Volunteer Survey

Welcome to the Douglas Elementary School PTO Volunteer Survey for the 2019-2020 school year!

Volunteers are an integral part of our school and an essential element in the functioning of many programs and activities at Douglas School. As you go through this survey, please check all areas that interest your family. We appreciate your willingness to help the school and will make every effort to help you serve on the committees of your choice. If you have any questions or find additional free time during the year to volunteer, the list of committee chairs for each activity or event will be included in the Douglas School Directory and on the PTO website.

You only need to do this survey ONE time, no matter how many children you have at Douglas.

Your name will be passed along to the coordinators of all jobs you check off in the survey. If you’re at all interested in a volunteer job, go ahead and check it off; we understand that things change, so you’ll have the option to decline later. Please feel encouraged to reach out directly to the committee chairs if you have not heard back about committee job you would like to volunteer for.

If you have questions about the Douglas volunteer survey, please contact us at ctdouglasvolunteers@gmail.com.

Thank you, and welcome to Douglas for the upcoming school year!
All volunteers need to have a CORI form on file with the central office. We recommend that both parents/guardians fill out CORI forms.. You can obtain blank CORI forms from the Douglas school office. You must have a valid picture ID (such as a drivers license) for Sharen Crooks in the school office to check at the time you submit your CORI form. If you have not submitted a CORI form with the proper identification, you will not be allowed to volunteer in the school. Please call the school office if you have any questions. Note that we are in the second year of our three-year CORI cycle. If you have submitted for renewal in 2018, your CORI will be valid until 2021. The renewal process will begin in February, 2021.
If you have volunteered for a position in the past and would like to continue this year or have indicated over the spring/summer that you are willing to start a volunteer position, please REPEAT that information in this survey. This allows our volunteer committee to gather complete information. Thank you.
Activities are listed in categories: ongoing/periodic volunteer opportunities, one-time volunteer opportunities, and work-at-home volunteer opportunities. Please note we have indicated the approximate time of year each activity takes place, when applicable, to help you with your scheduling. We have also indicated if a volunteer position works well with younger siblings by including “*Younger siblings welcome” in the description. THANK YOU for all of your support of Douglas School!
This is the information we will use to match you to the school's database.
You'd be surprised how many times we need all three pieces of information below to figure out who filled out the survey -- so thanks for helping us out by providing this information!
Enter the 5-digit Family ID you copied from the PowerSchool Emergency Card System.
(If you don't have this, you can leave blank but fill in the next two boxes.)
Enter your HOME PHONE NUMBER with no dashes or other symbols (e.g., 9782223333).
Please provide this as a backup even if you have the ID number from PowerSchool.
Enter the FIRST NAME of the YOUNGEST child you have attending Douglas this year.
Use the proper name, not a nickname (e.g., "Charles" not "Chuck").
Please list the name you submitted your CORI form under.
Sometimes the Douglas Office has trouble finding parents in the CORI database if the CORI form is under a different name than we have in PowerSchool. If your last name is hyphenated or has several possible forms, please list them here to help us determine your CORI status. Also, if either parent has a nickname that might be in PowerSchool or the CORI database, please list it here.
Please provide any Language(s) besides english that are spoken in your home fluently.
Please provider this optional information if your family is comfortable speaking language(s) besides English.
Volunteer Information
Please provide up to two email addresses that the PTO can use to contact you about volunteer projects.
This is the primary email address we'll use for volunteer purposes:
Enter Email Confirm Email
This is the secondary email address we'll use for volunteer purposes:
Enter Email Confirm Email
Volunteer Opportunities
Please check off boxes of jobs that you are interested in. This is not necessarily a commitment.
Ongoing/Periodic
- BAKERS: Help provide refreshments (not necessarily homemade) for school activities as needed by the hospitality committee (typically every six weeks for general PTO meetings, as well as for two staff appreciation events, which happen in November [Thanksgiving] and May). You are not committing to providing baked goods for every event, just those that fit your schedule!
- TEACHER/STAFF APPRECIATION LUNCHEON: Usually held in mid-spring, at school during school hours. Help set up, serve food, and clean up. The coordinators will distribute further information as the date approaches regarding volunteer assistants and donations. The teachers love this event!
