PARENTS ASSOCIATION MINUTES FROM MEETING HELD ON 10/17/06

The meeting was called to order by Margaret Dunn-Watson and began with a prayer by Sister Virginia Honish.

Members present:   Margaret Dunn-Watson, Karen Knauf, Kim Newman, Cindy Salmins, Jim Podewils, Sr. Virginia Honish, Sue Foley and Debbie Brophy.

Task Force Reports:  

Treasurer:  Jim reported a positive ending balance after the 2005/2006 academic year.  It seems the Father/Daughter dinner dance was very successful last year.  New membership dues for the 2006/2007 academic year are down 26 % from the 2005/2006 year.  It was suggested that the Parent Association breakdown the receipts by grade level.  This will help us find out if we are not adequately reaching out to the incoming freshman parents.  It was also mentioned to send out the Parent Association’s Welcome Note and Dues collection sheet with the DSHA tuition information packet in July.

Volunteer:   Karen reported that approximately 70 people attended the 2006 Wine & Cheese party   Attendance was down from approximately150 people in 2005.  Karen believes that the decrease was due to the rescheduling of the event because of foul weather. Blue dots adorned nametags worn by families new to DSHA at the Wine and Cheese Party. This increased social interaction as families welcomed new members to DSHA.

Teacher’s Christmas Luncheon:  Thursday 12/7/06 is the date for the Luncheon to be held in the Fireside Lounge. It was recommended to increase the amount of the teachers gift certificates to $30 per person. The gift amount had been $25 for the past 16 years.  The $30 amount was approved by the Parent Association. Tracy Wayson recommended changing the gift cards from Mayfair Mall to an M & I Visa card.  Mayfair Mall now charges a $2.00 processing fee for each gift card and the M & I Visa would not have a fee as it could be purchased through a DSHA family.  Sister Virginia mentioned that the Mayfair Mall gift cards are inconvenient to use as they have no way of tracking the balance between store locations.  Debbie Brophy said that she would contact Tracy for more information on the M & I Visa gift cards.

Parent/Student Service:   Linda Goeden was unable to attend, Kim Newman provided an update on the service opportunities.  Only two dozen families responded to the Parent/Student service flyer that was put out in September.  Opportunities discussed to garner support for the program included an additional information email sent by Tracy Wayson, information in the daily announcements on upcoming service opportunities and asking the Theology Department to make announcements in class.  It was also speculated that the change to the school’s service requirements might have something to do with a lack of interest in volunteering for the program.

Sub & Substance:  Kim reported that Sub & Substance event was a big success. The school caterer was used this year instead of Cousins Subs and it seemed to work out well.   The evaluations requested a similar event to be held half way through the school year and also written information handed out to the parents on the topic discussed.  Kim also suggested having a sign up sheet at the Welcome table.  This sheet could be used for follow up phone calls inviting parents to join the Parent Association.  Margaret Dunn-Watson suggested placing a basket out for donations to support the efforts of the Parent Association.  Sue Foley suggested a night for each grade level not just for freshman and Sophomore parents, possibly a combined junior/senior night. 

New Business:  The Parent Association is looking at collecting event budgets from each chairman.  The Association will then look at budgeting for the 2007-2008 school year.  Chairpeople are to bring their budget numbers to the next meeting.

The meeting was adjourned at 7:30 p.m.   The next meeting will be Tuesday, January 16^th,  2007.