LA JOLLA ELEMENTARY
PARENT TEACHER ORGANIZATION
THE ROLE OF THE ROOM PARENT
Volunteering for the role of a room parent in your child's classroom is one of the key roles in our PTO Team. Overall, the emphasis is on the importance of communication, following school policies, and supporting the teacher and school community in various activities and events by serving as a liaison between the teacher, families, and the school administration.
Key responsibilities of a La Jolla Elementary Room Parent are:
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Ensuring all parent volunteers have TB clearance to be a volunteer on file.
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Discussing teacher expectations and assisting with organizing volunteers, parties, field trips, and other classroom activities.
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Creating a class contact list and communicating regularly with parents (see templates below).
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Coordinating and helping plan parties and special events including arranging for parent volunteers and sign-ups for bringing items (everyone must follow the teacher's guidelines regarding food, candy, and soda).
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Coordinating celebrations for teachers throughout the year including organizing gifts and tokens of appreciation for birthdays, holidays, end-of-year gifts and Teacher Appreciation Day.​
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Finding parent volunteers for various positions, such as Library Liaison, Enrichment Class Helper, International Festival Coordinator, Photographer, Art Show Coordinator, and Gala Basket Coordinator.
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NOTE: All Room Parents to attend the Parent Volunteer training on August 20th, 2024 at 8:30am in the Library.
ROOM PARENT RESPONSIBILITIES
SCHOOL &
CLASSROOM VISITS
Sign in at the front office and wear a name badge every time you are on school campus.
TUBERCULOSIS (TB)
CLEARANCE
Every volunteer at school must have a tuberculosis (TB) clearance on file. In some cases this means that individuals must take a TB skin test at a medical facility and bring proof of a negative result back to your school. You must turn in the test results and the volunteer application to your school in order to volunteer. Clearance is approved through the school nurse and approvals are good for 4 years. Please contact the school nurse or Susie Payne for more details or queries.
COMMUNICATION
& YOUR TEACHER
Reach out to your teacher as soon as possible to discuss their expectations. Every teacher will have different expectations.
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Be willing to help organize volunteers, classroom parties, field trips, special classroom projects, photo days, count Disaster Comfort Kits, support PTO-sponsored activities, etc.
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Create a class list of names, addresses, phone numbers and e-mail addresses, with information and permission provided by each family in your class. Distribute this list via email to each family. To save time, contact Lisa Schrift at the front office to obtain a class list with names/emails and create a google document or editable PDF to share for completion.
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Create your teacher's "Favorite Things' List which will be used throughout the year for gifts and ideas for birthdays and teacher appreciation.
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Communicate with your teacher and with parents regularly via email, phone or flyers/letters sent home. Each teacher will request different amounts and types of communication from their room parents.
CLASSROOM PARTIES
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Discuss parties with your teacher (ie. Halloween, holiday) specifically dates, times, themes, special requests. Arrange for other parent volunteers and sign-ups to bring various items (food, drinks, games).
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We often use Signup Genius. Support your teacher’s wishes and preferences. Whether e-mail or sent-home papers, be sure to include the five “W’s”: who, what, when, where, why. If you need to collect money or treats for class functions, the room parent may send home a teacher-approved note to the parents requesting the contribution needed.
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Food/Candy/Soda: Students are not allowed to eat candy or drink soda at school, as stated in the school handbook. Each teacher will tell you what can be done, if anything, to celebrate birthdays and parties in general.
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Collections and Gift-giving: If you are collecting for a teacher gift, a suggested dollar amount is $20 per student. However, it is important to convey to families that it is entirely voluntary and the gift will be from the entire class whether they participate. Per school policy, you cannot ask parents for one lump sum to cover gift contributions at the beginning of the year.
TEACHER CELEBRATIONS & SCHOOL EVENTS
There are 4 opportunities to celebrate the teachers throughout the school year:
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On their birthdays (see attached Staff Birthday List)
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End of the year Holiday gift
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Teacher Appreciation Day
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End of the school year
For each opportunity you must communicate with your classroom to collect money for a class gift, flowers, cards or all of these. Feel free to get creative!
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NOTES:
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Teacher Appreciation Day is a nation-wide week to celebrate and appreciate our teachers. This year (2025) will happen on the week of May 5-9, with Teacher’s Appreciation Day on Wednesday May 7, 2025.
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Support PTO and Friends of LJES events at school. See YEAR AT A GLANCE for event dates.
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Encourage parents & families in your classroom to participate and volunteer at PTO and Friends of LJES events. Most school PTO events are free, but may request a small contribution of time or treats from parents.
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Recruit Project Volunteers for your classroom for the following positions. Back-to-School Signup Nights are a great time to recruit some if not all of these roles. Please note if there is no specific volunteer, you (the Room Parent) will either fill the role or work to find a parent to help out.
KEY CLASSROOM VOLUNTEER ROLES INCLUDE:-
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LIBRARY LIAISON who helps students select books during library visits and return books to shelves. Generally help twice a month for about an hour.
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ENRICHMENT CLASS HELPER who helps during enrichment classes rotations, once a week for about an hour. No experience necessary. This can be a shared position.
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INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL VOLUNTEERS to host country booths on the day of the festival in addition to volunteers who help manage the games and activities at the event. Each class will be assigned a country to support and Room Parents along with the Country Booth Hosts will coordinate classroom activities to learn about their country. NOTE: This year’s International Festival will be on Friday, April 25, 2025.
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CLASSROOM PHOTOGRAPHER to take class photos throughout the year at various events, to be shared with the class via a Google Drive. The volunteer is also responsible for submitting to the yearbook, Tidings and The La Jolla Light on occasion. IMPORTANT: All parents must complete a Social Media Release Form indicating their preferences. The Room Parent and Photographer must ensure wishes are adhered to for every child in their classroom.
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ART SHOW COORDINATOR whose role is choosing (1 hour), making (2 hours), and setting up a class display of artwork (1 hour) for the annual art show.
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GALA ART PROJECT VOLUNTEER who design and produces an art piece with the students that will be sold at the gala, which will be held on March 15th, 2025.
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GALA BASKET COORDINATOR who creates and solicits donations for a basket of items to be auctioned at the March 15th, 2025 Gala.