The School Board serves in an advisory capacity and assists in the development and definition of policies which govern the grade school. Educational innovations are areas of responsibility assumed by the Board. The School Board meetings will be held on the 3rd Monday of each month. Meetings are open to the St. Dominic School community. Any party interested in addressing the School Board shall contact the Principal or School Board Chairperson no less than three business days prior to the start of the regularly scheduled meeting. The Board does reserve the right to call executive sessions. Monthly copies of the School Board Minutes are published on the Parish Website and included in the digital Family Folder.

Since meetings may be rescheduled, please consult the school calendar or school office to confirm meeting dates.

2011 School Board Meeting Dates

Mission Statement

The School Board of St. Dominic works cooperatively to provide vision and leadership within the school community. This vision and leadership should consider and balance the concerns and beliefs of parents, teachers, staff, students and Parish Council.

The School Board strives to:

• promote a Christian atmosphere and viable Catholic identity;

• foster high standards of spiritual, academic, and social growth;

• develop and define fair and just policies; and

• practice fiscal responsibility through the yearly budget process.

Meeting Minutes

• December 19, 2011

• November 28, 2011

• October 17, 2011

• September 19, 2011

• June 13, 2011

• May 16, 2011

• April 18, 2011

• March 21, 2011

• February 21, 2011

• January 24, 2011

2009-2010 Year-End Status

To provide more details on the various goals that school board addressed this year, the following is a list of the initial goals defined last fall and the current status of each:

• Explore requirements of being a "Blue Ribbon School" and/or receiving an award from the archdiocese via the newly revamped Exemplary School Program. The school board researched the Blue Ribbon School Program and the new Exemplary School Program. A Blue Ribbon designation from the U.S. Department of Education is very difficult to obtain. Far more applications are submitted each year than can receive a nomination. Private school nominations from around the country are limited to only fifty. Therefore, our research last fall indicated that the Blue Ribbon School program was a fairly involved process with a deadline that would not allow us to complete a quality application at that time. Looking forward, the school board will work with the principal this summer to compile and compose the necessary information to complete the application for submission next school year.
• Regarding the Archdiocese Exemplary School Program, the school board decided to pursue Exemplary designation in two areas: Technology and Innovative Programs (for the SMART Team). This was a fairly aggressive goal given the limited time to submit these applications as well. School board representatives were instrumental in the initiative to work with the faculty and the school administration to draft applications. Months after faculty and student presentations to the archdiocese assessment team, we were notified that St. Dominic was successful in receiving an award from the Exemplary School Program in Innovative Programs. We would like to mention that Mrs. LaFlamme's contribution to this process was significant and critical to St. Dominic being awarded the Exemplary designation. The school board would like to thank Mrs. LaFlamme for her continued dedication to the SMART Team and the education of our children.
• Explore the concept of a course review committee. Our school board, faculty, and administration are committed to preparing our students for success in high school and beyond. As such, many different opportunities were discussed in efforts to provide a forum in which the teachers of St. Dominic would interact with teachers from local high schools. Ideas ranged from simply holding a small, casual event at St. Dominic to hosting a quad parish event. In conclusion, we are attempting to coordinate with the Milwaukee Archdiocesan Principles Association to arrange a meeting between area junior high teachers and area Catholic high school teachers to discuss high school expectations in the different subject areas. The school board will continue to work toward implementing this in some form next year.
• Understand the administrative process that ensures our faculty are provided opportunities for growth and development. School board is an advisory board and does not get involved with personnel issues at the school. Therefore, this goal pertains to providing ideas for continuous improvement to the current administrative process regarding faculty growth and development. This year school board documented the current practices in place at St. Dominic. In order to provide the administration with additional information to enhance the current process, we are accumulating data from peer schools regarding their practices. This information will then be reviewed by Mr. Chovanec and used in a collaborative discussion regarding any future enhancement of the process currently in place.
• Organize service opportunities for our children to actively participate in helping others within the community. This year we have developed a program for implementation in the 2010-2011 school year. The program will allow each class to participate in a time and talent based service project lasting throughout the school year. In addition, new procedures were prepared for all fundraisers/collections and drives, which will provide administrative oversight to prevent overlap. The new procedures will be in place for the 2010-2011 school year.
• Increase visibility of our day school within the parish community. In efforts to increase the awareness of the elementary school within the parish, a couple of different actions were taken. Consistent with prior years, school board assisted with highlighting the day school within the parish during Catholic Schools week and hosted a January Open House for prospective families. Also, a representative from school board joined the parish marketing committee in order to have collaborative efforts to highlight all children of the parish.
• Prepare an Executive Summary of the Parent and Faculty Survey - A goal of the school board set for this school year was to prepare an executive summary of the results of the St. Dominic School Survey conducted during the 2008-2009 academic year. Although the results had already been published and some concerns acted upon, the board thought that it would be useful going forward for the principal and the pastor to have access to a shorter document summarizing the survey results. Preparing the summary reaffirmed the main impression we obtained from the survey: St. Dominic is a great school that we agree does a fine job preparing our children for the next steps in their education and for a lifelong commitment to the Catholic Faith. There are, in addition, opportunities for improvement. After further conversations to be held this summer by the newly elected school board, additional goals will be communicated next fall. In the meantime, the following goals have been set by the faculty and administration for next year:
  • A Writing Committee will focus on aligning the curriculum between each grade level.
  •  Communication with parents will be improved re: note taking and research skills being taught.
  •  The administrative aspects of the current Discipline policy will be addressed by both faculty and
    principal.
• A new 3-part Correction Notice will be implemented. One copy each for the principal, the teacher and parent will be utilized to improve communication among these three parties. In addition to the above, this year provided us with the challenges of finding solutions related to space constraints posed by the physical classroom limitations for the K-3 program (which will not be an issue next year as a different classroom will be used), balancing the budget with fewer resource dollars, as well working with parents, faculty, and administration to plan for the future first grade class which will be at capacity.

