Open Classroom

6 members 

Our goal is to develop a comprehensive and compelling charter renewal application and secure district approval for the charter renewal which is due in May 2027.  The committee will consist of long-tenured staff and parents, including current and past Steering Exec members, teachers and staff, and current families.

What we do:

• Develop a charter renewal application that: 
  • Demonstrates our school's success in meeting its educational objectives, legal obligations, and the needs of its students and community.
  • Articulates a clear vision for the school's future, including specific goals, strategies, and innovations for continued improvement.
  • Ensures the renewed charter aligns with all applicable state and district requirements.
• Secure approval from the governance bodies of Open Classroom.
• Secure district approval for the charter renewal, enabling the school to continue providing high-quality education to its students for the next charter term.

10 members

Our goal is to foster connections, inspire and motivate the OC community, and build relationships through events and activities.

What we do:

• Back-to-School Picnic: book the pavilion, facilitate the picnic setup, cleanup, marketing and other tasks (Fall).
• Art Stroll Carnival: plan the carnival booths and prizes, including free activities. Assist in the coordination of volunteers for booths, and facilitate the carnival setup and cleanup (Spring).

Members: 1 representative per classroom, plus 2 Chairs. A Chair may also serve as a classroom rep. Classroom reps are selected by teachers.

Our goal is to help classroom families and teachers feel supported, cared for, and connected by leading meaningful community events and offering consistent, thoughtful communication.

What We Do (Committee-Wide Responsibilities):

• Family Care & Outreach: Coordinate support and outreach efforts for classroom families experiencing major life events—such as welcoming a new baby, or navigating an illness or emergency (Year-round, as needed).
• PTK Dinners: Plan, coordinate, and host 2 dinners for teachers during Parent-Teacher-Kid conferences (October & February).
• Staff Appreciation: Coordinate the Staff Appreciation Brunch and if desired, organize associated community activities to celebrate school staff during Appreciation Week (Spring).

Member Roles & Tasks

Workload distribution is balanced across the committee based on specific roles:

• Committee Chairs

  • Manage the high-level planning, scheduling, and overall coordination of the committee's major events.
  • Serve as the main point of contact for school staff and vendors regarding event logistics.

• Classroom Representatives

  • Classroom Outreach: Act as the direct link for their specific classroom families, facilitating the "Family Care & Outreach" support when a need or celebration arises within their class. 
  • Meeting Reminders: Send out day-of text reminders to classroom parents to encourage strong attendance and engagement at scheduled monthly parent meetings (Year-round).

• • Committee Support: Actively assist the committee chairs with the planning, promotion, and execution of all committee initiatives, events, and projects throughout the year.

3-4 members

Our goal is to effectively coordinate and energize OC committees and to manage marketing and communication of committee events and activities within the OC community.

What we do:

• Coordinate the OC committees: create and promote sign-ups for the committees, welcome new members, and manage changes to the committees (year-round).
• Train committee chairs (fall).
• Support committees as needed (year-round).
• Manage the marketing system to promote committee updates, events, and activities to the community through weekly parent letters, social media, and monthly parent meetings (year-round).
• Maintain the OC Committees shared drive (year-round).
• Coordinate the Art Stroll with the Fundraising, V&PA, and Community Connections committees (spring).
• Lead annual committee audit meeting (spring).

10 members

Our goal is to meet fundraising targets to support our whole-child education philosophy that emphasizes community and individual expression.  This committee will plan, execute, and manage multiple fundraisers.  

What we do:

• Walk-a-thon (September) 
• Silent Auction (winter) 
• Art Stroll: food trucks, retail vendors and concession stand (spring)
• OC merchandise and coffee sales including but not limited to the first day of school, Halloween celebration and Solstice celebration. The Penguin Pride Annual Merch sale and other sale days will occur depending on the desire and initiative of the committee (year-round).
• Manage and promote passive income opportunities, including recurring donations and rewards, Smith’s Inspiring Donations, & Donation Matching Program (year-round).
• Corporate Sponsorships and grants (year-round)
  • Based on committee interest and initiative, the committee may solicit corporations for new corporate sponsorships, apply for grants, and manage paperwork and annual requirements for current corporate sponsorships

• Other events based on committee interest and initiative.
• See our Donation pages for more details.

7 members

Our goal is to collaborate with teachers, students, and the community to cultivate and maintain an outdoor garden space that provides enriching and hands-on learning experiences aligned with the school year. 

What we do:

The Garden Committee focuses primarily on crop cycles that thrive during the active school year (Fall, Winter, Spring). Committee members work together to plan, construct, plant, and maintain the garden while prioritizing student involvement and exploration.  

