Holy Spirit School

The new Committee Chairs have been appointed for next (’08-09) School year. They are:

(Incumbents from ’07-08)

Stewardship & PR: Vanessa Barrett

Technology: Tim Riener

Buildings and Grounds: Jeff Van der Sluis (John Barron to assist)

(New)

Executive: Jeff Van der Sluis

Finance: Barry Slivinsky

Grants: Lucia Pena

Safety: Rob Paglieri

Policy/Mission Enhancement: Elise Ajawara

I deeply appreciate their willingness to serve the School community in these important areas, and congratulations to each member!

-Jeff V.

What’s New with the School Board Tech Committee -

In the last few months, the Technology Committee has completed an effort began last spring to get laptops into the hands of our teachers.  In conjunction with the new server system, the laptops allow our teachers to work in a much more flexible and adaptive manner that suits their schedules and needs.

Teachers are not the only ones with laptops.  We are now well underway towards the goal of having a "mobile computer lab."  The mobile lab would consist of a bank of laptops (eventually 36) stored on a portable cart which could be moved from classroom to classroom.   In the fall we added 7 laptops to the existing Computer Lab at school for the eventual mobile lab.  The recent grant funding awarded to the school has allowed us to accelerate our plans.  We already placed an order for 10 more laptops from those monies. 

We started 2008 with a newly designed school website.  Crafted from the ground up, the new website is hosted on the new servers and what you are reading is, hopefully, but a sample as we continue to take advantage of the rich features. 

Educational standards are an item presently necessitating input from the Technology Committee.  The Oakland Diocese has a thick binder of documentation that Mrs. Buchanan's staff is required to complete by documenting, explaining, and illustrating the role of technology in the school's curriculum.  The good news is that, relative to the expectations of technology in our curriculum, our technology planning over the last year has created a ready-to-use archive of materials related to current and future planning, deploying, staffing, and utilizing technology.  

What’s coming for the Tech Committee?  Right now we’re working on assessing options and making recommendations for interactive whiteboards for classrooms. 

If you have any questions or wish to contribute in some way to our Tech Committee please contact the committee chair, Tim Riener at triener@pacbell.net or leave a message at the school office.

The Holy Spirit School Board Grant Committee procures funds for the school through a lengthy process.  Initially members search resources which profile foundations all the while targeting possible donors for the school.   The Grants Committee then matches possible grants with specific project needs around campus.  Formal letters of request are then mailed to prospective organizations.

From here the waiting begins as the committee awaits the foundation’s response.  At this point a letter of denial, acceptance or inquiry can be returned to our parish school.  Inquiries can be a request for additional information or an onsite visit.  The school hosted a few campus visitations in October and November.

The Grant Committee’s hard work has really paid off for the parish school.  Three grants have been awarded so far this year:

Crescent Porter Hale Foundation - $15,000 for the capital improvements

Carl Gellert and Celia Berta Gellert Foundation - $5,000 for Technology Program

Trust Funds Inc - $10,000 for Technology Program

Congratulations to the Grant Committee on achieving this terrific grant funding for Holy Spirit School!

To volunteer to serve on the Grant Committee or to submit questions please email Charmaine Zamora at charmaine.zamora@nolte.com or leave a message at the school office – 793-3553.  

-PR Committee