Volunteering

There are ongoing opportunities for parents to volunteer in the Surrey school district. In fact, volunteering is an excellent way for parents to become more directly involved in their children's education.

• School planning councils: School planning councils are advisory bodies made up of three parents, a teacher, the school principal and one student. The council is responsible for developing schools plans, which set out strategies to improve student achievement.
• Parent advisory councils: All parents and guardians of children in a school are automatically members of the school's parent advisory council (PAC). The PAC is the legislated parent voice of a school and facilitates effective communication between the school, the parent community and school planning councils.
• District parent advisory councils: The district parent advisory council is the legislated parent voice of a school at the district level and represents the collective view of PACs in the district. The DPAC advises the school board on matters relating to education and provides input into the development of education policy and curricula. Visit the Surrey DPAC website.

School planning councils, PACs and DPAC are explained in greater detail by the Parent Information Brochure about Parent Participation.

• Volunteers in school: Parent volunteers provide valuable teacher and student assistance in a wide variety of ways. Parents volunteer on school committees, at special events, on field trips where supervision is required and as community sports coaches.

Some parents also volunteer as drivers when school activities take students offsite. Volunteer drivers are governed by district policy.
Each school has unique volunteer needs; contact the principal at your children's school to learn what opportunities are available to you.