St. Stephen’s & St. Agnes School
APT Meeting Minutes
October 7, 2015
8:15 am
APT Members Present
Kirsten Adams, Jennifer Adams, Julee Gately, Carrie Schuyler, Natalie Gunn, Melissa Bell, Carrie Wood, Katherine Hurley, Jen
Desautels, Aimee Berger, Sue Whitney, John Whitney, Anne Sterba, Julianne Belevetz, Laurie Drysdale, Cathy Tyler, Tiffeny Sanchez,
Gaby Seale, Amy Lehmkuhler, Heather Musser, Phyllis Gray, Lauren Reid
Opening – Jennifer Adams opened the meeting at 8:15 am with the School Prayer.
Remarks by Head of School – Kirsten Adams
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Thanks for help at Back to School Night, especially with the US lockdown that day
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Thanks for the efforts towards Market Weeks
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Thanks to room parents as very positive feedback has been received so far
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Looking forward to the Fall Family Festival
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Faculty recipients of the APT Holden Summer Grants shared at a recent faculty meeting
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LS Math Night is this coming Monday to share the new math program – “Singapore Math”
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Everyone is still excited about and enjoying the new playgrounds
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New teachers are settling in well
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MS Bonding Days are underway
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The MS fall dance is moved to homecoming weekend this year
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“39 Steps” is the upcoming fall performance
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120 US students are headed to New York during the Columbus Day weekend
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Upcoming Kaleidoscope/Seminary Hill Cup 2015 this Friday
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Saints vs. Episcopal in football this weekend
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Saints recently competed on “It’s Academic” which will air on October 10th
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The MS will hold its “Mock Trials” in connection with their History classes
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US Head of School, Bud Garikes, will be transitioning back into the classroom so a nationwide search for replacement is
underway
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College counseling is underway for 8th and 9th graders. The college process is changing so that’s an additional focus this
year.
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Admissions season is going well
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SSSAS is on a track towards implementing a “bring your own device” program. The LS is currently at a 1:1 technology ratio.
We are moving towards the same at the US and MS. MS has all Mac Airs currently and US will likely be using the “bring
your own device” program. The goal is to make the program affordable for all families so looking into at rental/leasing
options
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Upcoming Thanksgiving service which is a JK-12 event
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VAIS event conference was in Richmond in September
St. Stephen’s & St. Agnes School
APT Meeting Minutes
October 7, 2015
8:15 am
President’s Report – Jennifer Adams
The APT would like 100% dues participation from its leadership. We are almost at 100% participation and those paying dues by
October 15th will be entered into a drawing for free tickets to the upcoming Gala in March, 2016. Please remind grade parents to
emphasize this to their parents as well. Market Weeks orders are due this Friday. Thanks to parents for hosting the various parent
socials which are really a fun tradition.
Treasurer Report – Julee Gately
The budget reports were distributed and a high level review was done. The reports will be available on the APT website as well.
There is currently a higher than usual balance in the checking account due to timing. The committee is meeting with Beth Chase to
discuss moving funds from the operating account to the interest bearing account. Membership dues are going well and are well
ahead of last year at this point. Incoming Gala income is due to sign on parties from last year’s event; however they are recorded in
this year’s operations since last year’s books are closed. We will be getting a $3,000 refund related to 2009 from Anheuser Busch for
an accounting error on their part. Laurie Drysdale noted that Steve and Aggies should reflect income to cover expenses since they
more than cover expenses, to which Laurie said she would look into. John Whitney noted that the Fall Family Festival committee is
about to start spending their budget. Please provide deposit slips to the committee so that expenses are allocated correctly.
Lower School Officer Report - Jen Desautels
Upcoming events are underway - Halloween Parade and Teacher Appreciation Day. Sign up genius is working well.
Middle School Officer Report - Katherine Hurley
All parent parties went well. MS dance is upcoming and all students are encouraged to attend. The dance theme is Hawaiian so
dress accordingly. The committee is planning for the upcoming Teacher Appreciation Day.
Upper School Officer Report - Carrie Wood
Planning is underway for Teacher Appreciation Day. The Performing Arts Boosters (PAB) is holding baked cookies sales to raise
income at US now (new effort). Parent parties - 9th grade is done. Parties for 10th and 11th grades are coming up soon. The 12th grade
party is normally later in February after college applications are complete.
John Whitney asked that LS, MS and US officers push for volunteers for Fall Family Festival.
Evening with the Teachers – Leslie Ristau
The APT will sponsor “Evening with the Teachers” on Tuesday, October 20 at 7:00 pm (refreshments) with the presentations starting
at 7:30pm. Faculty recipients of the APT Holden Summer Grants will share their experiences.
Steve & Aggies – Laurie Drysdale
The trailer will be open for the Seminary Hill Cup on Friday and for the Saints vs. Episcopal football game on Saturday, where ChickFil-A will be offered instead of burgers. The committee is gearing up to have the trailer open for Homecoming. Steve and Aggies will
be open on October 24th in support of the Latin Department’s Kick-Off Certamen, normally hosting over 300 participants and selling
pizza meal deals.
