President Mary Tysor called the meeting to order at 8:21 a.m. with a prayer.

Transcription

1 PSO Winter Meeting 1/27/17 I. Opening Prayer President Mary Tysor called the meeting to order at 8:21 a.m. with a prayer. II. Attendees Mary Tysor, Edith Napoleon, Jennifer Grace, Catherine Barber, Michelle Smiley, Heather Kendall, Sarah Scherschel, Desiree Tigner, Melissa Lopez, Elizabeth Martinez, Miguel A. Contreras, Courtney Lerch, Christie Jones, Maria Fajardo, Sheila Murray, Nuri Nuri, Rachel Wamp, Leisa Novak, Ashley Graves, Kristin Zipple- Shedd, Katherine Vo, Mayra Perez, Amber McCarthy. III. Thank you! Mary extended thanks to past event committee chairs: Parent Potluck (Angela and Mardi), Fall Fest (Shannon, Alison), Book Fair (Ivy, Sheila, Sarah L.), Square 1 Art (Sarah S., Cindy), Casa de Esperanza (Rachel), Faculty and Staff Appreciation Luncheon (Desiree, Tiffany, Claudine), Rebates (Mollie). A special thank you was extended to Ben Mull and Heather Kendall for the beautiful altar built for SCM Masses. IV. Committee Reports Friends of the Mass Heather, Angie: Altar was blessed last week at school Mass. Heather thanked parents who stayed after Mass to fold and stack chairs. Next Mass is Feb. 15; Ms. Jacinta s class will host. If anyone wants to donate a flower arrangement, please let Heather know. Steps 4 Students Maria, Eddie, Mayra, Yaneth, Michelle: Registration deadline is Feb. 1. Event is Feb. 18. T-shirts are currently in process. Fundraising pages should be set up 93% of money raised comes back to the school. Reach out to friends, relatives, etc. Volunteers will be needed to stuff bags with t-shirts, etc. a few days before the race. There is also a need for volunteers on race day. Team count currently 177; goal for fundraising is $16,000. Note that participants don t have to run! It s a fun event. There will be a group picture at 7:40 a.m. at the school tent. Spring Fling Nuri, Alina, Ashley: Will occur April 29. The committee is planning to make this event very memorable and special because of the 50 th

2 anniversary. Note that budget is larger than usual this year only. There will be both catered food and potluck, and possibly live music. Friends of the Library Sheila, Ivy: Usborne fair was very successful; total sales before tax were $12, We received $1, in 10% book bonus and $2, in 25% cash bonus. Scholastic is also doing very well; 130 books have been purchased with bonus points (worth $1,115.00) and 14 books have been donated. Library work days on Wednesdays are focusing on primary book bags, and Thursday work days focus on book labeling and laminating as well as Scholastic catalogue assembly. Ivy received special recognition for her dedication and hard work. Friends of the Garden Christie, Courtney, Sarah, Devin: Spring work day was Sat. January 21; 24 adults and 27 children came to work. Eucalyptus trees were removed and the logs were repurposed into mulch for the AC garden and as a base for another garden as well. Tuesday mornings are now focused on fun gardening activities (no weeding anymore, for now) and gardening education. Note that no gardening experience is needed! There are also other times that parents can volunteer with the grounds; to do so, contact Adina. Also, members of Friends of the Garden can take Urban Harvest classes for free! New Parent Welcome Committee Edith, Courtney, Catherine: New parents received a survey about our program. Buddy program was very well-received. We are going to send out a call for buddy volunteers for next year s new families. We are also going to have a new family blanket at the Spring Fling. Christian Meditation Group Edith: Meets every Friday at 8:15-8:35 a.m. All are welcome, and it s okay to be late. There will also be a monthly rosary after the meditation on the last Friday of the month. Elizabeth asked whether religious formation for parents (e.g., retreats, etc.) was subsumed under this group. Edith responded that this is a great idea, and Elizabeth volunteered to work on this. Faculty and Staff Appreciation Luncheon Claudine, Desiree, Tiffany: This was extremely well-received, and everything was amazing. There was great food and wonderful music from Ana Trevino-Godfrey and Jonathan Godfrey. Square 1 Art Cindy, Sarah: $2, was raised this year for teacher education.

