1- Host a coffee morning or evening to welcome your division together. This can be done in your home, at a coffee shop or restaurant. The cost is not to be incurred by you. If the event is in your home, please ask parents to bring a dish. Historically, a morning event after drop off is better attended than an evening event- the choice is up to you.
2-Holiday and end of year money collection and purchase of gift for teacher. This is best to do in mid-November, before the school play and holiday market (December events). This year, each child per division is asked to please contribute $10-$15 total towards two gifts per year. Please note and express that this is optional for each family. The money collection is best done at the front office- an envelope with your division number will remain there for 2-3 weeks to allow parents to drop off their money contribution and sign a card. It is recommended that the TOTAL amount is collected in November so that the process does not need to happen again towards end of year. Most reps will have the gift giving at the time of their holiday class party and again at the end of year party. Gifts: TBD by your class and yourself. Some reps will ask their teacher what they like to do in their spare time in order to give a personal gift. Some choose to give a gift card for flexibility-choice is yours.
3- Assist teacher's needs, answer parent questions and advise MPAC of new students. Remind your class of project deadlines, upcoming field trips or class events. Please note- if a field trip lies on the same day as HOTLUNCH, please let your class know that they will need to cancel that order, unless it is a morning field trip only. Orders can be cancelled up until 8 days prior.
4- Try to attend MPAC meetings at the school in order to be "in the know". Parents will rely on you to answer school questions.
5- Lastly, when your division is involved in a school based event, please encourage and remind parents of their involvement. For example, grade 5 is in charge of the "Move It" team this year- the rep will need to remind parents to sign up for their monthly "shift" with their child.
Below is a September-December "at a glance" calendar to help assist in the timing of class rep duties:
September: Collect email addresses and send out an introductory email to your class. Make sure you have your teacher's email address on all your devices. -Touch base with your teacher to confirm any important dates this month. -Organize a date for coffee or dinner/drink get together. -Mention important school dates in your email for the month of September... Sept 22-Pro D, Sept 27-early dismissal etc. -Please ask parents to register through hotlunches if they have not already done so. October: Look up the Montroyal calendar on the website and make a printed copy. On that page, you will have the list of all important dates. Please refer to this each month and include in your email when needed, there may be a classroom component attached to some of these event dates, please check with your teacher. November: Mid-November is a great time to start collecting monies for the teacher gift and set a plan in motion for agreed gift and presentation. Money collection process will need to be explained in detail to the parents ( see above or contact me). -Organize and plan a holiday party ( if needed). This includes organizing volunteers for food, assistance etc. Confirm with teacher regarding dates and details of party. December: December is a busy month! All finalized organization of gifts, cards and parties will now be put into action. Teachers will have constant reminders for you in gearing up for the holidays. Lost and found reminders, library book returns, holiday market, holiday tree, holiday play..it's all happening! Additionally, it is important to note that all teachers and reps do things differently. Some teachers require very little assistance, some much more! This is your role and you can approach it in your way. Reps often like to send out weekly emails to touch base, others will only send an email if there is communication from the teacher, some may email twice a week, depending on how "packed" the week is. You will find some months ( Sept, Dec, June stand out to me!) much busier than other months..it ebbs and flows.
