lead the Way Update d. Annual Development Fund Update e. Other 5. Old Business a. Surveying Parents and Teachers Update (Dan Murphy/Laura Anderson) (10 minutes) b. Catholic Schools Week Preparation (Dan Plas/Laura Anderson) (10 minutes) c. School Commission Charge (John Dunn) (10 minutes) (Please review the attached School Commission Charge in advance of the meeting) 6. New Business a. Registration Process for Existing Families (Dan Murphy) (10 minutes) 7. Parish Council Update (John Dunn) (5 minutes) 8. Home & School Update (Amy Marshall/Renee Horning) (5 minutes) 9. Committee Items (Chairs) (5 minutes) a. Finance b. Policy c. Marketing d. Development Fund 10. Next Meeting February 18, 2014 2/26/2014 2
11. Closing Prayer (John Dunn) Topic Discussion Recommendations/Follow-up OPENING PRAYER: John Dunn led the opening prayer MINUTES: Approved and accepted Will post SCHOOL S USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA: Jeff Walloch presented on the schools use of social media including on the merits of adding a twitter feed and other social media/technology. He also talked about our Facebook page and other website updates including mobile navigation. He said we need to develop a strategic plan as well as establish a team for content dissemination. We also discussed creating a link to the weekly update rather than an email with attachments. He talked about the number of visits and visitors to the site and other measurements available through Google analytics that could provide useful data to the school. He also discussed the teacher's blog pages and the need for consistent terms and processing. Jeff has added various social media badges to the site and will continue to enhance our site s social media presence. PRINCIPAL REPORT: Laura Anderson Enrollment Update We have 226 as of this week. There was a new 3k student this week. Enrollment and admissions for current families is now open. Open enrollment begins during Catholic Schools Week. Budget Process Description Shirley Lamerand is beginning the process for the new budget now. She provides data to Mrs. Anderson and the budget is then developed and presented to the Finance Council in March. Mrs. Anderson provided a schedule of income and expense categories that are used as a part of the process. 2/26/2014 3
Project Lead the Way Update We are beginning the process. Mrs. Anderson is consulting with other principals that use the program. Teachers will visit schools currently using the program. Project Lead the Way is a gateway to STEM for students. PLTW will provide all the curriculum. Expect to rollout the program in middle school in the 2014/2015 school year. We are looking to add to the younger grades as well in the future. Annual Development Fund Rollout Donations to date total $23,575. $40,000 has been budgeted for this item. Other N/A OLD BUSINESS: Surveying Parents and Teachers Dan Murphy provided an updated list of survey questions. There was a discussion on the wording of a few. Catholic Schools Week Preparation There will be daily activities, the Gesu mass and book fair. New this year is a math/science night for families. We are marketing through bulletins, mass announcements, press releases, Facebook posts, email, video, yard signs, newspaper ads, asking families to refer friends and family. We sent out many thousands more post cards this year than in previous years. Need volunteers to be present at the open house. Mary Wehlage will provide refreshments. School Commission Charge This was distributed. We are paying close attention to recruiting due to the large class graduation this year. We will develop a strategic plan for the school. Also need to concentrate on governance. NEW BUSINESS: 2/26/2014 4 It was noted that donating electronically would be a nice feature to have and might also help us connect with alumni. Dan will organize a smaller committee to review the questions and implications. Thank you Dan for all your work on this project.
Registration Process for Existing Families Dan Murphy commented on ways to potentially enhance the communication to existing parents when seeking them to reenroll their children for the next school year. Parish Council Update: School Commission Charge See the discussion of the School Commission Charge above. Home & School Update: Amy Marshall/Renee Horning Renee Endters will host an upcoming fund raising night as well as Culvers. The H&S is sponsoring the Schauer events. Donna Flessas is the volunteer coordinator. She sent out a newsletter to alert all to the volunteer needs. The auction is adding new games and adding an online only event. The first fish fry is this Friday. The next two bulletins will have auction information including where the previous proceeds were used. COMMITTEE REPORTS: Finance See the discussion of the budget above. Policy N/A Marketing See the discussion of Catholic Schools Week above. Development Fund See the discussion of the Development Fund above. NEXT MEETING February 18, 2014 2/26/2014 5 A suggestion was made that an "add a child" option should be added to the registration/enrollment to simplify the registration process for reenrolling families.
CLOSING PRAYER Father Ken gave a blessing at 8:33 pm 2/26/2014 6