Room Parent Guidelines 2014-2015 Tustin Ranch Elementary
Congratulations, and thank you for offering to be the Room Parent this school
year. The documents in the Room Parent section under PTA of the TRE website
will be your planning guide for the upcoming year. Here you will have all the tools
necessary to plan all the wonderful events that our school participates in.
Getting Organized
Being the Room Parent is a very important and rewarding job. The best thing you
can do to make things run smoothly is to have an accurate roster with contact
information of your class. You must ask permission for the information to be
shared. At no time can you take information from the teacher or school unless a
parent has agreed to release the information to you.
PTA
Another requirement is to assist your teacher by reaching out to your parents to
fill all the volunteer spots for your classroom. This becomes very important for Art
Masters, Read Across America, and end of year events. In some cases, your
teacher may have taken care of this. Please discuss this with your teacher. There
may be times when the PTA needs to emphasize important information to your
classroom and will ask you to communicate that to your parents.
Correspondence
Any letters or flyers sent to the families in your class must be reviewed first by
our Room Parent Coordinator, Jennie Anderson. You may e-mail it to
jennieanderson1977@gmail.com for approval. Please allow 2-days to get it back
to you, so you may be sure to give your flyers to the teacher/or put in their boxes
before 9:00 am on Thursday, if you would like it included in the Friday Folder.
Classroom Events/Parties - 3 TOTAL PARTIES PER SCHOOL
YEAR
The Tustin Ranch teaching staff has requested:
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Simplicity: Keep it simple: a small food item and a short, age-appropriate
craft or game. Most teachersallocate only 30 minutes for parties. 
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Equality:
Talk to the other Room Parents in your grade level and your
child’s teacher during the planning phase. This does not mean that all
classes in the same grade level have to do the same thing, but if someone
has a great idea, please share it with the other room parents. 
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Clean-up: Allocate time at the end of the party for the kids to clean up.
Make sure there is no food in the class trash you may want to ask our day
custodian, Alvaro, for a few trash bags. There is a vacuum in each wing if
necessary.
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Talk to your teacher before planning anything:
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When will the event be held? 
Do they have any recommendations from prior events? 
Does the teacher want to be involved in the party? 
Would they like you to coordinate the entire party (phone calls, letters
home, etc.), or will theytake care of it?
Do they want to invite parents or limit the number of parent helpers for the
party?
Are there any children with allergies? (nuts, eggs, wheat, dairy, etc.)
Other requests
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Be on time for the event—arrive early to set up. 
Test the craft or game before the party and bring a finished sample. 
Bring all supplies with you. Do not rely on classroom supplies without first
checking with theteacher. 
We have a diverse student population at our school. Not all of our
students celebrate the Christian holidays, but they do enjoy the seasons
(Winter Fest, Spring Fling, etc.). 
Plan a structured party. Do not allow the students to roam the
classroomwithout direction. 
Do not bring balloons on campus for parties. 
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Collecting Money for Parties 
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Most families are happy to contribute food, drinks, materials or money to
defray expenses. Being a Room Parent does not mean that you pay for
everything. Be specific in your requests —we’ve found this to be very
successful. For example, ask John to bring 15 juice boxes, Mary to bring
35 napkins, etc. 
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If asking for cash contributions, please refrain from asking for more than
$2.00 per party. This should easily cover the cost of the food, drinks and a
small craft. If you need to request more, discuss your plans with Principal
Barquer. 
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Please collect money for each event as they occur. Do not collect money
for the entire year.
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Collecting Money for Teachers’ Gifts 
Many classrooms and parents like to present their teacher with an expression of
their appreciation for the teacher’s hard work throughout the year. Winter break
and year-end are the most popular occasions. You may coordinate this as Room
Parent. The following approved specific wording that must be used in your
request for gift contributions:
“If your family would like to contribute to a class gift, please enclose your
contribution in the attached envelope. Please let me emphasize that a
contribution is entirely voluntary and that whatever amount your family
would like to contribute will be welcomed. A card from the entire class will
be included with the gift certificates.”
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• Please note that there is no specific amount requested, so you may not say
“please contribute $5.00.” 
 A contribution is voluntary and not required. 
• The card must have the names of ALL families on it whether the family
contributes or not. 
• Our teachers have expressed their appreciation for gift cards. Please ask them
where theylike to shop, or ask another teacher if you’d like to surprise your
teacher. 
• Please do not ask for contributions for minor holiday gifts, weddings, baby
showers, birthdays, etc. Families may give gifts on an individual basis if they
wish. 
• The teacher’s birthday may be celebrated following his/her policy for the
children’s birthdaycelebrations, usually with a small treat. Please recognize
that there may be many different food allergies (nuts, dairy, eggs, etc.), and
health concerns prohibit some children from being able to participate. 
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Teacher Appreciation Week (May 4th – 8th)
This should be a non-classroom gift event and should take minimal instruction
time. Students may bring a flower to make a bouquet, make a card, etc. More
details will follow in the spring.
Teacher of the Year Awards Dinner
Some of our TRE teachers wish to attend the awards dinner in May, and our
room parents may help coordinate donations from the classroom to pay for their
ticket. More details will follow in the spring.
Collection of Hours
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• Please record the hours you dedicate to volunteering your time at Tustin Ranch
Elementary by emailing Alex Mestas (mestasgirl@gmail.com), PTA Historian,
your hours each month. 
• Collection of hours is important to PTA for many reasons. Maintaining federal
tax exemption is one of the most important reasons. An organization granted
nonprofit charitable status must receive one-third of its support from the
general public. Valuation of service hours expended in carrying out the
purposes for which it was formed will positively affect the public support ratio of
PTA. 
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Questions: Contact Jennie Anderson at jennieanderson1977@gmail.com. 