3 PSO Book Club Hadley, Sheila: Next meeting is Feb. 16 at 8:30 in the library. All are welcome. The group will be reading How to Talk So Kids Will Listen and Listen So Kids Will Talk. Fourth book session might focus on the issue of race and will possibly read the chapter on race in Nurture Shock. Please contact chairs about ideas. Courtney shared that Ms. Renae did a wonderful job of talking about race issues and Martin Luther King, Jr. with her class, using the book Martin s Big Words. Casa de Esperanza PJ Project Rachel: The drive was a great success. We provided 120 children with PJs, socks, underwear, stuffed animals, and books. Other items were also donated. Thanks were extended to the volunteers who helped set up the tree, doing errands, filling in gaps, etc. Community Care Carrie, Teresa: Parents provided snacks for the fall parentteacher conference days. This will happen again for the March conference days. Rebates Mollie: Rebate information was submitted in December. V. Update from Development Office Violet Violet s role is to engage the community to advance the mission of the school. She highlighted the important role of PSO in supporting the school, both through fundraising efforts and through community-building. Parents also support the school with their time and their donations. Violet reviewed the fundraising chart (i.e., different efforts, where the money goes, etc.), which is available at the back of the parent handbook. Communications department falls under the Advancement office; this department is responsible not only for internal communication but also for external communication that can help build partnerships. All parents have the opportunity to be ambassadors for SCM. Fundraising is driven in part by SCM s status as an independent school that does not receive funding from other sources (e.g., parish or government). Tuition has traditionally been kept very low recently named in the top 10 most affordable private schools in Houston. Budget: 90-92% from tuition; 1-2% rentals of property; 6-8% fundraising (SCM fund). SCM fund is a bit behind trend this year, which is probably due to the Gala. SCM fund goal: 178,000; currently raised: 120,000. Edith raised the question about whether we would be able to connect with a parish that doesn t have a school. Violet noted that this would be a

4 Board-level decision but also mentioned that there are pros and cons to being a parish school (e.g., financial support vs. reduced independence). Sarah S. asked how we cover gaps (e.g., if SCM fund does not raise the expected amount). Violet responded that the budget is reviewed monthly to see what needs to be done to adjust expenses or whether there is a surplus. Mary encouraged attendees to reach out to Violet with questions. Violet closed by saying that over $2.6 million has been raised for the Capital Campaign so far and that tuition assistance is another priority ($40,000 for 20 families last year), but the latter will require an endowment of $1-2 million to support tuition assistance in a more substantial way. VI. Treasurer s Report Jennifer Current unrestricted funds are $3, We have donated 70 sets of dishes and glassware at the cost of $1, (under budget). VII. Old Business 1. Friends of the Arts Melissa Lopez: The goal of this committee would be to support the music program (Tim and Mindy Snow) and future arts programs at SCM. The committee is looking for people to volunteer with logistics of rehearsal, performances, and other events. They hope to start in the fall. Note that there are over 100 children participating in band and orchestra. Mary stated that this is a long-overdue project for the PSO and that it will evolve. 2. Donation of dishes (see above, Treasurer s report). 3. Donation of Eucharist bowls approved funds, $ New address for PSO pso@stcathmont.org VIII. New Business 1. Possible PSO Donation We are going to do a community survey to give input about how to allocate another $5000 donation. Once we receive the results, the PSO will vote on the outcome. Sheila noted that we need to emphasize that this is not due to a surplus in fundraising and that this is not replacing any other fundraising. Explain where the money comes from and emphasize how this fits with the mission of the PSO. One suggestion was made to wait until the end of the year to do the survey, out of concerns that people might not contribute to SCM Fund if they think there is a surplus. The bottom line is that we do not want to sit on money rather than using it. Mary noted that the school is now in a position to

5 be able to cover all expenses of the PSO. Catherine will revise the wording. Susan and Violet will review the updated version of the survey. 2. New Committee Chairs : Mary is requesting volunteers to chair next year s committees th Anniversary Events Steps 4 Students and Spring Fling IX. Adjournment Mayra moved to adjourn and Maria seconded. All voted yes. Meeting was adjourned at 10:08 a.m. Minutes submitted by Catherine Barber 1/27/17