Volunteer in a School

Volunteers may include parents/guardians and other family members, as well as members of the community interested in supporting education and have any interest in investing their time and talents to support students in Arlington.

All volunteers who regularly support schools and school sponsored activities must complete an application and State-mandated Safe Schools Training for volunteers and chaperones. This training requirement also applies to volunteers who regularly help in the classroom, and those who wish to attend field trips and chaperone trips to the Outdoor Lab. The application and online training is provided in English and Spanish.

For the 2023-24 school year, everyone who wants to support our schools and students as a volunteer on a regular and one time basis must complete the process. This includes those who chaperone lunch, help in the classroom, attend field trips, volunteers in other capacity, and also includes enrichment providers.

It is essential that chaperones complete the process since they are often off-site, off school grounds with groups of students other than their own children and may be unsupervised by APS staff members during those trips at certain times.

Raptor Technologies is the online platform APS uses for the Visitor Management System as well as for volunteers, sex offender screening and the visitor, volunteer, contractor, and staff sign in/out process. Individuals wishing to volunteer with an individual school or multiple schools is able to complete their application online in English and Spanish by accessing the Raptor Technology systems links dedicated to the school division. 

The link to the online application can be found by clicking one of the links below.

• English Application
• Spanish Application

Participation is recorded and tracked by APS within the Safe Schools System. Schools will access a report listing the family and community members who have successfully completed the training. Once complete, contact the school liaison with your certificate and they will load it into the Raptor system so that you will be approved for three years.

The volunteer process usually takes about a week from start to finish.

• Fill out the volunteer application online (approx. five minutes)
• Receive the Safe Schools training link (usually within 48 hours of completing the application)
• Complete the online training (approx. 35 minutes)
• Send certificate to Alicia Zekan in School & Community Relations, alicia.zekan@apsva.us.
• Receive approval email (within one week)
• If you have questions about the approval process, contact Alicia Zekan at alicia.zekan@apsva.us.

The best way to begin volunteering is to contact the school directly to find out what volunteer opportunities are available.

To best support school staff and students, volunteers are expected to follow these procedures each time they volunteer:

• Volunteers must sign-in and sign-out of the building using the Visitor Management System (VMS).
• Volunteers must wear the VMS produced volunteer identification name tag at all times while on school property.
• Volunteers may not access confidential student or personnel records and should respect the confidentiality of students.
• Volunteers working with students must be within view of other APS staff members and avoid unsupervised, one-on-one student contact.

For concerns not addressed at the school level, contact Dawn Smith, Volunteer, Partnership and Events Manager.  She can be reached by email at dawn.smith@apsva.us or by phone at 703-228-2581.