Seated at the large table in the lobby, new Parents’ Association (PA) Co-Chairs sit side-by-side stuffing envelopes with letters to new parents. Even though it’s July and families are spending their summer vacations away from the school, these two parents are already working on changes for the 2017-2018 year. Changes include the appointment of new Co-Chairs as well as the creation of a new PA Executive Team, an extension of the former leadership structure, which includes added positions in order to expand the duties of the PA and include as many parents as possible. Parents Maggi Steib and Anne Besold will be stepping down as Co-Chairs as parents Ali Kagan and Anny Gary assume the position.

Kagan and Gary have both stepped into large roles. The PA undertakes many tasks necessary to Parker life. Former Co-Chair and current parent Martha Gardner said, “The PA recruits and organizes parent volunteers to support Parker’s teachers and staff in the work of making Parker a dynamic place to learn.” PA also organizes Grade Chairs and volunteers for the book fair and the garage sale.

“Second, the Parents Association provides a way for the school to talk with families and for families to talk with the school,” Gardner said. “Through monthly meetings and regular email communication, the Parents Association provides a forum for parents to ask questions and offer feedback. Last, the Parents Association helps to foster community by encouraging parents to be a part of our school family.”

This year, after their predecessors conducted a survey amongst all Parker parents about how they feel about being at Parker, the new Co-Chairs have identified two growth areas to work on in the coming year. “The two areas of opportunity that came out of the survey were really working on the idea of inclusivity, making sure every family feels, no matter where they come from, included,” Gary said, “and also parent engagement, so they feel they can really get involved in the school.”

“We want it to feel that we were being warm and really inclusive to all the new parents,” Kagan said. “We’re sending them a Blue Calendar and a welcome letter from us that explains about Parker and the Parents’ Association.”

Creating a more inclusive and engaging PA has become the Co-Chairs’ mission. “One of the things we’re really trying to emphasize, and I know our predecessors did as well, is that the Parents’ Association is comprised of all Parker parents and guardians,” Kagan said. “There is a leadership group, but we really want to emphasize to all of the families that once you have a child at Parker, you are part of the Parents’ Association.”

To this end, those who reviewed the parent survey suggested a new organizational structure for The Parents’ Association Executive Team. In previous years, the leadership group has consisted of two Co-Chairs, the Treasurer, and the Secretary — a group of four parents to head up the PA. This year, the bylaws have been changed to create an Executive Team including the existing four leaders and adding ten new positions.

The lower school, intermediate school, middle school, and upper school will each have one Grade Chair Liaison, who will work directly with the Grade Chairs and administration of that division. There will be two New Parent Co-Chairs, who will oversee integration of all new parents, two Volunteer Co-Chairs, who will organize all the many volunteer opportunities at the school, and two Event Co-Chairs, who will facilitate events that the PA sponsors.

Overall, the Executive Team will be a huge expansion for the PA leadership, according to Kagan. “So it went from sort of two Co-Chairs and the Treasurer and Secretary, to what we have now, which is fourteen parents total on our Executive Team,” Kagan said. “In addition to that, we have all the Grade Chairs, six Grade Chairs for each grade, which are part of the PA.”

PA selection has been different this year due to an effort by the previous Co-Chairs to stagger the appointments, so that there would always be some overlap. They created three year terms that would end at different times in order to never have an entirely new Co-Chair group. However, since former Co-Chair Besold, who was meant to stay on for another year, will no longer be a Parker parent this year, Kagan will be serving only two years, as Gary serves three.

After a committee of parents selected Kagan and Gary to be the new Co-Chairs, they had people apply for the Executive Team. “We sat with the prior Co-Chairs, and we reviewed the applications — and actually we got an overwhelming amount of applications, which was great because it really showed us how much parents want to get involved in a leadership role,” Gary said. “So we tried to put the team together in a way that it would be a really diverse group, and we ended up with really a phenomenal team, and we’re so excited about every single one of the people on this team.”

The PA team also looks forward to getting as many people involved as they can this year, fulfilling their goals of “fostering community, supporting volunteerism, and facilitating communication between parents and the school.”

With all of the new positions and adjustments, the Co-Chairs are not exactly sure what the next year will look like, or what the terms will be for the Executive Team. Regardless, they look forward to the challenge.

“We have a great group of people,” Kagan said. “They understand the parameters, and it’s very open ended. So everyone is kind of having an opportunity to blaze their own path in their position. It’s a very exciting opportunity.”