May Minutes

May 11, 2011

Members Present: Jack Daniels, principal, Mary Carr, chair, Fred Daniels, vice chair, Carol Laplante, Ken Lawson, Linda Imhof, Nick Dahl, Mike Eckman, Mark Sheehy, Mark Roy, Paula MacLellan, Mary Jane King, Marta Nissen, Director of Development Members Absent: Father Richard Kelley

We began the meeting with the opening prayer.

Finance Committee: Financials continue to show that we are in the black and will finish the year that way. From current funds, we have purchased new reading series for Grade 1 and Social Studies texts for Grades 5 and 6. We are also looking at purchasing ceiling tiles for the classrooms (many of the public areas were completed last summer).

Principal’s Report: Current enrollment for next year is 320, which is also the budget. We are conducting tours each week for prospective students and families. We have given tours for grades 2 and 4 and have several new students registered for grade 6 next year. We have an Open House scheduled for this Sunday, May 15, 2011. Our Pre-K enrollment for next year is 26, all of whom are full day Pre-K. Last year at this time, we had 28, 14 full day and 14 half day. Enrollment for Pre-K often comes later in the year. Last year, we received more than 10 Pre-K registrations during the summer months. We have a sub-committee looking at Pre-K enrollment.

Marketing: The focus group that is to meet to discuss Pre-K has not yet met. We are looking at some focused pages on the website that will be devoted to younger kids, making interested folks see what we offer in Pre-K. Teachers in Pre-K through Grade 1 have been meeting to refine the curriculum and eliminate overlaps. The Pre-K report card is also being revamped, making it more developmental. On the sign out front, we will be advertising openings in Pre-K.

School Lobby: Mark Roy is putting together tentative costs to update lobby for painting, carpentry

Logo: met with two marketing firms re: updating our logo. Both gave very good prices for what they could do for St. Christopher School. We accepted a proposal from the firm, MESH. We should have information for the June meeting. The goal will be for the update logo to be easily embroidered, clear for printing and for the website.

Fall Fundraiser: Infant Jesus is the lead school next year for the fall fundraiser (calendar raffle). Last year, each school received more than $15,000 from the calendar raffle. Bob Boissonneault would like to have a meeting in the next couple of weeks to make sure that each school is set on their responsibilities for the summer and that the plan is clear.

Principal Search Process: We have placed ads in the Boston Globe the Pilot, Union Leader, Nashua Telegraph, NCEA. The key will be to have good candidates from which to choose. There is a diocesan deadline of 5/27 for candidates but it would not be unusual to extend that deadline. As of our meeting date, the search committee has not been finalized but it is expected to be in the next couple of days. The Board met as a group to discuss what we think the principal search committee should consider when interviewing candidates.

Next meeting: June 8. Finance committee meets at 7:30am. Full board meets at 8:00am.