Key: ** = A job that can be done at home or with great flexibility.
EXECUTIVE BOARD |
EDUCATION |
SCHOOL |
| ENCOURAGEMENT COMMITTEE | ||
| FATHER'S COUNCIL** | ||
| FIFTH GRADE REPS | ||
| NOMINATING | ||
| ROYLE GOES GREEN | ||
COMMUNITY |
FUNDRAISING |
COMMUNICATIONS |
| BOOK FAIR | ||
| BOXTOPS FOR EDUCATION ** | PUBLICITY | |
EXECUTIVE BOARD POSITIONS
The two Co-Chairs are responsible for presiding over all of the Executive Board and PTO meetings during the entire school year. The Co-Chairs will communicate with the teachers, parents and Principal on all appropriate PTO matters via the PTO email blast, flyers and meetings, and will plan, with the Principal, all PTO meetings and programs. The Co-Chairs are responsible for serving on the Executive Board of the Council of Darien School Parents. They will be responsible for keeping the Royle parents informed of any important school information related to the Town's RTM, CDSP, and Board of Education. On an on-going basis, the Co-Chairs are responsible for communicating with and coordinating the efforts of all of the PTO committee chairs, and working with community agencies, such as The Reiss Fund. It is helpful to have served on the Executive Board for at least one year prior to becoming Co-Chair, and generally follows a one-year term as Vice Chair.
Time Commitment: Being a Co-Chair requires an on-going commitment of time on a weekly, often daily basis, during two entire school years, including the summer months. They must attend, on average 4-5 meetings per month, and an additional 4-8 meetings per month during the budget season (January through March).
The Vice Chair is responsible for assigning Room Parents for each class as well as a grade level head Room Parent for each grade. The Vice Chair will host a Room Parent coffee, will train Room Parents in handling early emergency school closings, addressing teacher needs, organizing end of year gifts and in general, helping the teacher with school activities. Once Room Parents and head Room Parents have been selected and trained, the Vice Chair will contact them for any school needs, such as meetings, early closings, to help welcome new families, when extra volunteers are needed, and to coordinate collection for Teacher Appreciation Day and end of year gifts. The Vice Chair is responsible for initiating and ensuring the successful completion of the emergency early dismissal process. The Vice Chair is responsible for hosting a spring Room Parent coffee to touch base and review year-end responsibilities. The Vice Chair is responsible for purchasing and distributing a token of our appreciation to the teachers, staff, nurse and secretaries on Teacher Appreciation Day and Secretary Day. (The Encouragement Committee will provide assistance as needed for this responsibility.) Along with the help of the Co-Chairs, the Vice Chair will organize the PTO Year-End Luncheon. The Vice Chair will support the PTO Chairs in any way needed throughout the school year. This position is a one year commitment with the understanding that after which, the Vice Chair will transition into the first year of the two year Co-Chair position.
Time Commitment: The Vice Chair is a member of the Executive Board and is responsible for attending all PTO and Executive Board meetings during the year (which average 2 per month). This person is required to secure room parent volunteers during the late summer. The overall workload for this position is concentrated at the beginning and end of the school year, in addition to any emergency early dismissal days.
The PTO Secretary sits on the Executive Board and is responsible for attending all PTO and Executive Board meetings and taking the minutes of these meetings and any other special PTO meetings that may be called. The Secretary makes copies of the PTO meeting minutes available to all members of the PTO on the website prior to the next PTO for member review. Once approved, a copy is placed in the school office and on the website. The Secretary sends copies of the PTO Meeting Minutes to the website coordinator for web site posting. The Secretary is also responsible for providing sign-in sheets at PTO meetings.
Time Commitment: This position requires full attendance at all PTO and Executive Board meetings. This is preferably a two-year commitment.
The PTO Treasurer sits on the Executive Board and is responsible for attending all PTO and Executive Board meetings. The Treasurer manages the finances of the PTO: disbursing funds, depositing fundraising proceeds, maintaining PTO bank accounts and tracking income and expenditures. Each month the Treasurer presents the Executive Board and PTO with an updated income statement and budget. Access to and knowledge of a computer is necessary (financial software is provided by the PTO). The Treasurer is responsible for preparing and dispersing budget letters to Committee Chairs and teachers at the beginning of the school year. The Treasurer, with the Co-Chairs, will be responsible for proposing, preparing and presenting an annual PTO budget for review and approval.
