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QM School Advisory Board Purpose and Structure

The School Advisory Board has been established to act as a liaison between the school’s administration (our principal and pastor), our current school families, and the broader parish and local communities. We work to advance common goals:

  • To lead community efforts to live out the mission of our school

  • To ensure Queen of Martyrs is following best practices for nurturing, educating, and empowering our students

  • To coordinate and provide opportunities for parents and guardians, parishioners, and alumni to offer their professional experience and expertise in service of parish and school goals

  • To help grow and maintain a robust student enrollment and active parish support for the long-term vitality of Queen of Martyrs School 

  • To provide consistent public relations among our parish and neighborhood communities

  • To develop and support intentional and effective fundraising efforts to supplement the school’s operating budget

  • To support QM leadership, faculty, and staff, so they are set up for success in their day-to-day responsibilities of providing for the academic success of our school children as well as their social and emotional well-being; and

  • To encourage the school’s continuous improvement and strategic planning.

The SAB is, by definition, solely an ADVISORY organization set up to provide counsel to the administrative leadership of the school, as directed or requested by the principal and pastor. As stipulated by the Archdiocese’s Office of Catholic Schools and own by-laws, we are specifically charged to focus our efforts, discussions, and actions on the following areas:

  • Strategic planning

  • New initiative formulation

  • Financial planning and management

  • Communications and marketing

  • Mission effectiveness and enhancement

  • Institutional advancement and development

Conversely, the SAB has no authority and is prohibited from independently deciding or acting on the following:

  • Specific personnel issues, including the evaluation, termination, and/or renewal of school teachers or staff

  • Specific curriculum or academic program selection

  • Specific student-related matters, including admission, placement, or discipline issues

In Year One, the SAB will consist of five to seven members.  In Year Two and Year Three, two additional members will be added to allow for future overlapping terms (nine members total). Each is selected by the pastor and principal with input and/or nominations from the school community.  Members agree that the SAB will use their talents, gifts, and insights for the common good of the community to promote the mission and goals of Catholic education. The SAB will defer personal agendas in order to discern with other members the issues, concerns, and challenges we face in meeting the educational needs of our students.

Each of the Board members commits themself to a three-year term, which may be renewed for one additional three-year term at the discretion and request of the pastor and principal. In the future, terms will be staggered in cohorts, so the SAB’s stability and counsel is self-sustaining and benefits from a constant balance of experience and new ideas and energy.