Minutes from ECFS Advisory Council Meeting: April 19, 2016
The meeting was called to order by Co-chair Emily Heinis at 6:15 p.m.
Members present: Nicole Arness, Heather Blair, Alex Cook, Michelle Doepke, Michael Doubrava,
Josh Gaffke, Emily Heinis, Penny Kastner, Chris Knight, Caroline Koerner, Heidi Krech, Deena
Laugen, Molly Lorenzen, Melissa Nielsen, Chris Polikowsky, Melissa Rogan, Lori Rogers, Wendy
Sawyer and David Wermerskirchen.
Staff present: Jenna Ruble, Kristi Hanson, and Karen Heaton
Guests: Parents interested in 2016-17 Advisory Council/ECFS Foundation – Sophia Ali, Elyssa
Donarski, Katie Gilmore, Maria Moreno and Diana Stepanek.
Our guests were introduced and welcomed.
The minutes from the March 15 meeting were approved.
ECFS Manager Updates – Jenna Ruble
• Jenna shared the 2016-17 ECFE and Connections Preschool reduced tuition fees with the
group. These reduced fees are based on guidelines from the MN Department of Education
FRL program . We will be using these tuition scales this fall.
• Our annual ECFS Advisory Council potluck picnic will be on Sunday, June 5 at Camfield Park
in Rosemount beginning at 3:00 p.m. All new and outgoing members are invited. Bring a dish
to share (NO peanuts, please) and your own meat to grill. More information will be available
at our next meeting on May 17. Thank you, Mike, for bringing a grill!
Summer programming – Kristi Hanson
• Our ECFE summer classes will be running from Tuesday, July 12 through Thursday, August 4
at the DVLC. Some of our classes will be: EXPLORING NATURE, POSITIVE PARENTING,
and FAMIY PLAYTIMES. The lottery for these summer classes will be on June 23.
Advisory Council Recruitment-Emily Heinis/Chris Polikowsky
• 2016-17 Advisory Council/ECFS Foundation applications are due this Friday, April 22. This is
a three year commitment; we currently have seven openings. A committee will review the
applications and a membership vote will take place at the May meeting. These candidates
will be notified via USPO mail by June 1. The roster of members will go to the Board of
Education for their approval in June.
• Voting took place for our new 2016-17 co-leader position and Lori Rogers was elected. She
has agreed to be the new co-chair along with Emily beginning this fall.
Teacher Appreciation (Friday, April 22/DVLC) – Penny Kastner
• This Friday, the AC will be serving a Mexican luncheon to all of our staff in honor of Staff
Appreciation Day. The committee will be here starting at 10:45 a.m. setting up food, getting
the entertainment ready and all things relating to this gala event. Angie Smith has
volunteered her time to help with childcare. Thank you, Angie!
Run for Hope 5K Committee – Emily Heinis
• We have approximately 315 participants registered for the Run for Hope 5K race on
Saturday, May 14 in Burnsville. Valley Natural Foods and ECFS Advisory Council and
Foundation are collaborating to make this event a huge success. The volunteer sheet was
passed around for members available to help with the race that day. Your help is very much
appreciated.
• The committee expressed a concern/disappointment regarding the race route. Emily will
check with Erin to see if anything can be done to make adjustments.
• The Girl Scouts will be helping out during the race under the supervision of Penny Kastner.
Some items that we are in need of are: a dozen hula hoops, microphone for Lori Rogers as
she will be warming up the participants, cow bells will need to rung, etc.
Karen Kellar Memorial Bench – Heidi Krech
We have collected $940 for a memorial bench honoring Karen Kellar, ECFS Program Manager from
1995-2015. She passed away in January 2016. The council, along with the ECFE staff, selected
dark red/brown color for the bench. This will price does include FREE engraving. We decided the
plaque should say something like: Karen Kellar, 20 years of dedicated service. The bench will be
ordered and arrive in about six weeks. A flowering pink crab apple tree will also be purchased.
• The exact placement of the bench is still being worked out. The three possible areas that
have been selected are:
1. the children’s playground
2. near the DVLC front entrance
3. where our new natural garden will be
Educational Content/Planning Committee – Michelle Doepke
• The committee will be focusing on parenting classes, weekend sessions, increasing
enrollment, digital formatting classes and possibly restarting the parenting conferences
with early childhood speakers. They will continue to explore these new ideas and keep us
updated with the progress.
Community Education Advisory Council – Heidi Krech
• The Community Education Advisory Council is working on a department improvement plan
over the next three years.
• Cameras and technology equipment will be ready for next school year thanks to the bond
that passed last fall.
• The new school being built in Lakeville will be ready to open in fall 2017.
Parent
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Leader –Deena Laugen
The design of the new elementary school was shared with the Parent Leaders.
The expansion of Oak Ridge and Echo Park were available for review.
The district will be bidding on a new student information system for 2017. District 196 are
trying to consolidate all our current systems into one, making it easier to navigate through
all of the data available.
The next Advisory Council meeting will be on Tuesday, May 17, 2016 at 6:15 p.m.
Emily adjourned the meeting at 8:15 p.m.
Respectfully submitted by Melissa Rogan