Parent volunteers - crazy recess

[Anonymous]

Is there an official MCPS policy regarding parent volunteers or is it determined school by school? Specifically, I am referring to parents volunteering during lunch or recess. I am hearing crazy stories from my kid about recess being out of control and it seems the school could use more support during recess. I know the volunteer policy has changed since COVID. Do most teachers/admin welcome parents volunteering?

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't want parents there

[Anonymous]

This is very, very kind of you to think about. I recommend talking with your school's principal. Thank you.

[Anonymous]

Some schools do allow it. Reach out to the principal. Those staff shortages you’ve heard about are hitting lunch and recess hardest. At our school we have some kindergarten and 1st grade recesses with 70 kids and 1 para.

[Anonymous]

I am not with MCPS but are teachers not assigned recess duty? I am with PGCPS and teachers have to watch the children at recess. Recess is always crazy and does not have much to do with supervision. Kids are outside and free! Are students getting hurt, OP? Are students bored? Do they have equipment? What exactly do you mean by crazy?

[Anonymous]

My kids’ middle school PTA organized something last year to be an extra adult during outdoor lunch/recess. It was identified as a need via parent communications so the PTA stepped in to coordinate sign-ups. Does your school have a PTA? If so, join (if you haven’t already—it’s cheap) and ask them to facilitate this (or volunteer to take the lead with their blessing. I’m pretty sure most PTAs would really welcome the initiative on your part.
If there isn’t a PTA, you might consider starting one, but that is a lot more complicated than just signing up to chaperone lunch. Perhaps you could ask the school if you could form a school- sanctioned group to organize lunch volunteers and avail of school communications channels to get the word out.

[Anonymous]

I’m not in the same district but regularly volunteer at recess at my kids’ elementary school and the teachers really love to have parent volunteers there. Ask the teacher(s) and/or the school secretary to see if this is possible at your school,

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am not with MCPS but are teachers not assigned recess duty? I am with PGCPS and teachers have to watch the children at recess. Recess is always crazy and does not have much to do with supervision. Kids are outside and free! Are students getting hurt, OP? Are students bored? Do they have equipment? What exactly do you mean by crazy?

No, Mcps teachers do not do recess or lunch duty. It is in our contract.

[Anonymous]

You should get in touch with the administrator or Pta to find out about volunteering.
We have always (covid years not included) welcomed parent volunteers at lunch and recess at my mcps elementary. It’s. great way to get parents involved and have more eyes on the playground.
You probably need to complete the Child Abuse and Neglect training. It should be linked in the “parents” section of the mcps website.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some schools do allow it. Reach out to the principal. Those staff shortages you’ve heard about are hitting lunch and recess hardest. At our school we have some kindergarten and 1st grade recesses with 70 kids and 1 para.

+1 Even before Covid, some principals were avoidant about parent volunteering at recess. Principals can head off volunteer issues by coordinating with the PTA to run a training to set clear boundaries on what parents should or should not say/do.

[Anonymous]

Our elementary school allowed parent volunteers.

[Anonymous]

Thank you all - I will follow up with the teacher and school. I don’t think the teachers do lunch or recess. My DD says there is a lot of pushing, kicking, hitting, etc. and that the recess teachers (paraeducators?) are nice but it seems there may be several extreme behavior issues within the class/grade. It is concerning that there are only 2 adults for 70-80 kids. I am a member of the PTA and will speak to them about this, and try and get something set up. Do volunteers need to be background checked by MCPS? Does MCPS usually try to hire more support staff throughout the year? I guess I’m also wondering if these recess behaviors are typical? My older DD is in middle school and I remember volunteering during lunch when she was younger. I remember there being the usual chaos from kids running around but I am getting more worried about things being out of control this year. I also think the recess teachers are doing a great job and don’t want my feedback to be a reflection of them (if that makes sense).

[Anonymous]

Don't worry about the recess teachers' feelings OP. Some of what you're describing is common (see 2 adults for 70-80 kids) and some of it is due to pandemic lack of socialization. No, McPS does not try to hire more support staff throughout the year. They don't have the funds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is there an official MCPS policy regarding parent volunteers or is it determined school by school? Specifically, I am referring to parents volunteering during lunch or recess. I am hearing crazy stories from my kid about recess being out of control and it seems the school could use more support during recess. I know the volunteer policy has changed since COVID. Do most teachers/admin welcome parents volunteering?

Elementary school always had lots of parent volunteers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thank you all - I will follow up with the teacher and school. I don’t think the teachers do lunch or recess. My DD says there is a lot of pushing, kicking, hitting, etc. and that the recess teachers (paraeducators?) are nice but it seems there may be several extreme behavior issues within the class/grade. It is concerning that there are only 2 adults for 70-80 kids. I am a member of the PTA and will speak to them about this, and try and get something set up. Do volunteers need to be background checked by MCPS? Does MCPS usually try to hire more support staff throughout the year? I guess I’m also wondering if these recess behaviors are typical? My older DD is in middle school and I remember volunteering during lunch when she was younger. I remember there being the usual chaos from kids running around but I am getting more worried about things being out of control this year. I also think the recess teachers are doing a great job and don’t want my feedback to be a reflection of them (if that makes sense).

Yes all volunteers go through. Child abuse training


You should ask about this on the.mcps. board