Parent Involvement

Parents can contribute meaningfully and practically to their children's education, both within the school and at home. These contributions supplement those of our hard-working teachers, and benefit the children in several ways:

• By passing on special knowledge of their child, parents enable teachers to help all children reach their learning potential.
• Parent volunteers in the classroom allow for more individualized programming as they help facilitate children's learning.
• Volunteers allow the teacher to work with individuals or other small groups in the classroom.
• When their parents are involved in the school, children gain a greater appreciation for the importance and value of their own individual development, as well as learning in general.

Parents need information about what is happening in the classroom. Similarly, teachers need to know what is happening at home. To make this connection, parents can get involved at the classroom level, through the home/school relationship, and at a wider community level.

Volunteer Commitment

Churchill parents contribute directly to their children's education through a strong volunteer program. There are many jobs to be done: some suit parents who are at home or have flexible work schedules; others suit those who are unable to participate during school hours. Each family should help in one or more of these capacities:

• Regular classroom volunteer: Work individually with a child (e.g., one-on-one reading); facilitate small working groups (e.g., play language or math games, take small groups to the library for research, assist in a drama/play production); or share special talents (e.g., dancing, carpentry, gardening, cooking) via classroom presentations or special activities.
• Classroom volunteer coordinator: Prepare and distribute the monthly volunteer/snack calendar and classroom telephone trees; use the telephone tree to get messages out; recruit parents for class projects and trips; help organize class meetings; and attend CASC meetings.
• Occasional volunteer: Help with special events (e.g., Family Breakfast, skate-a-thon, pizza lunches); assist in a whole class activity (e.g., field trips); or augment a classroom theme (e.g., show slides, demonstrate equipment or procedures).
• Regular library and office volunteer: Assist outside the classroom, although within the school.
• At-home volunteer: Prepare classroom materials, phone, type, support a new family, collect material from the community (e.g., art materials), or organize class fundraising.
• CASC member: Attend monthly CASC meetings, work on a special committee, or represent CASC at meetings of OCDSB groups.

Typically, parents will volunteer based on their strengths and knowledge of or interest in a particular area. CASC maintains a school-wide volunteer database, compiled from information provided by parents through the Parent Involvement Form that is distributed at the beginning of the school year. During the course of the year, volunteers for specific events are recruited using information in this database.

Classroom Volunteers

The basis for our parent commitment begins with the classroom volunteer coordinators. These parents help the teachers communicate with the parents of children in their class. Teachers try to designate their coordinators before the annual coordinators' training session (usually held by the first week of October). In fact, parents will often volunteer for this position even before the first class meeting. Often teachers in the school can help new teachers by suggesting interested parents.

Teachers new to Churchill are strongly encouraged to attend the training session to learn how to work with volunteer coordinators and how volunteers enrich the classroom. When designing the volunteer program, the teacher should incorporate the parents' strengths, knowledge, and interests with the needs of the children. At the beginning of the year, some teachers use a survey form to get this information.

Parents can volunteer for a morning, an afternoon, or part of a day, depending on teachers' needs and parents' availability. Typically, the parent arrives at the agreed-upon time, signs in, and puts on a name tag at the front desk. In the classroom, the teacher provides clear instructions to the volunteer about expectations for their time in the classroom. (A volunteer daybook is a highly effective method of communicating these instructions: it lays out details for activities and lists which child/children the volunteer will work with during each time block.)

Initially, some parents may be more comfortable with photocopying or other clerical tasks, but the goal is to involve parents in facilitating children's learning. It is hoped they will share the rewards that teachers experience when learning takes place for a child, and they will feel encouraged to volunteer in a variety of ways to enrich the classroom and school curriculum.