Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Organize Halloween parties.

This gave me a chuckle.

But this is 100% true.

I was a room parent for all the ES years. At that time I was also a WOHM and it hardly took much time. I am pretty low energy but I am quite organized. While I initially put in some effort to get permissions from parents to create a google group, it was extremely easy after that. Not one parent refused to share their info with the group. What they were getting in the google group was quite worthwhile. My time committment was very little once the group was up.

Included in the google group -
- Class directory - super helpful for birthday invites, playdates, carpools.
- Field trip info - date, details, permission slip, chaperone list, photos from field trips shared by the chaperones.
- Celebrations info - date, details, signupgenius link, photos if any - we celebrated a ton of things Fall festival (Halloween party), valentines day party, 100 day of school etc and after I sent out the communication many parents volunteered for things they wanted to do and basically ran the whole show.
- Teacher gift info - Payment info, $ amount, photo of gift, picture of receipts. I kept it simple and the gift was invariably an amazon gift card.
- School info - Early release day, picture day, sports day, bookfair, field/sports day, Reading day, Science fair, art show, international day, talent show, grandparents day, end of school day, graduation party etc. A lot was culled from the school communication.
- PTA info and links to donations for teacher appreciation, muffins for moms, donuts for dad, coffee with principal etc.
- Donations for classroom at the beginning of first and second semester based on what the teacher needed for the classroom - tissue boxes, sanitizer, lysol spray, pencils, crayons, construction paper as well as teacher list for book fairs for class library etc.
- Picture day - 2 weeks before the picture day, I would remind parents to schedule their kids for a haircut, so they all looked well groomed for the picture day. The teachers really appreciated it. Our class pictures looked great. Kids were so well turned out.
- Other events of interest to parents and children - scholastic opportunities, camps, flu vaccine camps

At the end of the year, I deleted the group. Parents were asked to download the pictures that they wanted. My experience was very smooth and hassle-free. I was never lacking for donation, volunteers etc. There was quite a bit of transparency and chitchat was kept to a minimal.

Anonymous wrote:Organize Halloween parties.

This gave me a chuckle.

I was a room parent in Kindergarten and now, again in 3rd. My school has a PTA and is good about giving us templates for emails to send out, expectations, etc. But basically the responsibilities are 1) Coordinate the classroom parties for Halloween and Valentines Day, 2) Collect small, optional donations from families for a class-wide gift for end of year and teacher appreciation week. Then to a lesser extent, act as a contact point for parents who need help with finding out how to join the PTA or are interested in other volunteer opportunities at the school.

Kind of teacher and PTO dependent. But usually organize holiday parties, teacher gifts at end-of-year, maybe teacher appreciation week.

Organize Halloween parties.

My kid is in first grade and I’m interested in becoming a room parent but I’m not sure what are the responsibilities. Thanks!