The success of a private school is the direct result of everyone doing their part. We appreciate all of the support that has been given to us by parents, faculty and administration. Our school is a success because of the efforts of many as we together Seek Christ, Know Christ and Become Christ, each one for the sake of all.

Teacher Representative
     Sara Daggett
Non-Voting Members
    Fr. David H. Reith, Pastor
    John Chovanec, Principal

School Board Elected Members
	Bill Schenkelberg--2012
	Rob Reilly--2012 I have been a member of St. Dominic Parish since my wife Tina and I moved to Wisconsin in 2001. I am a 2003 graduate of the University of Michigan Business School and have worked at General Electric in various roles around the country and around the world over the last 18 years. Currently I lead the commercial and consulting teams for GE Healthcare in the Americas, focused on enabling hospitals around the world to be safer and more efficient. Tina and I have 3 children: Ryan, Tara, and Teagan. They love the school and their friends and have flourished both academically and personally. As a member of the School Board, I hope to help shape and guide the direction of the school that is so critical in the development of our children. In other volunteer activities, I coach Little League and soccer for our kids and I also sit on the Board of Directors of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metro Milwaukee and am active with the Lombardi Charitable Fund.
	Andy Orgovan--2012 My wife Nora and our six children have been       parishioners since 1997. Four of our children have graduated from St. Dominic’s School. Bethany, our youngest, is currently in 6th grade here. Nora is currently working in the school as the Kitchen Supervisor. I have had the great honor and privilege to serve the wonderful community of St. Dominic’s in various capacities over the years. The last 12 years I have been a 9th grade catechist for the Lifelong Faith Formation youth program.  I have also served as a parish council officer for a 3-year term.  I now feel called to serve the parish and school community by serving on the School Board.  My own educational background includes a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering and a Master of Science in Engineering Management.   I have always believed that one of the most important missions of any parish is to help parents in their vocation of developing their children into holy, healthy, and productive members of the Church and the wider community.  As a member of the School Board I will work collaboratively with the other School Board members, parents, school administration, and parish pastoral team, to continually improve the excellent academic reputation of St. Dominic’s school as well as help make its spiritual dimension even more vibrant and effective for our children.
	Jon Sohn--2013 I have been active in St. Dominic's community for over 10 years while my wife, Kristin O'Connor Sohn (class of 1987), has been active with the church since she was a child. We send our three children to school here as we believe the parochial education provided by St. Dominic's provides our children the proper foundation to mature and grow. During my time in this parish community I have been active in the parish Cub Scout program as a Den leader and have served on the parish finance committee. Professionally I am a CPA, earned a MBA and work in a leadership position for a major catholic healthcare provider . I hope to bring my skills, knowledge and experiences to help the board continue to provide quality education to the children of the parish in a safe environment.
	Mike Urban--2013 Greetings, my name is Mike Urban. My wife, Debbie, and I have been parishioners at St. Dominic Church since 2002. We have three children enrolled in the day school: Abigail (3B), Emma (2M), and Josh (K4). I have some previous school board experience, having served in that role at Aquinas Academy for three years. I believe there are two important reasons that we as parents chose to send our children to a Catholic school: outstanding academics and authentic Catholic formation. If elected to our school board, I will work to ensure that St. Dominic School delivers in both of these essential areas.
	Mindy Hughes--2014 My husband Shea and I joined St. Dominic Parish in 2009 after searching for a strong and vibrant parish that had a well established day school with outstanding and challenging academics, but also viewed its Catholic identity as central to its mission. Shea and I have been married for 17 years and are raising 6 children ranging in age from 2 to 15; 4 of our children attend the day school. I have a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Franciscan University of Steubenville. Though I am currently a stay at home mom, I would love to use my background in education to help me serve St. Dominic Catholic Parish. I am running for the school board because I want to not only provide a second to none academic education and strong Catholic foundation for the parish children, but also to further cultivate an environment that builds strong character and enthusiasm for the Catholic faith in our day school.
	Brian Schreiber--2014 Greetings St. Dominic Parish! My name is Brian Schreiber and I am seeking a position on the school board. I am very proud to say that St. Dominic Parish has been my life. I am alumnus of the school and I have received the sacraments of Eucharist, Confirmation, and Marriage here. Both of my children, Luke (age 5, in K4) and Grace (age 2), have been baptized at St. Dominic as well. I have seen the evolution of the church from the old gym to the current space, been taught the principles of the Catholic faith by all four of our pastors, and witnessed the incredible growth of the school's academic programs. I have such fond memories of my teachers at St. Dominic. They were responsible for building the early academic foundation instrumental in my success as a physician and were exemplary role models for my formation into an active Catholic. Both my wife Jennifer and I are active in Eucharistic Minister training and the Prayer and Worship committee at St. Dominic. I am on the executive board of the Wisconsin Society of Anesthesiologists and I serve on several hospital quality improvement and assurance committees. As a potential member of the school board I am so excited to have the opportunity to keep St. Dominic School a place of educational excellence. I believe that experiencing St. Dominic School again through my own children is the next step in my lifelong commitment to this wonderful parish. all their abilities and talents for God's glory.