St. Joseph Home & School Association

September 2007 Minutes

A general Meeting of the St. Joseph Home & School Association was held Monday, September 10, 2007 in the Guild Hall. The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. with a prayer by Principal Mark Monnerat. He then introduced the staff of St. Joseph School.

Kim Donahue, Director of Religious Education, spoke briefly about the VIRTUS or “Protecting God’s Children Program.” In order to teach, volunteer, chaperone, etc at the school, you are required to complete the program. The program is about two hours long, and the next class will be offered in 3-4 weeks. If you have already completed the program, you do not have to complete it a second time. The program is mandatory for those who are lunch monitors, coaches, chaperones, or anyone who helps at the school. If interested in finding out more on the next program, contact Kim Donahue.

Rich Therriault announced that there will be a dinner dance to benefit the Paulette Therriault Scholarship Fund. The dance will be held Friday 10/12/07 at Marinelli’s from 7:00-11:00 p.m. The donation is $25 per person. A buffet dinner will be served. Music during dinner will be provided by the Bristol Reunion Jazz Band, and there will be a DJ for the last two hours of the dance. If interested, tickets can be purchased at the school office or the Parish Center office.

Beverly Brown, Band Director at St. Joseph School announced that Future Musicians, Inc. will be offering music lessons to students in grades 4-8. The Cadet Band is for 4^th graders and meets at recess on Wednesdays. The Advanced Band is for 5^th-8^th graders and meets before school on Wednesdays. All band students also have a 30-minute music lesson on Wednesdays. There is a set curriculum that currently utilizes the Ed Sweda method. Band members get lessons during school, participate in a Christmas and spring concert, and receive report cards quarterly. If interested in enrolling your child, contact Mrs. Brown.

Tammy Sturm announced the results of the Subway lunch poll. 64% were in favor, 16% were against Subway lunch, and 20% had no opinion. Subway lunch will start again soon. Tammy also announced that HOT LUNCH packets went home today with order forms for lunches through December. If you fill out the forms til December and send them in with at least ten meals ordered, you will get a $5 discount. You do not have to send all the forms in at once if you do not want to. Each form has a due date at the top of the form and can be sent in on time according to that date. Students had the option of getting bottled water with their lunch starting today. Many students tried to take several bottles of water. Please tell your child they are allowed one bottle each. Also, please tell your child if you did not purchase hot lunch so they do not go through the line. Volunteers t help with hot lunch are needed. If interested, contact Tammy Sturm.

Mr. Monnerat reported that there are new “No Parking” signs on each side of Center Street in front of the school. Please do not park on Center Street when you pick your children up—you will be ticketed. He also made the following announcements:

• BINGO is an important fundraiser. Volunteers are needed to work the floor, in the kitchen, and in the money room. Volunteers work one Wednesday night per month. If interested, contact Mr. Monnerat.
• Please support the auction in November.
• Mrs. Ravita is in need of volunteers to work in the library. Volunteers will get activity points. If interested, contact Mrs. Ravita.
• The School Board has formed 5 Sub-Committees and is looking for members of the school community to volunteer for the committees. A form will be sent home describing the committees. The proposed Sub-Committees are Development/Advancement, Public Relations, Physical Plant, Recruitment & Retention, and Curriculum/Continuing Education. If interested in learning more about these committees, contact Robin Chiasson.
• Thank you for your support of Catholic education.

Pete Roberge, Home & School Co-President, made the following announcements:

• Packets for the wrapping paper sale were sent home last week. Please try to participate. There will be a contest among the classes to sell the most. The 1^st place class will get a night out bowling. The 2^nd place class will get ice cream sundaes on a hot lunch day.
• If anyone is interested in volunteering to get a float together for the Mum Parade, please contact Pete ASAP.
• The annual auction will be held Saturday 11/17/07. If you have any items to donate, please contact Pete Roberge or Laura Bouchard.
• The H&SA will run a raffle after winter vacation. This year a Harley Davidson will be raffled off.

Tom Rokosa, Home & School Co-President, announced that the Golf Tournament will be Thursday 5/22/08 at Chippannee. If interested in volunteering for the committee, contact Tom. Tom then made the following announcements:

• Sign-ups for the Ski Club will be in late October or early November. Members usually ski Friday nights starting in January.
• The Raffle and wrapping paper sales are easy fundraisers in which you can ask family, friends, co-workers, and neighbors to buy tickets or goods. With a little effort, you do not have to put in any of your own money. Please try to participate in these fundraisers.
• The Welcome Back Picnic was a great success. Many thanks to all who helped out.
• Please try to volunteer as a way to earn your points. It helps the school and is a great way to meet other families.
• Kindergarten and 1sr grade girls are invited to sign up for Daisy Scouts. Flyers will be sent home.

Diane Doyon announced that SCRIP packets were sent home last week. SCRIP is budgeted to raise $25,000 or $150 per family. Grocery and gas SCRIP will be available the 1^st week of each month at the H&S meeting, the 2^nd week of each month—Thursday morning at school 7:45-8:15, the 3^rd week of each month after Hospitality Sunday masses, and the 4^th week of each month—Thursday morning at school 7:45-8:15. The members of the SCRIP committee are Diane Doyon, Mary Saucier, Tanya Shea, and Samantha Ruffino. They can be contacted at: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 8:00 p.m. and parents were invited to meet the teachers at the school.

Respectfully submitted,

Lori Hvozdovic