Lakeview PTSA

Thank you so much for volunteering to be a Room Parent! This volunteer position has a few specific responsibilities, but after that it’s up to you how much you want to do to build the community for your class.

The room parent’s primary responsibility is to be a liaison between the teacher, PTSA, and the other parents in the class. The teacher may ask you to write up a reminder of a class event, or to ask for volunteers for a class activity like a field trip. The PTSA may ask you to send out info that needs a more personal touch than the Lakeview newsletter.  After that it’s up to each room parent to decide how they want to build community in their classroom.

Here are some things a room parent typically does:

1. Communicate with other parents in your child’s class
2. Collect money for class parties and field trips if necessary
3. Organize volunteers for class parties and field trips if necessary
4. Organize gifts for Staff Appreciation week (more info below)
5. Purchase an end of the year present for the Teacher if there is money available

Getting Started

At the beginning of the year, Lakeview’s Volunteer Coordinator will send you the following things to you get started:

• A list of the other volunteers in the classroom from the PTSA signup sheet
• A list of your teacher’s favorites (to help make any gifts more personal)

It’s a good idea to send a letter home with each student in the class introducing yourself, and collecting money for teacher gifts and classroom parties.  Here is a template to get you started:

Room Parent Introductory Letter

You could also let parents know about your teacher’s Favorite Things, and about the Teachers’ Amazon Wishlists (http://lakeviewptsa.org/fundraising/amazon-wishlists/)

Staff Appreciation Week

Teacher Appreciation Week is in May. There is a Staff Appreciation committee which plans the events for the week, and then each class carries them out. In the past, we have put together a student scrapbook (supplies provided to each class), a class gift, and a flower day. While the Room Parent is the contact person for this week, please feel free to ask other parents to help or take charge of a task.

More Ideas

If you want to take on more as Room Parent, check with the teacher to see what else might be helpful to them. Some other room parents have done the following:

• gathered contact information from all the families to make a class contact list
• organized a celebration for the teacher’s birthday (or 1/2 birthday)
• organized a group gift at the winter holidays (for those who want to participate)
• created a Facebook group for the parents to easily make connections and share information
• pointed parents to the teacher’s Amazon Wishlist of things they would like to have for their classroom

Budget

The PTSA does not provide a budget to Room Parents, but you will probably need some money. Usually the Room Parent collects donations from families at the beginning of the year to pay for a gift during Teacher Appreciation Week and the 3 parties each class has during the year. The Party Parent is in charge of the parties, but many Room Parents find it simplest to collect one time during the year and share the money. Your teacher can give you some guidance on how much the parties cost.

Questions?

You can always email the Volunteer Coordinator if you have any questions now or at any point during the school year.