Room Parents

ROOM PARENT MEETINGS
Tuesday, September 10 at 9 am Room 48 (4th grade wing)
Thursday, February 20 at 9 am Room 48 (4th grade wing)

ROOM PARENT RESPONSIBILITIES
      Thank you for volunteering your time to serve as a Room Parent for your child’s class!  It’s both fun and rewarding. And is something your kid’s will be excited about and proud of.  A Room Parent is a very important part of our Abby community and provides volunteer services to a teacher’s classroom and the ARES PTA.  A Room Parent should enlist the help of other parents and is able to delegate these responsibilities.  The teacher will inform you of their specific needs and determine exactly what type of assistance is needed.
      Typically, Room Parents help coordinate class parties and special events. When the class has an upcoming outing event such as a field trip, you will be given the opportunity to help chaperon your child’s trip.  While a Room Parent’s main responsibility is to the teacher and class, the PTA does ask for your help to further communicate with the parents throughout the year. It’s the Room Parent’s responsibility to communicate with the classroom parents and keep them well informed. A successful way to achieve said communication is through the Shutterfly site, or through the app Remind. 
     Every child’s family should be given the opportunity to contribute by simply being involved in their child’s classroom festivities and schools’ events.
COMMUNICATIONS GUIDELINES
  • Normal everyday communication with your parents doesn’t need to be reviewed by PTA if you DO NOT use a PTA logo or verbiage that would give any indication to a parent, or a teacher that the communication is associated with, or coming directly from the PTA.
  •        E-mail will be the primary source of communication between the PTA Room Parent Chair and you, and it should be the primary between you and your parents.  If you do not have an e-mail, please let the PTA Room Parent Chair know and we will make sure you are contacted via phone on updates.  Please respond to all e-mails, even with a simple “ok” to ensure that the sender is made aware that you did in fact receive and read it.
  •        You will receive PTA emails throughout the year. It is important that you simply forward them to your classroom parents. These emails allow the PTA to further communicate with parents on a timely basis. PLEASE FORWARD ALL OF THEM AS REQUESTED.
  •        Please keep an electronic or a paper copy of all communications, with the parents, the teacher, and the PTA.
  •        Please notify the PTA Room Parent Chair as soon as possible if there are any changes to your contact information or if you are planning a move from the school.
  •        Please consider using Shutterfly to host your Class Site information.  If you need more information about Shutterfly please contact the Room Parent Coordinator.
  • Communication is “key” to having a successful year, so make sure you “over communicate” rather than “under communicate.”  
GETTING STARTED CHECKLIST
  •        Meet with your teacher as soon as possible (bring your calendar)
  •        Discuss expectations and ideas for the school year.
  •        Get party dates and ideas of what will be expected at parties.
  •        Get schedule of dates/times of when volunteers will be needed and whether it is inside/outside the classroom.
  •        Find out the preferred method to contact your teacher as well as informing them of the best way to reach you.
  •        Find out if there are any important allergies to be made aware of and make a notation of it and inform the class’ parents prior any class events that would involve or cause a possible reaction.
  •        Write an e-mail/letter introducing yourself to the class’ parents, informing them of how and when they should expect communications from you.  If you do not have a co-room parent, now would be the best time to ask another volunteer to help serve with you.
  •        Let them know about classroom events for the month.  It is IMPORTANT to give your parents the opportunity to be involved. Also, share their feedback on improvements.
  •        Your teacher should have completed the “Tell Us About Yourself” teacher Questionnaire form. The PTA Parent Coordinator will have the completed forms posted on the Room Parent Shutterfly Site. If you do not see your teacher’s questionnaire posted on the site, please contact the Room Parent Coordinator.
  • “PTA Room  Parent Contact List” the teachers will explain its intent and purposes during “Back to School Night”. Then it will be presented to the parents to fill out their contact information for your communication. Please talk to your teacher prior to that night and remind them of the importance of this contact form. If you need to get additional contacts, converse with your teacher to find a successful way of achieving such task. Or you can simply write an introduction letter to the parents and include a brief memo in the letter regarding the importance of needing a form of communication so that they are well informed of all events throughout the school year.
  •        A way to deliver the introduction letter: You can offer to help your teacher by volunteering to stuff the Wednesday Envelopes. Make sure that you inform the teacher that you are including said “Letter” in the envelopes and the importance of retrieving those letters in a timely manner.  Ask the teacher when a convenient time is, to come back and pick up the returned forms.  
  • ***Without these forms returned, it will be very difficult to communicate with all of your parents.***
​RESPONSIBILITIES WITH THE TEACHER
  •        Converse with the teacher to successfully grasp their needs and expectations.  All communication should be genuine and effective.
  •        Obtain and update, as needed, a class roster.  Back to School Night is the biggest opportunity to obtain parent contacts so please aid your teacher in spreading the word to have these filled out.  Please remember that this information is to be considered confidential among the other parents unless they give permission for you to share their information with the other parents. If a new student enters your class, be sure to contact the parents  and add them to your list so that you may include them in the updates as well.
  •        Make every attempt to personally attend as many special events as possible.  If you cannot be there, enlist someone from the class to take your place.  Invite and encourage as many parents to come as well, assuming space is not a concern.
  •        Any memo that needs to go home in the Wednesday Envelopes/or backpacks please let your teacher know.  If it’s a surprise and parents are returning something back to you, just indicate to teacher that students/parents will be turning things to you. Use the Room Parent envelope/box if needed.  Set up an envelope for these situations and many teachers provide one for you.
  •        REMEMBER:  Don’t try to bear the burden yourself.  You are a classroom coordinator, and there are people out there willing to help.  Please reach out to them.  If you find that you need assistance, and are not getting anywhere within the class, please reach out to your PTA Board and/or Room Parent Coordinator.​
RESPONSIBILITIES WITH THE PTA
  •        Check www.arespta.org often to stay current on important dates.
  •        Help your teacher in making sure that your room gets to 100% PTA Membership!
  •        Support school-wide events.  The key area that your support will be needed is:
    • Teacher Appreciation Week
      •        In recent years we have been celebrating our teachers and staff in May. As room parent you will help coordinate your class celebration.
      •        Decorate Teachers Door— The door typically is decorated the Friday prior “Teacher Appreciation Week”.  Please feel free to ask other parents to help decorate the door if crafting is not your forte. In most cases another parent will love to volunteer and decorate your teacher’s door.  The kids love seeing the decorations and involving the students makes them so proud to have helped. The February Room Parent Meeting will cover the details of decorating the door and please invite the parent making the door, so they get all the information firsthand.
      •        Teacher Appreciation Daily Events— You will coordinate the daily events for your classroom.  The PTA Room Parent Coordinator will have a loose list of daily activities/events that can help you plan.  Please don’t think you have to do difficult or time-consuming events/plans. The kids loved being involved so just consider including the students. Again, the February Room Parent Meeting will cover details about this week.
  • *Quick side note*- There will be some “PTA Events” throughout the school year that will seek the help with volunteering, it’s not mandatory to assist, but it’s extremely helpful and ensures a successfully smooth outcome of the event.

THANK YOU FOR ALL YOU DO!!

Please do not hesitate to contact our Room Parent Coordinator with any questions or comments:
Veronica Lohse
roommom@arespta.org