PARENTS,...AS ROLE MODELS.

Our school has an open house when the students are moving up to Sixth Grade they did a presention on what the PTA does for the school also they are part of the school web site

I think the most important thing to do is educate the parents of what the PTO is and what it does. Most parents have two incomes to support thier household, The parents are just too busy (so they think). Every parent wants the best for their child, Educate them and keep asking for their support.

The English Valleys PTO has a new website, evpto.com. Check it out to see what's new with the PTO.

Personally I always appreciated friendliness of other parents when I was new to the schooling process. It always made me feel more at ease instead of a flier because I "knew" someone and it was not just me showing up.

I think that scenario would work great in a smaller school and community but the big schools may have to settle for the less intimate flier.

Our school puts together a carnival each year for the entire school and this raises a good deal of money and brings the families together for a full Saturday. We work with local vendors that will cut us breaks on the equipment and use the school grounds for the location. Volunteers from PTO and parents help set up, run the games, and clean up. We also do fundraisers which are tough right now with this economy, so it's not going as well this year. With the money from the fundraising there is one night that we do "Bingo for Books" where parents and children come into the cafeteria and they play bingo for books. There is also Gross Out Night where there are different science experiments around the room that each student can go through and play with to learn. These show the parents that the school is pulling together and also helping the children learn and have fun. There are many other ways, but these are great ideas that seem to work each year.

I found that with the parents in my son's school the lack of participation was from not knowing what to do or what was needed from them. We donated a tool called pleasebringit to the PTO and are hoping for better turnouts and more organization to the events.

Good luck with it

Excellent idea! Even something as simple as a song by the school choir sung at the beginning of the meeting would boost attendance!

Now it got me thinking, how about asking the student council kids to visit to see a meeting in action. Their parents would likely stay and might be inclined to continue coming.??

This needs a litle bit of collaboration to teachers (if you are a parent). Make a program where students are the participants and invite their parents to come and watch their kids, then start from there. This was very effective in my daughter's previous school. Parents were not attending regular PTO, but if kids are part of that then the hall cafeteria will not be enough to accomodate parents. Good luck.

Thank you Clearbrook. I know you are right. I just hate the catty behavior but I know that me being involved in my son's school is for his benefit, not for theirs. Sometimes I think parents view PTO as a clique rather than a means to express opinions and concerns related to the good of our kids. Their are enough politics in the schools as it is without that kind of elitist behavior. Ok, let me get off my soapbox. I don't want to hijack your thread. :)

Oh, and good luck with getting more parents involved!

Sparrow, I am sorry to hear you feel like you do not belong. You are a parent at your child's school which means you do belong. if the other parents make you feel uncomfortable, just smile and say, "I'm ___mother. I'm so excited to get more involved in school." Just be yourself. If they say something rude, let them know it is your responsibility to be involved in your child's school...with or without their permission.

This year I want to get more involved in my son's school but I will admit that I do have some reservations. Even though my schedule is tight b/c I am going back to school myself, the main reason for my hesitation is that I feel like I don't belong. I live the suburbs in a nice middle class area and like that the school and district we are in is a good one. What I don't like is the attitude of many of the people in my area-including some of the parents at the school. I have tatoos, I am younger then many of the parents involved, and I am also alot more liberal in my views then many of the parents. I would love to feel like the PTO is open to ANY parent who wants to be involved in their childs school and that they would encourage diversity in opinions and in people. I know that this doesn't really apply to all schools or all situations but I think that making people feel welcome and comfortable is one of the best ways to help some parents want to be involved.

ocar, no. We do not attend school there....do you have the same problem there?

Does your child attend PRC upper?

I am new to the community and I did not know when the pto meetings were last year. I do plan on joining this year. May be a slight nudge from teachers would get more parents into the group.

