Kindergarten Workshop

The Kindergarten Workshop is an orientation program for children entering kindergarten and their parents.  The workshop takes place in the late spring.  Prospective students attend morning classes that are conducted by parent volunteers and participate in many routine kindergarten activities.  While the children are in classes, their parents attend informational seminars with various school personnel including the principal, kindergarten teachers, and support staff.  The purpose of this program is to be informative for the parents and to make the transition into kindergarten less stressful for the children.  This PTO project requires a large support staff of volunteers which includes the following:

• Three Kindergarten Workshop co-chairs

• Teacher Coordinator

• Teachers

• Floaters

• Workshop Hospitality Volunteer Staff

• Babysitting Volunteer Staff

The workshop co-chairs are responsible for planning and organizing this event.  This includes obtaining a site location, scheduling speakers, registering students, purchasing supplies, collecting money, and paying expenses.

The teacher coordinator prepares the curriculum, purchases the school supplies and assembles them for distribution to the teachers.

Teachers are responsible for coordinating their classroom activities and preparing their materials.

Co-chairs and teachers attend preparation meetings run by the teacher coordinator prior to the event.  During the week of the workshop, hospitality volunteers are needed to distribute snacks and refreshments and babysitting volunteers are needed in the nursery for those families requiring babysitting assistance for younger siblings.

This program is typically run in the morning at an off-site location.  Teachers are also needed on the final day to chaperone students on their field trip to Gillette School.  This is the highlight of the workshop for the students, who get to ride a school bus and visit the kindergarten teachers in their classrooms.