HSA Job Descriptions and Leadership

Home and School Association (HSA) President

Qualifications: Must be a current parent, stepparent, or guardian of a full-time student at SRA, must have been a parent, step-parent or guardian at SRA for a minimum of 5 years.  Must have taken Protecting God’s Children, and be in good financial standing with SRA.

Duties of the President of HSA: The President serves an 18-month term after having served the prior 18 months as Vice President. This officer is responsible for all aspects the Association, including, but not limited to, the successful execution of the following activities:

1. Oversees and coordinates the work of the Board to run SRA HSA effectively
2. Planning and presiding over all HSA General meetings, or designating a proxy from the HSA Board
3. Planning and presiding over all HSA Board meetings – a minimum of one 60 minute meeting per month
4. Oversee and approve HSA budget with Treasurer
5. Serves as the primary contact to the principal and association
6. Supporting the development of the HSA Board Vice President to ensure understanding and a smooth transition of duties in the subsequent year
7. Ensuring that the Vice President has secured leadership for all committees and all committee chairs are following guidelines as established by the HSA Board or necessitated by the School and Parish
   1. Committees include, but not limited to;
      1. Cookies with Santa
      2. Trivia Night
      3. Watermelon Festival
8. Partnering with the HSA Board members to plan the yearly schedule, including HSA General meetings, social events, and fundraising calendar
9. Appointing leadership for committees deemed necessary by the HSA Board and other influencing parties (parents, principal, faculty/staff)
10. Has regular check-ins with the school principal via email, phone call, text, or inperson at least once per month, typically before the monthly meeting
    1. Work with the faculty liaison between check-ins to ensure open communication.
11. HSA Back to School Night (August)
    1. (see “event” notes for more information)
12. Feast of St. Raphael the Archangel (September 29)
    1. (see “event” notes for more information)
13. Parent Teacher Conferences (October) – Make sure the Secretary is handling Dinner for the faculty/staff
14. Donut/Fellowship Sunday (November)
    1. (see “event” notes for more information)
15. Principal Appreciation Day (November) - Coordinate with STUCO faculty advisor
16. CSW Open House – assist with set up, during the event, and /or clean up (Last Sunday In January) a. (see “event” notes for more information)
17. CSW Teacher Appreciation Luncheon (Wednesday)
    1. Ensure that the Secretary has taken care of the lunch order
    2. Ensure that the Head Room Parent has secured coverage for the classrooms.
    3. (see “event” notes for more information)
18. Secretaries Appreciation Day (April 27) HSA to work with the principal to provide school secretary with gift card (Pastor to provide parish secretary a gift)
19. Thanksgiving Gifts for faculty/staff ($25/each) – support Parishioner owned businesses and support STL City businesses as a priority A
    1. HSA Board for recommendations on Parishioner owned/STL City Businesses
20. In the event that the VP is unable to assume the role of President, the sitting President has the following options;
    1. Appoint a new VP from within the existing Board (Treasurer excluded) and exit as planned
    2. Seek nominations for a new VP and maintain the role of President for an additional 18 months
21. Outgoing President to remain available for an additional 6-12 months following their term to advise the new President. During this time he/she will not attend monthly Board meetings unless requested to do so with 30 days’ notice.

HSA Faculty Liaison

Qualifications: Must be a current faculty member in good standing at SRA. Must have been on staff at SRA for a minimum 1 year prior to taking the position.  Should have taken Protecting God’s Children or faculty equivilent.  

Faculty Liaison Duties: Act as a communication liaison for the Home and School Association Board and the SRA faculty and staff and participate as full member of the HSA Board.  

1. Attend all HSA Board meetings
2. Take requests from faculty to the HSA and vice versa
3. Assist with promoting HSA events among SRA faculty and students
4. Encourage faculty and student participation in HSA events
5. Communicate changes in school policy or calendar that affect or pertain to the HSA Board
6. Keep faculty updated on HSA Board decisions, dates and activities
7. Coordinate food orders from faculty for Parent Teacher Conferences, Catholic Schools Week and other dates as needed
8. Provide input on allocation of HSA funds

HSA Vice President

Qualifications: Must be a parent, step parent or guardian of a current student at SRA, been an SRA parent, step parent or guardian for a minimum of 5 years, have taken Protecting God’s Children, and be in good financial standing with SRA.

Vice President Duties: The Vice President MUST be willing to commit to, not only to the term of VP, but to also be willing to take over the role of President of the Home and School Association (HSA) for a term.  The VP term is 18 months followed by 18 months as HSA President.