Time Commitment: This is a full year position, with peak periods coinciding with major fundraising efforts and after school programs, and follows a year serving as Assistant Treasurer.
The Assistant Treasurer sits on the Executive Board and is required to attend all PTO and Executive Board meetings. She/he will work closely with the Treasurer to assist however necessary and learn the Treasurer position so that he/she may assume those responsibilities the next year. The Assistant Treasurer’s primary responsibility is to assist with the deposit of all fundraising proceeds and other PTO income. Access to a computer is necessary.
Time Commitment: It is a full two-year commitment (the Assistant Treasurer becomes the Treasurer the following year), requiring attendance at meetings and peak periods coinciding with major fundraising efforts.
EDUCATION POSITIONS
This is a one or two person committee, which is responsible for educating parents and teachers on child safety issues. Responsible for writing a Safety Memo to be sent to parents during the first week of school outlining safety issues related to the students, such as bicycling to school, pick-up and drop-off locations, and playground safety issues. This committee is also responsible for making arrangements for kindergarten parents to ride the buses home for the first few days. The Safety committee is responsible for funneling parent feedback on safety issues to the Principal and working with the administration on resolving any safety issues that emerge. They are also responsible for sending information to Blast and website coordinators as necessary.
Time Commitment: The majority of your time will be in the late summer and the beginning of September, putting together the safety memo to the parents, organizing bus riders and ensuring that all safety issues arising from the start of school have been resolved. After the beginning of the year, the position is ongoing, but dependent on issues arising.
This committee investigates and develops high quality programs that enhance the school curriculum. These programs take place during the school day and have included author visits, theatre, creative writing workshops, and science programs, to name a few. Working jointly with the principal and teacher representatives from each grade, the committee determines enrichment opportunities. Then, it schedules all activities, acts as a liaison to performers, attends all events, arranges payments and manages the evaluation process. They are also responsible for sending information to the Royle Blast and website coordinators as necessary. The position of Enrichment Chair requires management of a significant portion of the PTO budget. Specific positions on the Enrichment Committee, which need to be filled, are as follows:
- Author Visit Coordinator - This individual works with the appropriate grade level reps and librarian to set up author visits and supporting events.
- Theatreworks Coordinator – Coordinates Theatreworks presentations. Typically, one show for K-2 and one show for 3-5.
- Science Coordinator - This individual schedules grade specific science programs for K - 5. Each grade chooses the program that meets their curriculum needs the best and the coordinator executes the programs with each grade level.
- Grade Level Program – Lead selection of and implementation of K-5 grade specific programs with grade level reps.
- Portraits of America Coordinator - These individuals are fourth grade parents who organize presentations by parents to the fourth grade sections to enhance both the social studies and the art curriculum. Presentations are established already. The coordinators need to recruit presenters and coordinate the schedule with each fourth grade teacher.
- Safe Talk – This individual coordinates the visit to all grades of an in class prevention program focused on the three “special rights” to be “safe, strong, and free.”
- Music For Youth Coordinator – Liase with local MFY Committee to schedule annual program for all grades.
Incoming committee members have the ability to indicate which position they are interested in serving on for the Enrichment Committee.
Time Commitment: The incoming Enrichment Chair is expected to participate in planning during the spring. Many popular programs and performers must be booked by June for the coming school year. Additionally, the Enrichment Chair is on the PTO Executive Board and is required to attend all PTO and Executive Board meetings. Committee members can expect to be busy in September/October as they organize their specific assignments. After that, the work is ongoing but at an execution level throughout the year.
This committee plans and executes the annual school fair for the Royle Community in May/June. Responsibilities include staffing and overall management of the Round Up (i.e. coordinating parent volunteers, selling tickets, organizing food and pony ride vendors, game booth planning, prize purchasing, decorations, permits, communications via Blast and website as necessary, publicity post event, and all supplies necessary for the event.) The Round Up Chairs have great volunteer support to make this revived Royle tradition delight our children with our classic school fair.
