Room Parent Information
Thank you so much for volunteering to be a Room Parent! It is a very rewarding job and a fun way to get involved with your child’s classroom. Listed here are suggestions and guidelines for the room parent role with resources at the end to get you started.
1st Month of School:
• Meet with your Teacher. Each teacher has unique preferences and requirements for their classroom including needs such as volunteers, supplies, and student specifics (allergies, etc.).
• Create a class directory (if the teacher asks, they may have this already).
Introduce yourself to the class via email and how to communicate with you best. You can choose to share your phone contact, or just communicate via email.
• Create a plan for upcoming classroom events and volunteer opportunities.
• If desired, solicit funds up-front for all teacher gifts throughout the year. Maximum $30/family. Note: Party supplies are to be collected separately. Sign-up Genius for each party works great!
Schedule Parties and Events:
• Many teachers may have party volunteer and supplies signups already. Get copies of these parties/volunteer names and emails.
• 3-4 weeks before the holiday, find out from the teacher the best day, time, and location (in class or outside) they would like you to host the party.
• Create a sign-up genius or gather volunteers via email for the party.
Send an email to the parents that signed up the date/time and when to plan to be at the school.
Classroom Wishlist:
• Check in with the teacher to see if extra help/supplies are needed, and email families to assist.
• Some teachers have electronic wish lists they’ve created. You can post these links in your first email to the class.
Classroom Directory:
• Some teachers may have made a classroom directory, or they may ask you to make one.
• If you make one, be sure to get parents’ permission to share with the rest of the class. Otherwise, you can blind cc the class.
Gifts:
• Recognize classroom teacher / student teacher / aides birthdays, winter holidays, and the end of the school year with gifts.
• Always include everyone in the gifts, even if not all families donate toward gifts.
• Communicate with parents what you are doing with money they have donated such as emailing pictures of gifts or an explanation of any gifts.
Staff Appreciation Week:
• First week of May
• Each classroom is responsible for their teacher and one or two adopted staff members.
• You may organize and coordinate daily tokens of appreciation with the class parents - Staff appreciation committee will send out an email with a daily theme or schedule.
Staff Favorites List:
• Find your teacher's favorites here.
• Share the link above with your class. If you don't see your teacher/staff member, please let us know at staffappreciation@hopipta.com.
Classroom Funds:
• Rather than collecting on a per-item basis, many room parents like to collect funds up-front for gifts throughout the year. This might include teacher bday, winter gift, staff appreciation week gift, and end of the year gift.
Donations are suggested NOT required!
• Remember you can suggest/request, but not require donations.
• All families must be included in gifts, regardless of their participation in donations. • Keep good records, and keep families updated about how you are spending the funds they have donated.
• Suggested donation amount: $30/family
Room Parent Tool Kit:
• Here are a few references and examples to get you started in the role. If you are new to sending group emails and keeping them confidential, there are some good video online depending on your email platform.
Questions? Email volunteers@hopipta.com
We really appreciate your dedication to our terrific Hopi staff! Here’s to a great year!
