Room Parents

Role of a Room Parent

Room Parents are the official liaisons between teachers and families. They volunteer from the start to the end of the school year. Most classes opt to have two Room Parents to help share the work. Some teachers may want a lot of help, while others may not need much.

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Responsibilities of a Room Parent

All teachers will have different needs, and responsibilities change from grade to grade, but all room parents share a desire to pitch in, great organizational and communication skills, and the time, energy, and enthusiasm for helping out in a hands-on way.

 

Here are some things you may be asked to do:

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• Create a class roster -- get permission from parents to share email/phone contact info for parents and students to interact outside of class

 

• Collect classroom funds - for class parties/ events & teacher gifts, track and notify families how funds were spent

 

• Plan class parties - coordinate with your child’s teacher and other room parents/helpers to plan class parties. Customarily this includes: Halloween, Winter Holiday, Valentines, and End of Year (End of Year event is sometimes a collaboration with other classes from the same grade - see our list of Rio traditions)

 

• Organize class gifts - send birthday, holiday, End of Year greetings via email collaboration with parents. Group gifts for teachers are encouraged at your discretion, and will be dependent on the amount of funds pooled from the class’s families. 

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• Organize Teacher Appreciation Week - this annual event happens in May, and room parents come up with fun ways to celebrate their teachers

 

• Share communication - push out weekly/biweekly emails from the Room Parent Coordinator on upcoming school wide events, which you should edit for your classroom as necessary. Send day-before reminders about Spirit Days.

 

• Yearbook - find a parent volunteer from your child’s class for yearbook pages.

 

• Spring Auction basket - put together themed Class Basket/Project for Spring Auction (you will get information on this closer to the event). You can do this yourself or find a volunteer from your class.

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You don't have to do all of this alone!

Most classes will have two Room Parents, and it's a good idea to divide your responsibilities at the beginning of the year so you can share the load and manage expectations. There will also be help from other parents in your class, who are keen to help, but aren't able to take on the Room Parent role.

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Throughout the year, you will get support from the RDMPA Room Parent Coordinator. They will send you information to pass out to families, and have resources to help you get established in your role.

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Find out more

Have a questions about the role of Room Parents, or want to volunteer as one? Email us using the form below and we will connect you with our Room Parent Coordinator.