Time Commitment: Planning for event starts in the winter. Execution of the fair in the spring requires a few hours each week to put on a successful event.
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HEALTH EDUCATION
Health Education’s goal is to support current nutrition and physical education curriculum and encourage students to make healthful choices. Topics covered include nutrition, fitness and other general good health practices (benefits of sleep, handwashing to prevent the spread of germs, etc). Programs include Health Ed bulletin board - Updated 3 times a year (Sept, Dec and April). Coordinate the Monday morning WELLNESS WAKE UP calls (established in 2008). The announcements have a standard format. They are read by third graders the first day of each school week throughout the year. Coordinate the Health Ed reading program for K and 1st graders. Grade level appropriate books dealing with health and nutrition are circulated for in-class reading over a one-month period determined by teachers. The program is voluntary and usually runs in the Spring, but timing should be determined by a committee member and each grade level. They are also responsible for sending information to Blast and website coordinators as necessary. Time Commitment: One initial meeting to divide up tasks is required. Most other communication can be done by phone or email. Each member would lead one program with support from members. Members may be involved in the development and distribution of handouts, creation of bulletins boards, and coordination of the weekly morning announcements and the reading program.
The Library Chairs are responsible for soliciting parent volunteers to help in the school library throughout the entire school year, and in particular, during inventory at the end of the school year. During the class coffees and open house, parents sign up to help out in the school library. The librarian requests 2 volunteers (volunteers can share the job with another parent) per class to assist throughout the year during the scheduled class library time. Often the chairs find it necessary to go out to recruit help for the library. Once they have scheduled their volunteers, the chairs support the librarian in any way required. They are also responsible for sending information to Blast and website coordinators as necessary.
Time Commitment: While this job requires a substantial amount of coordination in the first month of the school year, once the volunteers have been scheduled, the time requirement diminishes. Inventory scheduling takes place at the end of May/beginning of June.
This committee supports the school’s green initiatives. Members oversee awareness programs and school wide recycling in conjunction with the Exec Board. Responsibilities include creation and implementation of initiatives, such as Trash Free Tuesday (TFT). Members promote other recycling endeavors such as pouch and cap recycling to student body, teachers and parents, and oversee submission to sponsoring companies (Aveda, TerraCycle). Darien Environmental Coordinator also sits on this committee and coordinates four (4) grade-specific presentations on recycling/environment (2 fall and 2 spring). Needs to liaison with DEG (one meeting per year) for training and materials. Committee members also research new/future green initiatives and propose them to Exec Board. They are responsible for bi-weekly PA announcements, Going Green Blast and website updates as necessary.Time Commitment: Weekly admin of awareness programs (TFT, etc), recycling, pouches/caps collection. Weekly/monthly administration of PR initiatives and website. DEG Rep: . one annual DEG meeting in the beginning of the year and f our grade level presentations, each requiring approx. one week of preparation.
SCHOOL POSITIONS
This committee is responsible for maintaining the Royle Edible Garden and other main areas of the exterior. This committee will also need to schedule volunteers to weed, water and generally maintain the asthetics of the edible garden. This committee may need to buy supplies, such as seeds, buckets, spades, etc. on an as-needed basis. There is budget and you will be reimbursed for expenses. Also, it is responsible for determining day-to-day visual improvements to the school, such as plants, signs, etc. This job preferably requires knowledge of gardening and a willingness to get a little dirty.
Time Commitment: Work throughout the entire year with peak periods during the end of the summer vacation to get the school looking nice for the start of school, as well as seasonally (primarily spring but also fall gardening, Royle Garden irrigation system arrangements, mulching, fertilizing & trimming).
