Welcome, and thank you for visiting the Dunham Room Parent Page.
I would like to begin by saying that Room Parents are the magic ingredient of every elementary school year. Without these critical volunteers helping our teachers, planning celebrations and communicating with parents in the classroom, school would be a much duller and less organized place. Also, being a room parent is an inside look at how the school operates. You’ll learn about the school, meet parents, become acquainted with school staff and socialize with a variety of adults invested in the school’s success. Volunteering can also be a great example for children, an opportunity to illustrate the benefits of giving back to a community. Remember that every time a parent volunteers to take a task that saves a teacher time; he or she enables that teacher to be a better educator. —————————————————————————————————————————————–
Class project: Each class will be asked to complete a project to represent their grade. The projects will be assigned from the Walk-A-Thon committee a few weeks before the actual event. The room parent will work with the students in their class to complete the project. Supplies for the day of the Walk-A-Thon: Each class will need to provide one cooler with ice, sharpies for marking the lap passes as the students complete each lap, scissors, and it is always suggested that each grade have a pop-up tent for shade. Walk-A-Thon parent volunteers: On the day of the walk-a-thon we will need to have parent volunteers to help with set-up/take down of the decorations, pre walk-a-thon tasks, as well as parents assisting with duties while the students are walking.
Walk-A-Thon – Friday October 4, 2019
Dunham celebrates three holiday parties each year, Halloween, Winter/Christmas, and Valentine’s Day. The parties are normally about 45 minutes long. Room parents are encouraged to post a sign-up sheet asking for assistance with party supplies and day of party volunteers.
Some parents are unable to attend the actual party, but appreciate being able to contribute. It is always best to check in with the teacher and find out what their preferences are.
Halloween Party – Thursday, October 31 – early dismissal at 11:45
Christmas Party – Friday, December 20 – early dismissal at 11:45
Valentine’s Day – Friday, February 14 – Regular dismissal of 2:30
Each year the students create a Christmas ornament to be hung on the Dunham School Christmas tree located in the Community Room until Christmas break. The ornaments will be returned to the students before the break for their own tree at home. There are 1” x 1.5” school photos available in the office for this project. You will need to purchase the supplies yourself, but this activity is eligible for reimbursement up to $1.00 per child. Please turn in your receipts to the office. The room parent will be responsible for hanging the ornaments on the tree on Monday December 9. They will also be responsible for taking the ornaments down on Thursday December 19, wrapped in the tissue paper that will be provided, and returned to the teacher so the students can take it home on Friday December 20.
Christmas ornament hung on tree – Monday December 9th
Christmas ornament taken down and returned to the teacher/students – Thursday December 19 in the afternoon, or Friday Dec 20 in the morning, but must be returned to students before end of school at 11:45.
The Dunham past feed is a dinner and performance that is held for the immediate and extended families of Dunham. The children put on a performance and afterwards we enjoy a pasta dinner. During the dinner there is a silent auction, and each class is asked to create one class gift basket or project. In the past we have had some wonderful gift baskets with delightful themes such as Movie Night, Gardening, and Cooking. Some classes choose to create a more personal item such as class artwork.
Example: An example of a Movie Night basket would include
Auction item due: Friday April 24th
Pasta Feed: Saturday April 25th
In the Spring we show our appreciation for our wonderful teachers and aides by giving them each a gift from the entire class. This is usually a personalized gift such as a painted pot for the teacher and one for each of the aides, with the children’s names on them with a plant. Another idea would be a gift basket. Some room parents choose to collect monetary donations, while others have asked for specific small items to create a present. The PTO will have special events for the teachers during the week, but the gifts from the class are given on Monday of that week.
On that same day the children present a flower to the teacher and each of the aides. The flowers often come from the family’s garden, but not every family has a garden, so we ask that the room parent provide a bouquet of flowers and pass them out to students who need it. It is also the room parent’s responsibility to provide a vase for the teacher and the aides, to put the flowers in.
Gifts / Flowers to teachers and aides from students – Monday May 4
This event is only for the parents of 5th graders. Each year the fifth grade class is responsible for setup of the sixth grade graduation. Details of this event will be provided in a separate document. The fifth and sixth grade will meet around the end of April/ beginning of May to discuss details.
6th Grade Promotion – Wednesday, May 27th
In order to really represent each class and the display the wonderful year they have had we ask that each room parent maintain photos of the kids in your class and or coordinate with other parents for pictures for the year. If no parent has volunteered from your class it will be your job to design the collage page for your child’s class in the yearbook. Details on how to create the collage online will be provided in a separate document. Please make sure to include every student.
Final date to have all photos turned in: Mid April
The end of the year carnival is a Dunham tradition that is a wonderful way to say goodbye to friends, teachers and kick off summer vacation. There are fun games, bouncy houses, and treats for all the children to enjoy. Each class will need volunteers to run the booths in shifts of 1 hour increments. It is the responsibility of the room parent to organize the volunteers as well as be sure they are relieved of duty after their shift by the next volunteer. This last item is very important as we want all parents to be able to enjoy the carnival and not be stranded at a booth the entire event. The carnival runs for approximately two hours 9:30 AM to 11:30 AM. Most booths are easy set up and are easy take down, so there is not much time needed to prep. It is advised that each room parent gets 2-4 parents per booth. Two for one hour each. It’s even easier if you can get two people to do it the entire time, it goes by super fast! (I do not advise 1/2 hour shifts)
The booths that will need to be covered are listed below. Each class will be assigned a booth, and will be notified closer to the event.
Some examples of booths we have had in the past:
Additional help needed – Extra help is always needed. Please let the carnival coordinator Lindsey Goodwin know and she will assign them shifts at food booths, jumpy houses, and other games, as well as help with set-up and take down.
If anybody has other ideas or suggestions please let Lindsey Goodwin know so she can keep it organized. If you have any other questions, just ask.
A flyer will come out in the Friday folders as it comes closer -usually sometime near open house.
End of Year Carnival – Thursday May, 28th, early dismissal 11:45