PTO Minutes
HOLY CROSS SCHOOL PTO
MEETING MINUTES – OCtober 9, 2025
Attendees: N. Walters, J. Stach, T. Clark, T. Perrone, N. Dreis, N. Hanlon, A. Donnelly, D. McQullian, T. Heyer, R. McLoughlin, M. DeKay, C. Shaffer, D. Littlepage, J. Johnston, Doreen A. B. Boyle, E. Trimm, S. Matthews, T. Demato
Prayer: Principal Walters
Motion to Begin: 1st A. Donnelly, 2nd N. Hanlon
Reports
Principal’s Report
Updates on safety and security. We are so grateful to the HC staff and families who help keep our school safe. With the generous donations of a few families, both the Hallow and Officer Pienkowski are fully funded. We are so blessed!
A few friendly reminders:
When volunteering, please ensure you sign in, so we know who is in the building. This is a matter of safety in case of lockdown, fire drill, etc.
Please also remember to sign your child out, especially on ½ days or special events (i.e. Special Person’s Day) where children may be going home early, and/or with someone else. Things can get hectic at drop off so ensuring parents/families take the extra step and utilize the sign out sheets in their child’s classroom, or the front desk, is very appreciated!
Lunch help! Please feel free to help during any of our lunch periods, Monday-Friday. Currently, there is only one link for Pizza Mondays, but a new link will be generated for parents who would like to volunteer in the lunchroom.
Fr. Kurgan’s Update N/A
Treasurer’s Report
Although the school year just started, we are coming in under budget. Funds will be transferred (i.e. class party funds) now that the school year is in full swing. Mats were purchased for the gym upkeep, which cover the cement walls and keep our children safe from injury.
September’s dress down day was in support of Out of the Darkness. Thank you to all who donated! We were able to raise $641.00 for the Waters family.
All reimbursements should be submitted to Jillian Stach: holycrosschool@syrdiocese.org. The reimbursement form can be found on HC’s website, under “PTO information”, “Forms.”
Past Business
After School Activities: The basketball clinic is off to a great start, all the kids who participated absolutely loved it! A big thank you to Jennifer Wilber for taking this on. The forensics club is also in the works. This will take place on Monday afternoons, and open to the 5th and 6th grades, more information to come!
Spirit Sale: The Spirit Sale was a great success! Thank you to everyone who participated and many thanks to the Groat family who kindly give back a portion of the proceeds to our school! This year the Spirit Sale raised $1,370.00!
Curriculum Night: Another successful event. Parents seemed happy overall, it’s a great introduction to your child’s teacher, their classroom and the school in general. Thank you to all who helped make this event run smoothly!
Holy Cross Church Fall Festival: The weather was just perfect, and the event was enjoyed by all! As always, Holy Cross Church really outdid themselves. A heartfelt thank you to all who helped create such an amazing event.
Uniform Closet: Rachel McLoughlin has graciously offered to take point on our uniform closet. That said, many hands make light work, so if you’re willing and able, please join Rachel in her efforts.
Room Parent Info (M. DeKay): Parents were randomly selected for each grade, and each class has a lead communicator. The lead should have sent an email to all respective families, introducing themselves, as well as the other room parents, for their respective classes.
Staff Snack Cart: Thank you for the 3rd grade class for the amazing October snack cart. The electrolyte drinks were greatly appreciated and received special mention! Next up is 4th grade.
New Business
Picture Retakes: October 17th.
Parochial Basketball League: November 3rd @ 7:00PM. Forms will go home soon, please keep an eye out if your child plans to play this year (3rd grade and up).
Committee Reports
Caring Crusaders (J. Johnston): A huge thank you to everyone who helped make the diaper drive such a huge success! The Caring Crusader were able to donate nearly 6,000 diapers to families in need. What an incredible impact on the community. In addition, the 5th and 6th graders were educated on the diaper bank’s mission and helped create packs of diapers to distribute. The diaper bank is also a great opportunity to get some hands-on volunteer hours, even for school-aged children. Please keep an eye out throughout the year on ways you can help, and if you have new ideas to present, please contact Jolie Johnston.
Book Fair (T. Clark): scheduled for October 20-24th, and will be led again, by Taylor Clark and Taryn Perrone. This is a big undertaking, and there will be various opportunities to help through the day, so please sign up to volunteer, if you are able. The set-up will take place on Thursday Oct. 16th, if you’d like to help, please reach out to Taylor and/or Taryn. Teachers and students will begin making wish lists on Friday Oct. 17th. There will again be a variety of ways to pay, (i.e. e-wallet, checks, cards). This event will coincide with Special Persons Day, below.
Special Persons Day (T. Clark): scheduled for October 24th, which is a ½ day, as well as the last day of the book fair. This event is led by Jolie Johnston, Tessa Heyer and Taylor Clark. Your child is invited to bring a special person, (i.e. grandparent, aunt/uncle, adult friend). Their guest(s) are invited to join us at school, where light refreshments will be served. Please note, there is no mass, as in recent years. Children can also introduce their teacher and show off their recent work. Please do not forget to register your child’s special person via the link in Sunday’s email.
Halloween (N. Dreis): scheduled for October 31st. Halloween is a half-day this year, so we will be forgoing the Halloween Howl and class parties. We will, however, have a parade, which begins at 9:30am (families welcome), followed by our beloved costume contest and ending with a Trunk-or-Treat. We will need volunteers to decorate their trunks. The link to sign up is in Sunday’s email, please sign up if you can! If you’re interested in helping on Halloween day, please reach out to Niki Dreis.
Auction Planning (T. Clark): This year both Angie Donnelly and Marisa Borer will be taking lead with our auction. This is our biggest event, so the more the merrier! We will need lots of hands-on deck. This is a great way to connect with other parents, our community and most importantly, support our amazing school. The 1st auction meeting of the year will take place next month, date/time TBA.
Upcoming Events & Other news
Picture Retakes: October 17th.
Christmas Concert: Please note the new date of 12/09/25
PTO Webpage: https://school.holycrossdewitt.org/family
Event volunteers, chairs: Don’t forget to sign up for our school events 2025-2026 Volunteer Interest Form You can opt to chair, or help for any, (or all) of our events. We would not be able to put them on without the help of our amazing families, so thank you for all you do!
Pizza Mondays: To help in the lunchroom on Pizza Mondays Holy Cross: Holy Cross Pizza Monday lunch help This is a great way to visit with your child, get to know their classmates, and meet other HC students.
Motion to Adjourn
• 1st: J. Huegel
• 2nd: N. Hanlon
• Time: 7:45 PM
Meeting minutes warmly submitted by Niki Dreis.
Next meeting: November 6th @ 6:00 PM