Fundraising and Volunteer Programs

St. Francis School Auction

The St. Francis School Auction began in 1982 to raise money for the school. It now generates over $170,000 earmarked for short term school needs and the long term Endowment Trust.

Each year during the annual Auction, a major item such as a car is raffled off. As part of the registration contract, parents are obligated to sell $100 worth of tickets. If tickets are lost or stolen, parents must still pay for the tickets. This raffle is NOT optional, it is mandatory for all registered families.

Annual Giving Appeal

Kicking off the School Year we conduct the Annual Giving Appeal. The campaign focuses on the Mission of St. Francis of Assisi Parish to support its Parish school.

Participation is voluntary; we ask all school families to make a comfortable contribution through our letter campaign. The goal is to achieve 100% participation which helps in our NEW grant writing through NCEA. No minimum contribution is suggested. Proceeds from AGA go directly to the operating budget for the following school year.

Scrip Program

The SCRIP program eliminates year-round fund raisers for the school. Each family agrees to purchase $3,000 worth of SCRIP during the school year, or buy out of the SCRIP program by paying a "buy-out fee".

What is SCRIP? Essentially gift certificates or gift cards for local retailers. Each merchant gives back 2% to 15% of purchases to the school.

How and where to buy SCRIP

Box Tops for Education

Help earn cash for St. Francis School through the Box Tops for Education program. How it works:

• Clip and Save Box Tops
• Send them in to the school office
• Each Box Top is worth 10¢

You can find Box Tops for Education symbols on hundreds of General Mills brands. Print the following list for reference:

Participating General Mills Products (requires Adobe Reader)

Labels for Education

The Labels for Education program is a great way to get FREE merchandise for our school. Participating in the program is easy:

• Save the labels, lids or UPC code from eligible Campbell brands (see list below)
• Send them in to the school office
• Label redemption earns free educational materials

Some Campbell products require specific proofs of purchase. The following list shows which part of the label to save for each product. Print and save this page for reference:

Eligible Campbell's Products

PIP - Parent Involvement Program

Sign up to input your PIP hours online: www.stfrancis.ptomanager.com/index.html

The first time you will need to create a new account using your e-mail address. Once you are approved in the system (2-24 hours), you will be able to assign yourself to events. Assigning yourself to events automatically records your PIP hours.

St. Francis School and the School Advisory Council adopted a Parent Involvement Policy (PIP) which has been effective since 1992. The purpose of this policy is to promote a partnership between parents and school to provide excellent educational opportunities for the children. This policy provides:

• Support services needed by the school
• An even distribution of the parent work load which is needed to operate the school at a reasonable cost.

Members of the School Advisory Council and the PSF (Parents for St. Francis) realize how busy each one of you are in your personal and professional lives. We value your participation and appreciate the commitment and contribution that PIP requires. Without parent involvement our children would lack those special opportunities that parent/school interaction gives to the entire school.

Upon registration, parents are required to sign a Tuition and Fees Agreement to donate either 25 hours (Half day Preschool and Kindergarten) or 40 hours (Full day Kindergarten and Grades 1-8) of service to the school per year. Those who choose not to participate are assessed a fee. Payment of the fee releases that family from the Parent Involvement Program, however they are encouraged to volunteer time to the school as they desire.

Single parent families may reduce their PIP hours after approval from the principal. Please put your request in writing to the principal at the beginning of the school year. Half day Preschool and Kindergarten parents may reduce PIP hours from 25 to 12.5 hours (Auction/Development/4 hours and General School/8.5 hours). Full day Kindergarten and grades 1-8 parents may reduce PIP hours from 50 to 25 hours (Auction/Development - 7.5 hours and General School - 17.5 hours).

We ask each family to watch for notices in the weekly newsletter for volunteer opportunities. Each family is responsible for procuring and recording their own volunteer hours.