Family Involvement

Co-oping

OC families are given the opportunity to volunteer in the classroom, co-op time varies by grade and family situation.

Co-oping allows children to:

• work in smaller groups
• learn how to interact with a variety of adults
• benefit from co-opers’ vocational or professional knowledge

Parents are not given the responsibilities of professional teachers, rather they supplement and enrich the curriculum under the direction of the classroom teacher.

Each family is scheduled to co-op on the same day and time each week. Teachers train co-opers in the tasks that they will implement during their weekly block. Parents also receive support from other parents, as well as co-oping workshops.

Parents wishing to apply for a Background Check may fill out a form when signing in to co-op or follow this link.

Visit the Co-op Corner for monthly tips.

Classroom Parent Meetings

Each teacher holds 6 classroom parent meetings during the school year. During classroom parent meetings, the teacher updates everyone on events and expectations in the classroom, and facilitates a discussion of issues and questions that arise. A member of each OC family is expected to attend all parent meetings for their class(es).

Committees and Tasks

During the school year, each family has the opportunity to volunteer their time toward committee work to support the school and all the children’s learning.

Parent volunteers collaborate with teachers and staff to coordinate the operations of the school in areas as diverse as art, publicity, and fundraising. Parents can choose from many committees and tasks to find the work that suits them best.

For their first year, all new families are automatically assigned to New Families committee. Monthly New Families meetings serve as an orientation to the OC.

For more information about the committees and what they do, visit the Committee descriptions page.

Exceptions

Family participation in the classroom, committees, and attendance at parent meetings are strongly encouraged, however we don’t want to turn kids away because their parents are unable to meet these commitments. If a family is unable to meet participation commitments, they can work with their classroom teacher. We are committed in helping every family be active participants in the school.

Connecting with other families

Attending meetings and other school events as well as co-oping show our students how important education and community are to us as adults.

These activities also build a support network with other families that can offer assistance with carpooling, co-op support, and encouraging healthy socialization among students outside of school. 

To help build these community connections on a personal level, parents are encouraged to sign up for Directory access through the Parent Portal.

Community connection grows through information- families are encouraged to sign up for ParentSquare for school and class updates.