Assisting Parent Duties

Assisting Parent Program

Parent-involvement is essential to the success of Valley Oak Charter. To this end, each family is required to support the program through a combination of assisting parent duties, committee work, attendance at Parent Advisory Committee Meetings and participation in occasional PAC Work Days.

Assisting Parent Days

Each family is required to sign up for Assisting Parent shifts each trimester, based on the workshops in which your child(ren) are enrolled. For example, if you have one child and he/she attends all four workshops each week, you are required to sign up for a total of four shifts per trimester. A shift is a 9:15-11:00 or 11:00-1:00 time slot on Tuesday or Thursday. If you have more than one child in our program, you add one additional shift total per child. So a family with two children enrolled would be required to work a total of five shifts and a family with three children enrolled would work a total of six shifts during the course of the trimester (10-12 weeks). A family with one child who only attends two workshops would work two shifts total.

Assisting Parent Protocol

   ·  The Assisting Parent (AP) must arrive at school by 9:15 (1st shift) or 11:00 (2nd shift).

   ·  The AP will assist teachers or specialists in their preparation before the workshop begins, instruction during the workshop and clean up at the end of workshop.

   ·  The AP will assist students in their projects.

   ·  The AP will assist younger students to the bathroom, if a staff member is unavailable.

   ·  The AP will monitor the hallway and stairs as requested.

Assisting Parents should be proactive in helping younger children to:

   ·  Sit on a chair or floor as needed (as opposed to running around, etc.).

   ·  Listen when the teacher is speaking.

   ·  Be respectful.

   ·  Move their seat if a child is distracted by a student next to them.

   ·  Respond quietly if a student wants to leave so others are not disturbed.

Signing Up as an Assisting Parent

The AP sign­ups begin at Open House and sign-ups continue for the first two weeks of each trimester. If you have not signed up within two weeks of the trimester, the Assisting Parent Coordinator will assign you AP shifts, including one extra shift, and notify you when to come in. If you need/want specific days to work, it is best to sign up early. The sign up sheets are located on the table with the white board.

Changing Your Assisting Parent Day

We understand that life happens and sometimes you just can’t fulfill your assisting parent commitment on the day you originally scheduled. If you need to change your shift, it is your responsibility to find someone to switch with and mark the change on the schedule. The school roster has the names of those parents who are available as an Assisting Parent substitute. Look on the column marked "Committees." Contact the Programming Coordinator if you have any questions regarding an assisting parent issue. Please give the Program Coordinator at least 48 hours’ notice, so the school has adequate notification of any scheduling changes.

In the event of an actual emergency arising the day you are scheduled to assist on campus, please leave a message on the VOC answering machine so that staff can make alternative arrangements with the Assisting Parent Program Coordinator.