1. Should have a good working relationship with the HSA President
2. Attend all HSA Board meetings
3. Act as aide to the HSA President
4. Perform the duties of the President in the absence or inability of that officer to serve
5. Perform such other duties as may be assigned by the association
6. Be an ambassador for the HSA Board and the school
7. Oversee committees and train committee chairpersons (not necessarily volunteers) for events like Trivia Night, Cookies with Santa etc
8. Act as a liaison between committee chairs and the executive HSA
9. Serve as a bylaws expert; review bylaws and standing rules annually
   1. Lead Formal adoption of new bylaws when needed
10. The Vice President will take notes and publish minutes (within 3 days of mtg) in the event the HSA Secretary is unable to attend the meeting

HSA Secretary

Qualifications: Must be a parent, step parent or guardian of a current student at SRA, must have been an SRA parent, step parent or guardian for 2 years or more, have taken Protecting God’s Children, and be in good financial standing with SRA.

 Secretary Duties: 

1. Attend monthly HSA Board meetings
2. Take notes at meetings and publish the minutes to all HSA Executive Board Members within 3 days of the meeting
3. Provide dates and details around various HSA events (Cookies with Santa, Trivia night, etc.)
4. Provide a summary on behalf of the HSA for the monthly publication of The Guide
5. Order and organize the Teacher’s Luncheon before school starts, order dinner for teachers in October during Parent/Teacher conferences, and order lunch for Teacher Appreciation Day during Catholic Schools week
   1. May also assist with researching and providing a treat or something special for students for the Feast of St. Raphael
6. Assist with general HSA duties such as finding sponsorships for Trivia night and Watermelon Festival, and helping with HSA events such as Trivia night, Cookies with Santa, etc
7. Vote on how to utilize HSA funds based on requests and needs
8. Provide general communication to the parents, students, Principal or Pastor as needed through Flock Notes, emails, etc. as needed for events or activities of the HSA
9. Help organize and assist with Back to School night.  May need to present some information at the meeting relevant to the HSA

HSA Treasurer

Qualifications:  Must be a parent, step parent or guardian of a current student at SRA, have taken Protecting God’s Children,  parent, step-parent or guardian at SRA for a minimum of 5 years, and be in good financial standing with SRA.  Must have a basic understanding of accounting and Excel.

Treasurer Duties: 

1. Work with the HSA President to develop a budget for each school year before the first day of school.  Share the budget with the school principal.
2. Participate in decision making with the rest of the HSA Board as to how money should be spent (just because there is money in the budget for something doesn’t mean that an expenditure is automatically approved without the consent of the HSA Board.)
3. Pay bills and reimbursement requests in a timely manner.  If a bill or reimbursement request is given to the PTA Treasurer to pay for an expense that was not previously approved by the HSA Board, the Treasurer should consult with the HSA President about how to proceed.
4. Make all deposits to the HSA bank accounts as the need arises.
5. Review monthly bank statements for the HSA bank accounts in a timely fashion.  
6. Update checkbook spreadsheet with the previous month’s expenses and deposits (consulting the monthly bank statement) and send the spreadsheet to the Archdiocesan accountant assigned to SRA for review.  This should be done within 4 days of receiving the bank statements from the Archdiocesan accountant.
7. Cooperate with the Archdiocese in any audit of the HSA books that needs to be done.
8. Be completely available the night of the Trivia Night fundraiser to serve as the event banker.  All monies should be counted that night and deposited into the safe in the rectory until the next Monday morning when it can be re-counted by the Treasurer and deposited to the bank.
9. Supervise the HSA Fundraising Coordinator
   1. Mentor the Fundraising Coordinator to take over the role of Treasurer
10. Be available to help with any and all events sponsored by the SRA HSA.
    1. MUST be available for Trivia Night
11. Attend Monthly HSA Board Meetings

1. Treasurer is to remain available for an additional 6 -12 months following the end of

 their term to advise the new Treasurer

1. During this period, they will only attend HSA Board meetings if requested to do so 30 days in advance.

Head Room Parent

Qualifications: Must be a parent, step-parent or guardian of a current student at SRA, have taken Protecting God’s Children, functioned as a room parent at least once and,  been a parent at SRA for at least 2 years, and be in good financial standing.  This is a 2-year commitment with the option to extend service for an additional 2 years.  If the Head Room Parent elects to continue for the additional 2-year period a vote by the current President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer is required.

