Summit Hill Elementary School

Summit Hill Elementary School

Room Representative Handbook

2012-2013

Thank you for volunteering your time to serve as a Room Representative for your child’s classroom this year. As a Room Rep, you are the primary connection between your classroom’s parents and the teachers, the school, and the PTA. You play an essential role for the parents ofyour classroom in theseareas.

Recruit volunteers for class, school, and PTA functions. Some examples include:

Math HelperDiscovery Lab

Art EDventuresField Day

Reading HelperWriting Helper

Mystery ReaderFun Fridays

Assist coordinating class, school, and PTA events. Some examples include:

Curriculum NightPortfolio Night

Class Parties (2 per year)Basket Raffle

Fall CarnivalCRCT Snacks

Facilitate monthly communication amongst the parents in your classroom, the school and the PTA.

Description of Events and Programs

To help better understand Room Rep responsibilities and volunteer opportunities, the following pages are listed descriptions of the majority of events and programs that Summit Hill offers.

1.Curriculum Night: This is a school function designed to inform the parents about each teacher’s curriculum for the year. The Room Rep’s role is to solicit volunteers for the programs supporting the classroom’s curriculum, school events, and PTA functions. Most teachers will ask the Room Rep to introduce herself and explain the volunteer opportunities available for the year and request volunteers fill specific roles. These volunteer roles are crucial to helping the classroom run smoothly throughout the year. Room Reps should stress the importance of these roles when asking for volunteer assistance.

Prior to Curriculum Night, Room Repsshould meet with their teacher to determine when and how many volunteers are required for the classroom. The Room Rep should add any positions the teacher requests to the Volunteer Opportunities Sheet (which is provided for you) and then allow parents to sign up for these volunteer positions during Curriculum Night. The Room Rep is responsible for preparing volunteer sign-up sheets for classroom activities other than the Fall Carnival which will be provided by the Committee Chair.

Class Directory – You should receive completed Contact Information for Class Directory forms that the parents filled out at Sneak –A- Peek from your teacher when you meet with him/her. If you have any NO’s,do not include that child in the class directory. Make special arrangements with that parent on how they would like to be communicated with. The information should be transferred to the Class Directory format that is available on the website. The Directory should be reviewed with the parents on Curriculum Night to ensure information is accurate. Once you have entered the information into the Class Directory, email the completed form to Deborah Stewart at . Also, this year parents can enter this information online – take the time to tell them this at Curriculum night. They should do this even if they filled out a form at Sneak-a-Peek. The form is found on the PTA website, on the Back To School tab.

2.Art EDventures:This is a PTA sponsored curriculum enrichment programdesigned to teach the children (SNPK to 5th grade) about famous artists and also provide the children with an appreciation for art via fun, age-appropriate, hands-on art projects. The program is intended to supplement classroom learning by providing cross-curricular lessons.

All the lessons are held in the ArtEd art studio located in a portable behind the school. Our goal this year is that each class will have one parent volunteer who agrees to serve as the ArtEd lead for that class for all projects. Grades K-2 will do three projects this year and grades 3-5 will do two projects. No art background or talent is needed. This individual would attend training on the projector, etc and receive the materials they need to prepare for the activities. The PTA supplies all of the program information, training and art supplies that the volunteers will need. No out-of-pocket expense is required. It is the responsibility of the class Room Rep to secure 2 additional parent volunteers to assist with each lesson.

Each grade has at least one ArtEd Grade Level Chair (GLC). The GLC is available for assistance, training and any questions regarding your specific grade level programs. In addition to the GLC’s, the PTA Administrator for the Art EDventures (2012-2013) is Cindy Nesbitt who is available to answer questions and assist in training parent volunteers. Please refer to the PTA Directory for GLC’s and all contact information.

ArtEd lessons, inclusive of the art project last 1 hour. The ArtEd lessons are pre-loaded on a laptop PC dedicated to the ArtEd program. In addition to the lesson, there are various reference books, artist prints and music CD’s available in the ArtEd studio.

3.Discovery Lab: This PTA program is designed to educate students on a variety of scientific topics using a hands-on approach. The Discovery Lab (DL) is funded by the PTA and is operated with the help of parent volunteers.

