Private schools often require families to complete volunteer service hours. But tracking those hours can be messy. Spreadsheets, email chains, paper forms, and sign-up tools not built for schools create confusion for parents and extra work for staff.

Several private schools in the Sacramento region — including Victory Christian Schools, St. Joseph Catholic School (Auburn), Jesuit High School, St. Ignatius Parish School, Presentation School, and Our Lady of the Assumption School — now use Helper Helper to track parent volunteer hours and manage family service requirements in one system.

Here’s how they made the shift!

The Problem: Tracking Parent Volunteer Hours Was Manual and Frustrating

Before using Helper Helper, schools relied on systems that were not designed for managing family volunteer programs.

Common challenges included:

• No central place to post school volunteer opportunities

• Manual tracking of parent volunteer hours in spreadsheets

• Staff answering constant emails about hour totals

• Volunteer activities not being recorded

• No real-time visibility for families

At Victory Christian Schools, staff had to improvise.

At St. Joseph Catholic School, the process became even more complicated after a diocesan software change.

The Solution: One System to Manage Family Volunteer Requirements

Both schools implemented Helper Helper to bring structure and simplicity to managing family volunteer programs.

With one centralized system, families can use the mobile app or website to find volunteer opportunities, sign up for events, track hours in real time, and monitor their progress toward required service goals. Most families engage through the mobile app, supported by push notifications and email reminders that keep opportunities and deadlines top of mind.

The platform also captures volunteer work that previously went unrecorded. Activities such as class parties and field trip chaperoning, which once slipped through the cracks, are now logged directly by parents and validated by teachers. This ensures more accurate tracking and a fuller picture of family engagement.

The Results: Less Administrative Burden and Greater Accountability

Transitioning to a dedicated volunteer management system has significantly reduced administrative workload while improving communication and accountability.

For volunteer coordinators, the time savings have been substantial. What once required managing spreadsheets and juggling SignUp Genius events is now streamlined in one system. The workload relief has been immense.

Parents benefit from increased transparency. Instead of emailing staff to check their hours, families can log into the app at any time to view their progress.

Why this Matters for Private Schools:

Schools that require or encourage family service need a reliable way to:

• Track parent volunteer hours

• Manage family volunteer requirements

• Reduce staff time spent on manual tracking

• Give families real-time visibility

• Capture all volunteer contributions

These Sacramento-area schools show that using a dedicated platform makes volunteer management easier for both staff and families.

Helper Helper helps schools move from manual tracking to organized, transparent volunteer management.