FAMS: Families as Mills Supporters

In the new year, we have a unique volunteer opportunity for parents to help out at Mills.  We are starting a new program called FAMS:  Families as Mills Supporters.  FAMS invites adult volunteers to come to Mills and serve as very short-term teachers, covering classes for teachers while they’re in planning meetings.  At this point, we are specifically seeking volunteers, working in pairs, who are willing to cover classrooms for several hours once, a month.  All volunteer substitute teachers will need to pass a background check, sign a confidentiality agreement, and attend a short training about classroom management.

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We are starting FAMS at Mills to allow our grade level teams to have more in-depth discussions about student achievement data and make plans for growth. Our FAMS shifts of 2-3 hours once a month (or every other month!) for teachers in each grade will allow staff to take time to have detailed conversations and brainstorming sessions about our students’ academic progress and lesson planning.

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We are currently seeking volunteers for the following 3 dates:

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Volunteer shifts are 3 hours, and you must attend a 30 minute virtual training prior to your shift.  (If you sign up for more than 1 volunteer slot, the training is only required once.)  The two options for the virtual training are Monday, February 14th from 8:30a to 9:00a or Wednesday, February 16th from 1:00p to 1:30p.  You will receive the Zoom link for the trainings after you sign up!

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Teachers will leave activities for their class to do during their absence, and volunteers will supervise students and assist with the teacher’s plans.  We need two adult volunteers per classroom.  If you are interested in serving in a specific classroom, please let us know.  We cannot guarantee that you will get to volunteer in your child’s classroom, but we invite you to share your preferences, just in case we can make it happen.

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We are going to start with volunteers for our Kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd grade classrooms.  If the first round of FAMS is successful, we will hope to add volunteer dates for 3rd to 5th grade classrooms in March.

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To sign up to volunteer, please fill out the following form:

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If you have questions, you can reach out to me (christy.millspta@gmail.com) or to Ms. Cartlidge (courtney.cartlidge@austinisd.org).

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Thank you for considering this new volunteer opportunity at Mills!