Room Parent Team Information Packet Crossfield Elementary 2014/2015

1. School_involvement@crossfieldpto.org Room Parent Team Information Packet Crossfield Elementary 2014/2015 Room Parent Team Liaison: Caryn Danoff Caryn.Danoff@crossfieldpto.org

2. school_involvement@crossfieldpto.org General Information • Thank you for choosing to be part of the Crossfield School Involvement Team as a Room Parent! • Being a room parent is a great opportunity to be involved with you child’s class as well as the school. This position opens doors to knowing your child’s teacher, classmates, and other parents. • Being a Room Parent, you are never working alone! Room Parents work as a team • Room Parent Team Liaison, Caryn Danoff, is available to support all Room Parents and teacher communications.

3. Room Parent Job Description • What is a room parent? • The Room Parent serves as the liaison between the classroom and the parents • The Room Parent is the main point of contact for the teacher and works with the teacher determine needs of the classroom • There are several ways to be involved as a Room Parent Team Member.

4. The Room Parent Team • The Room Parent Team is a group of parents working together for a whole class. • Each class works as a team. Each class needs 1 - 2 parents to act as Lead Room Parents as well as a team of parents interested in helping out with class needs and activities. • Lead Room Parent: Lead Room Parents are the liaison between the individual classroom teacher and classroom parents. This person(s) also work with the Room Parent Liaison to help organize grade wide events. • The Room Parent Team: each class will have a number of members to assist with class events and decisions. This group helps the Lead Room Parent(s) organize and plan class specific events throughout the school year.

5. Lead Room Parent Responsibilities • Below outlines the overall responsibilities of a Lead Room Parent: • Specific details will be expanded upon • Point of contact between the classroom teacher and classroom parents. • Party Organizer for the classroom • Volunteer Coordinator for the classroom. • Coordinator for classroom gifts for the teacher • Lead for coordinating and communicating to your class Teacher Appreciation Week efforts in May. (The week of May 4th)

6. Lead Room Parent ~ Getting Started • 1. The first step is to set up a time to speak with the teacher • Try and do as soon as possible so you may discuss expectations and upcoming events • Inquire about the specific tasks the teacher wants you to do as a Room Parent (i.e. scheduling volunteers, helping with Tuesday Folders, assisting with class events) • Determine how many parties and classroom events you will be responsible for planning (obtain specific dates and times if available) • ** Make sure to find out if there are any allergy concerns in the class • Continue to follow-up with the teacher every few weeks to see if a new need has arisen

7. Getting Started • Distribute a letter to the classroom parents introducing yourself as the Lead Room Parent and requesting classroom donations • Refer to Exhibit 1 or Exhibit 1a for Sample Letters • To make it as simple as possible for parents to return the request for information/donation consider attaching envelopes pre-labeled “Please send home with: (Room Parent’s Child’s Name)” • Include your contact information • Request contact information, specifically email, from each parent so that you may inform them of upcoming events or solicit volunteers • Outline how much you are asking each student to contribute and specify what the classroom fund will cover • Keep in mind donating to a classroom fund is completely voluntary • NO funds will be collected for Teacher Appreciation Week. TAW expenses are funded by the PTO.

8. Responsibilities: Party Organizer • Once you meet with the teacher you will have an understanding of how many class parties need to be planned: • Typically 2 parties a year: holiday and end of year. Teachers may also arrange for a few small ‘celebrations’ for smaller holidays. • Find out the time and date of the party a couple of weeks in advance to solicit volunteers to help and to bring in necessary items • Class Parties seem to run the most smoothly when several themed stations are set up in the classroom for the children to rotate though. Please check with your teacher for their organizational preference. • Some examples are: • A Craft - All supplies need to be provided • A Snack - i.e. decorate your own cupcakes • A Game • A Book • **The above can be tweaked for the older grades such as 2 games instead of a book. Feel free to be creative and adjust as necessary.

9. Responsibilities: Party Organizer • Send-out a SignUp Genius (www.signupgenius.com) to recruit volunteers to help at the party and to request supplies needed • SignUp Genius is a free online tool for creating and managing volunteer sign-ups and group sign-ups • If you have never used SignUp Genius a video tutorial can be found: • https://www.signupgenius.com/index.cfm?go=w.Welcome • There are a variety of sign-ups to select from and the site will even send out reminders if you choose • Should you have any questions regarding creating a sign-up, feel free to contact the Room Parent Team Liaison (caryn.danoff@crossfieldpto.org); she will be happy to walk you through.

10. Responsibilities: Volunteer Coordinator • There may be several times throughout the year that Lead Room Parents will asked to solicit for volunteers for either classroom activities or PTO sponsored events • The best way to reach out to the class is to create a Sign-Up Genius Form as soon as you are informed about the event • Be specific when asking for help—include the exact times and dates and outline exactly what the commitment is • Several days before the event make sure you remind your volunteers about the upcoming event (Sign-up Genius can even send event reminders) • After the event try and remember to thank those that helped

11. Responsibilities: Class Gift Coordinator • There are 2 times a year that the Lead Room Parent coordinates gifts for the teacher on behalf of the class: December Holidays and End-of-Year • The class fund will have already been collected at the beginning of the year so it can be the Room Parent’s discretion how to allocate the funds • In The Kindergarten classrooms and classes with Special Ed. Teachers, keep in mind that the Assistant Teachers should be acknowledged as well • In order to figure out what type of gift or gift card your teacher may like, it may be a nice idea to send your teacher a “getting to know you” questionnaire in the beginning of the year • See Exhibit 2 for an example • Feel free to be creative with the gifts • You may decide to include the children’s personal pictures, written sentiments, etc. along with a traditional gift • Communicate to the class the gift that was • purchased for the teacher(s) so everyone • is aware what their funds were used for

12. school_involvement@crossfieldpto.org Thank You!! • Thank you again for choosing to be a Crossfield Elementary Room Parent! • Please contact Caryn Danoff at caryn.danoff@crossfieldpto.org throughout the year with any questions or concerns