Our school does family nights as well, they try to do diffrent things during those nights, pizza party's, movie nights, game night etc... If your new in the neighborhood like seahorse your child usually makes friends with the neighborhood children and when they do make a friend you can invite the friend or friend's over for dinner or to play but have your child ask permission from parents and leave them your phone number or talk to the parents yourself. Then when you get to know them better if they are part of the PTA maybe you can ride to the meetings together, you can ride w/ your neighbor. PTA's are also an excellent way of getting to know other parents in your neighborhood and also ways to help your school by sharing your ideas. You can also ask your schools principle to send home some info. about joining and maybe even ask if they will arrange transportation to attend meetings. A potluck at school is a great idea to have to meet other parents and teachers. Everyone could bring a dessert , side dish, or refreshments and have a nice potluck dinner at school. I remember when I was younger and new at church we had a potluck dinner on Wednesdays once every few months. I've met many people and got to know them better and same for the other new members of our church. It was fun and I made several friends. We lived within walking distance but they also provided transportation for those that needed it. Maybe that is something that can be discussed at one of the PTA meetings. To see if they can provide transportation or maybe a buddy's list for car pooling or something like that. You could easily hold a raffle to save for funding transportation and for money for the school as well. I'm glad you posted seahorse I intend to bring that up at the 1st meeting. It's worth discussing and hopefully we can arrange something. I hope where you live your school can come up with a way to help you and others w/ transportation. i'd like to hear more on this topic. I find it interesting. Does anyone have other ideas?

MAYBE THERE'S A TRANSPORTATION PROBLEM.I PERSONALLY AM UNABLE TO DRIVE, WHICH MAKES IT DIFFICULT TO ATTEND, ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU'RE THE 'NEW PARENT' ON THE BLOCK.THE OTHER PROBLEM IS PROBUBLY LACK OF EXTRA TIME.

Our school does a lot of wonderful things to grow our parental support. Once a month, we have family nights. We might show a movie, sell popcorn, we might have a family reading night. I also collect box tops for our school, and last year alone we raised $2,500 for our PTA. Have a huge pizza party for those parents that join the PTA, set the price at $10 per adult, which will cover your Texas PTA fund, and allow you extra money to buy the pizza. You know the old saying, Feed them and they will come. This is so true! Good luck!

I am a teacher/parent at the same school so I am particularly interested in maintaining a vital PTA (difference is PTA pays dues to natl group and gets insurance). With the majority of our members moving on with their kids this year, I offered to head up a monthly drawing for parents that attend the meeting. September is a Target gift card $20 to help with school supplies. October will be a basket of apples from the local orchard. November?? December, wrapping paper and supplies. I have a few people who have donated things like an oil change, free movie rentals and so oon from their workplaces.

Before the school year was out, I worked out a deal with the principal to reward with an extra hour of prep time for the teacher who can get the most parents to attend 1 or more meetings during the year.

I look forward to reading the related items and seeing more ideas. Thanks for asking the question.

Well today they had sign up for PTO during Meet The Teacher and they had forms that you could take home to fill out to sign up. If you are a member get permission from principle or Vice principle to make fliers to send home w/ students on the 1 st day of school of 1st week of school. If your not a member you can still recommend it to the principal or Vice Principle.(or even a PTO board member.) Getting invovled is a great thing. Parents don't realize that if there are decisions being made or adjustments being made by PTO and they don't agree w/ it they could of signed up and became a PTO board member and voice their opinion or vote . Their vote could make a diffrence on some of these decisions being made. My sons school hands out the PTO sign ups during Meet The Teacher and sends one home during the first week. Then they have news letters sent home once or twice a month to keep parents updated on if there are events coming up, no shool reminders, and other stuff like that. If there's a PTO meeting it's added to the news letters sent home each month. I believe anyone can attend whether signed up or not or incase you decide to sign up. You can recommend the school send home newsletters once in awhile to let parents know there's a parent meeting and can still sign up. Also should have school updates in the newsletters as well.

Hi clearbrook73,

Our PTO isn't quite that small but 6-7 families do a majority of the work. With a new principal we're being encouraged to get more involvement going.

One criticism I've heard from parents who want to help is that they're never sure what they're volunteering for. We're trying to delegate MUCH smaller jobs and let people know in advance what they're promising to do.

Perhaps you can start with something simple like a PTO potluck (that way the 3 of you aren't forced to do everything for the meal, too). Make it a creative session where everyone states what they wish for the school, for the kids, and for the community. Let them eat, then use a big pad of paper and markers to brainstorm what the parents would like to see for the school. Start with a single fundraiser for a single goal that's important to your parents.

Find out what times for meetings are good for parents. Our school has been rotating meetings from mornings to evenings to accommodate different folks.

Make sure that no matter how small the contribution (of time, of money, of effort) that the donor is thanked. Appreciation will bring repeat donors.

In addition, you might want to check out these previously asked questions and articles in the Library:

community.greatschools.net/q-and-a/172892/how-do-you-get-parents-more-involved-in-pta
www.greatschools.net/cgi-bin/showarticle/757
www.greatschools.net/cgi-bin/showarticle/1071