Archdiocesan information on what is needed to volunteer 

Disclosure statement for volunteers

Protecting God’s Children

In order to start regularly volunteering in October 2023 we are asking that you have all copies of your clearances into the main office and the rectory (keep a copy for yourself) by 9/29 /2023.

Clearance questions please contact Jenn Laub: jlaub@sainthelenaschool.org

Volunteer Meeting Dates and RSVP Form for all Families:

Thursday 9/21 at 7pm  or Friday  9/22 at 9am.  Volunteer Meeting RSVP Form

Volunteer Opportunities:

Homeroom Parents

Volunteer LunchLunch and Morning Recess

Art Help

Library, Computer and Class Aide

Photocopier Helper

Greeter positions -Please check back throughout the year or contact Mrs. Ryan if you are looking to help. 

Homeroom Parent

Grades Prek-8th  2 minimum per homeroom needed:

This is a wonderful and fulfilling volunteer position. Responsibilities should be well delegated among as many families as possible. It is assumed that all families will function as assistants to the homeroom parent. We are always seeking new faces  and old faces for this job; so don’t be afraid to volunteer if you haven’t sought out this position before. Any “new” Homeroom Parent will be given a “Point of Contact” person  to assist them, whether it be another parent from your class that has experienced the grade before, or last year’s Homeroom Parent. As the Homeroom Parent, your responsibilities include the following:

·  Meet with your teacher early in the year to introduce yourself as their Homeroom Parent and determine your teacher’s expectations of your role. Determine with your teacher any events/parties for the upcoming school year. Touch base with your teacher on a regular basis and keep the lines of communication open.

·  Recruit Assistant homeroom parents from your class to head up events/parties. This can be done at the beginning of the year or several weeks before the event/party.

·  Establish a budget and collect monies (usually $20 – $25) at the beginning of the year to support events/parties/teacher birthday/teacher appreciation gift/end of year gift, etc. It is not the position of the Homeroom Parent to “fund” any expenses from their own pockets. On very rare occasions, you may need to request an additional nominal amount from the families.

·  Act as a liaison between the teacher and the parents to remind families of upcoming events when the teacher requests this of you. You will receive an email distribution list of all the families in your classroom.

·  You may be in charge of a special teachers gift, birthday, teacher appreciation and end of the year also, so budget for them needs to be taken into consideration.

Teacher Aide

Based on lower grades and teachers’ requests.

A wonderful position, and in some cases, you may have direct contact with the students. In this position you may be involved in any number of tasks assisting the teacher with their day-to-day operations. It may involve filing, “prep” work for upcoming projects, photocopying, etc. These responsibilities vary from grade to grade. You will establish an agreeable schedule with your teacher.

Computer Class Aide

Grades K,1,2 only

This is an important position with lots of interaction with the students. Computer Aides are especially key with the lower grades just learning the finer points of computers and how to type. It’s also a great way to learn new tricks yourself!

Library Class Aide

Grades K only

A fun way to interact with the children. You will help them find books to check out and assist the librarian with checking in/out books and filing.

Greeter

The function of this position is to greet all visitors and volunteers to the school. You will be stationed in the office and operate the buzzer to admit visitors to the school. The receptionist will ensure that the volunteer sign-in sheet and student sign-out sheet are completed properly and completely. The school secretary, as needed, may assign other duties.

    Attendance Checker

   This is a very simple, but necessary task whereby you will ensure that the school has been      contacted by the parents/guardian of any student marked absent by the teacher. Calls are made in the morning to families that have not contacted the school.

     Brown Envelope Stuffer

     Though we now have email blasts every week, occasionally it is necessary to send home the brown envelope on Wednesdays with hardcopies of information for each family. The Brown Envelope Stuffer will spend, usually less than an hour, stuffing the family envelopes on Wednesday mornings to be sent home with the students. Contact the school secretary the day before to see if it is necessary to come in that week.

Photocopier

Photocopiers operate out of a separate photocopy room and are key to the ongoing operations of the teachers. On your given day, you will find, next to the machine, any teacher’s directions for photocopying certain materials for classroom instruction. Once copying is complete, you will place the copied materials in the teacher’s mailboxes. Our teachers rely heavily on photocopiers. Training on the photocopy machine will be offered for any photocopiers. We are looking for one to one and a half hours daily- can be a new person every day. M-F

Art Express

Art Express volunteers work together in each class to set up, present the lessons and clean up afterward. Classes are an hour long and scheduled to meet twice a month. In addition, each class will need a team of parent volunteers to organize class projects.  Art Express is a program that is run solely by parent volunteers.  Parent volunteers are needed for each class.  The classes that do not have volunteers, unfortunately, will not have art. All you need is an interest in art, a desire to work with the students and some volunteer time. It truly is a fun and creative way to interact with your child and their classmates. We are hoping for as many helpers as possible. If you do not want to or can not commit to being a class art lead there are still opportunities to help. Your lead will send out a sign up for each class throughout the year. All that is needed is your clearances prior to attending, no art experience required!

Morning Recess

7:50 am-8:10am.

If you drive your child to school each morning and have a few extra moments, this is the job for you. Assist the teacher assigned to morning recess in monitoring the students in the lot and patrolling the unloading of students from cars and buses.

Lunch Program

Meal Distribution Setup

Times would be 11:50-1:05 typically. Lunch periods are for grades K-8.

Our lunch program is totally volunteers willing to prepare (not cook a thing, more or less plate and serve) and offer hot meals for our children. You would be responsible for arriving early enough to prepare the meals for the day and distribute the hot meals to the students during the lunch periods. Brief training will be provided. You would not be responsible for purchasing food items.

Counter Helper

This is another lunch program with lots of student interaction. The Counter Helpers “man” the counter where students purchase beverages and assorted snacks and desserts during the lunch period. We are hoping to bring this back this year!  Counter helpers are also asked to take note and send information to Kate Pedicino with an accurate inventory (on certain days- if she is not there) of items that need to be replenished.

Lunch Recess

11:55 am-1:05 pm M-F.

A fun way to interact with the entire student body as well as with your own child. You will assist the teacher assigned to lunch recess in monitoring the students in the outdoor lot. On rainy days, you will assist inside the building, patrolling the classrooms along with the 8th grade safeties. This is a great volunteer position for those with toddlers. Warning…you will tie a lot of shoelaces! Recess guidelines will be given to all those who sign up via a google document to be used as a reference and help answer any questions that may arise.