Volunteering in the District

Schools of Hope at C.H. Bird and Westside elementary schools is a program in which caring volunteers from our community provide literacy tutoring support to improve the academic achievement of kindergarten through fifth grade students.  Volunteers are trained and then matched with a student or students.  A time commitment of one hour per week is appreciated.  The program is a partnership between Sun Prairie Area School District and United Way of Dane County.

If you are interested in volunteering for Schools of Hope, please go to this link for more information and the application paperwork. 

Middle Schools of Hope provides one-on-one and small group literacy and mathematics tutoring, helping students improve their academic performance and readiness for high school, college, and career. As a key part of the United Way of Dane County’s Agenda for Change, the Schools of Hope program is operated by the Urban League in 12 middle schools in the Madison, Oregon, and Sun Prairie school districts.

How can you help? Be a tutor!

We currently need volunteer and Work Study tutors at both Patrick Marsh and Prairie View Middle Schools. Tutors meet one-on-one or with small groups of students at least an hour each week. Tutoring happens at the school, Monday through Friday, either during the student’s study hall, learning lab, classroom periods, or after school. During this time, tutors will provide their student with academic guidance including assignment completion, test preparation, study skills, organization and time management skills. For more information and the volunteer application go to http://ulgm.org/volunteer/schools-of-hope-tutoring/ If interested please contact the Middle Schools of Hope Coordinators.

Patrick Marsh Middle School Contact Information:
Daukesha McCurty
Email
608.834.7656

Prairie View Middle School Contact Information:
Jasmine Scott
Email
608.834.7856

Tutoring AVID students is an extremely rewarding experience for people of all ages and backgrounds; as a tutor, you will help us achieve our mission of closing the achievement gap by preparing all students for college readiness and success in a global society.

We ask that our tutors commit to a semester's worth of tutoring on Tuesdays or Thursdays or both; however, we also offer flexibility in where and when our tutors can help out. Tutors are also asked to commit to tutoring at one of our buildings exclusively. 

We do require our tutors to get a background check through the school district, and we also require our tutors to go through four hours of training in AVID-specific strategies prior to beginning their tutorial duties. Follow-up training each quarter will last four hours apiece and will occur outside of the regular school day; tutors will be given significant notice prior to attending these trainings.

This is a paid position.

Contact Kathy Enstad for more information: klensta@sunprairieschools.org

WatchDOGS® are fathers, grandfathers, uncles, and other father-figures who volunteer at the school for a day. During the day, WatchDOGS® will:

• Help in their child's classroom,
• Play at recess,
• Eat lunch with students, 
• Watch the school entrances and hallways,
• and any other assigned activities where they actively engage with not only their own students, but other students as well.

For more information about this national program, please visit WatchDOGS®

Contact your students school for more information how to volunteer for this position.

PROCEDURE IICC-R VOLUNTEER PROCEDURE

Adopted by the Administration: August 4, 2004

Revised by the Administration: March 12, 2007; December 14, 2009; September 22, 2010; January 22, 2021

CROSS REF.:

IICC, School Volunteers; IICC-E, Code of Ethics for Volunteers

KK, Visitors to the Schools During the School Day

KK-R, Procedures for Implementing School Visitor Policy

School Board policy requires that all volunteers complete a National Criminal History Background Check.

Volunteers, as defined by Policy IICC, are “adult volunteers who consistently and routinely volunteer in the schools for educational purposes and have access to confidential student information and/or unsupervised contact with students.”

The following outlines the steps required:

1. The volunteer should use the link provided on the District website to complete their background check.

2. Upon completion of the background check, the volunteer will receive an email from Raptor informing them of the results of the background check. If something appears on the background check that was not disclosed or causes concern the Human Resources department will reach out to that individual to gather information and make a determination.

3. Volunteers will have to check-in at the front office every time they come to volunteer. They will receive a badge that the volunteer must display at all times.

4. It is the responsibility of school staff to make sure that all individuals are approved and have checked in with the front office prior to volunteering.

5. Potential volunteers who have not completed a successful background check shall not be provided unsupervised access to students or to confidential student information.

6. School administrators retain the authority to approve, deny, or revoke the privileges of school volunteers and the tasks they perform in the schools at any time.