• School-Year Crop Management: Coordinate planting, nurturing, and harvesting schedules that fit the school calendar. Focus on planting crops that thrive in fall, winter, and spring that students can help nurture while school is in session. 
• Student-Centric Spaces: Partner with teachers to utilize the garden as an active outdoor classroom for science, sensory, and community-building lessons. This can include maintaining areas where students can help with garden tasks such as watering or weeding, or engage in discovery—such as sensory plant beds, themed play bins, or pollinator habitats—depending on committee initiative and available resources. (Year-round)

• Community & Program Connections: Connect with local organizations, agricultural extensions, or community gardens to source seeds, expertise, and resources to enhance the school program (Year-round).

See the Garden page for more details & pictures.

10 members

Our goal is to support the librarian in maintaining a thriving library environment. We will strive to create engagement opportunities for students to inspire a love of reading and an appreciation of libraries. A key focus will be managing the annual Book Fair.

What we do:

• Annual Book Fair: Plan, promote, manage sales,set-up and take down of the fair. (Fall)
• Art Stroll: Set up a booth with a craft/activity and distribute free books. This event is dependent on the number of books removed from circulation and made available for recycling.(Spring)
• Library Maintenance: Assist the librarian with ongoing library maintenance tasks.  Tasks may include but are not limited to:  reshelving books, preparing new books for circulation, and checking books in and out for students. (Year-round)
• Library Displays: Develop engaging displays and themes for the library with a focus on  the display case and end caps. Collaboration with the librarian, other committees, or student groups is recommended. (Year-round)

• Visit our Library Learning Center for more information.

Members: 1 representative per classroom, plus 2 Chairs. A Chair may also serve as a classroom rep. Classroom reps are selected by teachers.

Our goal is to champion and integrate the Open Classroom’s child-centered, learning-together philosophy into our daily school culture. This committee acts as the primary support system for navigating classroom co-op schedules and welcoming new families into our unique community.

What We Do (Committee-Wide Responsibilities)

• Philosophy & Co-op Education: Educate the community on the "what" and "why" of the OC philosophy, including co-oping, through monthly parent meetings, digital flyers, videos, or podcasts to help families understand expectations, best practices, and classroom engagement  (Year-round).
• Co-op Coordination: Partner closely with teachers to manage, adjust, and problem-solve weekly parent co-op schedules for the grade blend classrooms (Summer & Year-round).
• New Family Orientations: Market the event, manage RSVPs and parent reminders, create and update the presentation materials, and lead 1–2 orientation sessions to welcome incoming families (Summer/Early Fall). 
• Ongoing New Family Support: Coordinate a year-round support network where committee chairs utilize their classroom representatives to help answer questions, provide guidance, and welcome new families into the school community (Year-round). 
• Back-to-School Picnic Mingle: Partner with the Community Connections committee to organize and host the New Families Mingle at the Back to School Picnic (Fall).

Member Roles & Tasks

Workload distribution is balanced across the committee based on specific roles:

• Committee Chairs

  • Manage the high-level coordination and scheduling of all committee responsibilities.
  • Serve as the central point of contact for school leadership and other committees.

• Classroom Representatives

  • Classroom Point of Contact: Act as the first line of communication for questions on co-oping and classroom engagement for families, helping families navigate their roles within the learning environment.
  • Co-op Schedule Coordination: Collaborate actively with teachers in the specific grade blend to help families sign up for consistent, weekly co-op slots.
  • New Family Integration: Serves as the welcoming first point of contact for new families within their classroom to help them acclimate to school culture. Reps answer foundational questions and, if a complex issue arises, guide families to committee chairs or school leadership for support. At the discretion of the committee, reps may also send monthly emails to their classroom’s new families to preview the upcoming month, define school-specific events, and explain unique OC traditions.
  • Committee Support: Actively assist the committee chairs with the planning, promotion, and execution of all committee initiatives, events, and educational projects throughout the year. 

• More Philosophy information at this link.

10 members

Our Goal: To increase student enrollment, retain current learners, and share the Open Classroom's unique philosophy with the wider community.

What We Do:

The Publicity Committee operates via a collaborative partnership between a dedicated school staff member and two parent co-chairs who divide leadership responsibilities. Committee members will have the flexibility to sign up for specific task lists and initiatives across these categories throughout the year.

