WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN YOU'RE A
DUVENECK ROOM PARENT

(last update, tmisner, 4/18/2008)

Thank you for volunteering to be a Room Parent for your child's classroom. This is a unique opportunity to get to know and to serve your child's teacher in ways that s/he will greatly appreciate. As the primary liaison between the teachers and students' families, Room Parents initiate and promote the team effort between school and home that Duveneck strives to have.

The key to being an effective Room Parent is communication: communication with the teacher to understand his/her needs and communication with parents where you coordinate filling the teachers needs. Your job is not to DO all the work, but to delegate!

Thank you for your willingness to partner with your child's teacher this year.

Room Parent Packet
Contents:

I. "TO DO" Calendar

II. Who to Contact with Questions

III. Sign-up sheets for Back to School Night / Sample flyers

IV. List of Room Parents
Temporary Class List

"TO DO" CALENDAR

NOW:

  • Set up a meeting with your teacher. This is your chance to introduce yourself and let him/her know that you are ready to help get the year off to a good start. It is essential that you meet with your teacher prior to Back-to-School Night which is Wednesday, September 3rd. During your meeting, give the teacher the opportunity to tell you how s/he works best with a Room Parent. Some teachers have very specific plans that s/he would like you to implement; others appreciate a room parent taking the initiative to plan parties within the provided guidelines. We are here to make our teachers' jobs a little bit easier, so be sure to make yourself available to him/her according to his/her preference.
  • Discuss Back-to-School Night. This night is an invaluable opportunity for you to be introduced to the parents and to rally support for the year's activities. Go over the enclosed sign-up sheets with your teacher, editing them to fit your classroom's needs. This evening is the only opportunity you have to present these volunteer needs to the entire group of parents. Keep in mind, this is a very busy night for the teachers. Room parents will have about 5 minutes to speak. Discuss whether the teacher would like you to speak at the beginning or end of their presentation. Consider having your sign-up sheets out on a table near the classroom door at the beginning of the evening. Parents arriving early can start to fill the volunteer slots. Maximizing parent sign-ups on this evening will minimize your work. Any volunteer slots that are not filled on Back-to-School night will need to be filled through personal recruiting on your part! Email, phone calls, sign-up sheets on the bulletin board outside the classroom, and gentle "arm-twisting" usually work.


BACK-TO-SCHOOL NIGHT:
Back to school night is a busy evening for teachers. Remember to be as concise as possible, and limit your comments to 5 minutes or less.

  • Introduce yourself to parents.
  • Point out sign-up sheets. Express your hope that everyone will get involved!
  • Announce the Harvest Carnival date, Saturday, October 27th. Each class will be assigned a booth and will need volunteers to set-up, staff and clean-up the booth. The Harvest Carnival chairs will provide additional information.
  • Collect email addresses (sample form in Room Parent Packet). The updated Duveneck Directory doesn not come out until the middle of September. Having an email class distribution list is very effective right from the start.
  • You may want to collect money on this night to cover costs of the class parties. $5 - 10 is appropriate. Remember if you collect this money, you are responsible to allocate the money over the course of the year to those who have volunteered to plan specific parties. The alternative, which also works well, is not to collect money, but to have the parents who sign up for a specific party take care of the expenses or ask for donations of paper goods etc. from other parents.
  • Consider making a short summary sheet of the above details for absentee parents or in the event time runs short.

AFTER BACK-TO-SCHOOL NIGHT:

  • Recruit volunteers to fill in any empty slots on sign-up sheets.
  • Return sign-up sheets to appropriate people (see PTA volunteers section)
    • Class Parties & Activities: Room Parents keep
    • School Wide Jobs:
    • Harvest Carnival: (box in office)
    • Teacher Treats (box in office)
  • Send an email to parents showing what each of them have signed up for throughout the year, as a reminder for them to mark their calendars. (This also could generate additional volunteers!) Be sure to remind the parents that all volunteers must have a current TB test on file in the office and all field trip drivers must have a copy of their insurance cards on file also.

THROUGHOUT THE YEAR:
It is your responsibility to REMIND parents throughout the year what they have signed up for.

SEPTEMBER:

  • Remind Earthquake Preparedness Volunteer to check Emergency Kit. Co-chairs of the Emergency Preparedness Committee will also contact this volunteer.
  • Remind Class or Grade Level Potluck Breakfast volunteers to plan the event (with teacher's approval).

OCTOBER:

  • Remind Harvest Carnival volunteers.
  • Remind Halloween Party volunteers to plan party with teacher.

· DECEMBER:

  • Remind Holiday Party volunteers to plan party with teacher.


· FEBRUARY:

  • Remind Silent Auction volunteers
  • Remind Valentine Party volunteers to plan party with teacher.

· MAY:

  • Staff Appreciation Event - TBA. You may need to help coordinate volunteers for this.

· JUNE:

  • End of the Year gifts for Teachers: Many parents (and teachers!) appreciate it if the Room Parent coordinates a group gift for the teacher and aide. Having one collaborative gift is a nice alternative to 20-30 individual tokens of appreciation. It is appropriate to send a letter to the parents in late May introducing this idea, asking for gift suggestions and for a minimal contribution. Last year a Room Parent suggested that each family contribute $10 for a teacher gift and $5 for an aide gift. She also included this statement: "We are aware that this may not be an appropriate amount for all families. Please feel free to contribute according to your personal situation." She also included a self-addressed envelope for the parents to send in their contributions. (This alleviates the collection problem.) Some popular gift ideas include: gift certificates (to Stanford Shopping Center, a bookstore, a computer supplies store, etc.), a photo album of the year's events, a personal gift that matches the teacher's particular interests. Be creative!
  • Remind End of Year Party volunteers to plan the party with the teacher.
  • Watch for a Room Parent feedback form. I'd love to hear how your year went and if there are any ideas or suggestions you have to make things go even smoother.

HAVE FUN!