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 is, what it entails, and Cheddar Up’s top 5 tips 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. The room parent will often assist in PTA announcements and fundraising coordination. Ultimately, successful communication between these groups enhances the classroom experience for both students and parents by fostering a positive and engaged learning environment.
Your Room Mom or Dad 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 classroom 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.
Creating a Sense of Community
Room parents build a sense of community among parents by facilitating connections, encouraging collaboration, and promoting a positive classroom environment.
Room parents build a sense of community among parents by facilitating connections, encouraging collaboration, and promoting a positive classroom environment.
Top 5 Tips for a Successful Room Parent Year
Get to know your teacher.
Duties will vary based on what grade you are working with and the specific needs of your teacher. Some teachers may have more structured expectations for their room parents. Others might give them more flexibility in how they contribute to the classroom. Chat with your teacher at the beginning to see what they need for the coming year.
Streamline parent communication.
Parents get bombarded with kid-related emails and information. The inbox struggle is real! It’s about efficiency with Cheddar Up’s one-stop-shop solution. Items like snack schedules, volunteer opportunities, class party sign-ups, and signed documents can all be included in your class’s Cheddar Up page. The best part is parents can immediately access it through one custom URL.
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 dashboard — 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. Unlike Venmo, which doesn’t categorize payments, Cheddar Up makes it easy to collect for each separately.
Plan ahead for teacher gifts.
Teacher gifts can sometimes feel like a lot. Don’t fret – Cheddar Up has your back! 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 other 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.
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.
