ST. KATHERINE’S GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH
PAIDEIA BILINGUAL PRESCHOOLCOMMITTEE
Meeting Minutes: Paideia Preschool Committee Meeting, Thursday, May 31, 2012
Attendees:
-Chris Christou, President of the Preschool Committee
-Maria Papathanassiou, Director
-Tony Alexis
-Lynne Lailas Emanuel, Parent Committee Chair
Agenda and meeting summary:
The meeting started at 6:05pm
1)School Survey: Chris read the results to the Survey Monkey that 28 parents and 4 teachers answered. From the results, the following are action items and way forward:
-Curriculum: George Mason contact for proper Preschool Curriculum and Bilingual Education. Conduct independent review of curriculum.
-Teacher & Course Training: Designating Teacher work days that coincide with the FCPS calendar. Either a training program will be established or we will look at area short courses.
-Communication: Creating better communication between the teachers and parents by use of email. More frequent communication on the part of the Director.
-Discipline: Through training and making sure it is clear in School handbook how the school disciplines
-Teacher/Student Ratio: Address when we know #s and reinforce
-Additional Staff: More Certified Teachers and Teacher Assistants @ $10 - $12 per hour, possible salary and benefits
-Review and Distribute Parent Teacher Handbooks
-Conversation with teachers to discuss their plans for next year and build teacher “ideal” schedule to understand where we need teachers
-June 5th: 3:30 - 4:30 Teacher Meeting to discuss survey, Chris will lead this discussion
-A letter will be written and sent out by Chris to assure parents the steps that are being taken to address the above action items.
Action item 12: Chris to draft letter distributed to parents after 5 June meeting with the teachers.
Action item 13: Maria to start preparing to address issues by recruiting teachers, researching training, discussing with teachers, etc. This includes understanding where there are gaps in teachers, etc.
Action item 14: Chris to talk again to Katradis. Tony to talk to Barbara.
2)Religious exemption: Review if certification/religious exemption status: Everything has been submitted. We have to building the steps in the bathroom and get it re-inspected.
Action item 15: Chris to contact Jim about bathroom changes.
Action item 16: Maria to call State of VA back to provide status.
3)Budget & Expenses: Kyria Gilda and Kyria Toumbras will receive a $500 gift card each that Maria will purchase as a thank you for their volunteer time. A donation of $5,000 will be given to the church.
Action item 17: Chris to email Anna about writing $5000 check to church. Maria to buy and send $500 gift certificates to the two volunteers.
Action item 18:Chris to contact Jim about obtaining bank statements.
4)Summer Camp: Enrollment is low but this is not unusual. When Maria leaves at the end of July, Elsa will be in charge. We discussed obtaining a professional dance teacher to teach Greek dancing one week.
Action item 19: Chris will email Anna to ask if she is interested in teaching dance at the camp for the week of dance in August.
5)Festival: Parents have volunteered to work the Children's Corner. Lynne will send an email reminder to those parents who signed up and will let George Moshos know of any gaps so he can fill with people he has.
6)Review of School Calendar 2012 - 2013: School will start on September 10th and teachers will come back on either the 4th or 5th of September. November 5th and 6th will be teacher work days, reserving two days for training or possibly only one. Early release the day before Thanksgiving, Spring Break will fall March 25th - March 29th this year which coincides with FCPS. We are following that schedule this year because Orthodox Easter is not until May 5th. However, school will be closed on our Holy Friday, May 3rd and the day after Easter, Monday, May 6th. The last day of school will be June 18th.
7)Field Day: Tuesday, June 19th: Lynne will find 4 parents to help with Field Day from 10am to 2pm. And Graduation Day is June 15th at 4pm. Lynne will get parents to bring refreshments.
8)Playground: A canopy to shade the playground. Chris is going to get an estimate and a drawing for coverage. A No Trespassing sign needs to be posted. Roberto notified the police that items were being found on our playground and to get them to monitor at night.
Action item 20: Chris to call All-Rec about canopy and sign. Will call fencing for fix to fence.
9)New Programs: A note will be added for programs next year that will allow parents to work with the Director in establishing a flexible program.
10)Prometheas: Tony handed out flyers for The Hellenic Society Prometheas which will be held on Saturday, September 29th from 2 to 5. Lynne will get positive parents to attend this meeting with Maria.
Next Meetings: June 5th Meeting with Teachers regarding Survey Results and June 12th Meeting to follow-up on Curriculum and other action items.
The meeting adjourned at 9pm.
Previous Action items and status
- Action item 1: Tony to contact Fairfax County Health Inspector for an onsite meeting to discuss the toilet situation and drive it to resolution (to invite Church Stakeholders to meeting as well). COMPLETE
- Action item 2: Tony to contact VA state point of contact to understand the tax exemption status and what other proof and application information is required.DEFERRED—will see if accept tax exemption
- Action item 3: Jim Stoucker to email Anna, instructing her to provide copy of the monthly bank statements for the school to Maria.NOT COMPLETE
- Action item 4: Jim/Chris to fill out paperwork and discuss next steps with health insurance broker. COMPLETE
- Action item 5: Chris to email Parish Board to obtain approval.COMPLETE
- Action item 6: Chris to email Burt from the playground company and the fence company to obtain quotes for a canopy and signs restricting use to age appropriate children of our Parish with notification that the Church is not liable for any injuries.NOT COMPLETE
- Action item 7: Chris to discuss with the IT Committee the establishment of the computer lab and will bring up combo lab/library with the Greek School committee.COMPLETE
- Action item 8: Chris to draft school survey for the committee to review.COMPLETE
- Action item 9: Tony to order sign IAW as per agreed design.NOT COMPLETE
-Action item 10: Maria to coordinate with the teachers and with Sophia for a date that everyone including Greek School Teachers can attend and to email Dr. Marmarinos to schedule the training Seminar. Tony to work with Dr. Aris Christou to install software and fully set-up Smart Board so it is ready for use.NOT COMPLETE (SW already installed, though)
-Action Item 11: Maria to contact Alberto about installing cork tiles she has already purchased for the Wall.COMPLETE