- BOOK FAIR: This event is run by the book fair committee. Parents are needed for setting up the book fair, staffing the sale, helping students select their books, and helping take down the fair. It’s fun, easy, and you can pick up a few books while you’re there. Held in late November / early December. Help out when you can, volunteering for part of a day or the entire few days is a huge help. (This year the Book Fair will be held December 2-6.)
- DOUGLAS INTERNATIONAL REPRESENTATIVE: Work with the newcomer coordinator to make contact with parents of new international students to welcome them to Douglas and encourage them to attend Douglas events. Meet 2 to 4 times a year with the international reps of the other elementary schools. *Most of this work can be done from home.
- EAGLE SHOPPING REWARDS: Help with the collection, preparation, and submission of box tops, labels, and receipts, which provide Douglas with monetary and school supply contributions. *This task can be done from home.
- GARDENING: Plant flowers and beautify the school grounds, three times per year. Provide care for indoor plants in office and lobby. *Younger siblings are welcome.
- HOSPITALITY: Assist with setup and clean up of refreshments for miscellaneous social functions such as PTO General meetings and Kindergarten tours.
- LOST AND FOUND: Communicate about and gather lost and found items three times per year.
- CULTURAL ENRICHMENT: Coordinator Needed for 2019-2020! Willing to assist cultural enrichment cochairs. This role involves attending cultural enrichment performances, greeting the performers, taking photos, and providing a write-up of the performance. Please reach out to the PTO with questions (cochairs@douglasschoolpto.org) or if interested.
- SNACK CART PROGRAM: Assemble snack cart in lobby, help students select and purchase their snacks. Volunteers are needed to commit to one Thursday morning each month for about 2 hours. *Younger siblings welcome.
- TECHNOLOGY SECRETARY EMAIL CONTENT: (Weekly email content): Willing to organize content that is placed in the Eagle Eye Weekly (EEW). Responsible for reviewing weekly content from the previous year and making adjustments accordingly. This is submitted to the individual who lays out the formatting for the weekly emails.
- TECHNOLOGY SECRETARY EMAIL FORMATTING: (Weekly emails formatting): Willing to format review weekly email content and submit it into Constant Contact for distribution to the Douglas community.
- TECHNOLOGY SECRETARY SHADOW/ASSISTANT: Willing to shadow current technology secretary and assist when needed.
- SAFE ARRIVAL: Listen to absentee messages on school answering machine, review online notifications from parents of absentees, and call parents of absent students who are unaccounted for. The work takes place at about 9:30am for approximately a half-hour. *Younger siblings are welcome.
- SCIENCE KITS: Science kits are library materials and need refreshing periodically. Parents are needed to work with a coordinator to help procure, replenish, and develop new kits for family science bags. All expenses are reimbursed.
- TRANSLATORS: Occasionally we need to call on parents who know a particular language to help with translations (either of written documents or in person for events like Newcomer Orientation). If you speak and/or read any languages other than English fluently, please let us know what those languages are. *This job can be done from home.
- LOBBY MONITOR: Utilize information from weekly emails or committee chairs to advertise events on the lobby monitor. *This job can be done from home.
- CANOBIE LAKE PARK: Coordinate the end-of-school-year Canobie Lake Park outing. This involves putting up a banner and notifying parents of the date of the outing. You also coordinate the logistics of the outing with the park for the group discount. *All of the work can be done from home.
- DOUGLAS DIRECTORY: In September to early October, the Directory team organizes and formats data from the school system and PTO, collects order forms and customizes family listings, follows up with families where there are questions, and distributes the printed directory.
- GRADUATION RECEPTION: Fifth-grade parents are needed to help at the graduation reception in June.
- HEALTH OFFICE: Help out in the school nurse's office on vision and hearing screening days.
- ICE CREAM SOCIAL AND CAKE WALK PLANNING: This is one of Douglas' most beloved events. Be part of the planning team that brings this fun evening to life! (This year's social will be held on Friday, October 18.)
- ICE CREAM SOCIAL AND CAKE WALK HELPER: This is one of Douglas' most beloved events. Lots of people are needed to work in shifts to help serve ice cream sundaes and pizza, run games, help with the cake walk, set up, and clean up.
- ABRHS SENIOR SERVICE DAY: High School Seniors come to the school one day in the spring to help clean, paint, refresh the school grounds or help teachers. A coordinator and volunteers are needed to set up and prepare for the event and help watch and coordinate the seniors during the service day.
- KINDERGARTEN SCREENING: Help greet parents and provide forms to be filled out. Make sure every kindergartner leaves with a gift. Depending on number of volunteers, your shift would typically be one hour. This is a spring event, and the dates are to be determined. *Younger siblings welcome.
