Reply to Question about Parent Involvement

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I'm an ATS K parent.  (working mom/single mom.)  yes, we have a very involved PTA for schoolwide events and committees.  You are strongly encouraged to volunteer at events like the Fall Fair and International Night, which occur outside of work hours.  There's a back-to-school picnic and a spring BBQ and an end-of-year event.  You're encouraged to attend these events, donate to various things and bake for bake sales.  There are other committees with which you can be involved, but that's your call.

Outside of the school-wide events, kindergarten is supposedly the year when they expect the most involvement from parents.  You are expected to attend kindergarten orientation, kindergarten night in the fall and a kindergarten potluck/info night in late January.  You are encouraged to volunteer in the classroom and on field trips, or to help out the teachers in other ways.  Some parents do, some don't.  The "room parent" tends to be a SAHM, often a parent of an older child in the school who knows the lay of the land.

A lot of kids participate in sports - we have two soccer teams at the K level in the spring and fall, and softball/baseball in the spring.  Many kids participate.

Nobody gets penalized for not doing this stuff.  I don't think the other moms would shun you or anything.  I just have the attitude that someone has to do this stuff, that it takes a village and all that, so I do whatever I can.[/quote]

Another ATS parent here.  I would agree with this.  My only "warning" would be:  Be careful how many things you agree to help with -- I volunteered for one activity, and lo and behold, that parent also runs another one, so now I'm on multiple volunteer lists -- it's fine; I've learned to say "No", but it's taken a little time.  I am a working parent as well, with a decent amount of flexibility in my schedule.  DH is not generally available to volunteer for things as much as I am, but he's gone on the occasional field trip and worked at some evening events (that I've signed him up for!).  I also served on the PTA Board for awhile -- there was never any talk about parents who don't volunteer (except for one occasion when it was a generic "if we can't get anyone to work at it, we shouldn't have it" kind of thing.)[/quote]

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