St. Joseph the Worker School

Parent Volunteer Yard Duty Handbook

Thank you for volunteering to help supervise our students during lunch. Your presence is vital to ensuring a safe and nurturing environment for all children. Please read and follow the guidelines below carefully. Failure to comply may result in dismissal from yard duty responsibilities and non-recording of volunteer hours.

General Expectations

• Volunteers must be VIRTUS-trained and fingerprinted.

• Arrive on time and check in at the front office to receive a yard duty vest and visitor’s badge and sign in.

• Do NOT sign out when you sign in – in the event of an emergency, we will not look for you.

• Remain on campus for the duration of the yard duty assignment time (11:50am - 12:50pm)

• Wear a volunteer vest and badge at all times for visibility.

• Your role is to be actively supervising students for their safety and well-being.

• Teachers are not available for any type of chat, conversation, or conference during the lunch period.

• Appropriate dress and footwear is expected, following the guidelines of our Student Free Dress policy. Please see the handbook for further details.

During Yard Duty

1. No Cell Phones

• Leave your phone in the car or pocket. Cell phone use is strictly prohibited during yard duty.

• Volunteers observed using their phones will be asked to leave yard duty for the day and will not receive volunteer hours.

2. Do Not Supervise Your Own Child

• To maintain impartiality and authority, during lunch duty for grades 1-8, you may NOT follow or directly supervise your own child during your shift. 

1. This allows you to indirectly observe your child’s socialization, growth, confidence, and sense of independence. 

• Lunch duty for Transitional Kindergarten and Kindergarten have amended guidelines due to the age of our tiniest Knights.

• ​​​You will receive additional instructions regarding following/directly supervising/bathrooms from the Transitional Kindergarten and Kindergarten teachers.

• Focus on supervising all students in your assigned area AND as you scan the yard.

3. Stay Physically Spread Out

• Yard duty volunteers should maintain physical separation from one another to cover more ground. Do NOT stand in groups.

• Social conversations should be minimal when students are outside, or when inside due to inclement weather, to allow full focus on the students.

4. Be Visible and Active

• Keep eyes scanning your area at all times.

• You are able to be more observant of the students when you walk and pace your area regularly—do not stay in the same spot for more than 5 minutes.

• You may help students open items

• Remind students that their  tables and under tables must be CLEAN (trash/spills/crumbs) before they go out to play.

• Please do NOT clean up after the students.  This is THEIR responsibility.

5. Volunteer/Student Interactions

• Use kind, calm, and firm language when speaking with students.

• If an issue arises between your child and another student, inform the faculty member on lunch duty or the front office immediately.

• Do not address students directly about issues, especially those pertaining to your child.

• If you need assistance, notify school staff.

• While on lunch duty, you will observe unstructured interactions between students. For their own personal growth,

• it is important to let them attempt to solve problems. If they come to you, it is important to mediate rather than intervene.

• It is important to protect the privacy and well-being of all students by keeping observations and comments to yourself.

• ​If you see something concerning between students, report it to a faculty member or the front office immediately.

• Do not share observations or commentary with other non-faculty or non-administration people.

• ​ 

6. Addressing Student Behavior

• Use positive reinforcement and redirect minor misbehavior.

• For serious incidents (physical altercations, unsafe behavior, injuries), immediately call for staff assistance. 

7. Restricted Areas

• Volunteers may NOT enter classrooms during lunch duty except in the event of inclement weather as directed by the administration.

• Volunteers may NOT enter staff areas.

• Volunteers may NOT enter bathrooms. If necessary, immediately call for staff assistance.

• Volunteers must remain only in designated yard duty zones.

8. Inclement Weather

• Yard duty will be moved under the pavilion and/or into the classrooms/hall as directed by the administration in the event of excessive rain, heat, or cold.

• Yard duty will NOT be canceled.

9. Injuries and Boo-Boos

• If you observe a student who falls, collides, trips, slides, etc., the closest volunteer should check out the situation

• Scrapes & scratches can generally be washed off with soap and water by the student and a friend.

• Rolled ankles, harder collisions, etc., may require an ice pack and further observation.  Send the student and a friend to the front office.

• ANY student with any HEAD INJURY must be taken to the office immediately.

• Notify staff/office immediately for assistance. A HEAD INJURY is any contact made with the head– the ground, playground equipment, another student.

• If a student remains on the ground, do NOT move them. Call for immediate staff assistance. Ask students to run to the office if you do not see a staff member.

10.  Stranger Danger

• Students are not permitted to play in or around the fence area along Sherman Way. 

• Students are never permitted to speak with any person on the public side of the fences. It does not matter if they say they know the person.

• Students are never permitted to reach through the fence, for any reason.

• If you see anything on the public walkway that is concerning, notify the front office immediately.

1. People pausing in front of the school for longer than a brief rest

2. People taking pictures of the school, students, playground, etc.

3. Vehicles that pull in front of the school during lunch time

4. People on the sidewalk being loud

• If you see something, say something!

End of Duty

• Return vest and badge to the front office.

• Report any incidents or concerns directly to the administration BEFORE you leave for the day.

• Sign out in the yard duty book.

• Enter the hour and date of your yard duty immediately on the Gradelink Service Hour link for service hour credit.

• If you do not enter your service hour for approval, you will not receive credit.

Reminders 

• You are serving in a position of trust. Please model respectful and attentive behavior.

• ​All adult volunteers are bound by the Archdiocesan Code of Christian Conduct as stated in the school’s handbook.

• Our goal is to create a safe, joyful, and inclusive environment for all children.

We appreciate your time, your vigilance, and your care. There is immense value in your child seeing you volunteer and have a presence at the school. 

Thank you for serving our school community!

Before serving as a Yard Duty volunteer, please read the Yard Duty Handbook in its entirety.

By signing below, you acknowledge that you have read and understand the requirements and responsibilities set forth in the Yard Duty Handbook.

You agree to follow all stated procedures and processes, and understand that failure to do so may result in being asked to leave the school premises for the remainder of Yard Duty. 

You acknowledge that, if you are asked to leave Yard Duty, you will not receive any service hour credits for that day. 

You acknowledge that, if you are asked to leave Yard Duty on more than two occasions, you may not be permitted to return to volunteer for the remainder of the school year. 

I, ________________________________________________, have read and understood the St. Joseph the Worker School Yard Duty Handbook. I agree to abide by the terms and conditions set forth above, and I understand the consequences of failing to do so.

________________________________________________________ ______________________

Parent’s Signature Date

________________________________________________________ ______________________

Oldest Child’s Name Grade