Room Parents and Volunteers

LTE Room Parents 

Thank you for volunteering to be a Room Parent this year! Your support makes a tremendous difference for our teachers and kiddos, as you know. 

Below is a summary of the main things Room Parents are responsible for, as well as the school policy on collecting money and contributions, communicating with parents and the approach to Teacher Appreciation this year.

Room Parent responsibilities:

Halloween Party

Winter Party

Valentine’s Party (a low key event)

Your Grade’s contribution to Teacher Appreciation (in conjunction with the other room Room Parents in your Grade for your assigned month) – See below

Co-ordinate the end-of-year teacher gift from your class for those that would like to contribute to a class gift

Teacher requested support (e.g. 2nd Grade Coco House Party, AR Points party)

The school requests that healthier food options be provided at room parties please. Suggested foods include things like pretzels, popcorn, fruit, juice boxes, water, cheese sticks, bagels, popsicles, etc. Please avoid things like Krispy Crème.

Always be mindful of food allergies in your class, especially nuts, when purchasing food.

Please talk to your teacher as your first point of reference for ideas and what they may want (or not want) for parties etc. They are a wealth of ideas and experience! They will most likely prefer you to keep it simple.

Collecting money or contributions:

It is policy at LTE to NOT ask for bulk funding for the year from parents. (i.e. asking everyone for a donation in August for you to take care of everything for the year.) 

A Sign Up Genius is the easiest way to ask for contributions, for each event.  List the items you need and when. If you need particular things that are easier for you to purchase, (e.g. if you know specifically what is required for craft material) you may ask for some cash donations as part of the Sign Up Genius. Please be clear what they are for and keep receipts.  

When collecting cash for the teacher end-of-year gift, it is easiest to use Venmo or leave an envelope at reception where people can drop donations off. Please also keep a record of money collected and receipts for items purchased (handy too if there are any returns required!).

Remember,  parents are busy and need several reminders! Don’t be afraid to set a deadline and send a few extra reminders.

Communicating with Parents:

The easiest and most effective way is for you to simply ask the teacher to forward your email to parents on your behalf to parents. Many classrooms and/or grades have directories, but many families choose not to be included.

You can also put a letter into Friday Folders. Most Friday Folders are put together a couple of days prior, so you will need to have material ready potentially by the Wednesday before, to make sure it makes it in.

Teacher Appreciation:

Rather than appreciate teachers only at the end of the year, after receiving very positive feedback, LTE PTO coordinates year-round teacher appreciation.  Each grade is assigned a month, and room parents are responsible for organizing the contributions for the month.

There will be a list of all the monthly planned activities and your grade will be assigned one to do, rather than you having to choose a month and come up with an idea together. You will then liaise with the other Room Parents in your grade to collect funds or contributions from all your parents, and potentially volunteers too. There is a budget that the PTO has allocated to help supplement this.

More information will be sent out about this when school starts, including who to contact for help and information.

Thank you again, we sincerely appreciate everything you do!

LTE PTO