The committee is responsible for offering various forms of encouragement to the teachers and staff of Royle School. Responsibilities include: 1. Birthdays - in the beginning of the month, you provide a snack, breakfast or lunch and a card for staff members celebrating a birthday in that month. The snack can be anything you choose. There should be enough for 60 staff members. 2. Parent Open House Night – provide a pizza dinner for teachers including pizza, salad and soda. 3. Music Recitals -Responsible for presenting the music teacher(s) with a gift card following both the Holiday and spring concerts, and
4 . Teacher Appreciation Day – organize a partially catered luncheon for the teachers and staff (sandwiches and green salad are purchased, other side salads and desserts are home made) and assist the vice chair in distributing flowers. You have a budget and expenses are reimbursed. This committee is also responsible for providing snacks on the first day of school for teachers, as well as a welcome and thank you note from the students and parents of Royle School on the first and last day of school.
Time Commitment: The time required is minimal. However, you must be prepared to devote some time throughout the entire school year. At least two members of the committee are required to be at school for the duration of the Teacher Appreciation Luncheon.
This committee plans exciting Royle traditions such as: the Veterans Day celebration, Holiday Decorations, Royle Acts of Kindness (RAK) Week, and the Evening Adult Spring Social. The committee plans activities that will teach children the importance of supporting our veterans and kindness to others. The committee is also responsible for decorating the interior of the school during the holidays (Fall décor, Christmas tree set up and take down, Hanukah décor and Menorah.) Every other year, the committee organizes an Evening Adult Spring Social to be held at a venue other than Royle to bring staff and parents together for a fun celebration. The committee is responsible for communicating information regarding these events to Royle parents and staff. They are also responsible for sending information to Blast and website coordinators as necessary.Time commitment: Ongoing throughout the year. Veterans Day planning begins in September and runs through November. Fall décor is out from October-Thanksgiving. Holiday decorations go up after Thanksgiving and come down at the beginning of January. RAK Week planning begins in January and runs through March/early April. The Evening Adult Spring Social is an every-other-year event (it will take place in 201 3), but that planning begins in January and runs through April.
Members of the nominating committee are responsible for finding volunteers to fill all of the PTO and Executive Board positions for the following year. The position requires knowledge and update of all PTO positions, their time requirements and an ability to solicit volunteers. The committee is responsible for sending the application and job descriptions out to all school parents requesting their participation in the PTO . Once interest has been ascertained, the committee develops a list of candidates for each position giving first priority to existing Executive Board members and standing Committee Chairs. Each nominee for a PTO position must be contacted to ensure the candidate understands the position they will be taking, and to confirm the candidate’s acceptance of the position. Once all of the PTO positions have been filled, a list of the nominees must be presented for consideration by the PTO one month prior to the last PTO meeting (which is generally held in April). The PTO then votes on the slate at the last PTO meeting of the year.
Time Commitment: An active participation from January through April of the given year. Additionally, the Nominating Committee may be called upon at other times of year if vacancies occur on the PTO slate.
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FATHER'S COUNCIL**
The Fathers’ Council is a loose confederation of dads that sponsors two or three community-building events each year. The council does not have meetings to speak of, does not fund raise, and generally communicates via phone/e-mail. The Council sponsors great Royle traditions such as the Super Bowl Sunday Pancake Breakfast, and a late winter trip to see a Bridgeport Sound Tigers ice hockey game. They are also responsible for sending information to Blast and website coordinators as necessary.
Time Commitment: Planning begins in December for the Super Bowl Pancake Breakfast mostly via email. The hockey game date is reserved in the fall. Other responsibilities include event planning, publicity flyers, registration and recruiting volunteers, etc.
The Chair(s) will coordinate with a committee on the 5th grade year-end activities; including a slideshow presentation at the awards ceremony, the year-end party (which immediately follows the awards ceremony), the class gift, class t-shirts and the class plaque. At least one member must be computer savvy for production of the slide show presentation. They are also responsible for sending information to Blast and website coordinators as necessary. Time Commitment: The committee typically starts preliminary planning in January with the majority of work occurring in the last 2-3 months of the school year.
This committee provides the teachers with a welcome back luncheon and refreshments at all regular PTO meetings. The teacher luncheon takes place the day before school begins in the fall. Committee members take turns providing coffee and munchkins (or other refreshments) at all PTO meetings and grade level coffees and may be called upon for special events throughout the year (i.e. retirement celebrations, special presentations, etc. but the cost of these events will not come under your budget).
