Volunteer Opportunities
¤ General PA ¤ PA Executive Board and Committees ¤ School Leadership Team ¤ Book Fair ¤ Class Parent Representatives ¤ Book Pals ¤ Learning Leaders ¤ Kindergarten Parent Programs
School Support Opportunities
Join the PA
General PA
Our school has an active and vibrant Parents’ Association (PA). All parents are welcome and invited to participate. General PA Meetings are held monthly, typically the 3rd Thursday of the month at 7:00 pm. These meetings provide valuable information about what’s happening at the school and in the PA, and they provide a forum for parents to meet other 187 parents and to exchange ideas.PA Executive Board and Committees
The PA executive board is elected each spring and consists of a President, a Vice President of Elementary School, Vice President of Middle School, Recording Secretary, Communications Secretary, Treasurer, and UPA Delegate.
hallway bulletin board
- Fundraising
- Hospitality
- Community Liaison
- Environmental
School Leadership Team
A team of administrators, teachers, and eight elected parent representatives meet monthly to set the educational direction of the school. The team makes decisions about school curriculum, staffing, and expenditures. The team’s work culminates each year with the writing of the Comprehensive Educational Plan (CEP) for the school. One of the Leadership Team’s goals for this year is for all children to meet the city and state standards.
Book Fair
PS 187 holds several Book Fairs each year. Parent volunteers are needed to supervise and sell books.
Classroom Opportunities
Class Parent Representatives
Parents in the Elementary School are able to volunteer to be a Class Parent Representative for their child’s class. These parents are a communications link between the teacher and the other parents in the class and help foster a sense of classroom community. Some possible responsibilities include: coordinating chaperones for class trips; getting parent volunteers to assist in the classroom; coordinating a social event to introduce parents and foster friendship and spirit within each class; creating a class telephone list; and communicating upcoming PA events.
Book Pals
Book Pals is an all-volunteer team of professional actors, under the auspices of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG), who read aloud to children at public elementary schools, helping to introduce them to the world of reading and literacy. Volunteers from our community work with the children in our Elementary School reading aloud to them every week and making books come alive through their talent and training.
Learning Leaders
Learning Leaders is a NYC non-profit organization that recruits, trains, screens, and supports school volunteers who provide one-on-one and small-group instructional support and other services to NYC public school children. The program has been implemented at P.S./I.S. 187 in the Kindergarten through grade three. Volunteers give students much needed individual attention, instructional support and encouragement, enriching students’ lives and helping the teachers by volunteering a minimum of one hour per week.
Kindergarten Parent Programs
Hands-on-Parents Program
The Hands-on-Parents and the Bennett Park Children’s Garden Programs were started two years ago by parents of Kindergarteners. With the Hands-on Parents program, parents can visit their child’s class every two weeks and make a presentation or lead an activity in the class.
PS 187's Kindergarten Gardening Program plants at the west side of Bennett Park.