Parental Responsibility
Parental involvement is a cornerstone of Oakhurst Cooperative Preschool (OCP). We rely on the skills and dedication of our parents for continued success.
OCP encourages parents to share with the preschool community their skills and time in any way that will benefit the school and children. As a member of the OCP community, each parent or set of parents will:
- Assist as a Parent-Teacher on a rotational basis proportionate to the number of days your child is enrolled;
- Serve on a committee;
- Participate in four designated school workdays.
OCP Committee Service
One parent in each family currently enrolled in OCP is required to serve on one of nine committees. Parents who have skills that are particularly well suited for certain committees are asked to offer their services accordingly. Committees are as follows:
| Management | Includes the President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer. Conducts regular meetings and manage all business operations; oversees and assists all other committees, and makes ongoing decisions between Board meetings. |
| Communications | Manages and delivers internal and external communications; oversees public relations and maintains website; creates yearly marketing plan. |
| Coop Community | Coordinates all social events and programs for members; creates and oversee yearly programming that improves the cooperative experience for member families (e.g. manage food train for new babies); secures volunteers for coop events and programs; coordinates community outreach projects and programs; and assist other committee chairs with their events or programs. |
| Curriculum | Assists Preschool Director in matters related to curriculum philosophy and implementation, classroom needs, and teacher/parent continuing education. |
| Facilities | Oversees maintenance, safety, and improvement of OCP facilities, along with the Director, and when necessary, coordinates efforts to secure a new facility for the coop. |
| Finance | Manages the daily financial affairs of the coop (accounting, billing, donations, bill payment, tax filing and payment, etc.); develops and monitors yearly and multi-year budgets, and oversees long-term financial planning. |
| Green | Coordinates and oversees issues related to becoming and sustaining an environmentally responsible facility and corporation, including implementation of environmentally related educational programming. |
| Membership | Assists Preschool Director with matters related to enrollment, records, member relations and obligations, and new member orientation; oversees member assignment to committees and tracks member compliance. |
| Personnel | Assists the Preschool Director with matters related to hiring, evaluation, wages, and benefits for employees; maintains Employee Manual and oversees teacher appreciation; oversees Director evaluation. |
| Planning & Development | Works with the President to create annual and long-term strategic plans; creates a plan to establish a capital endowment fund and coordinates all fundraising efforts; researches and make recommendations on investing endowment funds; compiles and submits annual report. |
Parent-Teacher Days (PT Days)
Parents are the foundation of OCP. As a parent-teacher, you will assist the teachers and the children throughout the school day. Besides making a wonderful contribution of your time, you also get to see your child interacting and growing. The number of parent-teacher days is determined by a) the number of children in your child’s class and b) the number of days your child attends OCP. For example, if there are 7 children in your child’s class and your child attends 3 days per week, you will parent-teach approximately every 7th class day, or once every 2-3 weeks.
The parent-teacher should plan to arrive at school no later than 8:45a.m., and plan to stay until 1 p.m. The teacher will instruct each parent on their duties for the day. Some parent teacher job responsibilities may include: cleaning, preparing for arts and craft or for other projects, playing with children, comforting a crying child, helping supervise on the playground or singing songs. Also, the parent-teacher provides snacks sufficient for the whole class.
Workdays
As an OCP member, each family is obligated to earn at least four workday credits during the school year (1 parent x 1 workday = 1 credit). Workdays can be either scheduled facility-related workdays or events that require volunteers. Each workday is typically a four hour commitment. Each family must earn at least one workday credit at a facility-related workday.
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