Time Commitment: You may be required to order and deliver the coffee for 3-4 events over the course of the entire year, sometimes it is less.
ROYLE ENDEAVORS AFTERSCHOOL PROGRAMS
This committee is responsible for putting together a wide-range of inspiring before and afterschool programs. The focus of the committee is the Afterschool Program, which is run in partnership with an outside vendor. There are two nine-week sessions - Fall and Winter. The committee’s responsibilities include the following: recruiting teachers for the program, determining and sometimes assisting in developing class offerings, compiling incoming registrations from the parents, emailing participating parents confirmations and class information, executing all in house publicity (flyers Blast and website u pdates), scheduling room reservations, soliciting feedback from parents on program and working with Royle School PTO leadership and administration to insure successful execution of the program. Finally, the committee must partner closely on class offering strategy, flyer development and other program management tasks with the vendor-partner who handles payroll for the teachers.
In addition, this committee is responsible for the overseeing the morning Chess Club and running the Gingerbread House Decorating Afterschool Workshops in December.
Time Commitment: Ongoing throughout the year. Most time commitment is needed during the development and launch of each program. The fall session must be planned with the teachers the prior spring. Registration materials must be prepared and reviewed over the summer to be distributed at the beginning of the school year.
Plan and execute family social events during the school year. This involves working with the PTO Co-Chairs to determine an appropriate theme and timing of the event. Responsible for staffing and overall management of the event (i.e. coordinating parent volunteers, registration of attendees, caterers, entertainers, decorations, rentals, health department forms, publicity, and all supplies necessary for the event.) Traditionally there are 4 main events that the Social Committee organizes at Royle: Back-to-School Family Picnic, Movie Matinee, Bingo Night and Rockin’ Royle. They are also responsible for sending information to Blast and website coordinators as necessary.
Time Commitment: This depends upon the event, but it can take a few months of work with a few hours each week to put on a successful event.
COMMUNITY POSITIONS
CDSP (Council of Darien School Parents)/BUDGET REPRESENTATIVES
The CDSP Representatives are members of the CDSP. As such, attendance is required at monthly CDSP meetings. Their most important role is serving as the Royle PTO’s representative in the BOE budgeting process. This necessitates attendance at BOE meetings (required attendance at Budget Public Forums in Feb./March-must be prepared to speak on behalf of Royle School). January and February is the time frame when the budget process is most intense at the BOE. Meetings are in the evening and average twice a week, and attendance may be shared by the two reps. Any information gathered at any meeting needs to be shared with the principal and the PTO. They are also responsible for sending information to Blast and website coordinators as necessary.
Time Commitment: Position requires attendance at 1-2 meetings per month during the school year and an additional 4-8 meetings per month during the budget season (January through March).
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KIDS CARE CLUB
Plan and execute monthly Kids Care meetings (typically one day per month) to work on service projects to help the homeless, elderly, sick, handicapped, under-privileged or lonely within our community as well as around the world. It is Kids Care Club’s goal to help teach kids to recognize that they have the personal power to make a positive difference in someone’s life. Committee Chairs serve as a liaison between Royle, the parent Kids Care committee and the national Kids Care organization. Committee Chairs will confer with the PTO Co-Chairs to coordinate theme and timing of events. Committee members need to be committed to attending the monthly Kids Care Club meetings as well as taking on committee jobs such as contacting agencies, making posters or collection boxes, monitoring collections (such as holiday hope chests, coats, etc depending on the monthly project) and updating the Kids Care Club bulletin board. They are also responsible for sending information to Blast and website coordinators as necessary.
Time Commitment:. 4-6 hours in the end of summer to begin the planning process for the monthly Kids Care meetings. Ongoing discussions as needed to confer with PTO Co-Chairs, other committee members, Royle Principal, Student Council and members of the community regarding planned projects and/or collections. Meetings are once per month and last one hour after school. Preparation time for each meeting is approximately 2-4 hours for meetings or coordination prior to each meeting, but depends heavily the actual projects chosen. Coordination with various organizations is ongoing throughout the year.
