Class parents are the coordinators of support for your child's class. They help organize support for teachers and class room activities as needed and facilitate a sense of community among the children's families. They strengthen communication between the school and the families. Being a class parent can feel like a lot of responsibility, so be sure to delegate to other parents. This takes the burden off of you and gets more families involved. Most classes have two class parents.
Here are the main responsibilities of a class parent:
- Generate a class list: The classroom teacher may have already
collected parent information. If so, ask if you can use the completed
forms. If they are not available, have parents fill out a form (sample is
in the back) and compile it into a class-list.
- Introduce yourself to the other parents: Send a letter in your child's
folder and provide your contact information. Be sure to let parents
know who you are if you meet them at drop-off, pick-up or anywhere
in between.
- Find out what the teacher wants help with: Teachers vary in what
they will want you to do. Does the teacher want parents to volunteer
in the class on a regular basis? Do they need help with clerical tasks?
Do they want you to organize parents for trips?
- Inform parents of PTA events: Remind parents of events and
activities that are coming up. This is a great way to increase parent
participation in these events.
- Coordinates events: Class parents will organize parents for class
parties (such as the Holidays and end of the year). They will
coordinate with the teachers about what needs to be delegated - food,
activities, etc. Organize a charitable event with the class such as
setting up a clothing or food drive.
- Collect donations and obtain teacher gifts: Be sure to give yourself
time to do this. Start after Thanksgiving for the holiday gift, and after
Memorial Day for the end-of-year gift.
- Inform parents of unexpected changes in class routines: Prolonged teacher absence, snow-days, etc.
- Advocate for families and class: If in issue comes up in your
classroom, help organize families to discuss solutions and connect with the administration
Does this sound like a lot? Be sure to delegate. Just because you are the
class parent, doesnŐt mean you need to do everything. As you get to know
other parents, you can ask them to help out with an aspect of a party, call
some parents about an event, etc. It is good for the whole class to have as
many parents involved as possible. Parents who are available during the day
can go on trips. Parents who are available in the evenings may be able to
make phone calls. Included in this packet is a sample letter for getting other
parents involved.
Here are a few ideas on how to nurture the community of the classroom:
- Organize a class event outside of the school early in the year so
parents get to meet each other. This goes a long way of fostering good
relations all around. Some suggestions are meeting in a park, going
bowling, meeting at the zoo, going ice skating. The less expensive the
better. Send out a letter getting suggestions and to find out when most
families are available.
- Take pictures of class trips, class events, etc. Share them with the
class. Collect the pictures for a Memory Book for the teacher and kids
at the end of the year.
- Organize an acknowledgement of the teacher's birthday.
- If enough parents have e-mail, consider setting up an e-group through
Google or Yahoo. This can be a great way to spread information and
get feedback from parents.
- Write a class newsletter. Help consolidate information on events and
critical information that is relevant to the class.
- Summarize PTA meetings in order to help parents feel more in touch
with what is going on in the school, even if they missed a meeting.
The following links are to the templates for the class list with the above information:
