Lourdes Catholic School – Faith Formation Board
Thursday, November 13, 2014 6:30 pm
Minutes
1) Call to Order.
a. Present: Amy Steil, Bridget Cravero, Amy Paul, Christa Merritt, Mike Puthoff,
Karen Moldt, John Leinart, Jennifer Lynch, Mike Vonderhaar, Kristyn Tjaden,
Jenny Preston, Scott Dyer, Fr. Jason Crossen, Jennifer Alongi.
2) Opening Prayer offered by Father Crossen
3) Introduction of Guests.
a.
b.
c.
d.
Tom Quinn
Carolyn McFate
Shelia McLaughlin
Kris Dirsha
4) Approval of Agenda
a. Motion made by and seconded by Karen Moldt, seconded by Bridget Cravero and
approved by the entire board
5) Open Forum
a. Feedback offered by Mr. Quinn regarding future plans for confirmation. Father
Crossen is open to feedback and is reassessing the plan.
6) Approval of Meeting Minutes from the previous month.
a. Motion to approve October 9th FFB meeting minutes made by Jenny Preston
and seconded by Bridget Cravero
7) Father Jason Report.
a. Changes to Adoration
b. Sacrament prep
c. Confirmation changes
8) Administrative Reports:
a. Jennifer Alongi – Lourdes Catholic School
i. Please see report attached
b. Jennifer Lynch – Religious Education & Youth Group
i. Please see report attached
c. Sara Scogland – Youth Ministry Director of Development
i. No Report
9) Board Committee Reports:
a. Buildings & Grounds (John Leinart-Chair, Chuck Ripley, Bridget Cravero, Scott
Dyer)
i. Update on Committee’s activities- Please see report
b. Finance (Mike Vonderhaar, Mike Puthoff, Jenny Preston, John Leinart, Scott
Dyer, Fr. Jason, Jennifer Alongi)
i. No Report
c. Policy & Procedure (Jenny Preston-Chair, Amy Steil, Bridget Cravero)
i. Review & execute Third Reading on Policies 402A & 540B.
1. Motion to approve 3rd reading made by Bridget Cravero, seconded
by Kristyn Tjaden and approved by the entire board.
ii. Review & execute Second Reading on Policies 501B.
1. Motion to approve second reading made by Amy Steil, seconded
by Kristyn Tjaden and approved by the entire board.
iii. Review & execute First Reading on Policies
1. 212A-Approved with a small change in wording
2. 501- Approved with a small change in wording
3. 506.1B- Approved with no changes
4. 506.1C-Approved with small change in wording
5. 520A-Reviewed with no changes
6. 510.3- Approved with small wording changes.
d. Public Relations / Marketing (Mike Puthoff-Chair, Kristyn Tjaden, Karen Moldt,
Chuck Ripley, Jennifer Alongi)
i. Please see attached report
ii. Motion to approve the use some of marketing funding to advertise on
KWQC’s web page made by Mike Putoff, seconded by Kristyn Tjaden
and approved by the entire board.
e. Executive (Mike Vonderhaar-Chair, Mike Puthoff, Amy Steil, Fr. Jason)
i. New FFB member, alternate needed
10) Special Interest Group Reports:
a. Boosters/AD Report (Matt Trannel)
i. Please see attached report
b. Home & School Association (Christa Merritt)
i. Please see attached report
c. Teacher Representative (Amy Paul)
i. Please see attached report
d. Scott County Catholic Schools Advisory Board (Mike Vonderhaar, Jennifer
Alongi)
i. Working on strategic planning
e. Assumption High School (Kristyn Tjaden)
i. No Report
f. Pastoral Council (Mike Vonderhaar)
g. Grant Writing (Kristyn Tjaden, Amy Steil)
i. Will set up a meeting to discuss Spring Grant Cycle.
11) Old Business:
Looking into preschool funding
12) New Business:
a. Approval of 5% tuition increase for the 2015-2016 school year.
13) Adjourn regular session at 8:05 pm
14) Executive Session.
15) Next Faith Formation Board Meeting: Thursday, December 11th at 6:30 (Rectory
Conference Room).
Principal’s Report to the Faith Formation Board
November 13th, 2014
Leadership of School Culture and Instruction:
1. Enrollment as of 11/12/14:
 243 K-8 students
 33 Three-year olds
 75 Four-year olds
 351 Total enrollment
2. Update on middle school: discussion with middle school teachers on most effective
use of 8th grade teacher aide; 8th grade classes that I have observed appear to be
managed well and increasingly so; no applicants for the middle school math, except
two people have indicated interest (but not formally applied); math acceleration in
the middle school; would like to have a part time middle school math teacher but
am unsure if enrollment will support this; we may be able to save money if we
reduce support staff (teacher aides) next year.