This committee coordinates all fall UNICEF activities. Solicit local merchants to "buy a poster" made by a Royle student as a fundraiser for UNICEF. UNICEF poster sponsors usually spend $10 per poster and may sponsor as many as they wish. The committee coordinates the program with the teachers and students, providing posters and ideas. The students hand out the posters and collect the money and turn it over to the committee. The committee also coordinates and executes the UNICEF box collection drive on Halloween day and coordinates a two-week coin a day program for K-2 classes in classrooms. They are also responsible for sending information to Blast and website coordinators as necessary.
Time Commitment: Solicitation of the merchants can be time consuming and should be done in September. The students make and deliver the posters prior to Halloween.
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PARENT AWARENESS
The Parent Awareness Network is a community-based organization coordinated by the YWCA. It provides programs and education free of charge to parents and children to encourage healthy, positive development of youth and families in our community. The Royle representatives act as liaisons, and publicize and coordinate events at schools, copy and distribute flyers for upcoming events, post events and relevant information on Parent Awareness bulletin board, and attend Royle PTO meetings. Committee members attend monthly Parent Awareness committee meetings to report on current issues and to provide feedback on events held at Royle. It is also suggested that this committee attend relevant talks held throughout Darien when possible. They are also responsible for sending information to Blast and website coordinators as necessary.
Time Commitment: Attendance at Parent Awareness and PTO meetings once a month and periodic attendance at events held at the area schools.
Royle Treatment fills two roles:
Welcoming new families to Royle: Responsibilities include: helping new families become familiar with the day-to-day routine of school life, recruiting mentor families from Royle to be matched with new families in the spring so that they can meet over the summer, and organizing an informal tour for new families just before school starts. An informal coffee and a ladies’ night are also organized for new families once school begins in the fall. Providing support to Royle families in crisis: Royle Treatment helps Royle families, teachers and staff when there is a special situation at home such as a new baby or during times of emergency or crisis such as an illness or death in the family. Support is given by organizing volunteers who can provide meals and other necessary help. Confidentiality may be necessary. They are also responsible for sending information to Blast and website coordinators as necessary.
Time commitment: Minimum 4 committee meetings during the school year and time contacting volunteers to act as mentors, matching mentors and new families and helping families in need of special services. The chairperson’s responsibilities include recruiting volunteers, preparing help request forms, and serving as the initial contact for all requests.
FUNDRAISING POSITIONS
This committee is responsible for planning, organizing and running two book fairs in the school during the year (one in the fall and a smaller one in the spring). Specific responsibilities include: selecting a vendor, a theme, a student reading contest, publicity, decorations, scheduling class visits & parent volunteers, facilitating teacher wish lists, the initial set-up and closing up of the fairs as well as running a Bake Sale during the book fair's Fall Family Night. They are also responsible for sending information to Blast and website coordinators as necessary.
Time Commitment: Working on the book fair requires a moderate time commitment when planning the theme and goals for the fair. There is also a moderate time commitment one month prior to the fair. For the chairs, during the week of the fair, the commitment is full time. Other committee members should plan to spend a substantial amount of time helping the week of the fair, but they do not need to be on hand full time.
BOXTOPS FOR EDUCATION COORDINATOR **
The box top coordinator is responsible for publicizing the Box Tops for Education program to the students and parents and submitting the tops to General Mills for the rewards check. Box Tops provide plenty of materials as well as utilizing the Royle website and Royle Blast. Box Tops are collected in the office in a box and the coordinator must pick them up and sort them into bundles of 50 to submit for money. There are two deadlines to meet, one in October and one in March. Box Tops can be sent in any time, but they only cut checks after those two deadlines. This job is quite easy and something your kids can help with. The school raises several hundred dollars through this program. The coordinator is also responsible for sending information to Blast and website coordinators as necessary.
Time Commitment: Collection throughout the school year, and prep at specified deadlines for submission.
