What is the job of a Room Parent?
You will work with the teacher to organize events for the classroom. You do not have to do everything by yourself, but you do need to find the parents to help. You will also help the PTA disseminate information about volunteer needs and try to rally the parents in your class to help. Even if parents volunteer for 10 minutes, it all helps the children in the end.
What am I in charge of organizing?
You will organize any celebration events that the teacher would like to have for any of the seasons or celebrations throughout the year. Once you find out what the teacher would like to do for the celebration, you will recruit other parent volunteers to send in items and help serve if necessary.
You will most likely also be asked to help the teacher with recruiting volunteers for field trips, science fair, or the spring carnival booth your classroom runs.
To make your job easier keeping parents in the loop and gathering volunteers, we recommend you get the email addresses and/or phone numbers for the parents in the class. This list is to be used only for those in the class and only for class purposes or helping to round up volunteers. One long time Room Parent recommends having the parents email you directly to get their email addresses. Or there is a free online club database – www.qlubb.com – that you may find makes your life easier. There will not be a school-wide directory this year. In our effort to cut paper use, please let me know how many children in the class will still need notes sent home. We certainly don’t want to leave anyone out. Don’t forget to include the teacher in your emails! Here is a form to get you started… contact information form
Some Room Parents organize group gifts for the holidays and the year-end. This is up to you and the class. (If you’re stumped on what to get, most teachers love gift certificates.)
Please remember that all information and observations about the children and parents are confidential.
What should I do first?
If your teacher filled one out, there is a form from your teacher that lists some of their preferences for birthdays, celebrations, etc. Completed form or not, I recommend talking with your teacher soon so they can provide specific information about her/his preferences regarding parent participation. When meeting with the teacher be sure to do the following:
• Set the dates for parties, if possible.
• Ask the teacher to keep you informed of any new students in the class and any who leave.
• Determine if any children have a special diet. (For example, food allergies or diabetes.)
• Find out what kind of snacks the teacher would like to serve at the celebrations.
• Find out how much parent participation the teacher would like at the celebrations. They may welcome any parents who want to come or may prefer only one or two parents to serve.
• Find out what time the teacher likes to do special celebration snacks.
• You may want to talk about including a craft or game.
Is there anything else my teacher expects from me?
Teachers love volunteers, and it will vary among teachers where they like to use parent help.
Some teachers like to do a special birthday snack once a month for all the children who have had birthdays that month and may ask that you coordinate that with parents.
The older grades have EOG’s (End of Grade Testing) in the spring, and might appreciate a special breakfast brought in by parents on these mornings.
Teachers may need help with stuffing the Friday folders.
While you are in the classroom don’t forget to bring your camera to capture some of these memories! You could give your teacher a disposable camera to save some of the daily memories. These pictures can make a great year-end gift to give the teacher.
Your teacher may also appreciate help soliciting supplies. Be sure to ask.
Some things to keep in mind:
Celebration and Birthday Snacks are snacks, not necessarily parties. Some teachers will wish to keep it very simple to avoid interrupting instructional time, while others will let the atmosphere be more relaxed. Respect the teacher’s preferences.
Focus on the children and the children’s needs in the class. Include all children in your planning.
Include the teachers and the classroom assigned staff member when serving snacks. They enjoy treats too!
This is not the time to talk about your child’s progress, you are there to set up and clean up.
Make sure to ask the teacher for permission to bring younger children in to help.
Special Events/Dates to keep in mind:
Book Fair will be last week in November/first week in December, and possibly again in the Spring
Science Fair is usually held in March
Carnival is usually held in the Spring
International Night (TBD)
Teacher Appreciation Week is in May
Please check the calendar page on the PTA website!
