Diocesan School Board Meeting, August 22, 2012

In an attempt to keep you up to date on what the Diocesan School Board is up to, we will be publishing abbreviated minutes from our meetings here so you can see what sorts of discussions are taking place every month.

Our first meeting of the year was held on August 22. It began with a Mass celebrated by Fr. Kieran Kleczewski in the Diocesan Pastoral Center's Chapel that included a brief commissioning ceremony for the new Board members. The Board then moved into its meeting room and began the formal part of the meeting with introductions.

The DSB committee heads then shared their goals for the year:

• AZCPAN: Pursuing affordable Catholic education, religious freedom in education, getting high school students more involved with Catholics in the Public Square, keep people informed about current legislative issues that impact education, and organize the Catholic Education Arizona rally that's held after the Catholic Schools Week Mass every year.
• Catholic Identity: Keep the Board focused on Christ, be a mentor to our local school boards, educate about and help celebrate the upcoming Year of Faith.
• Finance: Review the high school financial statements every month, participate in budget meetings held at the high schools, and offer financial advice to Catholic schools in the Diocese.
• Marketing: Come up with a web-based marketing handbook for Catholic schools and do an in-depth analysis of the marketing, tuition structures, curriculum and instruction approaches of the private, public, and charter schools in the Valley.
• Night of Hope: The event is November 3. Guardians of Hope this year are Sr. Mary Norbert Long and Catholic Cemeteries, with a spotlight on Katzin Music's tenth anniversary of working with our schools. Working on underwriting for the event.
• Nomination In-Service: Held the New Members Orientation session, will run the September 22 Board In-Service for all local school boards, working to facilitate the flow of information between the local school boards and the DSB, come up with a manual for local school boards, and encourage DSB members to act as mentors/advisors to the local school board.
• Executive Committee: Sets the agendas for the monthly meetings, discusses issues as needed
• Ad hoc committee established to update and understand CYAA policies and procedures

September 22 In-Service: Information about the in-service can be found here. The keynote speaker is Dr. Rachel Moreno, a professional specialist at the University of Notre Dame's Institute for Educational Initiatives, who will be speaking about National Standards and Benchmarks for Effective Catholic Schools. The day begins at 7:30 a.m. with Mass and ends at 12:30 p.m. Several breakout sessions will be held. All of this takes place at St. Mary's High School, 2525 N. Third Street, Phoenix.

Catholic Schools Office Report:

• Cissy Frakes, assistant superintendent, reported that the school year begins with four new principals, two new preschool directors, and 70 new teachers. The CSO is beginning a new teacher evaluation and growth plan process that goes into effect this year.
• Sr. Melita, assistant superintendent, reported that the CYAA sponsored a meeting for all athletic directors, where the AIA recommendations for keeping students safe in the heat were reviewed.
• MaryBeth Mueller, superintendent, reported that Fr. Robert Bolding was installed as president of St. Mary's High School and the campus was blessed by Bishop Olmsted. 
• Construction projects: Xavier's Founder's Hall is to be dedicated, Bourgade is renovating their performing arts center, Notre Dame Prep is working on their athletic field. 
• On September 20, the Arizona Council for Private Education will give out their Educator of the Year awards and a diocesan school has been nominated for each one.

Next meeting: September 12 at 4 p.m. at the Diocesan Pastoral Center