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Volunteering

PARENT VOLUNTEERS AND VISITORS CLASSROOM VISITATIONS

1. All classroom visitations must be requested through the teacher and Principal or Associate Principal. Requests must be received at least one day in advance. Visits may not occur during assessment periods.

2. The Principal may limit the duration of any visitation in order to avoid distraction or disruption to the teacher’s schedule and classroom atmosphere and reserves the right to decline the request for classroom visitation if it is determined this would cause undue disruption in the educational process. The maximum time admitted per observation is one hour.

3. For security reasons, visitors are required to sign in at the school office, to receive a visitor’s badge, and indicate the name of the teacher or destination before proceeding to contact any other person in the building or on the school grounds. All visitors are asked to sign out when leaving the building.

4. To protect the learning environment, the parent/guardian should be the only visitor in the classroom during the observation. Visitors other than the parent/guardian must be approved by the Principal and have written consent from the parent/guardian describing the reason for the visit. Out of respect for the teaching environment, parents/guardians are asked not to bring younger siblings or children or to utilize electronic equipment such as cell phones while in the classroom. Observers should not disrupt the learning environment by engaging students or the teacher in conversation. A follow-up meeting may be scheduled as needed to answer questions or concerns.

5. During the classroom visit, the Principal or his/her designee may be present in the observed setting in order to accommodate follow-up discussion or clarify questions that may arise.​

6. All aspects of individual student confidentiality must be preserved and respected.

PARENT VOLUNTEERS/VISITORS

School Volunteers serve under the direction of school staff to meet the needs of students. There are many opportunities for you to become involved at Hawking.

Some children are not ready to have their parents in the classroom with them. In the classroom, parents have a different role; they are assisting the teacher. However, some children are unable to accept their parents in any role other than parent. In these cases, it is better for the parent to volunteer in another area of the school.

In order to promote a quality education, Hawking Charter School has developed this Volunteer Policy. These are the expectations we have for all adults who work with Hawking students.

**Before volunteering, you must be cleared with clean TB test as well as a background check. Please see Front desk staff in the Main Office for exact details on this process.

CONFIDENTIALITY

1. Confidentiality is of the utmost importance in your association with teachers and students.

2. What you see and hear at the school is private. You are in a unique position when you volunteer in the classroom to have information that is not to be shared. Students you observe in the classroom or the school cannot be discussed with other parents, faculty or staff. You may not discuss a child even with that child’s parents. You must always refer any question regarding students at Hawking to the child’s teacher or the Principal.

VOLUNTEERS DURING SCHOOL HOURS

1. When you are volunteering at Hawking, you are demonstrating your support for education. Please understand that in academic settings it is important to be able to give your full attention to the task at hand. For this reason, do not bring any children with you when you are volunteering during school hours.

2. Volunteers on field trips may not bring other children with them.

3. If you are on a field trip we assume you are either driving or chaperoning. We are expecting your full attention for the children you are supervising on the field trip. 

4. At times, teachers invite other family members for special functions. At this time, siblings or other family members may be invited by the teacher.

5. If you are visiting unannounced and the class is in session, you will need to report first to the office and request to speak with your child and your child will come to the office. This eliminates the unnecessary disruptions to the entire class during crucial learning time.

PARENT CHAPERONE GUIDELINES

  • All chaperones must stay with credentialed teachers throughout the entire field trip.
  • Chaperones are NOT allowed to bring other children along on the field trip. NO siblings.
  • Chaperones may not buy food or souvenirs for their children.
  • Chaperones must stay with the group during the trip to and from destination as well as during the trip itself. - Chaperones may not pull any child from another group to join them. The groups have been formed with student safety in mind.

VOLUNTEERS OUTSIDE SCHOOL HOURS

Parents who volunteer outside school hours may at times find it necessary to bring siblings to school. At these times, those children must be under the parent’s direct supervision. The parent is responsible for the children’s safety and must keep the children with them at all times.

LANGUAGE/BEHAVIOR

1. Remember, we teachers, staff and volunteers are all role models for the children around us. "Little eyes" are always watching, listening and learning appropriate behavior from our actions.

2. Cursing, inappropriate language or discussions are not allowed on campus or on field trips.

3. Absolutely no gossip on campus will be tolerated.

CLASSROOM DISRUPTIONS

Please conduct all private conversations outside of the classroom. Teachers need the attention of the students to direct the instruction. Extraneous conversations distract from the task at hand. Remember that conversations in the hallways and near the office are distracting as well.

NO SMOKING

Schools are tobacco free zones. This means you may not even bring tobacco products on campus in your purse or pockets. You may not smoke on field trips even in your own car.

DISCIPLINE

Volunteers are not to discipline students. Discipline is solely the responsibility of the teacher. The teacher is the professional whose responsibility it is to plan the course of study and see that it is implemented. The volunteer always works under the direction of the teacher in order to help, not replace the teacher.

RESPECT

1. Adults are respectful to children and children are always expected to be respectful in return. If on any occasion you are treated disrespectfully, tell the teacher or the principal as soon as possible. Elementary age children are still learning appropriate behavior and this is an opportunity to re-teach respect.

2. The Hawking Community must treat one another with respect in their communication at all times. This includes parents with other parents and parents towards staff and teachers.

VIOLATIONS

Any violations to the standards of conduct and policies to the policies as outlined in this manual may result in a banning from campus and/or school activities as deemed appropriate by the school Principal and/or Executive Director.