Volunteer Opportunities

Thank you for your interest in volunteering to support the Escuela Key Elementary PTA! 

Para leer está información en espanol, por favor haga clic aquí.

These SY23-24 roles have varying time commitments, and many are specific to a certain time of year. 

The best way to let us know about your volunteering interests is to fill out our Volunteer Interest form HERE.  It has the most up-to-date information about available opportunities and a brief description of each.   You can also learn more before filling out the form by reading the information below and/or reaching out to the lead volunteers using the contact information listed.  Key PTA President Erin Aylor is also always available to provide guidance on what roles might best fit your yearly/weekly availability and interests (president@keypta.org).  Thank you!!  

An important note that all volunteers who are going to be interacting with the students in the classroom, on the playground, or on field trips must be approved by APS (this process is simple, entirely online, and involves an application, background check, and a short video training).  You do NOT need to wait until you have completed this process to let us know you want to volunteer. Please reach out to us to get started with volunteering at the same time as you start the Volunteer Application Process / El Proceso de Aplicar para ser Voluntariado.  Below is a step-by-step description of how that process works!  Thank you for volunteering for Key!

1. Each school has an APS Volunteer Liaison that manages the approval process -- at Key our APS Volunteer Liaison is Sandy Quintanilla (Sandy.Quintanilla@apsva.us) 

2. Volunteers start the online process at the APS Volunteer in a School webpage

3. When a parent/guardian registers online to be a volunteer, they will receive a thank you email (it will be from "Raptor System donotreply@raptortech.com" -- check your SPAM folder if you do not receive the email)

4. The parent/guardian's request to be a volunteer waits in a queue with Sandy Quintanilla, the Volunteer Liaison at Key

5. Once the Volunteer Liaison advances that request to Raptor System, then the email with the link to view the required sexual misconduct video and complete the online training class is sent to the parent/guardian (again, from Raptor System)

6. Parent/guardian watches the required video and completes the required online training by passing the end of class test by answering at least 80% of the questions correctly). Once the parent/guardian completes the training, they  SHOULD  NOT CLOSE OUT OR EXIT the online training system, because there is one more very important step that a lot of parents/guardians miss.

7. Parent/guardian must DOWNLOAD the certificate of completion from the online training and EMAIL it to Key’s Volunteer Liaison at Sandy.Quintanilla@apsva.us.

8. Once the Liaison receives that completion email, they can approve the Volunteer and add that parent/guardian to the school-maintained list of approved Parent Volunteers.

Volunteering at Key: A Summary

After the pandemic kept kids (and parents) away from the school for 1 ½ years, this year we continue to work to rebuild our community.  There are a number of ways to get in involved and support our students, teachers, and wonderful school community:

• Fundraising   – Help out with our fundraising events for the year!  There are many ways to help, big and small!  From coordinating monthly Restaurant Nights to helping with our Annual Campaign for Key, and other important fundraising activities that are critical to supporting our community (Contact fundraising@keypta.org). 

• Teacher Grants Committee members: The PTA budget provides funding to teachers to support educational projects separate from the standard curriculum. Seeking parent volunteers from a range of grades represented on the committee, which meets twice a year to review teacher grant proposals. (Contact grants-committee@keypta.org)

• Teacher appreciation – Help coordinate our teacher appreciation activities, such as meals and special gifts for Teacher Appreciation Week in the Spring. We also provide teacher appreciation treats during parent-teacher conferences. (Contact Internal-affairs@keypta.org)

• Staff appreciation – The PTA recognizes the many Escuela Key staff who work so hard for our kids and community - school nurses, custodians, cafeteria workers, front office staff, and many others! Help us show appreciation to these important staff by planning and delivering cards, treats, and other special “Thank You” tokens throughout the year (supported by the PTA budget). (Contact internal-affairs@keypta.org)

• Holiday Giving Campaign - Work with the lead volunteer and the school to coordinate support for Key families in need around the December holidays (Contact internal-affairs@keypta.org)

• Grade parents work in teams to assist their grade level teachers by disseminating information and coordinating events and volunteers. To volunteer or for more information, contact RPcoordinator@keypta.org.  (1-2 hrs/ week)

• External Affairs - Represent Escuela Key Elementary PTA on APS wide/County wide initiatives and activities, to include School Board Advisory Councils and Committees. Seeking volunteers interested in serving on any one of the following subcommittees: Arlington Special Education Advisory (ASEAC); Arts Education; Career, Technical, and Adult Education; Early Childhood Education; English Language Arts; English Learners; Gifted Services; Mathematics; School Health Advisory Board (SHAB); Science; Social Studies; Student Services; and World Languages.  (contact external-affairs@keypta.org) 

• Book Fair Volunteers - Our Escuela Key Elementary Book Fair is close to being confirmed for March 2024! Work with our amazing partner, R.E.A.D., and our lead volunteer to put on an amazing book fair that helps support literacy for our kids (Contact efreassmith@gmail.com). 

• Translation – Do you speak both English and Spanish?  Join our Translation Team to help ensure that all our PTA communications are available in both languages!  These remote responsibilities rotate so that no one person is overwhelmed (Contact communications@keypta.org)

• Communications – Do you want to help with communications (TWAK, social media, listserv, WhatsApp, Website)?  (Contact communications@keypta.org) (avereage 1-2 hrs/ week; this one is easy to do remotely) 

• Schoolyard – Have a green thumb? Love playing in the dirt? Help make our schoolyard beautiful, and help us create a Memorial Garden and outdoor learning space this school year! (See our schoolyard page) 

Contact PTA president Erin Aylor (president@keypta.org) if you have additional questions!