OC Publicity Staff Tasks:

• Budgeted Advertising: Manage advertising campaigns funded by the general budget, including but not limited to: newspapers, Facebook ads/events, billboards, district-wide advertising, and local community newsletters.
• Community Outreach: Conduct active marketing outreach to local preschools and daycares (Year-round).
• Social Media Management: Actively manage and monitor the school’s official social media pages.
• Inquiry Communication: Manage sign-ups and coordinate direct communication with prospective families for tours and info nights.
• Committee Collaboration: Partner with committee members on items requiring extra support, such as flyer creation or social media content generation.

Enrollment & Retention Chair Tasks:

• Prospective Parent Info Nights (PPIN): Plan and host 2–3 informational evenings per year—typically one at the beginning of the school year and two during the peak enrollment window between January and March.
• School Tours: Coordinate and organize monthly in-person school tours for prospective families, utilizing 1–2 dedicated tour guides from the committee to lead them. (Year-round)
• Grade-Blend Retention: Collaborate with teachers across every grade blend to market the upcoming grade levels to current families. This includes designing flyers that highlight blend benefits and creating distinct marketing events targeted at current parents and students.

Marketing & Outreach Chair Tasks:

• Promotional Materials: Design a variety of marketing materials, such as flyers to support school advertising campaigns and staff marketing needs and custom OC business cards for current families to distribute to friends.
• Social Media Content Creation: Serve as a content creator for the school's official social media pages by helping brainstorm, capture, and produce engaging videos, photos, and posts that highlight daily school life and events.
• School Signage: Maintain and manage school banners (Year-round).
• Yard Sign Inventory: Maintain the school's inventory of yard signs, coordinating with the Fundraising Committee to have them sold during regular merchandise sales.

• • • Community Awareness Events (Low Priority): At the discretion, interest, and initiative of the committee, coordinate school presence or booths at local events, such as the Avenues Street Fair (Fall) and the St. Patrick’s Day Parade (March).

6 parent members (2-year terms). Elections occur annually in May. 

Our goal is to serve as the Open Classroom’s central point of coordination and communication for parents and school operations, and to serve as the SCC for the OC. 

What we do:

• Serve as the Open Classroom’s central point of coordination and communication for parents and school operations. 

• Identify and collaborate with others to address the school's needs. 
• Serve as the School Community Council (SCC) for the Open Classroom. 
• Plan and run the Steering Body meetings. 
• Discuss and approve official proposals for: events, fundraisers, calendar items, use of PFOE funds, and changes to the PFOE budget. 
• Members attend monthly SCC and Steering Exec meetings (via Zoom).  Minutes will be kept of all meetings, prepared in draft format for approval at the next scheduled meeting.  Minutes of SCC meetings will be posted on the school website 1 week after the meeting.
• Steering Body meetings can be hybrid (in-person and Zoom) or Zoom only. Minutes will be kept of all meetings, prepared in draft format for approval at the next scheduled meeting.  Minutes of Steering Body meetings will be posted on the school website and shared with Steering Body reps 1 week after the meeting.

• More SCC information at this link.

13 members (1 rep per classroom). The parents of each class will elect a steering rep at the beginning of the year.

Our Goal:  The Steering Body is central to our Shared Governance.  Elected volunteers will serve as an advisory committee to Steering Exec in order to enhance student success, improve policies, represent parent perspectives, and build  community. 

What we do:

• Attend Steering Body Meetings 1x/month to discuss and approve activities, policies, procedures and budgets. Meetings occur on the 2^nd Tuesday of the month at 6:30pm.  Meetings are hybrid (in person and zoom) or zoom only.
• Share Steering discussion points with classrooms, generate discussion during Parent Meetings and gather input from classroom members via Parent Meetings and email. (year-round)

25 members

Our goal is to ensure the safety of students during drop-off and pick-up by guiding and controlling traffic flow, and maintaining designated safe zones. 

What we do:

• Ensure students safely reach the curb and monitor student/parent car drop-off and pick-up procedures (year-round).
• Volunteers commit to one 25-minute shift per week, either in the morning (8:20-8:45) or afternoon (2:55-3:20).  
• Manage traffic flow by setting up cones and signs at the beginning of each week, and removing them at the end, as well as on days with early release or holidays.
• Attend one meeting in August before the school year begins.  Communication is primarily in person or via email/text.

• Map and Transportation page

Members: This committee is composed of 10 school-wide members and the collective pool of Classroom Art Co-opers. While the 10 members sign up directly for the committee, Art Co-opers are automatically joined to the team once they sign up via their individual classroom co-op schedules. 

Our goal is to enrich the school environment by providing diverse opportunities for students to engage in the creation, experience, and appreciation of visual and performing arts. 

