Getting Involved at STEM

Volunteering and Giving

Create your Volunteer account now, and choose your areas of interest. We will let you know when an opportunity becomes available. Volunteering and giving to STEM is vital to the success of our school.  Our school has a charter that requests a commitment of 30 volunteer hours per family (15 hours per single-parent family).

To make volunteering easy and seamless, please refer to the Volunteering Basics section that will allow you to set up your volunteer account and keep track of your hours.  We are extremely grateful for the time and energy donated by STEM parents each year.

Volunteering Basics

Thank you to our volunteers at STEM School Highlands Ranch! Everyone who volunteers makes a huge difference to our school’s and your children’s success. NEW for the 2023-24 School year! All volunteers must complete a background check before participating in any STEM volunteer activities. We’ve partnered with Raptor Technologies to assist us with our Volunteer Coordination and Management.

In order to become a volunteer, a Volunteer Application must be submitted through Raptor’s system using the button to the right. All volunteers will then be asked to complete a criminal background check through Raptor’s system. Approved volunteers will receive a notification and be able to access their account where they can sign up for events and also log hours for events that might not have a sign-up form.

Can't Volunteer In-Person?

Monetary Donations and Volunteer Hours
Every $20 of donated items translates to one volunteer hour. However, the law states that you cannot deduct the value of your time. The IRS does not allow a charitable deduction for volunteering your services. By IRS definition, charitable contributions represent gifts given without reciprocity. Our donation policy is that every $20 donated equates to one hour of volunteer time.

Volunteer Hours Donations – NEW!

Many families have asked if they can just make a donation to cover their volunteer hours. We are finally able to accommodate that request. If you’d rather make a monetary donation to go toward your volunteer hours, click the button below and select Volunteer Hours Donation. Please remember that if you select this option you cannot claim this donation on your taxes at the end of the year.

Donations Needed

Enrichment Club Snack Donations

Please consider donating snacks to two of our Enrichment Clubs that meet after school each week. The clubs are Magic: The Gathering Club, which meets on Tuesdays, and Star Wars Club, which meets on Fridays. Click the button below to sign-up for a snack donation.

Front Office Donations

Our Elementary and Secondary Front Offices are always in need of donated items. Click the button below to see what we need and to order through Amazon. If you don’t want to purchase off Amazon, please drop the donated items off at the Secondary Front Office to give to Mona Loptien.

Health Room and Front Office Donations

Both our Health Room and Front Offices are always in need of donated items. Click the button below to see what we need and to order through Amazon. Please bring the items to either the Elementary or Secondary Front Office with a label for what it is for.

Student Support Team Wishlists

Driveline Volunteers

Volunteer Skill Areas:

We are working on some partnerships with various industry leaders, and will need volunteers to help facilitate. Please fill out this form and let us know your skill areas that you would be willing to share with STEM.

Opportunities to volunteer at STEM will be posted here as the school year starts. Be sure to check back each week to see all of the new volunteer opportunities. These opportunities will also be included in the Weekly Parent Newsletters.

On-Going Opportunities

Driveline (Earn Double Volunteer Hours):

  • Parent supervisors needed during AM & PM Driveline! Arrive 5 minutes early to find parking and grab a vest. Extra incentive: Earn double hours ie: log 60 hours in Driveline. (that’s 30 actual volunteer hours).
    • Elementary Driveline Sign-Up
    • Secondary Driveline Sign-Up

Elementary Recess Volunteers:

We would like to invite parents to help during outdoor recess time each day. Recesses start at 10:30 a.m. and end at 1:30 p.m. Click here to sign-up.

Lunchroom Volunteers:

  • Click here to sign up or to volunteer in the Secondary Lunchroom.
  • Click here to sign up to volunteer in the Elementary Lunchroom.

Volunteer with Career Discovery

Did you know that you can get volunteer hours by sharing your expertise with our students in the classroom? We have opportunities throughout the school year to serve as an expert panelist, support our Problem-Based Learning instruction, or work with our students in a mentorship capacity. You could also be a guest speaker on Zoom or in-person. If you’re interested in volunteering for any of these opportunities, click the Career Discovery Interest Form below.

Board of Directors (BOD)

STEM School Highlands Ranch is a self-governed charter school authorized by DCSD. Our Board of Directors set the school’s policies.

School Accountability Committee (SAC)

The School Accountability Committee (SAC) is comprised of parents, teachers and community members who would like to be involved in the planning and evaluation of the school’s instructional program and quality improvement processes.

Parent Teacher Organization (PTO)

PTO’s mission is to work in partnership with the school to foster a strong sense of community, provide enhancement activities for student, staff and families and to help increase the educational, social and emotional experience for all.