Each time a class is scheduled to attend the lab, 4-5 DL parent volunteers are REQUIRED to assist during the lab in order for the class to participate. This year, sign up for Discovery Lab will not be during Curriculum night as it has been in the past. Approximately 2-3 weeks prior to a lab, the room reps will get an e-mail with a copy of the lab attached, asking them to find 1 lab leader and 4 volunteers for their upcoming lab. It is the responsibility of the class Room Rep to secure volunteers for each lab. When volunteers are found, the room rep will e-mail the list of volunteers to their grade level chairperson. If there are not enough parent volunteers, the respective Room Rep is responsible for making every attempt to secure enough volunteers prior to the lab date in order to prevent cancellation of the lab. The DL Grade level chair will send a reminder e-mail to the Room Rep several days prior to the lab for the Room Rep to forward to the volunteers to confirm their lab date/time. The DL Schedule for the year is posted on the Summit Hill Elementary website-just click on “Discovery Lab.”

No experience or science background is required for Discovery Lab parent volunteers. IT IS ADVISED THAT PARENT VOLUNTEERS ARRIVE 20-30 MINUTES PRIOR TO LAB TIME TO BECOME FAMILIAR WITH THEIR PARTICULAR LAB STATION. For parents who volunteer to be Lab Leaders, the additional commitment includes attending a lab for training purposes, set up and participation time for the lab. For parents who can not help out during lab time, there are volunteer positions available for volunteers to launder the lab coats.

The PTA Discovery Lab Administrator for 2011-2012 is Kristine Woodliff.

4.Class Parties: The Fulton County School System allows for classroom parties twice a year. Summit Hill classes will host a Winter Party and a Year-End party. The Valentines party has been dropped. Dates and times for these parties will be communicated to you later.

Discuss with the teacher how he/she would like to prepare for class parties. At Curriculum Night, the teacher might have you provide sign-up sheets for parents to be involved in party preparation. As far as monetary contributions, it is suggested that all Room Reps ask their class families for a one time donation of $20at Curriculum Night. This is to cover teacher gifts at the Winter Party, Year-End and possibly Birthday. Kindergarten Room Reps can collect an additional $5 to cover teacher gifts for the assistants. This contribution is voluntary and does not include materials for the parties or a contribution for the Basket raffle. Collecting money at Curriculum Night is your best opportunity for collecting money from those who wish to contribute. It is suggested that party planning teams are set up for the parties and that food and party favor donations are made at that time. There is more about teacher gifts later in this manual.

As soon as possible, Room Rep should discuss with the teacher on how they prefer their parties to be organized. Three weeks prior to the actual event the Room Rep or Parent Party Volunteer should provide teacher with ideas for consideration. It is important to keep in mind that the teacher has final approval as they know best what works for their students. Per SHE policy, siblings are not to attend classroom activities.

5.Fall Carnival:Fall Carnival is scheduled for Friday, October 5, 2012 5:00-9:00pm. This PTA program is designed to be a fun family event but is also PTA’s MAJOR FUNDRAISER

The Room Rep’s are responsible for recruiting (7) volunteers from their class to work a 1 hr hour shift at Carnival (if they can work more hours – even better!) It is imperative that we signup all of our Carnival Volunteers ASAP!!

Email the parents in your class and get (7) volunteers committed to work a minimum 1 hour shift at carnival. Send their names, emails and phone #s to the Carnival Volunteer Chair, Cara Murray at mmediately. A follow-up email will then be sent to the parents with a link to the online registration sheet where they can choose the shift they want to work.In addition, email the carnival Food Coordinator with any food donation sign up information. (TBD)

6.Silent Auction:TBD

7.Bingo Night: Bingo Night will be held during the first quarter of 2013, typically in early February but the date will be communicated once finalized. Each class will be asked to contribute a themed basket for the Basket Raffle.

a.Determine a class theme for your class Raffle Basket - many parents have connections to a wide variety of items that can be donated for these baskets. Before choosing a theme, ask the class and the parents for suggestions and ideas about both themes and donations.

b.Email the Raffle Basket Coordinator, Barbara Grissom, at with your basket theme choice by November 18, 2011. Acceptance of the themes is on a first come first served basis, based on the submission time of the e-mail.

c.Request donations (money or items) from the class parents which support the theme;

d.Prepare the basket and an itemized list of all contents with an approximate value of the basket and a large bow. The List of Items and the Value should be printed on one page for display with the basket;

e.Email Barbara a list of all items being included in your class basket. This information will be used to advertise and inspire attendance at Bingo Night and raffle ticket purchases.

f.Deliver the basket, list and bow to the school on the morning of Feb. 2nd.

g.A “Most Creative Basket” judging will be held on Thursday afternoon, Feb. 2, 2012 at 2:30pm. Winners will be announced during morning announcements on Friday Feb. 3rd.

