ROOM PARENT GUIDE

 

WHAT IS A “ROOM PARENT”?

Room Parents are the official liaisons between teachers and families. As a Room Parent, you may be asked to recruit other parents to help plan class events, coordinate class gifts, assist teachers with classroom supply requests, and other requests from your classroom teacher. 

 

Room Parents are also an important link between the PTO and their classrooms. Room Parents are asked to share information about monthly PTO meetings (including meeting reminders and sharing the meeting minutes), passing along information on fundraising events, and encouraging parents to volunteer for events like the Kindergarten & 3rd Grade Mingles and Book Fair.

 

Two Room Parent Volunteers are assigned to each classroom (whenever possible) to share the work. Some teachers may want a lot of help (or very little); talking with them at the beginning of the school year is a great way to learn what’s expected of you as a Room Parent in your particular classroom.

 

WHAT IS THE TIME COMMITMENT?

Room Parents can expect to spend about 2–5 hours per month on various tasks. It varies by teacher and grade, but generally you can anticipate the following:

1. Communications (1–2 hrs/month): Send emails to parents, Coordinate volunteers for events or classroom needs, Relay information between teachers and parents.

2. Organizing Class Parties (2–3 times/year): Plan and coordinate food, activities, and decorations, Recruit volunteers and collect donations. Typically 2–4 hours per event, including prep and day-of involvement.

3. Teacher Appreciation (1–2 events/year): Organize small gifts or group cards for birthdays, holidays, or end of year, Help promote events for Teacher Appreciation Week. 

 

WHAT WOULD MY RESPONSIBILITIES BE?

Different teachers have different needs — and your responsibilities may vary from grade to grade. But all Room Parents share some things in common: a desire to pitch in, great organizational and communication skills, and the willingness for helping out in a hands-on way. 

 

Here are some things you may be asked to do:

1. Help the teachers communicate with parents. This includes emailing with parents to ensure that families have the information they need to effectively participate in classroom activities.

2. Plan & organize class events. In addition to schoolwide celebrations, individual classes host their own events. As a Room Parent, you’ll sign up volunteers to donate time or supplies, send out reminders about upcoming events, meetings, field trips, and needs.

3. Foster inclusive cultural events. Not all cultures celebrate seasonal events like Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas or Valentine’s Day. Room Parents work directly with teachers to plan inclusive cultural events and ways to celebrate them (hosting a “winter festival” that recognizes Hanukkah and Kwanzaa, for instance, instead of a “Christmas party”).

4. Recruit other parent volunteers. You don’t have to go it alone! Finding other classroom parents to volunteer and delegating specific tasks can make things easier. One parent can be in charge of organizing events, another in charge of class communication. 

5. Solicit & collect supply donations. Classrooms always need donations of supplies: tissue boxes, hand sanitizer, snacks for field trips, and the like. Working with your teacher on creating a list of needs and letting parents know when donations are needed will ensure your class has everything it needs.

6. Organize appreciation gifts. We love our teachers and staff — and want them to feel appreciated. If your class decides to do a group gift, Room Parents are responsible for soliciting donations to purchase gifts for teachers for special occasions (which may include holidays, birthdays, or end of the year). Keeping equity top of mind, all fundraising asks for the classroom should always embrace a “give what you can,” sliding-scale philosophy, so families can contribute meaningfully, even if they can’t contribute financially.

 

IMPORTANT NOTE: As a Room Parent, you don’t have to do it all! Know that many classes have two Room Parents, and along with our Room Parent Coordinator, there are so many resources online to help you. Often, other parents in the class are also eager to help. Share your experience & knowledge with incoming Room Parents. If you are a returning Room Parent feel free to give advice and ideas to new Room Parents to help them along in the process.