Managerial Leadership:
1. Reviewing billing for Extended Care to make sure we are maximizing our profit but
still staying competitive and affordable. We want to bill differently next year and are
reviewing different options.
2. Parish Tuition Rate for “2 Students” and “3+ Students” was not calculated correctly
on the2014-2015 Tuition Fee Schedule. The second student should be charged 80%,
and the third student should be charged 60%. We are charging only 75.5% for the
second student, and only charging 51.9% for the third student. For Parish Tuition
Rate students, that is $125 not being collected for each second child, and $225 not
being collected for each third child.
3. Scott County Catholic Principal meeting – tuition rate increase of 5% recommended
(additional $140 per year to the Parish Tuition Rate for an only child); Lourdes’ fees
are higher than St. Paul and All Saints. All Saints charges $50 per year per family for
field trips. This is so that families aren’t nickeled-and-dimed all year. Some grades go
on more field trips than others, but parents like the flat rate because it is simple and
they figure it evens out in the long run. Principal keeps the field trip money in a field
trip account and that account pays for all trips so families don’t pay anything.
4. Recommendation: For 2015-2016: Raise Parish Tuition Rate for one student 5% up
to $2940 (from $2800) and Non-Catholic Tuition Rate for one student 5% up to
$5591 (from $5325); appropriately calculate 2 students so that the second student
pays 80% of the one-child rate, and the third student pays 60% of the one-child rate.
5. Our coaches for 2015-16 will either need to be certified or we will need to state that
all but one sport at Lourdes Catholic School is “church-based.”
6. Recommendation: Declare that all except one sport at Lourdes is “church-based”
and create a link to the OLOL church website from the “Athletics” tab on our school
web page. Then we will need to have information about Lourdes athletics be placed
on the church web site.
7. 2014-15 Budget: I have reviewed it with Nikki Gartner and she needs to go to Teri P.
to clarify some things and will meet with me soon.
Public Relations/Marketing Leadership:
1. SAU Marketing class is doing a study and targeting preschool to see if they can make
recommendations on how we can increase the retention of students between
preschool and kindergarten.
2. I have a tour set up in early December for an American family who has been living in
China for the past year or two. They are considering sending their daughter to
Lourdes next year.
Faith Formation Leadership:
1. I am going to be starting Teacher Prayer at 8:05 in Wednesdays. This will help the
staff be more cohesive but also help us to prepare mentally and spiritually for Mass
on Wednesday mornings.
Agenda for the Tuesday Dec 2, 2014 – 6:00 meeting
 Evaluate the work needed on the pews
 Parking lot fense
 Update on locks for the school
 Update on Little Lancer house
 Review the Potential Future Projects list (below)
 Discuss date for our next meeting
Latest Information on Specific Projects
 Pew maintenance – Nov 10 Update
o In our Dec 2 meeting we will take a look at the pews. We can document what
work needs to be done (which need new vinyl on the kneelers, repair of kneeler
bracket, new kneeler rubber feet, and repair of pew brackets).
o We will plan a volunteer event to make the necessary repairs.

Parking lot fence – Nov 10 Update
o Roy and Joe will follow up to locate a section of chain-link fence that can be
installed where our Lourdes sign used to be.

Locks for the school
o Quotes have been received. The recommendation from Building and Grounds is
to go with J&J Locks… the quote is $9582.00.
o There is $3500 in the home and school budget for locks.
o An SCRA (Scott County Regional Authority) grant is being drafted for a security
upgrade… and will include a request for the needed funds. This will be done by
9/22…. Then reviewed by the Diocese… then we will hear back in mid Nov to see
if we got it
o If we don’t get a grant we will need to look into other options like a fund raiser…
or doing part of the upgrade.
o It should be noted that our school is secure, and these locks are providing an
upgrade to this security.

Little Lancer House
o Everything that was planned is complete, except some windows have been
delayed.
o We are in negotiations to purchase the house
o Mike V has the lead on the remodel. Chris Harmsen has the lead on yard
updates.
o 10/7 update - John L will follow up with Mike V on the status of the windows and
purchase of the house
o 10/7 update - A concern has been raised on the capacity of LLH. Mike V and
Jenny P are leading an evaluation of our Before and After care program… and
capacity of LLH will be part of this evaluation.
