Our Lady of Lourdes Education Commission Minutes

Thursday, November 1, 2007

1. Opening Prayer was offered by Nancy Jamison for a teacher at Mercy High School.

2. Attendance:  Commission Members

Nancy Jamison              ‘08                              

Terri Brown                  ‘08                              

Ed Woelfel                    ’08                              

Julie Balzano                 ‘09                  

Lynn Breidenstein         ‘09                               PMT Reps:  Marcia Kluesener

Scott Liesch                  ’09                                                  Amy Osterfeld

Lynda Sexton                ’10                                          

Craig Maliborski            ’10                               Teacher Rep:  Martha Barney

Karen Rusche  

3. The minutes from the October 11, 2007 meeting were reviewed and approved.                

4. Principal’s report                                                                      

a.  Ms. Rusche reported that there are still some issues involving pants under the

      uniforms.  The following amendments have been suggested:  include “black” in the 

      color of tights and specifying “ankle length” tights (leggings). 

b.  There are no teacher comments on the report cards because of the format of the new  

      report cards.  This should be resolved by the end of the second quarter.  New honor

      criteria have been developed by the faculty. 

c.       Ms. Rusche gave details of the Archdiocese student accident insurance policy.  This insurance policy will be paid for by the Archdiocese this year; however, the school will be responsible for the premiums starting next year ($4 per student).

d.       On Monday, November 5, the assistant superintendent of the Archdiocese will be at OLL to evaluate Ms. Rusche.

e.       On November 13, members of OLL parish and school will meet with other members of the St. Lawrence Deanery regarding issues of the future of parochial schools.

f.        Parent/Teacher conferences will be held in the middle of November. 

g.       The Scholastic Book Fair will be held during the week of November 12.

h.       Placement test for Catholic high schools will be given on Saturday, November 17.

5.   Discussion:  Teacher surveys

            Ms. Rusche has read the surveys and distributed the results to the teachers.  Most of the

            results were positive.  Mrs. Barney reported that she finds value in reading all of the

            comments.  The consensus of this group is that the survey will be conducted again this

            year.  Students will also do a survey again this year.

     ACTION ITEM:  Terri Brown will prepare the surveys to be given just after the third

     quarter report cards.  

6. Initiatives updates                                               

           a.  Lunch issues

                Ms. Rusche reported that the faculty agreed to continue to pursue the hot lunch

                 program.  Amy Osterfeld will finalize the parent survey and prepare it for distribution

                 in the upcoming months.  

            b.  Volunteerism Committee

                 Terri Brown submitted a proposal for Parent Service Hours for the Handbook for

                  next year.  There will be no consequences for not fulfilling the service hours

                  specified in the proposal.  A suggestion was made to have parents sign a sheet stating

                  that they have read this portion of the Handbook.  A suggestion was offered to have

                  name tags for the volunteers so that new people will more easily be known.  Marcia

                  Kluesener suggested we should consider whether there are some of the volunteer

                  activities (for example, counting money for lunches) that can be done at night to

                  accommodate families with two working parents.  Mrs. Barney suggested that the

                  school’s Open House in August could be a good time to provide parents with this

                  information. 

    ACTION ITEM:  Create a letter to parents explaining the service hour policy.

              c.  School calendar

                  This item is tabled until the next meeting.                             

7. The December meeting will be canceled.  The Education Commission will meet on

       January 10, 2008.

8.   There was a closing prayer and a motion to adjourn.  The meeting ended at 8:30 p.m.

       Respectfully submitted,

       Craig Maliborski

       Secretary