Parent volunteers are a critical ingredient to the success of NOTRE DAME PREPARTORY SCHOOL AND MARIST ACADEMY. Parent volunteers are necessary to provide our students with a variety of enrichment activities in the arts and other school wide extra-curricular opportunities. The Parents Club requires every family to donate at least 10 hours of their time to supporting and managing these activities. Many families go far above this minimum requirement, and the Parents Club is extremely grateful for their commitment to making the school and our community a success. The tuition contract for the school year specifies an opt-out fee for those families choosing not to work these volunteer hours. It is the goal of the Parents Club to have 100% of our families work these volunteer hours. The school, community and children need you. It is impossible to provide the variety of student activities without Parental Volunteer support!
Parents Club Volunteer Hours Exemption Policy
The Parents Club recognizes the groups listed below for their time commitment to the school and our community. The Parents Club will provide exemptions to the following individuals participating in these groups because their time commitment to the school and our community far exceeds the requirement. It also should be recognized that many of the individuals discussed within the official exemption policy described below refuse their exemption and work anyway. Any individuals electing not to take their exemption should contact the Parents Club Parent Service Coordinator to initiate the work assignment process.
NDPMA Board of Trustee – All parents who currently serve on the NDPMA board of Trustees are exempt from their 10 hour commitment. The Board of Trustees spends a great deal of time forming school policy and helping keep the community on-track toward fulfilling our school mission. The Parents Club sincerely appreciates the time commitment of these individuals.
NDPMA Booster Club Officers – All parents who currently serve on the NDPMA Athletic Boosters Board are exempt from their 10 hour commitment. This includes the Boosters President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary and Executive level positions. Athletics is an important aspect of our child’s education. The Parents Club appreciates the time commitment from these individuals which enables our children to benefit from NDPMA sports and athletic programs.
NDPMA Senior Administrators – All parents who currently serve an NDPMA Administration function are exempt from their 10 hour commitment. Most of our school-wide functions are enhanced by the participation of the Divisional Administrators. Divisional administrators are an integral part of Marist Fall Festival, Spaghetti Dinner and Mother’s Mass and Brunch. The Parents Club appreciates the time commitment of our Administrators as they support these events, and it grants the following persons an exemption from further Parent Club service.
Senior School Administrators are defined as follows:
Divisional Administrators (Principals, Vice Principals, Assistant Principals)
Advancement Office (Vice President for Advancement)
Enrollment and Diversity (Dean, Assistant Deans of Enrollment and Diversity)
Athletics (Directors of Athletics)
Business Manager
Building Manager
Hardship Exemption-
The Parents Club understands and recognizes that sometimes hardships or specific circumstances exist that make it impossible or undesirable for a family to fulfill the 10 hour commitment. The Parents Club will review these hardships on a case by case basis. Some examples in which hardships would be granted are illness or handicaps (mental or physical) pertaining to single parent families. In order to apply for a Hardship exemption, a written explanation of the hardship and supporting documentation must be provided to the Parents Club Parent Service Coordinator before Parent Volunteer Assignments are made. The Hardship claim will be reviewed by the Parents Club Board and either approved or disapproved. Approved Hardship claims will exempt the family for Parent Club Service while a disapproved claim shall not exempt a family from parent service hours. Failure to follow this process may result in the school billing a family for any un-worked Parents Club service hours. Hardship status may be granted on a life-time basis or a yearly basis as determined by the Parents Club board. It is not necessary for the parent to be present at a Parent Club board meeting for a hardship exemption review. In the case a hardship exemption is disapproved, the person will be allowed the opportunity for a single appeal to the Parents Club board at a regularly scheduled monthly meeting. This review will occur during a non-public portion of the Parents Club meeting so as to respect an individual’s personal information.
Conclusion
Our school needs parent volunteers to run the various activities geared toward educating and enriching our children. Please refer to the Tuition Contract for specific details. Failure to adhere to these policies may result in the school billing families for service hours not worked at the rates listed in the Tuition contract.