Create a Student Volunteer Handbook for Your Preschool Program

It is important for you to have a written student volunteer handbook in the classroom. Student volunteers have different responsibilities in the classroom than parent volunteers do.  Therefore, you need to address their specfic responsibilities and your expectations.

Considerations for Your Student Volunteer Handbook

When developing your policy for student volunteers, you will need to cover some of the same items that you would for your Parent Volunteer Handbook.  However, remember that student volunteers have less experience in the workforce.  They will need direction or guidance in areas that you might consider common knowledge.

Some things to consider and have in writing:

• Dress Code  Be clear about what is not acceptable.  Find out from your local high school what their dress code is and include that verbiage in your policy (no spaghetti straps; no bras showing; undergarments not showing; etc.).  Include your own program dress code requirements (such as no open-toe shoes; no heels; etc.)
• Cell Phone Policy What is yours?   List it in your policy for student interns.
• Contact Person Whom should they contact if they will not be making their scheduled internship time?
• Responsibilities and Expectations Much like the Parent Volunteer Handbook, you should list what their responsibilities are and ARE not in the classroom (they should interact with the children.  They should NOT discipline them or supervise them alone in the bathroom).  
• Who They Report To  Do they report to the Lead Teacher?  To You? Specify this.

Include any other items you feel should be included.  

• Paperwork  Most High Schools will perform a Criminal Record Check on each student who enters their Early Childhood Program.  However, most states require that you submit your own request to the state as well.  Be sure to do this, even though they have already done this through the school.

This is quite important.  If you do not do your own required record checks:

A.  You are out of compliance as you have not performed a record check through your licensing division.

B.  The licensing division may look for other items than the school does before accepting them to your program.

• Copies of Their Forms  They usually have forms from their program that you will need to sign.  Keep a copy of everything in a file in your office.

Handbooks are always a work in progress.  You may update, add to or remove items as time goes on.

Student Volunteer Handbooks: Observations and Documentation

It is important that you observe and document a student intern's shifts each day they are in your classroom. You may have observation forms provided to you as well as semester-end evaluation forms that the High School will require that you fill out.  If you are comfortable with those forms, make and keep copies of the observations in a file set up for that intern.

I have used both the High School forms as well as my own observational forms.  I found that the daily forms that I signed simply stated that the intern was present and required my signature.  I preferred to have more details.

Let's look at what to consider when developing an observation form and a yearly evaluation form for a student volunteer.

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Go to the Classroom Volunteers Main Page

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