This committee (2 Chairs plus 2 committee members) will continue to further develop this exciting fundraiser that was piloted December 2007 under the name Royle Rewards. Gift cards for major merchants (ranging from retail stores to food, gas, coffee) are purchased at a discount by the PTO through a national consolidator, and re-sold to parents/staff at face value. The difference between the discounted price and face value of the card is profit for the PTO. The committee will be responsible for working closely with the PTO Co-Chairs on the timing of gift card sales (currently proposed as twice a year – later in the fall and in early spring) and will handle order-taking, verification, placing online orders with the vendor, verifying shipments, sorting orders and gift card distribution (which must occur in person). Attention to detail is important. Frequent communication with the PTO Treasurer is required as well. They are also responsible for sending information to Blast and website coordinators as necessary.
Time commitment: Workload is concentrated in an approximately two week period when the orders are placed and distributed. The committee can enlist additional volunteers to help man the hallway table for gift card sales/distribution.
The Royle School Store’s main purpose is to raise money for the Fifth Grade end of year gift to the school and the class plaque for the Royle Garden. It is also a convenient source of supplies for the student body. The school store is open one day each week at your discretion, typically Wednesday morning before school. School store committee members may also be asked to have a school store presence at open house night, conference week or other school events to boost sales of “Royle” branded inventory and/or holiday related merchandise. The Chair coordinates the scheduling of 5th grade students as workers at the store to help with sales, organize supplies, read the weekly morning announcement and advertising the school store items. The committee starts by sending a letter and permission slip to the incoming 5th graders, works with the teachers to fill their needs (e.g. getting the right assignment pads for the 3rd, 4th and 5th graders), “shops” the catalogs over the summer for the best items and places the orders for all supplies. Committee members rotate responsibility for overseeing the store on Wednesday mornings. Throughout the year the committee holds an occasional 5th grade student meeting to assemble treat bags, shop through catalogs, make posters and review financials. The Chair/Committee are also responsible for sending information to Blast and website coordinators as necessary. It is a rewarding experience and a fun way to work with the 5th graders during their final year at Royle. Time Commitment: 4-6 hours over the summer to organize and shop, 2-4 hours in September to schedule the work force and 1-2 hours per week thereafter, depending on how committee splits the time.
Royle Rags is responsible for the merchandising of Royle school logo apparel such as sweatshirts, t-shirts, water bottles, back pacts etc. Royle recently teamed up with itownstore.com to help with the ordering and merchandising of several new and exciting Royle apparel. The committee typically runs several sales each year (two in the fall: Open House and the Family Picnic and 1-2 additional times at social events such as Movie Night or Rockin’ Royle). Merchandise will also be marketed through the itown website, which can be accessed through the Royle website. This operation, under the guidance of a representative of itownstore.com, requires volunteers to place orders, sell merchandise and distribute merchandise. They are also responsible for sending information to Blast and website coordinators as necessary.
Time Commitment: 3-4 hours a week, two times a year for a period of four weeks each. Time may be spent in late June to meet with the itown rep. to begin the ordering process for the upcoming fall. Additional time ordering may be required to supplement spring sales.
The Royle Wrap-Up Committee is responsible for raising the majority of funds for the PTO budget through the sale of wrapping paper and gift items, along with direct donations. The committee requires at least 5 members plus 1 or 2 co-chairs. The committee’s job is time consuming, but only for short periods of time. The job requires a planning session in the spring to meet with the vendor and committee. In August before school starts: receives sale brochures, affix student name labels and sort by teacher. Plan displays and promotions; Sept. – speak at PTO meeting and class coffees. Raise awareness at school wide events. On the first day of sale, deliver sales packets to classrooms and give pep talk to students. At the end of sale, collect and double check order forms and send to Vendor (currently Genevieve’s.) Prepare financial summary and record keeping for PTO Treasurers. Early Nov. – items delivered to school. Volunteers needed to unload truck and set up distribution (one day). Distribute prizes and provide classroom pizza parties. Nov. – follow-up with vendor on any customer problems. Vendor representative traditionally has been very helpful in assisting Chairperson throughout process. The Committee is also responsible for facilitating the Matching Gift process, which may occur throughout the school year. Time Commitment: Majority of work is in Mid August - November
COMMUNICATIONS POSITIONS
The committee is responsible for producing the Royle School Directory, and selling it at the evening Open House for parents. The Directory chair must have access to a computer, with email capability, Access, Excel and Word. A scanner is a plus. The committee needs people who: proof read really well, telephone parents to confirm updated directory data, assist in collecting input from other various sources for the directory, and/or take faculty and staff photos. At Open House, the selling times will be staggered so that committee members can attend their child’s class presentation on time.