Potential Future Projects List
 Cobwebs in the eaves –
o 11/10 update – this project will get pushed out until spring
o Joe will provide an official bid to Chris H for the work to be completed by his
business (to take care of insurance/liability issues)
o Chris will organize the lift for the date identified
o John L will organize volunteers to be the “ground crew” to help
o The cobwebs will be cleared on the date, as well as the gutters
 Replace some interior and exterior lighting… perhaps update to LED lighting, etc. Some
lights are broken. Some lights have a higher priority than others (lights around the
entrances for example).
o Teri is looking into renting a street light from Mid American that would be
mounted behind the garage (very dark area).
o Peter Moldt from DeWitt Electric has provided a detailed bid for updating
interior and exterior lighting in the church and school. Chris H has included a
portion of the bid that is related to “security” in the recently submitted SCRA
grant.
 Scrap out the old compressor in the basement. Roy has the lead on this. We can do this
over Christmas break with some help from some students.
 Fire escape on the north side of the school needs repaired and should be considered in
the 2015 budget.
 Pruning of the Giving Tree will be needed in the winter of 2015/2016. Scott Swerenger
from Economy Tree Service did it in Feb of 2014 for around $1000. The next pruning
could be more expensive.
o John L and Chuck R met with Scott Swerenger to review the work he did earlier
this year. His opinion is that no further pruning is needed at this time. There are
a couple of low hanging dead branches now (which is normal) that can be
pruned by us in the winter months. One recommendation is that we periodically
take action to reduce compaction under the tree. When school is out we should
remove the existing mulch and till the area around the tree… and then re-mulch.
Chuck has the lead to pursue a 2nd opinion on course of action we might want to
take.
Buildings and Grounds Committee
Purpose: To identify and research short and long term maintenance issues for the entire
physical plant of Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church and school.
Description: This committee consists of 6-8 members. Meetings will be held on an as needed
basis, typically once a month. This committee will function as an advisory board and a working
committee to help with building and grounds issues. The committee along with the
maintenance staff – in particular the maintenance supervisor – should identify and prioritize
needs.
The buildings and grounds committee and the maintenance staff are responsible for ensuring
we stay within the maintenance budget… … which consists of budget line items in both the
parish and school budget. All work with bids less than $5000 can be approved by Fa Crossen.
Bids of over $5000 will require a minimum of 3 bids, and require the approval of Fa Crossen and
the finance council. Parish members will be used as preferred venders as long as their bid is inline or less than others received.
The maintenance supervisor (Chris Harmson) is the main point of contact for issues that require
attention.
John Leinart
(309) 278-3893
Chris Harmson
(563) 505-6559
or lcscustodian@gmail.com
Joe Camarena
(563) 579-5897
Roy Shaft
(563) 359-4673
Fr. Crossen
David Weaver
Chuck Ripley
(919) 270-6305
Bill Manning
(563) 650-9622
leinartjohnh2@johndeere.com
maintenance.lourdes@gmail.com
joe@jmcremodelingqc.com
mrroy@att.net
crossenj@diodav.org
kedweav@aol.com
cfr0122@reagan.com
iowa2sum@mchsi.com
OUR LADY OF LOURDES RELIGIOUS EDUCATION PROGRAM
Report to Faith Formation Board and Pastoral Council
November 13, 2014
Enrollment: 115 students in grade kindergarten through six.
Staff: One DRE, 22 adult/parent volunteers, 1 high school volunteer
RECENT EVENTS:
 August 10: Blessing of the Backpacks during 10:30 Mass and Foodraiser for Backpacks
With Snacks program. Approximately 60 parish children participated by bringing food to
donate for BWS. They received a Christian backpack tag and a special school-year
blessing from Fr. Jason. BWS coordinator Sue Dilley spoke about the program during
Mass and received several donations after Mass at her table in the Gathering Space.
 August 20: Catechist inservice/planning meeting.
 August 23: Catechist work day.
 August 27: LRE Family night kickoff. Families were welcomed and teachers planned
activities in the classrooms to introduce students and parents to our new curriculum
Pflaum Gospel Weeklies. More information about this curriculum can be found at
www.pflaumweeklies.com. Advantages of this curriculum include: 1) It is based on the
liturgical calendar, 2) The length of the lessons are more realistic for the limited time
each week in religious education classes, 3) The “text” for the class is a weekly four- or
eight-page reader that goes home after class every Wednesday to serve as a great tool
for parent engagement, 3) The lesson plans are provided.