- KINDERGARTEN TOURS: The coordinator recruits and schedules tour volunteers. Volunteers greet parents and act as friendly faces on the tours for parents who are touring Acton/Boxborough schools before the kindergarten lottery. The district schedules the tours in January and February during the school day. Barring snow days, there are eight tours spread over four days. Ideally, there are enough volunteers so that no one has to come to more than one or two.
- MARCH READING CHALLENGE: We need volunteers to assist the Douglas librarian with running the annual March Reading Challenge. This is a fun annual event to motivate students to read using contests, prizes, and an overall goal that involves Dr. Whitbeck doing something wacky. In years past, he has kissed a pig, raced an Olympian, and ridden in a hot air balloon.
- MEMORIAL DAY PROGRAM: Work closely with music teacher Mr. Broggi to coordinate this wonderful annual event, including helping to set up, arranging a military speaker, and making sure all runs smoothly that day. Guidance provided by Mr. Broggi.
- VETERANS DAY CELEBRATION: This event will take place in the morning on Friday, November 8. Students’ relatives who have served in the armed forces visit our school, share in a light reception, are honored during a community meeting, and visit individual classrooms. Parents are needed to help coordinate many aspects of this program
- P.I.P. (PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT PROJECT) PLANNING: Help with planning and organizing the PIP projects
- P.I.P. (PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT PROJECT) MARKET MATH: Help with the implementation of the 3rd-grade math event at Roche Bros. in early spring to enrich and encourage family involvement in math, science, and technology.
- P.I.P. (PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT PROJECT) MARKET MATH: Help with the implementation of the 4th-grade Star Party event in late winter/early spring. This event is sponsored by the amateur Telescope Makers of Boston, Acton Public Schools, and Acton PIP.
- P.I.P. (PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT PROJECT) MARKET MATH: Help with the implementation of the 5th-grade math event at Roche Bros. in early spring to enrich and encourage family involvement in math, science, and technology.
- READ ACROSS AMERICA: Organize the volunteers that read to each Douglas class during National Read Aloud Week in March. Welcome volunteers upon arrival. Organizing is done in February, and the event takes place in school sometime during the month of March.
- SCHOOL PICTURE DAY: Volunteers are needed to assist the children in preparing for photos and assist the photographers with forms. Volunteers typically work in two-hour shifts. This is scheduled for Monday, September 16th, rain date TBD.
- TALENT SHOWS: Parent volunteers are needed to help with the spring talent shows. There is a separate talent show each for grades K-3 and one for grades 4-6. Work with Mr. Broggi to create the program, distribute and collect forms, and assist on the day of the event.
- DOUGLAS FUN RUN PLANNING: The Fun Run was our wildly successful fundraiser. We need help working with the company to plan this year's event! (The 2019 Fun Run will be held on Thursday, May 7. The Fun Run kick-off Tuesday, April 28.)
- DOUGLAS FUN RUN HELPER: Do you have the energy to help out and motivate the kids to run their laps on the big day, we need you to Cheer Cheer Cheer!
- GRANT WRITING: Investigate grant opportunities for many areas such as technology, foreign language, and cultural enrichment in elementary school education.
- PUBLICITY: Contact newspapers to get coverage for school events. Be willing to take pictures of school events and submit them to the local papers. Publicity is an important way to enhance Douglas’ image. This volunteer would work closely with the office and Dr. Whitbeck via email to publish events unique to Douglas.
- FUND RAISING TEAM: New for 2019-2020! We have a new need for people interested in helping with general fundraising for the PTO. The chairperson Susan Giulietti is looking for people willing to help with ideas and running events as they are planned throughout the year.
- LIBRARY BOOK REPAIR CREW: New for 2019-2020! Are you a pro with acid-free scotch tape, and have a knack for lining up jagged edges of ripped paper and handy with elmer's glue. The Douglas Librarian need your service to extend the lives of their well loved tomes.
- LIBRARY BOOK BENEFACTOR COORDINATOR: New for 2019-2020! Help the librarian with the Book Benefactor Program whereby families honor a child or teacher with funds for a library book that has been set aside for the Book Benefactor Program. You can help coordinate publicizing the program and with making donation labels.
Festival of Cultures
The retooled Akiko Sensei Festival of Cultures run entirely by Douglas last year was a success! (New families: this is an annual festival celebrating our cultural diversity that included informational tables about countries, an international pot luck, and performances by our kids. It was held at the Jr. High in conjunction with Conant until last year.) We plan to continue it again in 2019-2020 but we will need volunteers. The Festival of Cultures is an important event to celebrate our cultural diversity.
- I'd like to help plan and coordinate
- I'd like to help run the even that evening