What We Do:  

The V&PA Committee operates via a collaborative partnership between a dedicated school staff member, two parent co-chairs who work together to manage leadership responsibilities, committee members, and classroom art co-op volunteers. Committee members will have the flexibility to sign up for specific task lists and initiatives across these categories throughout the year. 

OC V&PA Staff Tasks:

• Lesson Support: Support classroom Art Co-opers in developing age-appropriate art activities, utilizing the "Art Vault" in the shared drive to store and share art lessons (Year-round).
• Art Closet Management: Maintain, organize, and restock the school art closet (Year-round).
• Art Spotlight: Manage the monthly classroom art spotlight display (Year-round).
• Ceramics Program: Manage the school ceramics program, including purchasing clay and supplies, handling kiln management, and offering equipment training at the beginning of the school year (Year-round).
• Theater Program Support: Support the school's theater program by assisting the teacher during auditions and play practices. (Note: Additional supplementation may be available for this role). 

V&PA Co-Chair & Committee Tasks:

The two co-chairs provide leadership and coordination, working alongside all committee members to collectively manage and execute the following responsibilities: 

• Art Stroll Integration: Oversee the Gallery Passport management and event setup to promote high visibility for individual classroom galleries during the annual Art Stroll.
• Art Co-oper Liaison: Support classroom Art Co-opers year-round with tips, resources, and guidance for their Art Stroll classroom galleries.

• Theater & Talent Show Production: Support the school’s performing arts programs and events, including the Uppers Theater program and the Uppers-sponsored Talent Show (Winter).
• Uppers Music Assembly: Assist with the Uppers Music Assembly as needed, handling tasks such as marketing and program creation.
• Performance Logistics: Coordinate targeted parent involvement for specific productions—ensuring that families with students in the Upper theater program step in to help with play-specific tasks, and that upper-grade parents provide essential volunteer support for the Talent Show fundraiser (such as managing concession donations, ticket sales, playbill program creation, audition support, and costume creation). 
• Art Enrichments: Coordinate additional art activities within the school based on committee interest and initiative.

Classroom Art Co-oper Responsibilities:

Art Co-opers are volunteers who partner directly with teachers to bring creative projects into the classroom, supporting the "whole-child" learning philosophy.

• Classroom Lessons: Plan, gather supplies for, and lead or support weekly art sessions in the classroom. Volunteers can create their own curriculum or use pre-made lesson plans from the school's shared "Art Vault."
• Art Stroll Gallery: Help students prepare and transform their classroom into a public art gallery for the end-of-year Art Stroll celebration.
• Collaboration: Volunteers are highly encouraged to work in teams within each classroom to share the workload and take turns leading lessons.
• Time Commitment: Approximately 1 hour per week inside the classroom, and 1 hour per week outside the classroom. Note: Work outside the classroom involves lesson planning and prepping supplies, which can easily be done remotely from home. Demand naturally increases in the weeks leading up to the Art Stroll.

• Visit these pages for examples- Art, Dance, Theater, & Music.

5 members

Our goal is to create a yearbook that captures the spirit of the school year for all students, showcasing events, activities, and community involvement. 

What we do:

• Work with the school secretary to manage yearbook orders, payments, and communication with the yearbook company (year-round).
• Photograph school events and activities, and collect photos from the school community (year-round).
• Assist with page layout and proofreading (winter and spring).
• Organize the Uppers yearbook group, which will offer opportunities for Upper students to learn and assist with photography of school events and community activities, page layout, and artwork for the cover and interior (fall and winter). 
• Promote and sell yearbooks (winter and spring).

8TH GRADE FIELD TRIP RESPONSIBILITIES

Upper families

Our Goal:

• Raise money to cover the annual deposit for the 8th Grade field trip.  Deposit covers the cost for 5 students.

What we do:

• Talent Show & concessions (Winter)
• Art Stroll Concessions (Spring)
• Penguin Pride Annual merchandise - depending on the desire and initiative of the families

5 members

Our goal is to design and deliver a series of engaging events and celebrations that honor the Open Classroom's 50th anniversary. The 50th year is 2026-2027. The committee will consist of current families, alumni, and staff.

What we do:

2025-2026: Planning & Proposal Phase

• Brainstorm and develop a diverse range of celebration ideas, including but not limited to monthly events and a grand celebration.
• Establish a detailed timeline for all planning and execution activities.
• Prepare proposals for necessary funding for anniversary events.  Present proposals for review and approval.

2026-2027: Execution & Celebration Phase

• Finalize all event logistics, including vendor contracts, venue arrangements, and marketing materials.
• Execute and manage all aspects of the celebrations, including budget, scheduling, and participant experience.