 September 3: No LRE – catechist work night
 September 10: LRE
 September 17: LRE, 4th-6th grade evening with Fr. Jason touring the church and learning
about Mass.
 September 24: No LRE – catechists attended an inservice, “The Joy of the Gospel,”
hosted by the diocese Ministers of Religious Education (MORE) group. Bill Huebsch
spoke on the topic of Pope Francis’ Evangelii Gaudium.
 October 1: LRE
 October 8: LRE, 2nd-3rd grade evening with Fr. Jason touring the church and learning
about Mass.
 October 15: LRE, Rosary, Christmas Children’s Choir rehearsal begins
 October 22: LRE
 October 29: LRE Family Saint Celebration. Catechists offered fun, educational saint
activities in their rooms. Parents and students free-rotated to the different activities
together, and then parents offered trunk-or-treat in the parking lot.
 November 5: LRE


November 9: Family First Reconciliation Workshop for 56 2nd grade LCS and LRE students
and their parents. Sessions included 1) Reader’s Theater: A Story of Love and
Forgiveness, presented by 2nd grade LRE catechist Jeremy Gdaniec; 2) DVD First
Reconcililation, A Family Journey, presented by 2nd grade LRE catechist Erin Hollinger; 3)
The Rite of Reconciliation, Procedures/Role Play/Tour Confessional, presented by Fr.
Jason and 2nd grade LCS teacher Amy Paul; and 4) Examination of Conscience/New
Creation Craft, presented by Jennifer Alongi, LCS principal; Kaitlin Carlin, 2nd grade LCS
teacher; and Grace Lynch, Assumption High School student.
November 12: LRE
UPCOMING EVENTS:
 November 19: LRE
 November 26: No LRE – Thanksgiving break
 December 3: LRE – all classes will learn about the Liturgical Calendar and every student
will have a calendar for the new liturgical year to take home.
 December 7: First Reconciliation.
 December 10: LRE, Reconciliation for 3rd-6th grades.
Respectfully submitted,
Jennifer Lynch, Director of K-6 Religious Education
Public Relations/Marketing Subcommittee Meeting Update for the November 13, 2014 FFB
Meeting
Thanks to Mrs. Lawrence for updating the website following the subcommittee’s analysis of
needed updates.
Mike helped facilitate a group of SAU Marketing students to work with the school on some
marketing projects. They toured the school with Ms. Alongi a week or two ago and want to
work to develop a plan to have preschool families enroll in kindergarten. Part of this might be
surveying the current preschool families. They also want to work to update our dated
brochure.
Post the SAU student work, we need to think about our next steps. Possibilities include…
 Ordering brochures to use for traditional marketing with preschool families, St. John
Vianney and other sources.
 Develop a strategy for outreach to preschool families, build upon the new parent event
hosted by Home and School. This could inc
 Use online marketing strategies, Ms. Alongi has one option through KWQC
Mike started research on writing a policy for social media usage for promotion of the school.
This research led to us discovering that we need to think about a school wide policy, even a
policy that pulls in Religion Education. Ms. Alongi will be speaking to the other principals to see
what they are doing.
Athletic Report to FFB November 13th, 2014
Our current season: Girls Volleyball
We have one 6th grade team, coached by Margaret Moore. We have two 7th/8th
grade teams, coached by Steve Weitz and Jim Kersten.
All of our teams have been off to a great start!
The end of the season tournament is Sunday, December 7th for all of the teams.
Our next season: Boys Basketball
We will be sending out an email tomorrow to all junior high families to determine
interest in boys basketball and girls cheerleading. We need to have a final number
of boys basketball teams that will represent Lourdes turned in to Doug Neubauer
before Thanksgiving break.
Looking ahead to next school year: Certified Coaches
The Athletic Directors from the Catholic Schools have met twice with the
principals from the Catholic Schools to discuss the pros and cons of having to have
our coaches certified for next school year. At this time, we are considering
keeping our system similar to what it is now, but by calling it a “church league”
the coaches would not have to go through the certification process. Lee Morrison
is looking into whether this would affect the accreditation of our schools if we do
not offer sports through our school system.
Respectfully Submitted,
Matt Trannel
Teacher Report to the Faith Formation Board
November 2014
Highlights in the building
Preschool Classrooms: We had S week this week with Silly Socks and Superheros! We continue
to do the letter of the week and will also be celebrating Thanksgiving next week before
conferences the following week. In December we will have a Christmas program with all
Preschool classes!
Kindergarten Classrooms: The Kindergarten Classes recently started a FOSS (Full Option
Science System) kit called Trees and Weather. The students are loving it and the teachers like
the hands on activities, outdoor exploring and individual skills that are happening. Just this
week the students also began practicing for their Christmas program!
