Family Association

Add Your Voice

Founded by parents, Creative Arts has always been a roll-up your-sleeves and pitch-in kind of place, with family engagement at the core of our educational and community values.

Just as we guide students to take on responsibility and become involved in the world around them, we also encourage family members to participate in the life of the school at all levels in the classroom, through events and fundraisers, and on our Board of Directors. Our Family Association (FA) serves much the same function that PTA’s do in other public schools. Having a student at CACS automatically makes you a member of the Family Association. There are no dues or need to sign up. This vital group oversees and organizes all aspects of family engagement and volunteering and works to make sure that every family can get involved in a way that feels right and makes sense to them.

Mission

The mission of the Family Association is to build an inclusive community at CACS and to enhance and support the educational experience at our school. Our goals are to build community, coordinate volunteers, and provide student and parent enrichment.

We accomplish this through:

  • Reaching out to families, teachers, and staff
  • Promoting a culture of volunteerism and fundraising support
  • Fostering community-wide communication

Meetings

The Family Association hosts a variety of types of meetings over the course of the year. These include:

  • Community Engagement “Working” meetings
  • Parent Education about CACS and its programs
  • Parent Education topics with outside speakers

Dinner is provided and free childcare is available. FA Meetings are for any and all members of the CACS community to learn about specific parenting or school topics, provide your own comments, ask questions and help with FA planning.

Events

The FA organizes several community events throughout the year including

  • School Clean-up Day and Alamo Square Flea Market (August)
  • CACS’ Fall Fair (October)
  • Two all-school picnics (Fall and Spring)
  • Coffee socials for parents (usually Fridays)
  • Teacher appreciation lunches (Tuesdays)
  • In addition, the FA helps support all school-related events throughout the year by organizing volunteers to help staff the event and providing hospitality.

Getting Involved

CACS asks every individual adult in each family for a commitment to complete 20 volunteer hours annually. To help reach this goal, CACS offers a variety of ways to get involved, based on individual time constraints, resources, and interests.

Examples of opportunities include:

  • Volunteering in your child’s classroom
  • Helping in the school office
  • Supporting the Fall Fair or Annual Auction
  • Participating in fall and spring all-school clean-up days
  • Representing CACS at outreach and enrollment events
  • Chaperoning field trips and camping trips
  • Attending FA planning committee meetings and Family Association meetings

How to volunteer

  • Class Representatives and Teachers post volunteer requests specific to classroom needs and assignments, such as field trip chaperoning or “white zone” management.
  • A “Volunteer Roundup” is emailed weekly to all families listing upcoming volunteer opportunities, and other reminders and announcements are emailed as well. These are typically opportunities that benefit the whole school.
  • The FA also has a listing, available online and in print, of ongoing volunteer jobs that support FA projects. These projects also benefit the whole school.

Note: CACS office staff and the FA Class Reps make arrangements to support communication for families who do not have regular online access.

Planning Committee

The FA Planning Committee is a group of parents/family members who meet regularly to plan FA Meetings, coordinate events, work on FA policy and more. Parents are encouraged to come for a meeting or two to get a feel for the work, consider taking a leadership role, or just weigh in as a member. For information on the Planning Committee meeting schedule, contact Denise Montero Email: [email protected].

Structure and Budget

The Family Association is structured differently than most Parent Teacher Organizations. The FA has a small budget of $12,290, which is funded by income from the annual Fall Fair and Everyday Fundraising programs. The major fundraising initiatives that support the overall school budget are the responsibility of the CACS Board of Directors and are supported by the FA. These include the Annual Fund and the the Auction. The Family Association supports these efforts through coordinating volunteers.