Committees

Volunteering - A Gift to Santa Rita and Our Children

bobcat thanks you

When you give the gift of your time to volunteer at Santa Rita, everyone benefits. Your children will love to have you involved and Santa Rita will be an even better school because of your involvement! Below is a list of committee positions. Click on a position to get a brief description of what the position entails. Find out how to be involved in a way that works for you, then contact one of the Committee Chairs to get involved.

Tracking Volunteer Hours

All volunteer hours spent planning and working on various events, programs, fundraisers, and activities at Santa Rita should be reported. Committee members should report their hours to the Committee Chair who is required to report the total hours spent on the activity. Committee Chairs should access the Volunteer Tracking Form on Google Docs to report volunteer hours.

Committee Description

ART DOCENTS
The Art Docent program is a district-wide program that teaches art appreciation and skills in conjunction with grade-level curriculum. The Los Altos Art Docents are a group of trained volunteers, who teach art in a manner which expands and motivates the development of creativity and curiosity in the children of the Los Altos School District. For more information, please refer to www.losaltosartdocents.org.

AUCTION PARTY

The Annual Auction Party is a fun adults-only party and fundraiser for Santa Rita! The Committee plans the party itself as well as organizing item for the auction, including class artwork, wine, vacations and more!

BOBCAT CHASE BACK TO SCHOOL PANCAKE BREAKFAST AND FUN RUN

The Bobcat Chase Fun Run began in 2007, the year the Santa Rita track was built. In addition to breakfast and running races for kindergarten through sixth graders, with a walk and a run for older kids and adults, the event offers lots of other fun activities.

BOOK FAIR
The Book Fair is an annual event at Santa Rita that turns our multi-purpose room into a book store. Book Fair week provides a wonderful opportunity to celebrate reading and promote literacy. The Fair lasts 5-7 days and is a key fundraiser for the library.

DIRECTORY
The Directory enables Santa Rita families to contact teaching staff and other Santa Rita families throughout the school year. Key responsibilities include: data processing, artwork and distribution.

EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS
Emergency Preparedness ensures that Santa Rita School is prepared for emergency situations such as earthquake, fire etc. Co-Chairs are responsible for making sure the classroom emergency boxes and emergency shed supplies are current and that Santa Rita is prepared with basic information and supplies in an emergency.

ENRICHMENT PROGRAMS
The Enrichment Program provides before-school, after-school and lunch time programs to the students at Santa Rita. The Chair selects, organizes and supervises the vendors who bring these programs to the school.

FAMILY NIGHT
A Santa Rita Family Night is an opportunity for the school community to have a fun night out together. Usually, one Family Night is planned per year. Previous Family Nights have included a celebration on the Blacktop with Food Trucks, Dancing, and Art.

HOSPITALITY
The Hospitality Committee Chairs coordinate and organize necessary food and coffee at various school events throughout the school year, including PTA meetings, PTA and Staff Luncheons, and Teacher Appreciation events.

HOT LUNCH
The Hot Lunch Chair manages the relationship between the hot lunch vendor and the PTA. In addition, the Hot Lunch Chair is responsible for determining session dates and working with the volunteer coordinator to staff hot lunch shifts.

HOT LUNCH VOLUNTEER COORDINATOR
Works to recruit and organize parent volunteers to serve hot lunch each school day.

INTERNATIONAL LIAISON
The goal of the International Liaison Volunteer Committee is to inform and involve all families at Santa Rita whose first language is not English. The International Liaison Committee exists as a service for the families whose first language is not English, and as a service for activities organized and sponsored by the PTA.

JUNIOR OLYMPICS
The Junior Olympics is a day-long sports event designed for the 4th, 5th and 6th grade students of the Los Altos School District, where they participate in a variety of athletic events in a non-competitive environment. Junior Olympics (JO) Co-Chairs recruit volunteers, work with the physical education (PE) teachers to support training during PE, record time trials, order T-shirts, enter kids’ event selections, recruit and coordinate parent relay coaches, attend monthly district meetings.

KINDERGARTEN LIAISON
The Kindergarten Liaison works to help welcome the new Kindergarten families to Santa Rita. This person organizes the Kindergarten summer play dates, Kinder social the day before school and makes sure that families are informed about PTA activities and events at school.

LIBRARY VOLUNTEERS
Each class visits the Santa Rita Library on a weekly basis. In addition to checking out books, the children hear a story read by the librarian or have a lesson related to library skills. Parent volunteers help work the check-out desk and assist with re-shelving.

