Thank You! On behalf of the PCO, thank you to all of our volunteers! Every volunteer is greatly appreciated… whether you were a room parent or helped in the classroom, planned or helped at an event, or even “just” sent things in for your teachers or staff appreciation. You gave your time and support to make ECS a better place for our teachers, staff, and students. We will have some big shoes to fill next year due to moves and graduation. The PCO will be hosting a volunteer fair at the start of the year and you can learn about where you can plug in your time and talent. Thank you! We are truly lucky to have wonderful, engaged families at ECS!

Volunteering your time with the PCO is an inexpensive way to meet the needs of our school, make an effective contribution to your child’s school experience, and show your child that you value their interests. There are opportunities to fit everyone’s interests and schedules. Some committees that especially need help this year are:

Staff Appreciation – Help is needed both year-round and for Staff Appreciation week (May).

Gingerbread House Event – Help plan, shop or volunteer at the event on December 2 so families can enjoy a day of creativity and merriment.

Blooming Bash – We are currently assessing whether we have adequate volunteer commitments and availability to hold this fun adults-only fundraising event next spring.

Mini Grants – Help us review mini-grant submissions four times a year and decide what to recommend for approval.

Urban Ecostewards – This group of volunteers maintains a Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy site in Frick Park and keeps it free of invasive plants. Training provided; kids and adults welcome during our after-school or weekend sessions.

To sign up, fill out the volunteer form.

We are always open to great new ideas! Email volunteer@ecspco.org.

Several volunteer opportunities happen before the school year begins and we need you for a few key positions:

• The Lamination Squad – learn to laminate and then provide ongoing assistance with lamination throughout the school year.
• Busy Bees – we need someone to lead the Busy Bees and help the staff with tasks over the summer to help get ready for the new school year! We also need more Bees!
• Staff Appreciation – put together welcome letters and treats for the staff and distribute before school starts. The letter info will be given to you so you just need to get it copied. Treats will need to be purchased.

Other opportunities for volunteering are listed on the PCO sign-up page.

Contact Beth at volunteer@ecspco.org with questions.

There are two great fall events that are in need of someone to organize and run them. One is an adult-only mixer for ECS parents and staff. It’s a great way to build community relationships. We’ve hosted the free Autumn Chill chili cook-off the past 5 years with success and someone could plug into that model… or create their own! Our second event is the Frick Park Scavenger Hunt. This one is easy, but it needs a leader, planner and volunteers. If you want to help keep events like this going, we’d love to chat with you! Contact Beth at volunteer@ecspco.org and we can discuss further. We don’t want to lose these events but we need someone to take them on.

The PCO is organized and operated by a Steering Committee. For the upcoming school year, we are looking for up to six new members to help shape the year… to work together to plan and organize meetings, brainstorm ideas, spear-head fundraising efforts, plan fun events, and much more. The Steering Committee currently has the following openings available. We’d love to welcome some new faces to this friendly team.

• Members at Large – participate in activities of the Steering Committee including meetings, participate in PCO events, vote on important PCO decisions, and share thoughts and ideas.
• Lower School Vice Chair – assist the Chair in planning meetings and events, serve as parent representative for the Lower School, and check PCO mailbox once a week.
• Upper School Vice Chair – assist the Chair in planning meetings and events, serve as parent representative for the Upper School, and check PCO mailbox once a week.
• Treasurer – oversee the financial operations of the PCO including record keeping, reporting on budgets, and other financial activities.

This is an open, friendly, and welcoming team and we hope you will consider joining us as we continue our work in making ECS a great place for our kids, staff, and families.

More information about Steering Committee responsibilities

Contact parents@ecspco.org