Perhaps the most direct way to impact your child’s school experience is to get involved in their class. Each child’s teacher will correspond directly with you about specific needs and philosophies – if you don’t hear from them, feel free to reach out directly — but here are some ways to get involved in your child’s class:
- New for 2011/12: Class E-mail Manager (CEM) — This year Administration and Council will use email as a primary method to communicate with parents instead of paper notes in your child’s backpack. Each classroom will require one parent volunteer to manage the School and Classroom emails for that teacher. If you are interested in volunteering for your child’s class, please send an email to jemsustar-school@yahoo.ca with your child’s grade and teacher’s name as the subject line.
- Scholastic Book Orders: Teachers appreciate a parent taking care of processing Scholastic order forms and delivering books to families once they come in.
- School Trips: Teachers often need parent volunteers to attend school trips.
- Class Contact Lists: A class contact list can be really helpful (particularly in younger grades) for busy parents to facilitate playdates, birthday parties etc. so teachers may appreciate a parent taking ownership of this task.
- Sharing Expertise: Teachers appreciate offers to share special skills or talents that tie into classroom curriculum or special class activities (e.g. concerts).
Other volunteer opportunities are available in the school, including:
- The Safe Arrival Program: Each day, several parent volunteers work in the office from 9:00 – 11:00 am to verify student absences and ensure all students arrive at school safely. Contact the office for further details.
- Lost and Found: Kids lose a lot of stuff! and it takes some dedicated volunteers to sort through it all, put it out for claiming, and donate the remaining stuff to charity. Contact Krista Wylie for details.