LIBRARY:

Assist students with selecting and checking out books during your child's class. Help with routine shelving and other tasks anytime during the school day. Coordinators prepare schedules for class volunteers. Please indicate here that you are willing to volunteer for library if scheduling allows; the library staff will let you know when your child's class has library. (The library schedule is not available yet.)

	Willing to help	Willing to coordinate	BOTH willing to help & coordinate
K: Dr. Fitzpatrick
K: Mrs. Smith
K: Mrs. Shamah
1: Mrs. Maciel
1: Miss Hunt
2: Mrs. Savage
2: Mrs. Pelley
3: Mrs. Johnson
3: Mrs. Ritter
4: Mrs. Breslin
4: Mrs. Bethel
4: Mrs. Littlefield
5: Mr. Cail
5: Mrs. Sheridan
5: Mrs. Johnston
6: Mr. Henke
6: Mrs. Hubbell
6: Mrs. Oxnard

NATURE WALKS:

This hands-on parent driven program needs people to lead or shepherd small groups of children on nature walks three times during the year for about 60 minutes. Enthusiasm is all that is needed! Training for fall walks takes place in early October. Please indicate here your interest in assisting with nature walks in your child’s class. Help with as many walks as your schedule will allow. Also, please consider serving as the walk schedule coordinator for your child’s classroom--a job that does not require coming into the school.

	Willing to help	Willing to coordinate	BOTH willing to help & coordinate
K. Dr. Fitzpatrick
K: Mrs. Smith
K: Mrs. Shamah
1: Mrs. Maciel
1: Miss Hunt
2: Mrs. Savage
2: Mrs. Pelley
3: Mrs. Johnson
3: Mrs. Ritter
4: Mrs. Breslin
4: Mrs. Bethel
4: Mrs. Littlefield
5: Mr. Cail
5: Mrs. Johnston
5: Mrs. Sheridan

Comments
Please provide any other comments about volunteering or other areas where you see a need or could fill a need the area below.
Name
First Last

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Volunteer Survey

This is the information we will use to match you to the school's database.

Volunteer Information

Volunteer Opportunities