Please send your comments to Pat Blevins at pblevins@swaes.org

Employment Opportunities

Contact Pat Blevins via email at pblevins@swaes.org
or via phone at
Toll Free (866) 655-7237
to place your advertisement

Chaplain's Corner

by The Rev. Roger Bowen
SAES Chaplain

John Hines was bishop in Texas, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, and the creative spark behind the founding of several Episcopal schools. He believed that  "...the chapel... should be open to all persons of every faith who would share their insight into  what makes the world and its people what they are. If religion is a source of reverence for the significance of every human being...then we are gripped in a preoccupation with living and suffering men and women; we must be hostile to everything  that is weighing them down; we must find it intolerable that anyone should be morally sacrificed, that any life should be remorselessly used up and flung aside as worthless. No group should be more passionate than us in seeking the ends of human justice that will enable all to live their lives well and participate in their
God-given destiny."

Words to guide us in all we do as school "ministers".

Free Continuing
Education Opportunities

HUMANITIES TEXAS

Formerly
The Texas Council for The Humanities

Humanities Texas is the state partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Established by the Congress in 1965, the National Endowment for the Humanities (HEH) supports research, education, and public programs in the humanities. Humanities Texas is a non-profit, tax-exempt, educational organization incorporated by the State of Texas in 1972. The organization collaborates with colleges and universities throughout Texas to co-sponsor week-long summer humanities workshops.

This past summer Naomi Carrier, a humanities teacher at Saint James Episcopal School in Houston participated in the Humanities Texas summer program, "Southwest Vistas: The Board in American History" at the University of Texas in El Paso, Texas where she learned more about the history and culture of the U.S.-Mexico boarder. The program drew more than forty teachers to the UTEP campus for four days of seminars, lectures, workshops and visits to local cultural institutions.

An educator for 26 years, Ms Carrier serves as a humanities teacher, teaching middle school history and coordinating the Performing Arts Workshop. Her collection of fifteen plays, Go Down Old Hannah: The Living History of African American Texans, is scheduled for publications by University of Texas Press.

"I attended Southwest Vistas because of my abiding interest in Mexico and immigration. I was born on the border. I never new why so few blacks were there and I am still researching my family history", she said. Ms. Carrier plans to bring concepts from the institute into her classroom.

For more information about Humanities Texas,
please contact Eric Lupfer,
Director of Grants and Education
at 512/440-1991 ext. 120
or visit their website at
www.humanitiestexas.org

Welcome to SAES eNewsletter!!

We would very much like to receive your comments and/or suggestions. You may send your comments to Pat Blevins via email at pblevins@swaes.org. We also would like to ask for your participation in sending photographs and articles of various activities conducted at your school so that we may place them in our upcoming issues.

SAES 2006 Fall Retreat, Camp Allen, Navasota, TX...
While the main purpose of the SAES Fall Retreat 2006 is to provide educators with an opportunity to relax, network, learn and worship in a beautiful setting, SAES  partnerships with ISM (Independent School Management) and SOS (School Office Services) and others enable us also to provide workshops that address the practical side of life in an Episcopal school. The biennial retreat, offered on years  alternating with major SAES conferences, is designed to offer something for everyone associated with an SAES school—teachers in all divisions, administrators, business managers, chaplains, rectors, and trustees—in a setting that promotes relaxed networking.

In addition to the highly recommended keynote speakers described in the brochure, the spiritual aspects of the retreat will feature:

• The Rev. Peter Cheney, Executive Director of the National Association of Episcopal Schools, who will lead a session on “Centering or Contemplative Prayer”

• The Rev. Roger Bowen, a favorite with SAES colleagues, who will lead the Opening Service on Thursday  evening

• Dr. John Clark, who will share firsthand his experience of how  Episcopal schools minister to families in crisis.  Dr. Clark’s wife, Laurel, was an astronaut who died in the Challenger accident.  Their son was in the third grade at an SAES school at that time.

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    COMING SOON!!