1st Place - 10 raffle tickets per child in class

2nd Place –5 raffle tickets per child in class

3rd Place –2 raffle tickets per child in class

Basket Previews will be held on Friday 7:30am-3pm on the cafeteria stage.

The teachers also have wonderful ideas and know a lot about what has been done over the years. Contact Barbara Grissom @ if you need help or suggestions.

As Room Reps you are not to go out to our community partners or other businesses in this area to ask for donations.

8.Box Tops/Campbell Soup Label Collection: This PTA program raises money by collecting Box Tops and Campbell Soup Labels from specific food items purchased by parents. You will be asked to communicate about collection events. Remind them that there are “class rewards” for participation. The PTA contact is Tammy Cochran at .

9.Scholastic Book Orders: This classroom function offers the parents the opportunity to purchase children’s books from Scholastic. Your participation will depend on the teacher.

10.Field Day: This school function is a celebration in May in the form of outdoor games. The Room Rep is responsible for recruiting enough parent volunteers to work in shifts at the PE teachers assigned areas.

11.Environmental Ed: TBD

12.Community Outreach: This PTA program has been designed to support and give back to our community. Our SHE families will be asked to support a variety of events such as: Movie Night Cans & Coats, holiday time donations, support for senior citizens and local charities. As a Room Rep, you will be communicating these events to your families.

13.Scarecrow Harvest: Your teacher might want to participate in this Alpharetta tradition where local classrooms create colorful scarecrows to celebrate the spirit of fall harvest. The scarecrows are placed along Hwy 9 and awards are given. The event takes place towards the end of September.

14.Portfolio Night: This school function is designed to allow studentsthe opportunity to showcase their school work for their parents. The Room Rep may be asked to assist in organizing the event.

15.Staff Appreciation Events: This PTA program was designed and sanctioned by the National PTA to recognize the service and dedication of teachers. Summit Hill will recognize its teachers on a special date in the Spring. More information will follow.

16.Photography/Publicity:Many of the candid shots in the yearbook come from parents in the classroom who are attending the school sponsored events. The teacher might ask you to have a sign-up sheet for class photographer. Pictures of the students should be placed on a CD and turned into the yearbook staff at the appropriate time. Information about this will follow later in the school year.

17.Volunteer Time: Please sign in each time you go to school to volunteer. All the time you spend at home working on school volunteer projects should be reported to Debbie McHugh at . Remind the parents in your class to do the same.

Helpful Administrative Details

Communication: Communication is one of the main roles of each classroom’s Room Rep(s). Email is strongly recommended because it is timely, accurate, and efficient. An email Distribution list can be used to remind parents about upcoming events (parties, fieldtrips, etc) orto communicate last minutes changes. Ask your parents what method they prefer- sometimes you may need to call a specific parent instead of email. Remember to keep a copy of all your emails sent and always CC the teacher. Determining teacher’s gifts is the only exception.

Electronic Files: If you would like electronic copies of the forms provided in this folder or any other forms during the year, please email .

Photocopy Procedures: Paper for Room Rep use will be kept in the PTA Copy Room.Do not use Summit Hill paper that is stored in the Copy Center – this is for school use only. Room Reps are to use the ID code number “8124” when making copies on the PTA Copy Machine. Using this code helps the PTA track Room Rep paper usage. When copying is complete, clear the ID Code Number from the copy machine.

PTA Membership: You are asked to be a member of the Summit Hill PTA as a Room Rep. Please pick up a membership form at training or Curriculum Night if you haven’t joined yet.

PTA Calendar: This year the PTA calendar will be available on-line and synced with the Foundation and School calendars. Go to SHEPTA.ORG and scroll along the right side of the page. There are “Happening Now” dates and below that is a place to click for “Click for More Dates that Rate”. This is the entire calendar. It will have ongoing updates to it so make sure to visit the page often.

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