I have volunteered for 6 years at our school and from speaking with parents the one's that I have personally asked to help in projects in the past they say that they haven't felt welcomed by the school staff. They mentioned to me that they felt honored that I would personally asked them to do something for the children. Now, I find myself in those parents shoes. I myself don't feel welcome this year due to a disagreement with a few of school administrators. I spoke up for what I believed in was right. It's like a close friend of mine says "they are cutting their own selves off by being able to have a parent involved". I continue to help where I can when I am available due to my small children at home and a juggling a part time job. I think that it's sad when schools don't offer a welcoming environment.

Our school is a a Montessori school, and we became a charter school this year, as well. At our registration in the spring, we asked every parent to sign a commitment form stating that they would contribute 10 hours of volunteer time throughout the school year. We offered about 7 different areas to choose from, and parents could designate an interest any any areas they wanted. We then took those sheets and made a database in Excel for each category, listing each interested parents name contact numbers and any special notes. This information is kept by our Family Involvement Committee - each category has it's own chairperson. So when the school or a teacher needs something done, they can go to the appropriate chairperson and the chairperson can contact the people on his/her list until they fill the need. For example, if the office needs someone to make copies, they will contact the Office chairperson and she will fill the position. We did this on a trial basis for several months last year, and so far this year, and it is really working out well for us. We do have some problems getting teachers to give us tasks we can give to parents, but have learned that if we ask several weeks in advance and remind them several times, we can usually get the information we need.

We have a PTO committee especially for volunteering. There is a committee head. We have sign up sheets at school and at PTO meetings. When someone at the school needs help with something, or help is needed with an event, the volunteer committee chair starts making calls to the parents that have signed up. Sometimes she even calls parents that did not sign up. This works great, and keeps everyone in touch in a personal way.

This is just a continuation of the "Where are all the parents" and "Teacher Involvement" topics.

We took the bull by the horns and really tried to do it right this year. We had a great Open House and had displays for our events, sign up sheets, etc. We did get parents to volunteer for events. Our first big event was Bingo last week. I took the sign-up sheet and started making calls to confirm involvement. Then I mentioned Bingo to everyone I saw. If they said they were coming, I asked them if they wanted to help with.... We started with a full group. Then the event came. Two volunteers showed up late. No problem, we adjusted. Two didn't show up. No problem, I started recruiting from the audience. It was a fun time for all; even the volunteers!

The point to all of this is: Recruiting Volunteers is not a one time job; it is a continuous task and sometimes carries through to your event. Don't wait for them to come to you (it rarely happens); but most will help when asked.