LIVING CLASSROOM
The Living Classroom utilizes school gardens and outdoor areas and provides children with hands-on learning experiences. These docent-led lessons complement the existing curriculum and provide the opportunity for students to experience concepts taught in the classroom through exploration of the natural world.

LOS ALTOS EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION (LAEF) PHONATHON VOLUNTEERS
The Los Altos Education Foundation Phonathon is a major fundraising effort for LAEF and these volunteers play a critical role in this fundraising effort. They also act as liaisons between the LAEF board and the Santa Rita community.

LOST AND FOUND
Lost and Found Chair is responsible for keeping the Lost and Found cubby in order. Several times per year the Committee Chair organizes a clear out of Lost and Found.

LUNCHTIME STRIDERS
The Bobcat Lunch Time Striders is a walk/run exercise program. The program is designed to promote exercise in a healthy, supportive and non-competitive manner.

MATH LAB VOLUNTEERS IN CLASSROOM
Reinforce Math Concepts taught in the classroom. For additional information, check with the individual teacher.

NEW FAMILIES
This person works to welcome new families across all grades to Santa Rita. The chair organizes buddy families and welcome coffees. The chair also serves as a resource of information to new families.

PROJECT CORNERSTONE
The Project Cornerstone committee works throughout the year to implement school-wide programs that support building identified developmental assets with our children both at our school and at home. Programs include monthly reading programs, Expect Respect, and Parent Education workshops.

ROOM REPRESENTATIVE
Room Representatives play a key role in supporting our faculty and children. Room Representatives work with teachers to support class events, parties and celebrations and coordinate drivers for field trips. They play an important role in our emergency procedures by helping to communicate information. In addition, they send email communications to the classroom parents related to classroom activities.

SCIENCE OLYMPIAD
The Science Olympiad at Santa Rita brings together students from 4th through 6th grade in the creation and display of science projects. This event provides a wonderful opportunity to encourage children to think of a problem and formulate a solution to a scientific problem.

SCHOOL SITE COUNCIL
School Site Councils were established by the State of California as a way to involve parents and teachers in important decisions regarding how their school functions. The School Site Council is the vehicle by which the school community can come together to chart a path toward continued growth and success.

SCHOOL SUPPLIES COORDINATOR
Santa Rita PTA purchases all of the school supplies for each classroom at the beginning of the school year. The School Supplies Coordinator works with the teachers and staff to ensure that the correct supplies are purchased and is also responsible for distributing the supplies to the classroom.

SIXTH GRADE REPRESENTATIVE
The Sixth Grade Representative is the liaison between the 6th grade teachers and parents of 6th grade students. The Representative needs to maintain the 6th grade bank account, budget and fundraising and helps with many aspects of the Play, The Memory Book, The Cast and Pool Parties, as well as the coordinated "feasts" and field trips.

READATHON
The Readathon, one of the largest fundraisers at Santa Rita, is a fun event open to all students that creates quite a buzz around school while it’s in progress. Readathon Co-Chairs organize the distribution of Readathon information to students; collection and tallying of money; selection and distribution of prizes.

SPIRIT WEAR
The Spirit Wear Committee Chair helps foster Santa Rita spirit by providing the students and their families with Santa Rita logo wear. The Chair’s role is to create a new “look” (as necessary) as well as to provide the traditional Santa Rita logo wear. The Chair works with a logo wear vendor to create and continue the Santa Rita spirit wear collection.

TECHNOLOGY
The Technology Committee coordinates the maintenance and improvements of technology at Santa Rita School. There are three evening meetings a year and two work weekend parties to install equipment. Maintenance and troubleshooting are also supported via email.

TRACKSTERS
This is a fun, before-school running program for 4th, 5th, and 6th graders that meets at the Santa Rita track at least once per week, weather permitting.

WALK TO SCHOOL
This program promotes all types of kid-powered commuting to and from school year-round with a special emphasis on International Walk to School Day.

WEBMASTER, SANTA RITA WEBSITE
The role of the Webmaster is to ensure the school website reflects up to date information on Santa Rita as a service to existing and potential school families. The website plays an important role in school to home communication.

WITCHES' DELIGHT
Witches Delight is a long standing Santa Rita tradition – a fun carnival run by Santa Rita families and staff that gets everybody ready for Halloween! Witches' Delight includes the costume contest, the cake walk and some fun carnival games and activities.

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Volunteering - A Gift to Santa Rita and Our Children

PTA Fundraisers

PTA Committees Working Directly with Students

Other PTA Committees

Other Activities and Organizations

Santa Rita School’s Classrooms/Labs

Tracking Volunteer Hours

Committee Description