Time Commitment: This job is concentrated from the week prior to class assignment notification, and intensifies in the weeks leading up to Open House. After Open House in mid to late September, it is finished, except for minimum preparations toward the end of the school year.
The Royle PTO Website Managers are responsible for the design as well as content and technical maintenance of the Royle PTO website. This is a job completed via the partnership of two people – the Website Content Manager and the Website Technical Manager. The Website Content Manager partners with the PTO committees, Vice-Chairs and Co-Chairs to keep the site’s content current, informative, relevant and useful for the Royle Community. This includes: working with Co-Chairs on bi-monthly home page letter, weekly posting of announcements and events on the site’s homepage paperclip, keeping the calendar of events updated, liaising with PTO committee chairs to post all school forms & flyers, assisting the committee chairs with content maintenance of their individual pages, posting PTO minutes and Royle Blasts. The Content Manager job requires familiarity with Royle Community and its activities, strong written communication skills, attention to detail and organization as well as a vision for how the site can help the Royle community become greener while also strengthening our information sharing. The Website Technical Manager should have Dreamweaver experience , posse ss attention to detail and strong technical skills and is responsible for the bringing the content to life.
Time Commitment: This is an ongoing job throughout the school year and summer (when there is a lighter commitment). Communication about any design or content changes is accomplished via email. These positions can be flexible as long as the individuals have computer access and are willing to keep the site fresh and updated as needed weekly.
The Blast coordinators are responsible for the Royle Blast, a weekly email newsletter sent every Sunday to Royle parents. It contains information on school, PTO and community events. The coordinator receives text from PTO Committee Chairs, PTO Co-Chairs, the Principal and other sources, and formats it into an e-newsletter using Constant Contact software. Although not responsible for the actual input, the Blast coordinators ensure that all content meets published guidelines. The coordinators also share information with coordinators at other Darien schools.
Time commitment: Ongoing. The coordinators work with the Directory Committee to prepare the Blast distribution list over the summer, then spends approximately 2 hours each week receiving input/preparing the newsletter. This is a job that should be rotated between the coordinators. The coordinators may also be called upon to send abbreviated email blasts at other times during the week for school closings, emergency dismissals, or other important announcements.
The Publicity Committee is responsible for ensuring that Royle School news, events and activities are represented in the two Darien newspapers through the writing of Royle school-related stories and providing photos to the Darien newspapers. Publicity takes photos of school programs, classroom activities, special events and academic and non-academic activities; for example, school plays, after-school programs, music/art/physical education programs, field trips, etc. Once the pictures have been taken, publicity gets the names of students and teachers in the photos and writes a brief picture description/ article detailing the event/activity. They also maintain a publicity scrapbook in the main office and on part of the hall bulletin board.
Time Commitment: About one hour per month. Participants should be able to take good photographs, upload them to the computer and email pictures to the newspapers. Royle School tries to submit articles regularly with the understanding that not all pictures are printed in the paper. Publicity committee chair coordinates who covers and writes about news worthy events.
The yearbook committee works from Sept.-Feb. taking pictures of school events, organizing photos/student artwork, and completing the layout. There are approximately 1-2 meetings a month, the bulk of the work takes place on your own time and is completed at home, perfect for those with irregular hours available. The Memory Book Co. is very helpful with the ongoing process. Advertising, ordering and distribution of the yearbook take place in March/April and June but does not require the entire committee. Committee also organizes a 5th grade yearbook signing breakfast in June. Familiarity with photography, layout/collaging is helpful but not necessary and ability to work with digital photos is essential. What is needed are members who enjoy taking pictures, popping in on lots of school activities, and are excited about the great final product! They are also responsible for sending information to Blast and website coordinators as necessary.
Time Commitment: Ongoing for committee members but can be completed on your own time. Intensive preparation on behalf of the chairperson will be required before deadlines are due.
