Fall is in the air, the kids are back in school, and you’ve just signed up to be a room parent. First-timer? We’ve got you covered! Here, we get into what a room parent entails and Cheddar Up’s top tips and templates for absolutely crushing your room parent duties this school year!
What is a Room Parent?
First, from all the parents, teachers, and caregivers out there, thank you for stepping up! It plays a vital role in any successful classroom and is much appreciated.
The room parent is the liaison between the teacher and the parents of the students. They will often assist in PTA announcements and initiatives. Successful communication between these groups enhances the classroom experience for both students and parents by fostering an engaged learning environment.
Room parents build a sense of community among parents by facilitating connections, encouraging collaboration, and promoting a positive classroom environment.
Your Room Parent Duties
Now that you know the purpose of a room parent, let’s dive into the duties you may be responsible for throughout the year.
Communication
The most important of all room parent duties is communication. Relaying essential announcements, reminders, and information about activities, events, and volunteer opportunities to parents keeps the classroom wheels turning.
Classroom Parties
Those gingerbread houses and Valentine’s Day boxes that come home with your kiddo? Most likely the handiwork of a room parent! Room parents assist the teacher in organizing these fun classroom parties. This may include coordinating volunteers, planning games and activities, and ordering food and supplies.
Volunteer Coordination
It takes a village to support school-age kids. Room parents recruit volunteers to assist with reading sessions, art projects, field trips, and more.
Teacher Support
Room parents can lighten their hard-working teacher’s load with tasks such as making copies, preparing materials for lessons, organizing resources, and other administrative duties.
PTA Assistance
Your school’s PTA plays a vital role in fundraising and relies on room parents. Room parents help with PTA fundraising initiatives, such as organizing a classroom auction item, promoting events, selling spirit wear, and communicating important PTA announcements to parents.
Teacher Gifts
Giving an end-of-year teacher gift allows parents to show their gratitude and appreciation. It is up to the room parent to collect, choose, and deliver gifts to their deserving teachers.
Need gift ideas? Check out Cheddar Up’s Top 20 Gift Card Ideas for teachers.
Top 5 Tips for a Successful Room Parent Year
Get to know your teacher.
Duties will vary based on the grade you are working with and the needs of your teacher. Some teachers may have structured expectations for their room parents, while others might give them more flexibility. Chat with your teacher to see what they need for the coming year.
Streamline parent communication.
Parents get bombarded with emails and information. Simplify your communications with Cheddar Up. Information like snack schedules, volunteer opportunities, class party sign-ups, and signed documents can all be included in your class’s group page.
Save time by scheduling reminders for payments and forms.
Busy parents are grateful for payment reminders, and Cheddar Up eliminates the time it takes for room parents to send them. You can schedule reminders straight from the message center — and with a simple click, send only to those who haven’t paid.
See how much you’ve collected for each event at one glance.
Many times, room parents are juggling collections for classroom parties, teacher gifts, and PTA needs. Cheddar Up tracks and organizes everything into a tidy dashboard for you.
Plan ahead for teacher gifts.
Check out our best tips for collecting money for teacher gifts and give yourself some prep time. Count backward three weeks from the class party (or designated gifting day), and that’s your start date. Give yourself at least one week each to plan, to collect money, and to prepare the gift. Add an extra week if you’re ordering something to be shipped.
Your Room Parent Toolkit
To help simplify things for you, we’ve curated some of our favorite room parent collections for you. Just create your account, add your template, and update for your classroom. It’s as easy as 1-2-3.
You are now armed and ready to tackle your room parent duties like a seasoned professional! Engaging in your child’s class can be a rewarding experience and is very much appreciated by your school’s community.
Need to coordinate parent volunteers?
Use Cheddar Up’s free sign up features to create sign ups for class parties, field trips, and more.
