Read below for updated Room Parent duties for the 2023-24 school year. Questions about room parent duties? Email roomparents@millsparkpta.com
Room Parent Community Board Learning Experience Library
Room Parent links
2023 Room Parent Training Handout
Yearbook photo folder email addresses
Classroom money collection spreadsheet
Upcoming Volunteer Opportunities
new for the 2023-2024 school year
Thank you for volunteering to be a room parent! The Room Parent Coordinator will be adding your name to the notification list for the room parent community board. What does this mean? Whenever an email is sent out to you with information (for you or for you to forward to your classroom), it is also posted on the room parent community board so you can search all previous communications on one page. Please email Natalie at roomparents@millsparkpta.com if you are not receiving emails that notify you of new posts. You can also find the community board on our menu under Room Parent Corner.
Please remember to be an active PTA member - complete the PTA membership form in your account and submit the $20 dues. While it is never mandatory to join the PTA, we recommend you join as you will be the PTA "representative" for your classroom.
learn more about being a room parent
New to MPE? Never been a Room Parent? No problem, keep reading to learn more about being a Room Parent.
What is a Room Parent?
A Room Parent is a volunteer with 3 main roles. Typically a classroom has 2 (sometimes even 3) Room Parents who split up responsibilities.
1. Provide support to your classroom teacher. This can include the following:
- planning of 2 or 3 Learning Experiences during the course of the school year (will depend on your teacher's wishes). Learning Experiences are about an hour to an hour and a half of fun for a classroom typically including a craft, a snack and a game. Formats vary according to grade and teacher. Room Parents come up with ideas then create sign-ups for parents to contribute materials and for parents to attend and supervise the Learning Experience itself.
- creation of a sign-up for parents to volunteer to run Character Education sessions. More information about this can be found here.
- additional teacher support (directed by your child's teacher; varies from class to class/grade to grade). Eg. creating sign-ups for classroom supplies that are needed, creating sign-ups for "mystery readers", organizing a parent directory early in the year, etc.
2. Act as a communicator between the PTA and your child's classroom parents. Our Panther Press updates and email blasts only reach families that have actively subscribed to our mailing list. Room parents ensure that the PTA information can reach all MPE families as each one of you will have emails for your classroom provided to you by your teacher. Pertinent and time-sensitive information will be sent from the PTA board to Room Parents who are then needed to forward this information onto their classroom parents. This year, the PTA board will post the info on the room parent board (you will receive an email when there is a new post once you subscribe to the message board - see above).
3. Organize classroom collections for the following:
- donation collection from classroom parents for raffle baskets in the spring. Your classroom will be teamed up with 1 or 2 other classrooms to create a themed raffle basket.
- gift money collection for homeroom teacher's holiday or end-of-year gift
2023-2024 Timeline
Aug-Sept:
- sign up to be a room parent: tell your teacher you would like to be room parent
- discuss with your child's teacher what their expectations are for Learning Experiences as well as any other type of support that is needed
- meet/email co-room parents and decide how you will share the duties
- create a mailing list for your classroom and introduce yourself to your classroom (you can do this when you are forwarding your first email from the PTA)
- attend Room Parent meeting on Sept. 29th at 9:15 am in the cafeteria
During the school year:
- forward emails to classroom parents about PTA events
- plan Learning Experiences according to teacher's guidelines
- make Character Education sign-up
Dec:
- consider/organize class gift for homeroom teacher and instructional assistant
Feb-Mar:
- organize class-specific gift/events for Staff/Teacher Appreciation Week
Mar-Apr:
- organize Spring Carnival raffle basket team with fellow Room Parents
- collect donations for raffle basket
May-June:
- consider/organize end-of-year class gift for homeroom teacher and instructional assistant
