SLES Room Parent Guidelines
Class Parties
· When?
Classes may have three parties per year; these are typically held in the fall, winter and end-of year. Plan ahead with your teacher as to when these parties will take place. Parties should be limited to the end of the school day and should last no longer than an hour and 15 minutes including clean-up. Exceptions are kindergarten and classes scheduled for specials at the end of the day.
Parents and Siblings
Specifically indicate if parents are/are not invited to the party. Consider making the majority of your parties during the year for “kids only” and/or creating a system in which parents sign up to attend one of the three parties held during the year to keep the amount of people in the classroom manageable. Only those parents who are helping with a party should attend the event. This cuts down considerably on the amount of “chaos” in the classroom and school-wide and may also help alleviate some of the inevitable guilt parents feel if they aren’t able to attend an event. Be sure to remind parent volunteers that pre-school aged siblings should not attend class parties for safety and supervision reasons. With 25+ kids in some classes and parents attending many of these functions, the classrooms are simply not equipped to also handle siblings. Teachers are encouraged to follow this practice and as a result will be asking all parents to leave siblings at home during class parties and other events.
Cultural sensitivity
Parties should focus on a general theme that is culturally inclusive (fall festival, winter holidays, season of lights, spring fling, etc.). Teachers and room parents must show sensitivity toward students who choose not to participate due to religion or culture. Teachers will plan alternate activities for these students during the celebration. Don’t schedule parties around religious holidays in which some students may be absent, fasting for religious purposes, etc. A calendar will be provided and should be reviewed before teachers and room parents select dates for class parties.
Communication with parents and school
Parents should be informed about the party and general theme after the theme and activities have been approved by school administration. Flyers and emails that inform parents about upcoming parties and food that will be served must be sent to the classroom teacher prior to distribution. Teachers will pass it along to the administration for approval. Communication, including graphics and language, should be culturally sensitive. Any emails discussing logistics, details about events that have already been approved do not need to be cleared by the administration.
Teachers will notify office staff about the date and time of class parties so they are aware there will be more visitors than usual on the day of your party.
· Food
Teachers will notify room parent(s) of dietary restrictions but will not provide names of students due to the need to keep this information confidential. Room parents should not contact parents concerning their child’s dietary restrictions. Please do not indicate food restrictions for your party are due to children with allergies or medical conditions or indicate the names of those students with allergies. This includes written communication and verbal communication with parents and students. Please note that it is strongly encouraged, but cannot be required that you avoid serving foods that are restricted for some students. Room parents are not responsible for managing dietary restrictions—this is the responsibility of the teacher. Rather, do your best to be sensitive to any children in the classroom with dietary restrictions when choosing food for parties.
In accordance to county guidelines, parents must be informed of the foods the class will be serving, including brand names (Brach’s candy corn, Orville Redenbacher Natural Popcorn, Minute Made apple juice boxes, etc.) at least 10 school days prior to a party. Please note you should not provide the class with ingredient labels for food brought to a party. Food labels may change at any point; parents of children with dietary restrictions need brand names to make decisions for their children. No substitutions or additions can be made after parents have been notified of the food that will be served.
Parents are encouraged to buy store-bought food for class parties rather than homemade food so that it is clear what ingredients were used in the case of any dietary restrictions. Encourage healthy snacks in moderation or alternatives to food, e.g. community service-related projects the class can do together.
Related to Valentine’s Day, to protect the health and safety of all children, elementary students in Loudoun County Public Schools are not permitted to distribute candy or other food items to classmates. Candy brought to school by students, including candy attached to Valentine’s Day cards will be returned to the parent.
Money collection
Room parents may choose how to fund their party. Many room parents estimate how much each party will cost and request (you must phrase this to parents as a request, not a requirement) a lump sum donation for all parties for the year. Other room parents prefer to ask for parents to donate specific things for the party and/or volunteer time via email, a Google doc spreadsheet, etc.
Class directories and lists
Class directories are opt-in only. Due to privacy reasons, neither you nor your teacher can distribute children’s last names and home information without parents’ written consent. If you do not have 100% participation, you must send home a hard copy of any communication with those children whose parents did not give permission to opt in to email communication.
List only first names of students when asked to provide a class list (i.e. Valentine’s Day).