Our Lady Star of the Sea Regional School

Minutes from

General PTA Meeting

September 18, 2008

“Back to School Night”

 

The meeting was opened by Monsignor McIntyre with a prayer.

 

Frank Zilinek/ PTA President

     Frank introduced himself to all.  He was new to our school last year, and came from St. Raymond’s.  He has two children at OLSOS: Josh and Abby.  He stated that there have been some changes made to the PTA for this year.  Changes were made for the Carnival also.  We had more tourists at the carnival than in previous years.  Some of our changes were a little “over-board,” but all went well.  This year’s Ice-Cream Social had a little change also – a magic show was added.  The kids really enjoyed it.  We are trying to make the PTA more “family oriented.”

     Frank then introduced the board members and classroom representatives for this year.  There is an opening for a Pre-K rep if anyone is interested, please contact Frank.

      New parents will be receiving phone calls from the classroom reps to welcome them to our school, and to see if they have any questions.  NO QUESTION IS A DUMB QUESTION!  You can also e-mail Frank with your questions.

 

Treasurer’s Report/Chandi Ankrum, Treasurer

     This year’s Carnival raised $6,767.56.  That is over $1,000 more than last year.  There is also an additional $500 from last spring’s Golf Tournament which will be added to this year’s report.  With both of these totals, we are close to 20% of our goal for the school year.

 

Back to Frank………

     There are sign-up sheets available for the various upcoming fundraisers:

·   Fall Mum Sale – This sale has been brought back.  Orders are due Sept. 26th.

·   Halloween Party - Planning for this is underway.  We will have a haunted house, DJ, and food from the kitchen.  Date is Friday, Oct. 24th.

·   Family Bowling Night – This will be held at 3J’s in Wildwood.  6 pers/lane is the maximum.  Date is Sunday, Nov. 9th.

 

Frank urged all to get involved.  It’s a great way to get to know your school, teachers, other parents, etc.  The PTA board meets once per month.  The dates are on the school calendar. You do not have to be a board member to attend a board meeting.  Come and see what it is all about.  General PTA meetings will be held once a month also.

 

Churchwerks/ Sr. Linda

     Sr. Linda had a demo prepared although the system was not cooperative for her.  Even so, she was able to give us some vital information about this system.  Each household will be listed by a last name (ex. Arico household).   The system will list all students in that household.  Parents will be able to check each student’s grades and assignments.  Since you can log in at any time to see your student’s grades, there will be no need for an interim report.  Report cards, however, will be generated from this system.  When you do log in for the first time, please check to make sure that all info is correct.  (Eventually, tuition payments will also be posted.)  Last year, passwords and user names were given out to most families.  They were NOT changed.  The system will prompt you to enter a new password.  Click on “click here.”  Sister asked that if you are a new family, please see her tonight because some new passwords and user names did not process yet.  If you have forgotten your password, Sister can also get that for you tonight.

     Sister explained that there is also a link to Churchwerks from our web-site, HOWEVER, when Cape May Tech goes down, it means we are down also.  This is why we also have trouble with e-mails.  You can go directly to the address at https://sis.camdendiocese.org  at any time.  (SIS stands for Student Information System.)  You can also call Sr. Linda with questions/problems at any time; she will not hang up until you are satisfied.  She will also make a home visit if necessary.

 

Ms. Dollinger/Principal

     Welcome to all!  This is her 11th year as a principal.  This is a time of “new beginnings.”  In a Catholic school we “share the gift of prayer.”  She talked about the 9/11 Prayer Service in which the children placed flags in the ground outside school. Local firemen were present.  She then went on to mention a few important points for the school year:

·   Last year Churchwerks was implemented.  We were a pilot school.

·   We are presently working on re-accreditation for Middle States. 

·   We are continuing with Study Island.  This is based on The NJ ASK format, but should help our students when they take the IOWA’s.

·   Singapore Math and VOWAC are now K – 4th.

·   Star2 Program is being continued.

·   The school calendar, handbook, and directory have been combined in order to save paper this year.  You can pick them up tonight at the door.

·   If you have a Yahoo account, and send a teacher an e-mail, please be aware that while the teacher can receive the e-mail, he or she CANNOT respond to it.  It is blocked for security reasons. 

 

Reminders…………….

·   A lot of paper work was sent home, please complete all forms, and send back to school.

·   Drop-Off – when dropping off your child in the morning, please do not get out of your car to chit-chat or to walk your child into school.  Mr. Saunders is there to greet them at the door. 

·   Pick-Up – when picking up your child at dismissal, please do not pull out onto Lafayette St. until all buses have been loaded.  That driveway is a bus line crossing area for the students.

·   No soda or glass containers at lunch (includes Snapple and Arizona bottles).

·   If your child is absent, you must call the office by 9am.  An absent note is REQUIRED BY STATE LAW when your child returns to school.

·   Check out our web-site and blogs.

 

     A theme for this year is the Starfish.  Ms. Dollinger briefly told us the Parable of the Starfish, and stated that we are “making a difference one star at a time.”  

 

     We are in need of library and office help.  If you volunteer to help, a criminal history check must be done first.  Maria Mulville has forms in the office.  This applies to new helpers who have never been checked.  It is okay if you were checked years previously by the Cape May Police Dept.  This process takes about a week for the paperwork approval.

 

      Ms. Dollinger then went on to introduce the faculty and staff. Our teachers are well qualified, and a list of their degrees is posted in the calendar/directory.   She went on to remind us to be “aware of crazy stories from the children.”  She told us about a true “crazy story” that a child from another school told a parent.  Please go to the teacher first if you have a problem before you go to the principal.

 

The meeting then adjourned at 7:40pm to classroom visits.

Minutes submitted by Donna Kanya