The Board of Specified Jurisdiction
The St. Giles School Board of Specified Jurisdiction (BSJ) acts in an advisory role to the Pastor and Principal. The Board develops, proposes and adopts policies that govern the operation of the School in accordance with guidelines set by the Office of Catholic Schools. The Board is empowered to cooperate and collaborate with the principal and to support the work of administering and leading the school. However, the Board has no role with respect to the hiring, evaluation or termination of teachers.
Our Board is comprised of parent and non-parent members appointed by our Pastor. Our members have a breadth of community involvement and expertise in the areas of finance, technology, development, athletics, marketing, and strategic planning. Each of these areas has a committee that reports to the BSJ. All of our committees welcome and encourage new members. Please contact the Committee Chair directly to express your interest. Your involvement can only make us stronger.
BSJ Committees
Finance
The Finance Committee provides a degree of oversight on the School’s financial condition. The Committee (and BSJ) assist in maintaining the School’s viable financial standing, without taking on fiduciary or audit-related responsibilities. The Committee reviews key financial metrics including actual financial results vs. budget and tuition collections. Finally, the Committee participates in creating and aligning the School’s budget with strategic and operational plans.
Marketing and Communications
Advancing the mission of St. Giles School, the Marketing and Communications Committee works to enhance the visibility and public perception of the school and support the students and families currently enrolled in the school. The Committee sponsors and coordinates the school-wide Open House in January and develops and manages the print production of all marketing and promotional material. Promoting the brand identity of St. Giles School, the Committee also coordinates key internal vehicles of communication directed at faculty/staff, parents, and students and hosts programs for current and prospective families. The goal of the Marketing and Communications Committee is to recruit new students and families, achieve and maintain full enrollment, and support retention of current students.
Development
Anchored by our two annual fundraisers, the Lion's Leap in September and the Black and Gold Pride in March, the St. Giles Development Office is projected to raise close to $300,000 for the school. Members of the Sr. Marie Imelda Society continue to renew their memberships throughout the year; these families/individuals make contributions totaling $1,000 or more within a school year and are recognized at our annual reception in November. The Development office also conducts a mailed annual fund campaign targeting alumni and parent donors who are able to make smaller donations. This mailing raises funds toward both the fundraising budget and the tuition assistance budget, based on donor preferences.
In addition to supporting these important fundraisers, the Development Committee works with the Development office to plan activities that advance the mission of St. Giles School: to build connections and extend our outreach to both alumni and the community. Through the St. Giles School Alumni Network Facebook page and MailChimp e-mail newsletters, we have been reaching an increased number of alumni with updates of what’s happening at St. Giles. In Spring, the Development Committee works with the PTO to host our ever-popular Grandparents' Day. In late May, we will again welcome our soon-to-be alums, the 8th grade graduates, with a special celebration featuring several St. Giles graduates who will talk about their memories as students here and why — decades later — they continue to support and remain connected to the school.
Technology
The Technology Committee reviews and plans for future technology at the school. The Committee reviews outside technology providers and the progress of open projects; assists in soliciting bids for contracted services; assesses technology needs and challenges of the faculty; and assesses the overall technology needs at the school to prioritize purchases and future upgrades. The Committee also assists in the implementation and evaluation of new initiatives such as the junior high one-to-one iPad initiative.
Athletics
The Mission of the Interscholastic Athletic Program is to:
- Provide opportunities for all interested St. Giles School students to learn about and participate as members of St. Giles School sports teams and programs
- Transmit knowledge of the fundamentals of various sports
- Develop the sports-specific skill levels of each participant
- Instill team-oriented values in sports environment
- Teach proper attitude toward winning, losing, and competing with dignity
- Foster and environment to increase self-confidence and self-esteem
- Enhance individual levels of physical fitness
BSJ Committee Chairs
BSJ Chair
Jonathan Sluys
jonathan@sluys.net
BSJ Vice Chair
Meghan Hurley Gibbs
mhurley906@yahoo.com
Finance Chair
Carolyn Burke
cmbnd89@comcast.net
Development Chair
Kelly Hartweg
kelly@huddlepro.com
Technology Chair
Ty Mayberry
tyromay@cdw.com
Athletics Chair
Greg Larson
greglarson2010@gmail.com
BSJ Liaisons:
Parish - Margaret Murphy, margaretmurphy4@gmail.com
Principal Meg Bigane, mbigane@stgilesschool.org
Fr. Carl Morello frcarl@stgilesparish.org
Members At Large:
Jim Gates
Cathy Marshall
Erika Montgomery
Patrick Winter
St. Giles School Board of Specified Jurisdiction Members
The following people make up the school board for the school year.
Jonathan Sluys, BSJ Chair
Jonathan has been a member of the St. Giles Community since 2011 when he moved to Oak Park with his wife Caroline. Their two children attend St. Giles in 3rd and 5th grade. Having grown up in Sweden, Jonathan graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 2004. Together with his wife, he runs a branding and marketing studio in Chicago.
Meghan Hurley Gibbs, Vice Chair
Meghan lives in Oak Park and has been a parishioner since 2014, when she and her husband, Ted, enrolled their oldest daughter in preschool at St. Giles. Their four children attend St. Giles and are in fourth grade, third grade, kindergarten and pre-k 4. Meghan graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 2001 and upon graduation volunteered with Amate House, where she began her work as a teacher and administrator in Chicago Catholic schools. Meghan has a Master of Arts in Teaching from Dominican University and a M.Ed. in Educational Leadership from Loyola University Chicago. Since having her family, Meghan has done consulting work for Big Shoulders Fund, Loyola University’s Greeley Center, and Chicago-area Catholic schools.