1st Grades: Some of the reading skills we are teaching this week include:
1. Critical reading of books: Obtaining clues to understand the setting, character analysis, and
sequential details gathered from the pictures & text.
2. Work with pronouns. (which noun it replaces in sentences)
3. Work with possessive nouns. (Mary's book)
4. Work with suffixes. (ing, ed, s, es)
5. Work with digraphs ( wh, th, sh, ch, ck, ph) Students will go home with a poem containing a
particular digraph for Reader's Theater today.
In Math, we will have the Chapter Test #4 on Wednesday. The next chapter focuses on using
both addition & subtraction to expand their understanding of math concepts. We are
beginning our unit on the voyage to America and incorporating activities that will help children
to actually experience what it felt like to be a Pilgrim. This is a great unit with many hands-on
activities. It will take us right up into Thanksgiving.
2nd Grades: In 2B (Carlin), we are reading George and Martha stories and are making our own
George and Martha book. In 2A (Paul), we will be comparing two versions of Cinderella and
then comparing and contrasting these stories with a Venn Diagram. Also, in Social Studies, we
are going to be starting a chapter on landforms and the kids will be making a landform model.
In Science, we will be making some fun stuff (flubber, popcorn, bread, etc) in the next couple
weeks as we await our next FOSS kit, The Life Cycle of A Butterfly.
3rd Grades: We had our Wax Museum of Saints where each student learned about a special
saint. We are working on the multiplication facts.
4th Grades: 4th grade attended the Children's Literature Festival. They are presenting their
posters on National Parks in the Northeast Region. 4th graders are working on division in math.
They will be beginning the study of the Ten Commandments in Religion.
5th Grades: 5A (Behnke) is working on a historical fiction novel, Number the Stars, plus
informational text on the Holocaust. Students are learning how to pick out the main idea, key
details, quoting accurately, sequencing events, and understanding word meaning just to name a
few Iowa Core ELA standards. In math they are in the second of three chapters on decimals
and they are looking forward to doing more learning through the Think Central site and math
app on the iPads next week.
ALSO, 5a and 5b are going to JABizTown on December16. Thank you to Home and School for
making this possible!!!! We have been working hard to get ready and are really looking forward
to the experience!!
Terry C and Danielle B
Middle School:
From Megan Rutledge—
8th grade Religion: The students have been working on their Confirmation saint papers. We are
also discussing the fourth, fifth and sixth commandments.
8th grade Spanish: 8th grade just finished the level one book and as a final review presented 2
minute skits to the class in Spanish on a chosen topic.
7th grade Spanish: The students are studying classroom vocabulary and learning how to
conjugate the verb tener (to be). They are also studying the culture of Mexico.
6th grade Religion: The students are learning about the liturgical year and how we celebrate the
different seasons.
6th grade Spanish: Students have been learning about a holiday called Day of the Dead and are
working on a project to show what they have learned.
LOURDES HOME AND SCHOOL
REPORT FOR FAITH FORMATION BOARD
NOVEMBER 2014
H & S Objective: fundraising, communication, administration/staff support,
volunteerism, community development.
Budget items:
 SCRIP gross profit YTD is higher than last year at this time (will discuss at
meeting).
 Spiritwear profit YTD is $936
 Book fair sold $3,400, within $20 of last year.
 SCRIP account balance is $34,220
 H & S Account Balance is $15,630
 H & S fundraising account balance is $30,331
 We will be sending our first $5,000 donation to the church. This is usually done
in November, February and May.
Fundraising:
 Lourdes Starry Night, March 7th at Tanglewood Pavilion –
o Donation letters went out to parents and businesses. Total money from
parent donations = $2925.
o January 12th – Information sent to parents and students
o January 16th – School Kick off rally for the raffles
o Silent auctions, raffles, wine pull, live auction
Administrative/Staff Support:
 Field Trip funds – Paid $746 total for transportation for the following field trips –
o Kindergarten & 1st grade- Pride of the Wapsi
o 2nd grade-Wapsi Educational Center
o 4th & 5th grades – River Center for Literature Day
Community Development:
1. Trunk or Treat summary – good turnout, brought in about $1700 for the DC
trip.
2. 7th/8th graders completed their Premier Designs Jewelry sales for their trip.
Only 9 students sold with a total of $3026 in sales.
3. Looking into other fundraising options for the 7th & 8th graders.
4. St. Nick’s workshop – first week of December.