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.

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

• April 15, 2013

• March 18, 2013

• February 18, 2013

• January 28, 2013

• December 17, 2012

• November 12, 2012

• October 29, 2012

• September 17, 2012

• June 4, 2012

• May 21, 2012

• April 16, 2012

• March 19, 2012

2011-2012 Year-End Status

During the 2012-13 school year, your school board has worked on several goals and initiatives in an effort to continue to improve our school. As the school year comes to a close, we wanted to share with you a summary of those efforts.

• The School Marketing Committee, updated and administered the second all school survey. The last survey (2008-09) was very valuable to the school board, pastor, and administration in helping to guide decisions relative to communication and goals. Many positive changes came from the results of the previous survey. The results of the 2011-12 survey have been compiled and will be approved at the school board meeting on June 4th. Subsequently, they will be e-mailed to all of the school families.

• The School Marketing Committee organized and ran the two open houses, with a lot of assistance of many others in the school and school community. These open houses are a key component to ensuring that St. Dominic Catholic School remains a viable and vibrant school. A strong enrollment allows for the school to have the resources necessary to continue its tradition of developing well prepared students and young adults.

• The School Marketing Committee organized a group of parish members with marketing backgrounds to assist with developing a proactive marketing plan for the school in collaboration with the parish. This group will work over the next few months, and potentially beyond, to create a new and effective marketing plan to encourage strong enrollment for the future.

• The Academics Committee continued its work to monitor the progress of St. Dominic Catholic School students in meeting learning goals. An annual review of St. Dominic Catholic School curriculum minutes spent across subject areas/specials was performed which showed that the school is exceeding all Archdiocese requirements and showed the St. Dominic Catholic School's allocation to be in line with the Elmbrook schools (with the exception of Religion class). Ongoing trend analysis has been developed to look at performance of St. Dominic Catholic School students in the Iowa and WKCE standardized tests. 2011-2012 test results received this spring have been incorporated into the analysis and the results will be made available to administration, faculty, parents and next year's School Board. The overall results are very positive with St Dominic performing well above the 90th percentile nationally in Iowa testing and exceeding the Elmbrook school district in WKCE testing. The Board continues to discuss adopting annualized testing; however, budgetary constraints and the potential for using new testing methodologies preclude adopting at this time.

• After performing a formal analysis of our school's Catholic Identity during the previous academic year, the Catholic Identity Committee focused on three major goals in 2011-2012.

  • One goal was to create a service project program consistent with our school mission statement that calls us to enable our students "to demonstrate an active response to the Gospel call through our examples, attitudes and interactions with others in everyday life" and "to understand and proactively respond to the needs of those less fortunate." This program resulted in class service projects for grades K-5 and required service hours for our students in grades 6-8. Through these efforts our students provided support and assistance to many others as they learned to make service a regular part of their lives as responsible Catholics.

  • Our second goal was to begin a virtue of the month program to help our students develop a firm and habitual disposition toward carrying out God's will. Resources for families regarding our virtue and saint of the month were distributed via the Family Folder and website and included practical examples of how to grow in each virtue. Father Dave and Father Sean devoted classroom time to discussing the importance of each virtue and its saintly exemplar with our students.

  • Our third goal was to better communicate and celebrate all the wonderful aspects of St. Dominic Catholic School that indentify our community as Catholic. In addition to communication via the Family Folder, a Catholic Identity page was created on our school website to provide a one stop resource for our students and families as they work to grow in their faith. On this web page one can access a list of service opportunities, stories of faith from members of our community, information on the prayer and virtue of the month, an overview of our faculty faith formation, and other Catholic parent resources. By celebrating our Catholicism we hope to aid the Holy Spirit in making our students realize it is "cool" to be Catholic.

Another undertaking of this committee was to apply for exemplary recognition from the Archdiocese of Milwaukee in the area of Catholic Identity. Based on our application we were awarded a site visit by the Archdiocese as part of their effort to learn about our best practices in this area. The Archdiocese will announce the exemplary recognition recipients in June, but all members of the Catholic Identity committee acknowledged that applying for this recognition provided great benefit and insight as together we strive towards providing the best possible Catholic faith formation for our students.

The St. Dominic Catholic School Board works collaboratively with administration and the pastor to develop and define the policies which govern the operation of the school, and to promote the implementation of those policies. These individuals work to continually improve the Catholic education of the students of St. Dominic Catholic School.

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

School Board Elected Members
	Jon Sohn--2013 I have been active in the St. Dominic 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 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 Catholic Parish since 2002. We have three children enrolled in the day school: Abigail, Emma, and Josh. 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 Catholic School delivers in both of these essential areas.
	Mindy Hughes--2014 My husband Shea and I joined St. Dominic Catholic 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 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 Catholic Parish! I am very proud to say that St. Dominic Catholic 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  and Grace, have been baptized here 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. I am so excited to have the opportunity to keep St. Dominic Catholic School a place of educational excellence. I believe that experiencing the 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.
	Janet Otten--2014 My husband, Mark, and I have been members of St. Dominic Catholic Parish since 2007. We will have four children enrolled in the grade school beginning in 2012. My educational background includes a Bachelor of Science in elementary education and a Master of Arts in education. I have had experience as a classroom teacher, curriculum coordinator, teacher trainer, and literacy coach. I have also been involved as a catechist, room parent, Monday Mom's Group, and Wednesday Bible Study. I believe that students must be given opportunities to grow academically as well as spiritually, and I have a passion and desire to see our school become all that God wants it to be.
	Mariellen Roeder--2015 My husband, Randy, and I have been a members of St. Dominic Catholic Parish since 2006. We have three children enrolled at St. Dominic Catholic School. The choice Randy and I made to send our children to St. Dominic Catholic School was due to a strong reputation in fostering spiritual, academic, and social growth. After graduating college from St. Mary's College in Notre Dame, Indiana, I worked for a non-profit organization in membership and marketing. Several years later, I switched careers and have worked for the past thirteen years in various positions from camp counselor to reading resource teacher. During this time, I returned to school and earned an Elementary Education degree and later a Masters degree in Reading and Learning Disabilities. I have taught in both public and parochial schools and served on numerous curriculum committees.
	Jim Brown--2015 My family has been members of St. Dominic Catholic Parish since 2008. Our oldest two children are enrolled at St. Dominic School. My wife, Delores, and I have been married for 10 years and have both attended Catholic schools from grade 1-12. When selecting a school for our children, we talked about our great experience growing up with the opportunity to attend classes and practice our faith. We wanted our children to have those same opportunities. St. Dominic Catholic Parish involvement, class size, and Catholic faith made this an easy choice. Professionally, I have worked in Human Resources at Aurora Health Care since 1999. In my role at Aurora Health Care, I work closely with leaders and employees to increase employee engagement, interpret company policies and procedures, and apply them consistently throughout the organization.