Volunteers

Part of what makes a rich learning environment is having passionate adults that are excited about things and willing to share them with kids. You can supplement your staff with parents, young adults, or not-so-young adults who are interesting people. A big part of what makes someone interesting is that they have keen interests in things.

Having everybody feel safe is a vital part of creating a healthy culture in the school.

However, there are some commonsense steps to take to safeguard your environment for the children.

Validate Identity: We have volunteers complete a web-based form with complete contact information (full name, address, phone, driver's license #, etc.). We also have a checkbox on that form where they agree to authorize us to do a criminal background check on them. When they come in to the school for the first time, we make a copy of their ID to keep on file.

Background Checks: Once you have authorization and identifying information for a background check, then obviously you can do one. It’s important to get this authorization, even if you don’t immediately use it. Requiring the authorization on the initial application may also deter people with predatory intentions from applying. It's also a possibility for you to additionally ask in-person, "Is there anything in your background that might prevent you from volunteering/working in a school?"

Requirements: Some states and locales have laws against some people (with particular criminal histories) working with children. In any case, most parents would likely be uncomfortable with people with past violent or sexual offenses working with their children. You’ll need to define your own policies in this domain.

Having everybody feel safe is a vital part of creating a healthy culture in the school. Sometimes that does mean there are fear-mongering parents that are not a fit, because their extreme fears breed a culture of fear. If knowing your policies does not reassure a parent, that may be a signal that they won't be a great fit for your culture.

Agreements: Establishing a culture of integrity, where people keep their agreements, is important whether staff, student or volunteer. Be sure the make the agreements you’re asking people to follow are clear. Will they be in 2 days a week? Tuesday/Thursday mornings? What time? How long? Is any preparation expected? Spelling out expectations -- even if they seem obvious -- lets all parties feel secure and confident.