    Online Discussion Forums

    Rector / Chaplain
    PreSchool Educators
    Elementary Educators
    Middle School Educators
    High School Educators

Head of School/Admin Discussion Form

2006 Texas Department of State Health Services Immunization Requirements... Meningococcal conjugate vaccine (MCV4) for all children ages 11-12 years and unvaccinated adolescents at high school entry (age 15 years) is now included in the 2006 Immunization Schedule. Other additions to the 2006 Schedule include a new tetanus toxoid, reduced diphtheria toxiod, and acellular pertussis vaccine for  adolescents (Tdap adolescent preparation). Tdap is recommended for adolescents aged 11-12 years who have completed the recommended childhood diphtheria and tetanus toxoids and pertussis/diphtheria and tetanus toxoids and acellular pertusis (DTP/DTaP) vaccination series and have not received a tetanus and diphtheria toxoids (Td) booster dose.

Hepatitis B vaccines birth dose is recommend for all newborns and Influenza vaccine is now recommended for children 6 months and under with certain risk factors, which now specifically includes conditions that can compromise respiratory function or handling of respiratory secretions or that can increase the risk for aspiration. This was not previously included in the 2005 recommendations. Hepatitis A vaccine is now universally recommended for all children at age 1 year (12-23 months). The previous recommendation was for children located only in certain high-risk areas. The catch-up schedule for persons aged 7-18 years has been changed for TD. Now, TDaP may be substituted for any dose in a primary catch-up series or as a booster if age appropriate for TDaP. A 5-year interval from the last Td dose is encouraged when TDaP is used as a booster dose.

For further information, contact DSHS Government Affairs Unit at (512) 458-7263 or by email at govt.affairs@dshs.state.tx.us.

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Please Join SAES in Welcoming 2006 New Heads of School...

John Hyslop Interim Head of School All Satins' Episcopal School, Phoenix, AZ	Kathryn Hooper, Director St. Martin's Episcopal Children's Center Houston, TX
Lori Logsdon, Director Holy Comforter Episcopal School Angleton, TX	Barry Bedrick, Head of School St. Michael's Parish Day School Tucson, AZ
Laura Gallagher, Head of School Oak Hall Episcopal School Ardmore, OK	Will Wood, Head of School Saint Paul's Episcopal School New Orleans, LA
Sarah Maxwell, Head of School St. James Episcopal School Del Rio, TX	Betty Sierra, Principal St. Stephen's Episcopal School Houston, TX
Dr. David Pitre, Head of School St. Mark's Episcopal School Houston, TX	Mort Dukehart, Head of School Trinity Episcopal School Austin, TX

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SAES Releases OnLine Discussion Forums...
In an effort to assist our schools in times of crisis or need, SAES has developed online discussion forms which can be accessed through the website's home page, www.swaes.org. The EMERGENCY RESPONSE forum is open to everyone, including family members, and is meant to be used as a communications tool during an emergency situation.

The HEAD OF SCHOOL/ADMIN forum has been developed as a means of communication between Heads of School and Administrative personnel in which an exchange of ideas and operational procedures are shared among schools. This forum is password protected. Please contact Pat Blevins via email at pblevins@swaes.org or toll free at (866) 655-7237 to obtain your password today!

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Welcome Back Home St. Paul's Episcopal School, New Orleans, LA...

we turned the lights on and we are home!

First Day Reflections By Will Hood, Head of School Incredible does not begin to describe the first day of school back on the campus of St. Paul’s. At Chapel all the children’s faces lit up with excitement and anticipation of a new school year. Their excitement is a sign of hope for this community. The kids were not worried about what the building looked like. They did not see the construction works still on the property. They are not concerned with where their class room is or is not. The most important thing to them was being back home with their friends, home with their family, and home where their teachers love them beyond belief. Being home at St. Paul’s means healing. It means that in a world turned upside down there is a place where they can come and remember they are not alone, and that hope still lives.

it's just great to be back home!!

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Can a School Pay A Non-Exempt Employee a Salary? (by Bill Rollings, SOS)...
Yes, a school can pay a non-exempt employee a salary as long as the school meets two qualifications:

• The adjusted hourly income must be greater than the minimum wage set by DOL or by the state.

• The Employer must pay overtime when an employee works more than 40 hours in any given week (or more than 8 hours in any given day in California)

Paying a non-exempt employee a salary is clearly advantageous to the employee and may also help the school. Paying non-exempt staff on a salary basis may be convenient for small schools, particularly when the business office does not want to outsource payroll. Furthermore, it is a humane way to reclassify employees as non-exempt, because you can continue to pay them the salary they have always received. Hours, however, must be documented and appropriate overtime must be paid for all non-exempt employees by the hour.

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