ELC Grade Chair’s Report
Hurlbutt PTO 2011-12
What is a PTO ELC Grade Chair:
The Grade Chairperson shall be responsible for all their respectful Organizationsponsored grade and class activities, such as room parents, class lists, field days, grade
tips or any any other needs the Grade Coordinator may deem as necessary.
ELC Grade Chair’s role:
The ELC grade Chair reports directly to the PTO Grade Coordinator and serves as the
liaison between the PTO and the Pre School room Parents. You will be forwarding a lot
of emails to Room Parents regarding information or volunteering, and the room Parents
will forward these on to the Parents in their class.
NOTE: “Privacy” is a huge issue in the ELC. While there are special needs children
mixed in with “typical” ones, you are not supposed to know who is who, and some
parents do not want that information shared. You cannot share the class list with anyone
until EVERYONE fills out their waiver form which gives permission for you to include
them in class lists and emails.
You will need to make copies of the Permission form and either give it to the teachers to
Put in the kids backpacks or have it available in the ELC classrooms at Back to School
night. Once you have all the forms, everyone can be included in ELC correspondence. If
you have one or two holdouts, don’t let it hold you up. Send out what you need and just
don’t include those people until you get those forms.
Throughout the school year, you will need to attend the monthly PTO meetings.
Over the summer, the Grade Coordinator will will receive calls and emails from parents
who want to be a room parent for their child. Room parent selection cannot take place
until late august when the class assignment packets have been mailed to all incoming
students. Once the class lists are finalized, the Grade Coordinator will meet with all the
grade chairs to select 2 room parents for each class.
Preference in Room Parent Selection is as follows:
Never been a room parent before:
If there are no more than two parents in this category, then work with the Grade chairs to
select them or use a lottery system
Never been a room parent for that Particular for that particular child:
If there is one or none in the first category and there is more than two parents in this
category, then work with the Grade chairs to select them or use a lottery system.
Everyone else
If you have a class with no one, look at the class list and you and the grade chair will
make phone calls. If you have one volunteer for a particular class, ask that parent in they
have another parent in class that they would like to work with, and start there.
When both Room parents for the class have been selected, let them know. You will get
copies of the room parent hand book and various PTO sponsored activities sign-up sheets
from the grade coordinator that you in turn will give to the room parents. You, as the
ELC chair should hold a small meeting with the room parents to give them those
documents and explain the room parent role.
Those sign-up sheets, along with class room sign up sheets for parties, etc will be used
for Back to School night. Make enough copies for each class, and spread them out on the
tables in the classroom. Have the room parents to ask the teachers what items they would
like on their wish list. Those items can be requested in the form of a giving tree at back to
school night ( a tree with the items they wanted written on paper apples ) or Popcorn with
popcorn Kernels, something creative. Make sure the room parents encourage the parents
to take one.
Back to school night is when you will introduce yourself and give out a welcome letter
with your name and this year’s room parents. It is very important to recruit volunteers for
upcoming events that night. You may ask the room parents to provide bottles water for
the parents, but not necessary. The back to school letter is sent home in the back pack the
day of back to school night.
The classroom parties are worked out between the room parents and the teachers. It is
the room parents responsibility to recruit item that no one signed up for.
There are also events throughout the year that the ELC may or may not participate in.
Field day they usually do not. And for Staff appreciation day, some teachers do want
coverage for lunch/recess, some don’t. As the ELC chair, you can contact the teachers
directly and ask them.
The PTO Grade coordinator will contact you regarding the policy on Holiday and Year
end gifts, you may suggest to the room parents that they may want to collect the monies
for both events at the time. Gifts for specific therapist should be handled on an individual
basis by each parent in the class.
The ELC does an end of the year celebration picnic with all three classes. The teachers do
an individual performance/show in their class, and then all three classes meet for the
picnic. You as the ELC grade chair can decide if you want to have the room parents
collect money from each family to purchase pizza, drinks, dessert, or have parents
volunteer to bring those items in. Make a note that children other than the ELC children
are NOT invited to participate in the picnic ( siblings, etc) Ask parents to help set-up,
clean up, etc.
A lot of Hurlbutt Parents have no idea that there is a preschool, including some PTO
parents/board members. Try to be aware of events going on and be proactive. If you have
any questions, you can ask the Grade Coordinator , or even the ELC teachers.
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