News & Announcements

Parent Society Corner

By Jeff Roberts

Parenting Tools Series

Many thanks to our Safety Committee for creating and organizing our Parenting Tools series. Responding to parents’ desire for tools to effectively deal with difficult topics, we’ll have further installments in the fall. Check out our Parent Society Blog for a recap of the first forum on “Parenting Tools for Teaching Safe Touch.”

Announcing 2017-18 Parent Society Leadership Council

Our team is growing! The Parent Society Leadership Council (PSLC) recently held elections for the 2017-18 school year and our core group is now up to nine members! With a strong cross-section of the school represented, from the Gardens through High School, this crew looks forward to advocating on behalf of AWS parents – because every parent at the Austin Waldorf School is a member of the Parent Society!

While this past year saw the Parent Society involved in a lot of events and initiatives (see list below), the upcoming year promises to be another one full of energy as we work to engage in the issues that benefit parents, students, and faculty.  We will begin with our summer retreat to set an agenda based on feedback from parents on what they want to see us accomplish for 2017-18.

Shir Shoham (1st, 3rd, 5th graders) – President; Circle Facilitator
Rene Crosby (10th grader) – Treasurer; Parent-Board Representative
Jessica Pratt (5th, 3rd, Moongardener) – Co-Circle Administrator
Megan Jones-Smith (1st grader, future Garden) – Co-Circle Administrator
Jeff Roberts (10th, 8th, 4th, 1st graders) – Mentor
Michelle Lemberger (4th grader) – At Large
Suzanne Tejada (9th, 6th, 3rd graders) – At Large
Annie McMillen (8th, 9th graders) – At Large
Sarah Jones- (4th, 2nd graders, future Garden) – At Large

Parent Society – Things we do

Part of the school’s structure:

• Our Parent Board Representative (Rene Crosby) was nominated by the PSLC to be a member of the Board of Trustees in order to bridge the communication in our continued advocacy for the parent body.
• AWS’s Community and Resource Development (CaRD) team includes the school’s Enrollment director, Development Director, Auxiliary Resources Director, Communications Manager, and a Parent Society Representative.

Enriches the Community with Events:

• Pumpkin Walk (October)
• Winter Fair (December)
• Spring Fair (April)
• Parent Society General Meetings (quarterly)

Student and Parent Support:

• Safety Committee (led by Sophie Hunt) to respond to parent concerns
• Parking Lot Safety Week (getting faculty and admin involved as well)
• Playground Safety (communicating with admin about playground safety issues)
• Meetings with admin and the school’s safety advisor to discuss safety concerns on behalf of the parent body
• Exploring feasibility of crosswalk/school zone designation
• Parenting Tools Series in response to parent’s requests – the first forum on Teaching Children about Safe Touch occurred this Spring, there will be more forums in the 17-18 school year
• Welcome Wagon – helps to ease the transition for new AWS families
• Acts as a liaison between individual parents and administration when anonymity is requested
• Continually pursuing/investigating the idea of a school counselor and keeping this request in the fore
• Provides Parent Mornings childcare
• Hospitality Committee helps organize and provide refreshments for a variety of events

Faculty Support:

• Holiday and End of Year Gifting
• Provides assistance at school events like Screenagers viewing and the Nativity Play
• Faculty Appreciation Day