Open Positions

Parent involvement is the key to any great school. It’s also a lot of fun as well as a wonderful way to make friends. Many volunteer positions require very little of your time and effort but offer a big payoff to our children and their school. Please contact the Underwood PTO at underwoodpto@gmail.com for further details on any of these open positions.

Thank you for your continued involvement in making Underwood a vibrant community!We have open volunteer roles for every level of time commitment – both in person and completely virtual!

Our Open Roles for the 23-24 school year include: 

Treasurer (One Open Role) One-year term.

  • Manage payments and receipts;
  • Oversee budget spreadsheet;
  • Oversee bank accounts holding PTO funds;
  • Oversee and communicate special funding requests;
  • Maintain, prepare, and file necessary forms including tax returns

Communications (Two Open Roles) One-year terms.

Newsletter Chair 

  • Compile weekly newsletter; participate as part of newsletter committee (to determine publication schedule and proofread before publication);
  • Liaison with various PTO and school contacts to gather news
  • A working understanding of Mailchimp or similar email programs is required.

Communications VP

  • Learn mechanics of the PTO communications platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Mailchimp) and assist co-presidents and committees with the publicity of upcoming initiatives;
  • Post to social media sites regularly, and interact with the community online;
  • Maintain/update the content of underwoodschoolpto.org (working knowledge of WordPress. and HTML required);
  • Assist with the compilation and publication of the School-Wide Directory;
  • Coordinate Teacher Signage for back-to-school with Underwood Office and Signal Graphics.

Community Building (Two Open Roles) One-year terms
This position oversees a variety of programs and activities to build bridges among all families within the Underwood community, including helping Underwood’s Boston families feel welcome. The VP of Community Building recruits volunteers and organizes various family events throughout the year to help families connect to each other.

  • Oversee community-building event efforts (Welcome Back Picnic, Gingerbread House Decorating, Trivia Night, Movie Night, etc.);
  • Develop a recommended budget for community-building events for PTO Annual Budget;
  • Assist in recruitment of event committees (i.e. Movie Nights, Socials, Welcome Back Picnic)
  • Act as liaison between community-building event committees and the PTO Board;
  • Coordinate scheduling of community-building events;
  • Evaluate the effectiveness/value of community-building events held;
  • Research and recommend community-building events/techniques.

Co-President (One Open Role)Two-year Term

The Co-Presidents oversee all PTO Board and Committee responsibilities, including but not limited to:

  • PTO Meetings
  • PTO Sponsored Principal’s Coffees
  • PTO Board Meetings
  • Fundraisers
  • Creative Arts and Sciences (CASC) Programming
  • Back to School Picnic
  • Merchandise Sales
  • PTO Newsletters
  • Email blasts
  • Flyers and kiosk
  • Maintain family data/directory to share with Communications Officers
  • Attend PTO Council meetings bi-monthly and meetings with the principal monthly
  • Represent PTO at Kindergarten Orientation Night
  • Create and oversee the PTO budget with the Treasurer
  • Create Nominating Committee and PTO Slate of Officers
  • Act as a liaison between the community, PTO Board, and Principal

You can find out more here. We are looking to fill these positions by June, so if you have any interest please reach out to underwoodpto@gmail.com. We are always happy to hear from you!

We also have event/organization specific roles for the 2023-2024 school year that need to be filled, including:

  • Carnival Co-Chairs – The Carnival is our most beloved Underwood tradition! The Co-Chairs execute the Carnival plan and oversee the various activity captains.
  • Families Organizing for Racial Justice Liaison (Virtual) –  The FORJ liaison serves as the bridge between Underwood FORJ activities and specific school and town-wide initiatives. This role may be done completely virtually. 
  • Safe Routes to School Liaison (Virtual) –The Newton Safe Routes to School Task Force is looking for a new rep. The Safe Routes Task Force includes representatives from each school and those who are available (about 1/3 of the reps) have a monthly meeting via Zoom with Newton Police, DPW, NPS, School Committee members, and others from the City. School reps work with their PTO and principals on whatever seems a fit for their own school – ideally as a minimum on the three state walk/roll/bike/bus days (Oct/Feb/May) each year and on 5th-grade bike safety training with the Newton Police. Some schools and reps do more as their time and interest allow. This role may be done completely virtually. 
  • Room Parents (Virtual) –

    We need Room Parent volunteers for our classrooms! Room Parents play a key role in building our tight-knit community at Underwood and supporting classroom teachers as needed. This role may be done entirely via email with no in-person volunteering required.

    Please contact our Room Parent Coordinator Hai Ly Burk at ms_haily@yahoo.com if you want to sign up or learn more.

Please email us if you have any questions, want to learn more about a specific role, or sign up!