Sarah P. Yaffe, Marketing and Communications Chair
Sarah has spent almost 20 years in public relations working on behalf of some of the most recognized consumer brands and companies. She currently oversees business development for North America for Weber Shandwick, a leading global communications agency. Sarah has been a parishioner since 2012, when she and her husband, Jerome, moved to Oak Park. They have three children, including a son in 2nd grade and daughter in preschool at St. Giles School, and a son in preschool at Whittier Elementary. She was a member of the marketing committee last year and currently serves as a room parent. Sarah is proud to be a Flyer alum -- she holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from the University of Dayton.
Carolyn Burke, Finance Chair
Carolyn has been a member of the parish since 2010 when her twin boys were baptized at St. Giles. She received a BBA with a concentration in accounting from the University of Notre Dame and her MBA with concentrations in finance and strategy from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Carolyn began her career as a Certified Public Accountant with KPMG in Chicago and worked in the financial services industry for over 25 years. She left her most recent position as CFO of Mesirow Advanced Strategies in 2016 to spend more time with her family. In addition to volunteering at St. Giles, she serves on the Boards and chairs the finance committee at both Thrive Counseling Center in Oak Park and Riverside Golf Club. Carolyn and her husband Tom Clarkson have lived in Oak Park since 2006.
Greg Larson, Athletic Advisory Committee Chair
Parishioners for 14+ years, Greg and Kate Larson have three children – Annie, a recent Giles graduate currently a Sophomore at Fenwick, Julia, 7th, and Ryan 2nd. Greg and Kate have both served on the AAC committee and believe that sports can play an important role in the development of the mind, body, and spirit. Professionally, Greg has worked in advertising and marketing and believes that creativity is the most powerful force in business.
Ty Mayberry, Technology Chair
Ty works within the Hybrid and Managed Services (H&MS) practice at CDW. His responsibilities include working with government, corporate and medical organizations, designing and implementing emerging telecommunications and cloud technologies ranging from visual collaboration to SD-WAN and Infrastructure as a Service. Ty had a daughter who graduated from St. Giles in 2015 and a 8th grade daughter currently.
Kelly Hartweg, Development Chair
Kelly currently serves as the Executive Director of the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation (IICF) Midwest Division. Prior to her work at IICF, Kelly held leadership roles in membership, development, sales and event management at organizations such as Navy Pier and the Word of Mouth Marketing Association. Kelly was a Friends First Mentor at Mercy Home for Children, and enjoys giving back to her community through volunteer projects that address hunger, senior care, youth education and mentoring. She has a 4th grade daughter and two sons who are alumni of St. Giles School.
Jim Gates, Member-at-large
Jim and his wife Louise have been active members of the St. Giles faith community since 1987. They have 3 adult children, all educators. He has served the parish as a lector, Confirmation catechist, altar server trainer, Parish Pastoral Council member and chair, member of the Shared Cup capital campaign team, and member of the Foundations of Faith capital campaign leadership team. Education has been Jim’s vocation as a 33-year middle school educator, lead literacy consultant for the DuPage Office of Education, and elected school board member. He is currently finishing a PH.D. program in Educational Leadership at Concordia University in River Forest and is a volunteer in the Hines Veterans’ Hospital pharmacy.
Catherine Marshall, Member-at-large
Cathy has spent her career in education as a teacher, counselor, and social worker. She taught at St. Giles for 3.5 years before having children and staying home to raise a family. During that time, she did a lot of volunteer work at St. Giles (where her children attended) and in the community. In 1995, Cathy went back to work as a Dean Counselor at Riverside Brookfield High School. She worked there five years and then took a position as a Dean Counselor at Oak Park-River Forest High School. She retired in 2012 from OPRF and is currently working part-time as a school social worker at St. Vincent Ferrer School in River Forest. The Marshall family has been parishioners at St. Giles for over 40 years. They have four children and four grandchildren, two of whom attend St. Giles: Christopher is in second grade and Walter is in PreK 4.
Erika Montgomery, Member-at-large
Dr. Montgomery is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist with 23 years experience providing mental health treatment to children, adolescents, adults, and families. Dr. Montgomery earned a doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the Virginia Consortium for Professional Psychology in 1997. Dr. Montgomery has been in private practice in Oak Park for the past 19 years. Dr. Montgomery also serves as a medical consultant with the Social Security Administration. She is married to Marc Montgomery and has two alum daughters and a son attending the 7th grade at St. Giles.
Patrick Winter, Member-at-large
Patrick Winter and his wife Rachel have been active in the St. Giles parish and school community since they moved into the Galewood neighborhood in 2014. Their sons Joseph and Thomas are in the 5th and 2nd grades, respectively, and their daughter Catherine is in Pre-K 4. For the past thirteen years, Patrick has been working at Saint Ignatius College Prep, where he has taught both math and religious studies. Before moving to Chicago, he taught math and religious studies for five years at Georgetown Prep, a Jesuit high school in Maryland. Patrick received his bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University and earned a master’s degree in theology from the University of Notre Dame. When he’s not fishing with his kids, he is usually playing either a guitar or a mandolin. Patrick and Rachel love this community and consider it a privilege to participate so actively in it.
Minutes
St. Giles Board of Specified Jurisdiction (BSJ) Minutes
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