Gala – Julianne Belevetz
The Gala will be held on Saturday, March 5, 2016 with at “Night in Napa” as the theme. The logo was designed by John Griswold. The
committee welcomes all kids of solicitations, especially around the theme.
St. Stephen’s & St. Agnes School
APT Meeting Minutes
October 7, 2015
8:15 am
SSSAS Annual Fund – Lauren Enlow, Valerie Burke, Geoff Johnson
Guests (above) were present to discuss SSSAS’s top fundraising activity, the Saints Fund, which is designated by school’s Board of
Governors. Tuition covers 87% of the school’s operating budget so this Fund helps to cover the gap. The theme this school year is “If
You Give a Saint an Opportunity”. The Fund raised just over the $1.6M goal last year, with the average gift right around $1,600 and
with 68% parent participation. This year’s goal is $1.7M. There will be a day this year that will be focused specifically on donating to
the Saints Fund.
The Fund has volunteers who help to solicit and chairs to focus on various volunteer structures. They hold phonathons in the fall
and spring with 20 to 30 parent volunteers. There is a total of over 60 parents involved in the effort. The Volunteer Leadership
Council meets four times a year to collaborate on solicitation efforts and to discuss new events or phasing out some events. The
Saints Fund goes directly towards current year financial operations.
SSSAS Development office encourages parents to give whatever they can to support teachers and plan to increase messaging this
year. Last year a video sent to alumni regarding the importance of Saints Fund was a successful effort.
Parents Council of Washington Jennifer Adams reported on behalf of Nancy Lopez
Nancy Lopez and Chrissy Tabaka were attending the Parents Council of Washington orientation and were therefore not able to
attend the APT meeting. As a reminder, the Parents Council of Washington is a group of area independent schools designed to share
ideas and exchange information regarding various things going on at the schools.
Parents Council of Washington has two events coming up for all member school parents, teachers, and administrators:
PCW Fall Speaker, Wednesday, November 4 at 6:30 pm
Sidwell Friends School
The PCW fall speaker will be Jessica Leahy, author of The Gift of Failure. She will speak at Sidwell Friends School on the evening
of Wednesday, November 4. All parents, staff, and community members are invited to attend, and the program is free. Information
about the event will be posted in Dispatch closer to the date of the program. Invite your friends to join you for a parents' night
out! Carpools are encouraged!
Parent Speak, Wednesday, November 18, 2015
Holton-Arms School, 7303 River Road, Bethesda, MD 20817
8:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. ~ Light breakfast
9:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. ~ Program
Join us for our third annual Parent Speak, a come-as-you-are discussion of issues important to you! After hearing about the issues
raised by students at the High School and Middle School Student Leader Breakfasts, we will share our own questions, ideas,
concerns, and tried-and-true tips for parenting at every age and stage of development through a facilitated exchange.
The committee will be putting information about these events in the Dispatch, but would appreciate everyone's help in spreading
the word.
Sustainability – Brian P. Kane, LEED, RLA, Director of Environmental Stewardship
This program has been in place since 2007. There has been great progress since regarding the treatment of the environment and
the school. The committee works in many aspects of school such as: Waste - working hard to reduce waste load. Over six pounds
per person per day of waste is processed at the Lower School alone. The committee strives to think about ways to save at events.
They are bringing the efforts into the curriculum and integrating them into math, science and government classes. Classes are
incorporating units on alternative energy and resource management at the MS. They are now more mindful of how much is being
ordered, used and thrown away at various events. There is currently no commercial demand for recycled plastic. The committee also
St. Stephen’s & St. Agnes School
APT Meeting Minutes
October 7, 2015
8:15 am
serves as a regional resource to other schools. The committee consists of 22 people so please feel free to contact any one of them
or Brian with any questions on how they can help with events, etc.
Carrie Wood asked about suggestions for Teacher Appreciation. Brian suggested choosing one or two gestures regarding
sustainability and focus on those (i.e. ask kids to bring water bottles, etc.). We can’t conquer all the sustainability battles so make
one or two a highlight.
New Business and/or Announcements
Communications update - Please send anything campus specific send to Aimee Berger. She can help to format it correctly and get it
into communications (Courier, WIT, etc.).
Laurie Drysdale mentioned she’s been getting daily mentions of Market Weeks when she logs into the main website. The committee
agreed that it seemed odd for that much attention to be on one event alone. Jennifer Adams responded that it may be a function of
it being on the school calendar everyday so she will look into it.
Fall Festival t-shirt sales are going on over the next couple of weeks at each campus and can be charged to student accounts.
The Fall Festival committee is comfortable with sales thus far, but not volunteers.
The next APT Board Meeting is Wednesday, November 18th at 8:15am in the Macan Conference Room.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:15am.
Respectfully submitted,
Natalie Nickens Gunn, APT Recording Secretary