Volunteering at your child's school is an important way to build relationships with school personnel, keep an eye on things, and raise your child's profile in a positive way. It's particularly important if your child can't communicate what goes on each day, and if your only other contact with teachers and administrators is at stressful IEP meetings. It can also be hard to fit into your already overloaded life. Even if your daytime availability is limited, you can still gain some of the benefits of volunteering. Try one of these seven ways to make a contribution.
1. Try Job-Sharing
Maybe you can't spare a morning or afternoon every week to, say,
work in the library or help out in your child's classroom. But if you can arrange for the time once a month, see if you can split a volunteer job up with another parent or parents on a tight schedule. A little time helping out, seeing and being seen, is better than none.
2. Be a Class Parent
Often, this job consists mostly of making phone calls to warn of school closures or to gather donations for class parties -- things you can do at home, on your time, while still being recognized as a helpful parent. If there are responsibilities you can't fulfill, try splitting the job with another parent who can, someone who's happy to give up the phone-calling part of the job.3. Look for Evening and Weekend Activities
Most schools have some activities outside school hours that require parental assistance -- dances to chaperone, refreshments to be served, enrichment programs to be taught. Additionally, there may be once-a-year activities like field day or field trips that you could make yourself available for. Keep your ears open.4. Find a Long-Range Project
Does your school have a yearbook that's put together by parents? A school newsletter? A big fundraiser? An end-of-the-year celebration? Those are high-profile projects that often require evening meetings and extensive at-home work but not a lot of school-hours participation. Yearbooks are a particularly good thing to get involved in, since you can make sure your special child and classmates are well-represented.5. Go to PTA Meetings
They're not the most fun way to spend an evening, but PTA meetings are good ways to find out what's going on in your child's school, and meet administrators in a non-adversarial context. They're also a great way to find out about volunteer possibilities in the four categories above that often don't get broadcast to the general parent population.6. Attend Special Events
If you can't take time away from your child to volunteer in the evenings, then just attend the events with your child. Bringing your child to a school concert or play or game or math night makes both of you more a part of the school community, and can allow you some informal contact with school personnel. It's good to see and be seen.7. Be a Benefactor
Here's an opportunity that takes none of your time, just some of your money: Ask your child's teacher if there's something needed for the classroom that you can donate. Teachers often spend their own money on classroom essentials, and you can earn some good-parent points by helping out. Other possibilities include donating equipment to the school therapists, books to the school library, or money to a scholarship fund. It's not as good as getting personally involved, but any contribution is better than none.
