Dear POP Star Grandparents,

Last week, we had a wonderful time hosting grandparents at the inaugural meeting of the Silver Stars, and we're already looking forward to our next meeting on Monday, November 18!

As mentioned at last week's meeting, the Silver Stars are an entirely new organization this year, and our vision is to provide POP grandparents with an outlet to better familiarize themselves with our school, expand their presence on campus, and engage with fellow families in a meaningful way. After all, grandparents play an integral role in fostering students' faith and ensuring the vitality of Catholic education. Through the Silver Stars, we aim to strengthen the home-school partnership on which we pride ourselves by extending such to grandparents, transcending one-off events such as Grandparents' Day to best nurture an authentic and consistent relationship with you and your family.

As founding members of the Silver Stars, you will be the driving force of this organization. We are thrilled to launch his new venture with you and expect to rely heavily on your feedback as the organization develops. In the interim, we're excited to introduce several on-campus service and social opportunities in which we would love POP grandparents to take part.

Volunteer Opportunities

At last week's meeting, we asked grandparents to complete contact cards and indicate whether they might be interested in three different on-campus volunteer opportunities. Please see below to learn more about these initiatives.

Lunch & Recess Duty

Lunch & recess duty is one of the greatest ways that volunteers can have a presence on campus, interact with students, and lend teachers and teacher assistants a helping hand during the busiest time of the school-day. Students attend lunch & recess in 45-minute intervals with their learning communities (K-2nd, 3rd-5th, 6th-8th), and grandparents will have the option to sign up the lunch & recess period of their preference.

At this time, we tentatively plan on opening lunch & recess duty sign-ups to grandparents on the second Thursday of each month (with some exceptions). Sign-ups will be sent out via email once dates are finalized, so stay tuned!

Gardening

Several outdoor areas around school are in need of some TLC! Our idea is that teams of 2-3 grandparents with green thumbs might be willing to give their time and energy during the school-day to assist with the beautification and maintenance of these spaces. Reimbursement will be offered, within reason, for essential gardening supplies. Interested grandparents are invited to stay following the November 18 meeting to walk around campus with Faustin Weber, President, and discuss how they might like to assist with this initiative.

Advancement On-Call Team

Our Office of Advancement oversees a variety of initiatives that are essential to the livelihood of our school, including all development and fundraising campaigns; admissions and alumni relations; Christian service outreaches; and both internal and external communications. Our Advancement team often juggles a variety of tasks to enhance these initiatives such as crafting floral arrangements for Admissions Open Houses, assembling welcome bags for new families; packing supplies for Serviam Nights, and more. The Advancement On-Call Team would be "on call" to stop by campus and help mark these items off the to-do list.

Please note that all individuals who plan to volunteer on campus must have Safe Environment clearance through the Diocese of Dallas. See below for more information.

Safe Environment Clearance

We require that all on-campus volunteers have Safe Environment clearance. The Safe Environment Program includes a brief online training, background check, and other procedures that are designed to reduce the risk of inappropriate interactions at schools and parishes in the Diocese of Dallas. Safe Environment clearance must be renewed every 12 months. If you plan to volunteer in any of the aforementioned capacities, please ensure that you have Safe Environment clearance in advance.

Safe Environment Procedures for New Volunteers:

• Step 1: Complete the Safe Environment Screening Form. Under the location info section, please identify “Prince of Peace School-Plano” for location and “volunteer” for position. You should receive a follow-up email with further instructions.
• Step 2: Read the Diocese of Dallas Computer Internet Policy and Diocese of Dallas Social Media Policy. Both documents have a signature page that need to be signed and returned to Mrs. Nicole Mahaffey at nmahaffey@popschool.net.
• Step 3: Once you are logged in, click on "My Obligations" and watch the training video, Standard Sexual Abuse Training (MinistrySafe). Please note that the video may be renamed for the 2024-2025 school year; once confirmed, the changes will be updated on our website and in outgoing correspondences.

For Safe Environment procedures for previously cleared volunteers, please see this website: Safe Environment Instructions. If you have any questions or require assistance, please contact Mrs. Nicole Mahaffey, Safe Environment Coordinator, at nmahaffey@popschool.net or by calling (972) 380-5505.

All-School Mass and Upcoming Meetings

While Silver Stars meetings will be hosted monthly on campus, we would love to have you join us at our weekly All-School Masses! Students in K-8th grade celebrate Mass together every Monday morning at 8:00 a.m. in the parish sanctuary, and POP families are always welcome to attend.

Monthly Silver Stars meetings will take place immediately following All-School Mass at approximately 9:15 a.m. Attendance at Mass is not required to attend the Silver Stars meetings, but we would love to see you at both!

Upcoming Silver Stars meetings for the current school year are as follows:

• Monday, November 18, 2024
• Monday, January 27, 2025
• Monday, February 24, 2025
• Monday, April 21, 2025

Meetings will feature light refreshments, guest speakers, and time to mingle with both one another and school administrators. Ultimately, we would like to assemble a governing board for the Silver Stars to eventually run the meetings, but we recognize that this will come with time.

Please continue to monitor your email as more information regarding service and social opportunities will be sent out in the coming weeks. In the meantime, we would love to hear your input regarding the direction of this organization and/or events, opportunities, and outreaches you would like to see made available! Questions and comments of any nature may be directed to Ms. Evan Ray, Communications Coordinator, via email at eray@popschool.net.

As the Silvers Star organization gets up and running, we encourage you to invite other POP grandparents currently residing in Dallas-Fort Worth to join! If another grandparent you know would like to join, please encourage them to email Ms. Ray.

Once again, we appreciate your interest in the Silver Stars and your continued investment in the life of our school; your support and involvement truly makes an indelible impact on our students and school community. We look forward to growing the Silver Stars with you!