Parents Association
Dear Hamlin Families,
I’d like to welcome all of our current and prospective families to the Hamlin community website! We appreciate your enthusiasm, skills, and time as every parent helps shape our active, vibrant, and inclusive community.
The PA plays a critical role in family engagement at Hamlin through a variety of community-building events and activities as well as raising funds to support program excellence for our girls. From making sandwiches during lunch duty, participating in PLAID cultural celebrations, to working a shift or two at Winterfest, there are many ways to support the school and get involved. My advice is to jump right in!
The PA communicates important announcements, upcoming events, and community activities through the Hamlin NOW e-newsletter sent every Thursday as well as periodic emails from Room Parents. Be sure to read these and stay tuned to HamliNet for everything you need to know!
Scroll down to see a few examples of the many activities our PA makes possible at Hamlin. Please feel free to contact me or anyone on the PA Leadership Team with questions, comments, or suggestions.
Together we will make our Hamlin community even stronger. Thank you for all you do!
Jung O’Donnell P’24 & P’26
Parents Association President
The Parents Assocation Supports Community Building & Belonging at Hamlin!

Examples of PA events and volunteer opportunities include:

PLAID
PLAID’s mission is to support a vibrant and inclusive environment in which all members of the community can celebrate their authentic selves. They foster connections through family programs, cultural celebrations, and community dialogues.
Examples of past events include Jewish Cultural Celebration, Middle Eastern and North African Cultural Celebration, Japanese Cultural Celebration, Parenting Kids in the Divided States of America discussion, and Creating Safe Places for Real Conversations discussion.

Winterfest
Winterfest is Hamlin’s largest annual community celebration day and traditionally takes place on the Hamlin campus on a Saturday in early December. The event welcomes current families as well as alumni and community members and is full of activities like gingerbread decorating workshops, Lower & Middle School lounges, a bake sale, a Marketplace of local vendors, and a beautiful book fair. A committee of 20-30 parents organizes the event in partnership with the Hamlin Advancement Team, and 200+ parents volunteer to help leading up to and during the day.

School Store
The Hamlin School Store is a volunteer parent-run store. Parents can purchase new and used uniform items, accessories, and Hamlin gifts. They may be purchased either at the store during designated hours or online through the School Store website. Volunteers help organize inventory, fulfill orders, and answer uniform questions.

Grandparents & Special Friends Day
Every year, families have the opportunity to invite grandparents and special friends to spend the day at Hamlin (in-person pre-pandemic; virtually the last few years). This annual event allows loved ones to see and experience Hamlin firsthand. The day includes breakfast, performances, and classroom visits and is organized and staffed by PA volunteers in coordination with teachers and staff.

Lend-a-Hand
Lend-a-Hand is our parent-led community service program. Components of this program include:
Hamlin Harvest – Each January, our entire community K-8 collects ingredients and volunteers to cook and serve a healthy meal for over 200 people at Hamilton Families.
Read With Me – Our oldest middle schoolers are in-person approximately once a month at Hamilton Families, where they read to younger children in a positive, comforting setting.
Literary Lion Book Drive – In this annual November event, our community donates and collects books which are distributed to organizations across the city, including shelters, schools, and community centers. Middle Schoolers lead the organization and distribution efforts. In 2021, we collected over 3,550 books that were donated to Hamilton Families, The Boys & Girls Club, The Children’s Project, and more.

Student Ventures
Student Ventures is a program for young entrepreneurs in Grades 3-8 to launch or grow their business/non-profit with the support of the Hamlin administration, parents, alumni, and fellow students. The students work with a mentor to write a business plan, learn from Student Ventures workshops led by business leaders in our community, set up their online sales and/or physical storefront, and process fulfillment. Last year, 115 students formed 51 teams to process over $18,000 in sales!