Head Room Parent Duties: Secure a room parent for grades K-8 (see room parent duties) while serving as a member of the Home and School Association (HSA).

1. Act as a liaison between the faculty and the K-8 room parents
2. Hold a meeting at the start of each school year to make sure all room parents understand their duties.
3. Make sure all room parents have completed Protecting God’s Children, working with the Parish director of Protecting God’s Children and the school secretary.
4. Check in on all classroom parties (Halloween, Christmas and Valentines/ Mardi Gras)
5. Work with the Auction committee on classroom basket themes
6. Find classroom coverage for the Teacher Appreciation Luncheon during Catholic Schools Week
7. Provide letters to each room parent with a list of duties and letter to send to each class K-8
8. Function as a full member of HSA
9. Work with and supervise the Pre-School Head Room parent (see separate job description)
10. Work with and supervise the Head of the Guardian Angel Program (see separate job description)

K-8 Room Parent Duties

• Act as a liaison between the teacher and parents when needed
• Collect monetary donations for the class parties - determined yearly
• Organize and/or delegate duties for class parties - Halloween, Christmas, Valentine’s/Mardi Gras
• Make calls for unscheduled no-school days when necessary
• Collect monetary donations for the Black and Gold Auction - determined by auction committee
• Purchase items for and assembly class auction basket (theme determined in conjunction with auction committee and head room parent)
• Siblings are not allowed at classroom parties

In addition to the above duties, the following grades have special additional duties-

• 1st grade - Assist the 2nd grade teacher in set up, serving and clean up the First Communion Pot Luck Dinner (no cooking involved)
• 2nd grade – Coordinate Activity Day, Bow Sunday and First Communion activities
• 6th grade - Organize, serve and clean up 7th grade Confirmation
• 7th grade – plan and produce the 8th grade graduation party
• 8th grade – Fundraise for, plan and execute Mystery Trip, graduation dinner and Washington DC trip

K-8 Room Parent Qualifications

Must have taken Protecting God’s Children

In addition to the above – the following grades have specific requirements

• Kindergarten Room Parent should not be new to SRA or a first-time Room Parent
• 2nd Grade Room Parent should not be new to SRA or a first-time Room Parent
• The above qualifications can only be overruled by a joint agreement between the Head Room Parent and HASA President

Fundraising Coordinator  

This person will work directly with the HSA Treasurer. Must be a parent, step parent, or guardian of a full-time student for a minimum of 1 year. Must be in good financial standing with SRA.

Qualifications:

1. Must be the parent, step parent, grandparent or guardian of a current student at SRA (Includes the preschool)
2. Have taken Protecting God’s Children course

General Duties Include:

1. Manage the existing fundraisers
   1. Box Tops for Education
   2. Schoola
   3. Scripps cards
   4. EScripps
2. Develop incentive programs to motivate students/families/parishioners to participate in these fundraisers
3. Advertise fundraisers when needed
4. Assist in accounting as needed by the Treasurer
5. Research new fundraising methods to benefit the school
6. Present these opportunities to the HSA treasurer and/or the HSA Board
7. Work with HSA Board as needed
8. Assist with the HSA Trivia Night fundraiser

This person does not need to attend monthly HSA Board meetings unless requested.

Ideally this position will advance to the Treasurer but it is not a requirement. If the Fundraising Coordinator is willing to assume the position of HSA Treasurer, there will be no need for nominations. 

The Fundraising Coordinator is not a voting member of the HSA Board.

Guardian Angel

Qualifications: Must be a parent, step-parent or guardian of a current student at SRA, have taken Protecting God’s Children, been a parent at SRA for at least 2 years, and be in good financial standing.

The Head Angel is responsible for matching new families with a current family in similar circumstances (i.e. new 6th grade girl with a family who currently has a 6th grade girl or a new 4th grade boy with a family who has a current 4th grader). The Head Angel will remind each Guardian Angel family to follow up with their partner family throughout the year to encourage them to attend events and answer questions. The Head Angel will also work with the Marketing Committee to write Welcome Notes and deliver SRA flags/balloons to new students and incoming Kdg families before the start of each school year.

Guardian Angels should remind their families to/about;

• Register for EZ Roster – https://ezrosters.com/stl-straphael
• Dress Out Days – hand book rules
• Accessory Days
• Classroom Parties
• Catholic Schools Week activities
• Lunch Orders
• Uniform Questions
• Daily Snacks

Try to remember when you were new – what questions did you have? What did you find confusing?

