Parent and Family Involvement Plan

Families must sign the Parent and Family Involvement Plan before the start of each school year affirming their understanding of the Family Contract and the Family Participation Review.

Volunteering Basics

Two-parent families are required to perform twenty volunteer hours per family during the school year. Single-parent families are required to perform ten volunteer hours. Remember: grandparents, older siblings and extended family members may help you complete your hours. You may even recruit another school family to help you if you are having trouble — contact the Parent and Family Involvement chairperson to discuss alternatives (pandfi@neighborhoodcharter.com).

Activities counted as Volunteer Hours

Participation in the following activities count towards completion of your required volunteer hours:

  • Volunteer for designated school work days or personally scheduled work days.
  • Coordinate with your students’ teacher to be a classroom volunteer.
  • Help with the Wednesday courier- 7:45am in the parent room.
  • Volunteer in the media center or in the office.
  • Help set up or organize special incentives such as Box Tops for Education, etc.
  • Attend a committee meeting or board meeting.
  • Help with field trips.
  • Provide childcare for a NCS meeting or for another NCS family while they fulfill their hours.
  • Perform special tasks such as computer programming, carpentry, etc.
  • Be an extra-curricular volunteer by coaching school sports, leading school-based extra-curricular club or activity.
  • Volunteer for fundraising activities.

Activities NOT counted as Volunteer Hours

Attendance at regular PTCA meetings*, teacher/parent conferences, classroom observation, assembly meetings, picnics, attendance at Neighborhood Charter School fundraisers or lunch with your child (when that is the only purpose of the visit).

*Points are given in the Family Participation Review procedure for these.

Each family MUST volunteer for a minimum of one fundraiser per school year. This might include making an item or items for the bake sale or donating an item for the raffle. Soley attending or purchasing tickets for a fundraiser does NOT count as volunteering for a fundraiser. We have several established fundraisers: Summer Shade Festival, Fall Fling, Book Fairs, and the Low Country Boil. Help with your favorites!

To objectively assess our families’ participation, a Family Participation Review will be distributed three times a year to update families on their status completing the requirement set forth in the Family Contract. Please see the Family Participation Review for more information.

How to Sign-In as a Volunteer

When entering the Neighborhood Charter School, always proceed first to the front office and sign-in on the visitors log and receive your visitor’s pass. Always remember to sign-out of the visitor’s log when you leave. Remember: Do not go directly to a classroom or any other part of the school premises without signing in at the office first.

DO's and DON'Ts for Classroom Volunteers

  • DO show up — Take your responsibility seriously. Children and teachers are counting on you. Be on time.
  • DO respect the confidentiality of the children in the classroom. DO NOT engage in conversations about the children with anyone outside of the teacher or school officials. This is discouraged even in a positive nature.
  • DO NOT discuss a child's positive or negative academic performance or behavior.
  • DO NOT put yourself in a situation where you are alone with a child or children. There should always be a teacher present during your interaction with students.
  • DO use common sense in your interaction and discussion with children. DO NOT discuss anything inappropriate (i.e. religion, politics, etc).
  • DO NOT single out a child for criticism or praise, leave that to the teacher.
  • DO involve the teacher if you have concerns or problems.