Main Content

A great way to help your child's class is to be a Room Parent. Room Parents are especially helpful in making sure we are able to pull off school-wide fun events for the children, like Halloween and Spring Carnival. They do this by organizing parents from each classroom to help. They also coordinate their classes' help in providing a wonderful staff appreciation brunch four times a year (which will be announced later in the fall).

Room parents also help the teacher in ways that he or she might need. Note: It can be very helpful to have two room parents, to provide back-up support, and to share the responsibilities. The job could be divided according to "school wide" events and "in class" support. The phone calling for school-wide events can be done by phone by a parent who is not able to be at school during school hours.


Coordinating as a Room Parent in the Classroom

Teachers will want to work with their Room Parent(s) in different ways, but here are some examples of possible Room Parent roles:

• Help inform and coordinate parents to provide classroom support, such as special project supplies, curriculum
  enrichment, presentations, etc.
• Coordinate permission slips and parent chaperones for field trips, depending on how many are needed.
• General "networking" with classroom parents, to help everyone get to know each other better, and coordinate general
  "parent to parent" support where needed, e.g. yearly class picnic, transportation issues, car pooling, homework
  questions, etc.


Coordinating as a Room Parent for School-Wide Events

The Principal, the staff and the PTA organize several school-wide events during the year. Examples are: Beginning of School Year Class Picnic, Winter Fair, Halloween, African-American Heritage Celebration, Lideres Latinos/Hispanos Role Model Day, Spring Carnival Arts and Science Fair for students and families, and appreciation breakfasts for staff. Room parents are needed to coordinate
volunteer help from among the parents in your child's class. For example:

• Each class is asked to run a "booth" at spring Carnival (i.e. food, games, prize table), so Room Parents are asked to
  recruit parent volunteers to work specific time slots at your class's booth during the Carnival.
• Each grade takes a turn providing dishes for a staff appreciation brunch (which lasts all day) once during the year, so
  when your child's grade is up, Room Parents are asked to call parents and coordinate a nice variety of dishes to be
  brought for the brunch.