After School Co-op

General Job Description
Organize & Run the After-School Co-op



Details

 * Prepare insert [description of program and liability waiver] for back to school packet. Send to First Day Packet chair in June/July so it can be included in that packet.
 * Prepare information packets for all participants, including the cover letter, overview, procedures and safety rules. Edit as necessary—I’ve tried to prune them down every year, but haven’t succeeded. Consult Kinder teachers to see if any additions/changes to the rules.
 * Collect enrollment forms/liability waivers once school starts. These are returned by the teachers, and it may take several weeks to get them all in.  Check the PTO mailbox as well as the Co-op file folder—you’ll get them back quicker and can start faster.  We have generally started co-op the second full week of school.  This provides enough time to enroll enough families to put out at least a partial schedule for September while collecting the rest of the enrollments. That schedule can go out in the first Thursday folder of the year, along with the information packets and a directory of participants [so that families may trade shifts if their assignment doesn’t work for them]. [note: school always started on a Thursday before; with it starting on a Monday, it may be tougher to send out a physical copy that first week—you could send it by email, though.]
 * Schedule two families to work per co-op day. I generally work the first few days of co-op in case parents passing by have questions about the co-op. It is also helpful to pair new participants with families who’ve been in co-op before so that they have someone to ask questions [they may not have read the information packet, or they may have forgotten what it said—there’s a lot in there.]
 * Before the end of each month, prepare the schedule for the next month and send out copies in the Thursday folder as well as by email. Copy the current directory on the back of the schedule. [You’ll need to put the kids’ names on them so their Thursday folder people know who to give them to, and we usually put a notation of the teacher so we get it in the right box—you can do it by hand, or print labels.]
 * Keep track of how many turns each family has worked in order to keep things as even as possible. Families may trade shifts—track as best you can [they may not tell you, even though they’re supposed to let you know]. In case of no-shows [parents who don’t show up to work their shift], keep track of it and schedule them for a make-up shift. Send an email reminding them that they missed and will be rescheduled. If a family has two no-shows, follow up to get a commitment to show up going forward.  And if they don’t show up a third time, dismiss them from the program.
 * Sending of reminders is optional but recommended. I generally send reminders for the whole week on Sunday or Monday, depending on my schedule.  Emphasize to participants that the reminders are a courtesy, and that they need to show up even if no reminder is sent. In prior years, participants were given the option of receiving reminders by email or by phone, but this year they were only sent by email.  You can also ask for one or more volunteers to do this for you.
 * You may need to remind the parents and children periodically of the co-op rules, which are the same as the kindergarten playground rules, since that’s where it is held. Address any issues raised by the kinder teachers or the principal.


 * Maintain first aid kit. The office prefers us to operate independently, so you will need to stock the first aid kits with cold packs yourself [band-aids and alcohol wipes they are usually okay with us taking some for the kit at the beginning of the year].
 * Transfer the contents of the co-op Lost & Found to the school’s Lost & Found as needed.
 * <span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Co-op has a small budget for toys. We generally have a ball, and it is up to the organizer to decide what kind [or you may prefer no ball at all].  One year, the boys played a lot of soccer; other years, they have been very into four-square.  What you are okay with them doing may also depend on how many kids are signed up [the soccer year, we had only ~22 kids; with ~42 kids, four-square seemed a safer option].  Jump ropes, chalk, etc. are other toys we’ve had at various times.
 * <span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">I tried to avoid having 5th grade parents on duty during Science Camp, esp. the Friday since the campers come home at noon and they may want to spend time with their older child. But most of the kids come anyway, so it’s not a big deal if it’s too difficult.
 * <span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">The last schedule is always toughest, since it’s hard to get the turns to work out completely evenly. One year, the organizer just had people volunteer for the days we had left; other years, we’ve given the people who missed a turn an extra shift, then drawn names out of a hat.

<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"">Time commitment

 * <span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Beginning of the year: 8-12 hours [collect forms/create files needed & email alias/prepare handouts, first schedule & directory/make copies/organize co-op bag and drawer/buy any toys needed/email first schedule]
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Weekly: 5-10 minutes [send reminders; update files as needed]


 * <span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Monthly: 2-3 hours [create new schedule, copy, put into teachers’ boxes and send via email; update “days worked” chart]

<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Files to create

 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">signup letter; directory; schedule; cover letter; overview; safety rules; procedures; sign in sheet; teacher list; availability & days worked chart [examples of these will be provided electronically]
 * <span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">Also needed: Email list