Room Parent FAQ

No.  This was the case during COVID: the school had restrictions in place as to how many parents could be in the classroom at any given time and room parents were given priority.  This is no longer the case; any parent can volunteer in the classroom.  Room parents can reach out to parents directly to solicit volunteers for classroom parties or other needs.  However, the number of volunteers in the classroom is ultimately the individual classroom teacher’s prerogative.

Yes – you and any other parent that wishes to volunteer at Bancroft in any capacity (classroom events, field trips, cultural arts, library help, etc) require a CORI form to be on file with the school. Andover Public Schools require a new Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) check every year for anyone who volunteers at a school or school event. As a room parent, please fill out the APS CORI check form ASAP and return it in person to a school administrator with an original government issued ID. Blank forms are also available at the front office. It can take 2-3 weeks for your application to process and you will not receive a notification once it’s complete. You can confirm your status with the front office.  We also encourage you to remind your classroom parents to do the same, even if they do not intend on volunteering right away.

For events such as classroom parties or other activities that require any parents to be in the building, we ask that the room parents provide a list via email to Lucy Rizzo (lucia.rizzo@andoverma.us) and Laureen Parvin (laureen.parvin@andoverma.us) at least one week in advance.  The list should have the date and time when the volunteers will be in the building and their full names.  The office will confirm CORIs are in place and will be prepared for their arrival.  Please be sure to CC the classroom teacher on those requests (they should know in advance as well).

• Collecting and maintaining classroom funds from parents to use throughout the year for parties, gifts, special supplies, etc.,
• Acting as the primary point of contact with the classroom teacher(s) for the purpose of event planning and general classroom needs,
• Recruiting other classroom parents to volunteer for events as needed,
• Coordinating three (3) classroom parties (Halloween, Winter and End of Year),
• Coordinating teacher gifts from the classroom (Winter, Staff Appreciation Week (optional, see below) and End of Year, as budget allows).
• Communicating with the other classroom parents throughout they year.

• September:  Collecting classroom funds.
• October: Planning and facilitiating the classroom Halloween party.
• December: Planning and facilitating the classroom Winter party, arranging for classroom gifts for the teacher and IA(s) from all the students.
• May (optional): Arranging for classroom gifts for the teacher and IAs for Staff Appreciation Week.
• June: Planning and facilitating the classroom End of Year party, arranging for classroom gifts for the teacher and IA(s) from all the students.
• Other: As requested by the classroom teacher, help coordinate other events, supply needs, etc.

Throughout the year, you may be contacted by our Room Parent Coordinator and asked to forward on specific information to your classroom parents.  Examples include when we are in need of last minute cultural arts or library volunteers, or to notify them of an upcoming event.  We also encourage you to communicate with the parents after a classroom party or a gift has been given to the classroom teachers to let them know what has been done.

The PTO generates a SignupGenius at the beginning of the year for Classroom Contributions.  We ask room parents to send out an email to all the classroom parents letting them know when it is available, what it is for, how the funds are used, etc.  Please use the sample email below to help collect the classroom contributions:

You have likely already received a packet asking for you to contribute to Bancroft Bucks, which is an important PTO fundraiser that helps the PTO raise funds to run programs throughout the year, including school wide cultural arts programs and field trips.

 

Classroom contributions are completely separate from Bancroft Bucks and go directly towards our classroom. We apologize that we are asking for contributions at the same time as Bancroft Bucks, but we need the funds at the beginning of the year so that we can have the funds for classroom parties and class gifts for the teacher(s) in our class.

 

This year, we’re asking for each child to contribute $25. The easiest way for you to make this payment is by signing up at this link: {ENTER PTO PROVIDED LINK HERE}

 

Please note that if you don’t want to contribute $25 (or would like to contribute even more), SignupGenius also allows you to contribute a different amount.  Thank you!

Once the parents have contributed, the PTO will provide a check to one of the two room parents; we encourage you to decide amongst yourselves who will handle/track the money throughout the year.  That person will reimburse parents for party supplies, teacher gifts and any other classroom needs throughout the year.  We encourage you to plan ahead with the funds so you don’t run out before the end of the year.  Feel free to reach out to us at any time for help or suggestions, we even have a handy Excel spreadsheet template for you to use if desired (coming soon).  If there are funds remaining at the end of the year, you may use them to purchase items for the classroom that the teacher needs.

Please do not solicit parents for classroom contributions to be made directly to you.  We run classroom contributions through the PTO so that donations can remain confidential from other parents in the room; that way no one feels obligated to donate when they may not be in a financial position to do so.  The PTO also keeps track of the total funds a classroom has to spend; if room parents are also collecting funds, we have no way of making sure that those donations are being used for the classroom.

• Be sure to coordinate with the classroom teacher to see how they envision the event before you begin any formal planning.  Ask them what their preferences are in terms of activities, food, volunteers, timing, etc.
• Reach out to other classroom parents to see who would like to help that day.  Be sure to remind them that they need an approved CORI form on file for the current school year prior to volunteering in the building.  This can take some time to process, so they should do it far in advance of the party.  Confirm with the classroom teacher in advance how many parents are permitted to be at the party at once (this may vary depending on the teacher, time of year and type of event).
• Classroom parties are typically broken down into 3-4 stations that involve games, crafts, and snacks.
  • Work with the classroom teacher on the best method to split up the kids into groups.  Colored glow bracelets are a great, inexpensive way to keep track of who is in what group.
  • Station ideas: snack station, reading a themed book, doing a themed craft (decorating trick or treat bags, decorating mini pumpkins etc.), doing an active game or activity (freeze dance to music, toilet paper mummies, bowling), doing a class competition between teams (trivia, word searches etc..)
  • In accordance with the district’s wellness policy, as well as state and federal regulations, any foods or beverages served to students during the school day must meet a certain set of nutritional standards. Be sure to follow the APS guidelines for any snacks brought into classroom parties or events (*this link is currently broken on the APS website, we’ve reached out to them to update it, in the meantime see below for a graphic we had made that outlined the details*).  APS also provides catering for classroom parties!  Click here to learn more or to place an order.
• If you do not have enough classroom funds for party supplies/snacks, then you can send a SUG asking parents to donate supplies for the party.
• Halloween Party: Remind the parents in advance that no masks/weapons for costumes are allowed at the parties.
• Parking on party days can be tricky, come early and don’t park in the lot where parents line up for parent pickup if its an afternoon party or you may get stuck.
• No matter what grade you’re working with, be sure to take and save photos for the 5th grade yearbook!  If you want to share them with the parents, please do so through the classroom teacher only so that they may adhere to any parent requests to omit their child(ren) from photo distributions.

• There are state laws surrounding the monetary gifts that can be provided to teachers.  Individuals can gift a teacher anything with a value of less than $50.  Classroom gifts however have separate rules, a classroom gift cannot exceed $150.
• Traditionally two bigger gifts are given, one at the winter break party and one at the end of the year party.
  • Often classes do something personalized for part of the end of the year gift (book with pages from each student, photo of the class that everyone signs, fingerprint picture) etc..
• Classes may opt to do something smaller in addition for teachers birthdays and Staff Appreciation Week (balloons, cupcakes, flowers, cards from the class etc.)
• Please be sure to include the Instructional Assistants that are a part of the daily classroom experience as well.
• Not sure what to do for the teachers?  Ask them to fill out this form at the beginning of the school year for inspiration!