Stella Maris Academy Parent Teacher Organization

Minutes

March 13, 2008

8:15 am

In attendance: Janet Shanks, Lyne Lewis, Sheri Anastasi, Dana Irwin, Julieta Thefeld, Ruth Varonfakis, Maryann Stieber, Christine Johansen, Liz Thomas, Bernadette Brannigan, Michelle Lally, Florence Galvani, Maritza Reh, Cathleen Haggerty, Liz Gotfredson, Lillian Nadhir, Lori Duran,

Call to Order

Opening Prayer-Janet Shanks

Old Business

President’s Report-Working together as a cohesive group will give us the best results for our PTO.  Janet is open to having anyone come speak to her that feels uncomfortable addressing any issue in the group meetings.  Janet emphasized there are many wonderful things happening at SMA which Mrs. Lowell elaborated on later.  Family Math Night was well attended and the feedback was positive.  Stella Maris placed first in the Academic Decathlon.  The PTO received a thank you from Jan Zipp for the donation from the PTO for the materials for the Decathlon.  

Treasurer's Report-attached.  Sheri Anastasi presented the Treasury Report showing cash carried forward from last year equals $77,389.15.  We have raised $7,600 in fundraising thus far.  $10,700 is on hand from registration dues that can offset the Hyatt costs for the fundraiser, but this is not yet reflected in the report.

PTO Current year Cash position as of February 13, 2008 is approximately $30,776.39.

Secretary’s Report- approval of February, 2008 Minutes

New Business

1.      Fundraisers

Scrip- Liz Thomas/Lisa Osborne: Quite a bit has been sold, but SCRIP from vendors Lisa and Liz would like to clear out is still available. If you would like to have SCRIP from a vendor that has been phased out, it’s still available on a special order basis and will only take a few days to receive  We continue to receive a large quarterly corporate order which is boosting SCRIP sales.

Raffle Sales-Liz Gotfredson: Raffle sales are $1,310 to date.  Incentives for the raffle include the grand “Dream Come True” Party (organized by Anseth Richards) for the student selling the most tickets, followed by a Wii (donated by the Dad’s club), a day at the La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club (hosted by the Gotfredsons), $100 in cash, $50 in cash, AMC movie passes, milkshakes at Harry’s Coffee Shop, and gift certificates for Gepetto’s Toy Shop and Froglander’s Yogurt.  Each week, the class with the most participation gets a prize, including extra recess.  There will also be a prize for the student who sells the most tickets each week.  Liz has come up with a schedule (attached) broken down by class for selling tickets after mass at Mary Star, starting March 29.  Each class will be responsible for finding sellers in accordance with the schedule.  Michele Lally said she and Oliver would be interested in taking shifts that the classes are unable to fill. Michele also volunteered to head up a group selling at the Farmer’s Market on Sundays at La Jolla Elementary.

 Star Gala – Ruth Varonfakis:  plans for the Gala are progressing.  Invitations will be mailed before spring break. 

Lyne Lewis distributed copies of prior year donations to those individuals who have volunteered to make follow up calls along with a methodology that worked for the auction team last year. 

All class projects are underway.  The logistics on the teacher baskets are being worked out.  The PTO will pay for the cost of putting the 3^rd grade example basket together.  Items that come in as donations that would be appropriate for the baskets can be used to defray the costs associated with the baskets.  Ruth will also try to obtain specific donations such as Padre’s tickets and Cooking Classes.

Mrs. Lowell’s remarks:  These last few weeks have been busy and productive at SMA.  Interviews for new students for next year are underway, and Mrs. Lowell continues to receive resumes from teachers interested in teaching at Stella Maris. Stella Maris’ reputation as a place of learning, faith and value formation, and excellence is reaching the parent and teaching communities, both in word of mouth and through our website. The following is a highlight of some of the many incredible things we have going on at Stella Maris:

·        SMA placed 1^st in the Diocese in the 2008 Academic Decathlon, and we had many students place individually.  SMA will move on to the state competition in the Academic Decathlon.

·        SMA was one of only two schools in the Diocese to receive the “St. Therese of Little Flowers” award.  An impressive presentation was made by the students at the ceremony.

·        We are the only elementary school in the Diocese that has the national Blue Ribbon Award for academic excellence.

·        Junior Achievement was a huge success this year.  Many thanks for the hours the parent volunteers dedicated to teaching the classes and going to Biz Town.  The officials at Junior Achievement told Mrs. Lowell how impressed they were by the students from SMA (in particular the 7^th grade) in their preparedness, behavior and professional demeanor.

·        We have many students nominated by the Science Fair committee to move on to the competition at Balboa Park.

·        Some of our other programs that are currently underway serving our students: Accelerated Reader, band, summer school programs, “Walk through History” (expanded to grades 4 through 6), Art Literacy, study skills program, Family Math Night, Family Science Night, Student Success Team (identifying children who might need extra help), Everyone a Reader, Schools Attuned (based on Mel Levine’s bestselling book “All Kinds of Minds”, which looks at how different children learn in different ways).

·        Next year we will have a part time counselor, Patricia Maderas. She will help implement an anti-bullying curriculum developed by Boys town who also developed the Social Skills program we use.  She will also be a resource to help resolve conflicts between students, and be available to any student with parent permission, or she will also contact parents if she feels a child could possibly benefit from some assistance.

·        Next year we will have a dedicated Math teacher for 6, 7 and 8^th grades and advanced math and a paraprofessional or part time credentialed teacher for the senior yard.

Adjournment –10:00 am