Volunteer

How and Why to Get Clearances

The Environmental Charter School encourages the safe participation of parents/guardians and community residents in its educational, co-curricular and extracurricular programs. To that end, the Board of Trustees has adopted the Volunteers and Clearance Requirements policy.

ECS requires those who volunteer to submit official clearances through its safety application -- Raptor. Examples of volunteering include:

Tutoring
Chaperoning
Serving as Room Parents
Serving as Volunteer Coaches or Club Advisors

All volunteers should check in through the ECS safety application -- Raptor -- with a valid state-issued photo ID or Driver’s License.

All of the following information should be submitted should be submitted at the same time:

PA Child Abuse Clearance — NO FEE for volunteers; can be completed online
PA State Police Criminal Record Check — NO FEE for volunteers; can be completed online
Federal Criminal Background Check* (service code 1KG6ZJ) Volunteers who have lived in Pennsylvania for ten (10) or more years can submit the Pennsylvania Resident Verification for Waiver of FBI Report form.

When submitting clearances through Raptor, you must have all three clearances/waivers ready for upload. All three are required for successful submission. Raptor does not save incomplete applications.

More info about required clearances is available from the PA Department of Human Services.

Clearances
Volunteer Process

Clearances

Volunteer Process

Prospective volunteers will need to submit their clearances via the Raptor system. ECS does not accept hard copies of clearances or emailed clearances.
When submitting clearances through Raptor, you must have all three clearances/waivers ready for upload. All three are required for successful submission. Raptor does not save incomplete applications.
Once submitted, approval can take up to 30 days.
The submitted clearances must be the correct required clearances. See ECS Guide to Volunteering to learn more.
Once approved, volunteers will receive an email via the Raptor system.
Volunteers will receive two generated reminder emails from Raptor at the 90 and 30-day mark prior to the expiration of your clearances.

If you have questions regarding volunteering or your clearances, please email raptor.management@ecspgh.org
Thank you for your dedication to ECS! Your services are invaluable.

Please note that Raptor does not save incomplete applications. Have all materials ready prior to starting the application process.

Submit Clearances on Raptor

Get Involved

In collaboration with ECS, the Parent Community Organization (PCO) offers many ways to volunteer. There are opportunities to fit everyone’s interests and schedules (including many at-home tasks that can be accomplished in your own time). Consider Joining a PCO Committee (below), visit our Events page for information on ways to volunteer for upcoming events or email volunteer@ecspco.org. See our PCO Committee lists.

Join a PCO Committee

A list of ECS PCO Committees is provided below.

PCO Events Committees

Community Support Committees

DEI Committee

Fundraising Committees

PCO Communication Committees

NOTE: You MUST have State Child Abuse, Criminal, and FBI clearances before volunteering for activities involving students.

Contact volunteer@ecspco.org to learn more about volunteering.

Room Parents

Room parents are a tremendous asset to ECS teachers. By handling volunteer coordination, planning parties, and helping out “behind the scenes” room parents free up teachers’ time so they are able to focus their time and energy on what is most important–teaching our kids!

If you are interested in serving as a room parent or want to find out who the room parent is for your child’s class, please contact the Room Parent Coordinator.

Room Parent Resources

Room Parent Handbook

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