School_involvement@crossfieldpto.org
Room Parent Team
Information Packet
Crossfield Elementary
2014/2015
Room Parent Team Liaison: Caryn Danoff
Caryn.Danoff@crossfieldpto.org
school_involvement@crossfieldpto.org
General Information
Thank you for choosing to be part of the
Crossfield School Involvement Team as a Room
Parent!
 Being a room parent is a great opportunity to
be involved with you child’s class as well as the
school. This position opens doors to knowing
your child’s teacher, classmates, and other
parents.
 Being a Room Parent, you are never working
alone! Room Parents work as a team
 Room Parent Team Liaison, Caryn Danoff, is
available to support all Room Parents and
teacher communications.
Room Parent Job Description
What is a room parent?
 The Room Parent serves as the liaison
between the classroom and the
parents
 The Room Parent is the main point of
contact for the teacher and works
with the teacher determine needs of
the classroom
 There are several ways to be involved
as a Room Parent Team Member.
The Room Parent Team
The Room Parent Team is a group of parents
working together for a whole class.
 Each class works as a team. Each class needs
1 - 2 parents to act as Lead Room Parents as
well as a team of parents interested in
helping out with class needs and activities.
 Lead Room Parent: Lead Room Parents are
the liaison between the individual classroom
teacher and classroom parents. This
person(s) also work with the Room Parent
Liaison to help organize grade wide events.
 The Room Parent Team: each class will have
a number of members to assist with class
events and decisions. This group helps the
Lead Room Parent(s) organize and plan class
specific events throughout the school year.
Lead Room Parent Responsibilities
Below outlines the overall responsibilities of a
Lead Room Parent:
• Specific details will be expanded upon
 Point of contact between the classroom
teacher and classroom parents.
 Party Organizer for the classroom
 Volunteer Coordinator for the classroom.
 Coordinator for classroom gifts for the
teacher
 Lead for coordinating and communicating to
your class Teacher Appreciation Week
efforts in May. (The week of May 4th)
Lead Room Parent ~ Getting Started
1.
The first step is to set up a time to speak
with the teacher
 Try and do as soon as possible so you may discuss
expectations and upcoming events
 Inquire about the specific tasks the teacher wants you
to do as a Room Parent (i.e. scheduling volunteers,
helping with Tuesday Folders, assisting with class
events)
 Determine how many parties and classroom events
you will be responsible for planning (obtain specific
dates and times if available)

** Make sure to find out if there are any
allergy concerns in the class
 Continue to follow-up with the teacher every few
weeks to see if a new need has arisen
Getting Started
2.
Distribute a letter to the classroom parents
introducing yourself as the Lead Room Parent
and requesting classroom donations
•
•
Refer to Exhibit 1 or Exhibit 1a for Sample Letters
To make it as simple as possible for parents to return
the request for information/donation consider
attaching envelopes pre-labeled “Please send home
with: (Room Parent’s Child’s Name)”
 Include your contact information
 Request contact information, specifically email, from
each parent so that you may inform them of
upcoming events or solicit volunteers
 Outline how much you are asking each student to
contribute and specify what the classroom fund will
cover
•
•
Keep in mind donating to a classroom fund is
completely voluntary
NO funds will be collected for Teacher Appreciation
Week. TAW expenses are funded by the PTO.
Responsibilities: Party Organizer
 Once you meet with the teacher you will have
an understanding of how many class parties
need to be planned:
•
•
Typically 2 parties a year: holiday and end of
year. Teachers may also arrange for a few small
‘celebrations’ for smaller holidays.
Find out the time and date of the party a couple
of weeks in advance to solicit volunteers to help
and to bring in necessary items
 Class Parties seem to run the most smoothly
when several themed stations are set up in the
classroom for the children to rotate though.
Please check with your teacher for their
organizational preference.
•
Some examples are:
1.
2.
3.
4.
A Craft - All supplies need to be provided
A Snack - i.e. decorate your own cupcakes
A Game
A Book
**The above can be tweaked for the older grades such as 2
games instead of a book. Feel free to be creative and
adjust as necessary.
Responsibilities: Party Organizer
 Send-out a SignUp Genius (www.signupgenius.com)
to recruit volunteers to help at the party and to
request supplies needed
• SignUp Genius is a free online tool for creating
and managing volunteer sign-ups and group signups
• If you have never used SignUp Genius a video
tutorial can be found:
https://www.signupgenius.com/index.cfm?go=w.Welcome
• There are a variety of sign-ups to select from and
the site will even send out reminders if you
choose
• Should you have any questions regarding
creating a sign-up, feel free to contact the Room
Parent Team Liaison
(caryn.danoff@crossfieldpto.org); she will be
happy to walk you through.
Responsibilities: Volunteer Coordinator
 There may be several times throughout the year
that Lead Room Parents will asked to solicit for
volunteers for either classroom activities or PTO
sponsored events
•
The best way to reach out to the class is to
create a Sign-Up Genius Form as soon as you are
informed about the event
•
Be specific when asking for help—include the
exact times and dates and outline exactly what
the commitment is
•
Several days before the event make sure you
remind your volunteers about the upcoming
event (Sign-up Genius can even send event
reminders)
•
After the event try and remember to thank
those that helped
Responsibilities: Class Gift Coordinator
 There are 2 times a year that the Lead Room
Parent coordinates gifts for the teacher on behalf
of the class: December Holidays and End-of-Year
•
•
The class fund will have already been collected at
the beginning of the year so it can be the Room
Parent’s discretion how to allocate the funds
In The Kindergarten classrooms and classes with
Special Ed. Teachers, keep in mind that the
Assistant Teachers should be acknowledged as well
 In order to figure out what type of gift or gift card
your teacher may like, it may be a nice idea to send
your teacher a “getting to know you” questionnaire
in the beginning of the year
•
See Exhibit 2 for an example
 Feel free to be creative with the gifts
•
You may decide to include the children’s personal
pictures, written sentiments, etc. along with a
traditional gift
 Communicate to the class the gift that was
purchased for the teacher(s) so everyone
is aware what their funds were used for
school_involvement@crossfieldpto.org
Thank You!!
 Thank you again for choosing to be a
Crossfield Elementary Room Parent!
 Please contact Caryn Danoff at
caryn.danoff@crossfieldpto.org
throughout the year with any questions or
concerns