SRA Guardian Angel Call Schedule

From the St. Raphael the Archangel School Year Calendar

Each Guardian Angel Family should refer to the School Calendar – if you have a family who needs to know about an event, please contact them as needed.

EXAMPLES of events you may want to contact your families….

August

• HSA Back to School Night
• Watermelon Festival

September

• History Day Parent Meeting
• Iowa Testing – all week Grades 2-8 

October

• Pet Blessing
• Uniform Picture Day
• First Reconciliation Parent Mtg.
• Trunk or Treat
• Halloween Parties
• Parent Teacher Conferences

November

• Black & Gold Auction
• First Reconciliation
• Thanksgiving Mass 8:00am

December

• Exams for grades 6-7-8
• Christmas Parties
• Christmas Break

January

• School resumes
• Catholic Schools Week begins

February

• Scholastic Book Fair                     
• Grandparent’s Day
• Valentine Parties
• History Day @ UMSL

March

• 1st Communion Parent Meeting
• Easter Break

April

• Second Grade activities – Bow Sunday, Potluck etc.

May

• Parish Picnic  
• Field Day   

Volunteer Coordinator

Qualifications: Must be a parent, step-parent or guardian of a current student at SRA, have taken Protecting God’s Children, been a parent at SRA for at least 2 years, and be in good financial standing.

Role:

• Oversee all volunteer opportunities at SRA
• Identify new volunteer opportunities as needed
• Communicate volunteer opportunities to secure volunteers on-going, especially for HSA events
• Serve as the primary contact and resource for all volunteers and for event chairpersons looking for help

Accountabilities:

1. Create and promote to SRA School community, a general overview of the value of volunteers and what type of volunteer opportunities and options are available for the upcoming school year. This includes, but not limited to:
   1. Leading plan, with support from HSA President, principal and teachers, to assess and identify how parents/guardians and community members can get more involved at school as volunteers
      1. Volunteers can be ANY parent/guardian in the school; goal is to get more involved in all of our events
      2. Offer a variety of options for volunteers with different amounts of time and commitment involved.
         1. Options to sign up for might range from one-time only assignments to monthly, weekly or daily volunteer
   2. Constantly recruiting new volunteers
   3. Marketing volunteer opportunities in appropriate SRA channels (bulletin, Facebook, take home flyers etc.)
2. Recruit event chairs for HSA events, primarily Progressive Dinner and Cookies with Santa
3. Collect, organize and maintain a database of volunteer opportunities AND volunteer contact information that can be an on-going historical reference (ideally online such as google docs vs. excel file)
   1. Note any particular interests or special talents for future use
4. Provide list of volunteers to school secretary to verify Protecting God's Children Compliance as needed
5. Plan the Volunteer Appreciation Mass
6. Work with the Guardian Angel and Head Room Parent to make sure they have the necessary volunteers

1. Specific Events
   1. Work with the Event Chairperson to determine the needs for a particular event
   2. Communicate the need for volunteers and pass their information on to the event chairperson
   3. Communicate the volunteer schedule to the event chair
   4. Write and deliver Thank You notes for volunteers

Preschool Head Room Parent

Qualifications: Must be a parent, stepparent, or guardian of a current preschool student at SRA, have taken Protecting God’s Children, and have at least 1 year remaining at SRA Preschool.  2-year commitment preferred but not required.

Preschool Head Room Parent Duties: Secure a room parent for each Preschool class (see room parent duties) while serving as a member of the Home and School Association (HSA).

1. Act as a liaison between the faculty and the Preschool room parents
2. Communicate with room parents at the start of each school year to make sure they understand their duties.
3. Make sure room parents have completed Protecting God’s Children, working with the Parish director of Protecting God’s Children and the school secretary.
4. Check in on all classroom parties (Halloween, Christmas, and Valentines/ Mardi Gras)
5. Work with the Auction committee on classroom basket themes
6. Find classroom coverage for the Teacher Appreciation Luncheon during Catholic Schools Week
7. Provide letters to each room parent with a list of duties and letter to send to each Preschool class

Preschool Room Parent Duties

• Act as a liaison between the teacher and parents when needed
• Collect monetary donations for the class parties - $20.00 per student (determined yearly)
• Organize and/or delegate duties for class parties - Halloween, Christmas, Valentine’s/Mardi Gras
• Make calls for unscheduled no-school days when necessary
• Collect monetary donations for the Black and Gold Auction - $15.00 per student (determined by auction committee)
• Purchase items for and assembly class auction basket (theme determined in conjunction with auction committee and head room parent)
• Siblings are not allowed at classroom parties