We never exclude anyone on our staff during appreciation week, and it doesn't cost us a fortune either. We have around 70 staff members, and have a budget of $750, although we rarely, if ever, need to use the entire amount. The trick is to solicit donations starting in about November, hit the Black Friday and Post-Holiday sales for any items that you want to use, zero in on the specific talents and/or professions of your parents, and get creative with it.

Our reasoning is that if we start determining which staff members deserve appreciation, we are basically setting up a hierarchy of whose contributions are of more value to our school. We feel like that is divisive and doesn't contribute to the community spirit that we try to maintain, so we include everyone.

Our PTO teamed up with the Principals. The Principals were able to get better "deals" from a juice company etc for the teachers during the week so at the end of the week the entire staff knew they had a huge BBQ lunch that was put on by the PTO. The PTO would spend around $250 (of course we asked the school kitchen to purchase/donate paper products and drinks) and everyone had a blast.

NOw that I am staff, the best dat I have had all week was yesterday. Our Admin had massage therapy students come in for four hours for massages!! I LIKE APPERCIATION WEEK--and sort of miss the BBQ. When I left so did anyone that would help so.


But I agree, some of the best gifts were the little candy bars with a note-- honestly the more simple the better!

Our school (400 students, 45 staff) does a different theme lunch every day of Staff Appreciation week (salad bar, taco bar, crock pot foods, ice cream sundaes, etc). The food is mostly brought in by parents, incidentals supplemented by the PTO. Our staff LOVES this. We get so many comments that it makes them feel so loved and appreciated and its great not having to think about what to bring for lunch all week. We also do drawing for small gifts throughout the week (coffee mug, chocolate, candles, etc) just for fun. Every person on staff gets a personalized thank you card from the PTO. This year we had a little extra money, so we purchased gift cards for everyone to various local businesses (sandwich shop, coffee shop, restaurants, etc.) but our normal budget for the week is about $300 and we usually have money left over.

We do Teacher AND Staff Appreciation and it includes everyone from the principal to some of the part-time night custodians and even long-term substitutes. But, the key is that the PTO sponsors the events but they wouldn't happen without the support of families. We are a school with 475 kids and our entire staff (as described above) is 70 this year. We have a $400 budget for Teacher Appreciation. We use our PTO money to buy personalized planners (school year calendars--$150 total) and sandwiches for the Friday luncheon ($150 total). We use the extra $100 for papergoods, decorations, etc. Now the important things:
1. KIDS! We have a theme each year and send home cardstock for kids to send notes to any teacher/staff member that they would like to thank. We hang these notes on bulletin boards and give them to all the staff members at the end of the week. This is their favorite thing!
2. Breakfast: we offer continental breakfast before school with items provided by families. Usually we have to have two days of breakfast because we have so many offers of food, juice, etc. Teachers can grab a quick breakfast and head off to their classrooms.
3. Luncheon: we have a staff lunch and provide classroom coverage for 1 hr. so the entire staff can have lunch together. In addition to the sandwiches that the PTO purchases, we have tons of side dishes & desserts provided by families.
4. Last but not least, there are a lot of families who are unable to help in other ways (volunteering, baking, cooking, etc) and we collect OPTIONAL donations that are pooled. For the last 3 yrs we have given $10 gift certificates to our Scrip program for ALL 70ish staff members and often have extra money which we use as "raffles" for larger dollar value Scrip gift certificates (usually $25. The staff member chooses any retailer they want with the dollar value given and the PTO gets the profit %).
So, Teacher Appreciation is as big (or small) as our community will support. If they didn't send money to cover $10 for every staff member, we'd just divide it into Scrip raffles. If they didn't offer to send enough food for breakfast or lunch, we wouldn't do it. I think when the PTO as an organization spends like this is a HUGE thing, the point is missed. Teacher (and Staff) Appreciation should be about the FAMILIES thanking the teachers and not the PTO trying to put on a big party or trying to outdo the previous year. We, the PTO, are just the coordinators.

Wow! Appreciation doesn't equal money spent! Perhaps this is why the economy is where it is. Everyone is trying to do more than they can afford.

Simple things like: every child brings a flower to fill a vase for their teacher, hearts filled out by the kids and parents stuffed in a jar, parents filling in during recess, lunch and class, while the teachers grab a bite in the lounge.

Our PA budget is only $500 for a week of activities (85-90 staff), but the coordinators ask for donations of baked goods, bagels, juice, coffees, flowers, etc to supplement the week. They also ask for $5 from each family to cover the lunch. We appreciate everyone who works in the school, especially the maintenance crew. Our maintenance crew actually attends carline, helping kids in/out of the car and directing traffic. They're fabulous! Part of the school family .

Not everyone can afford an extra $5 or bag of bagels and not everyone does pitch in, but there are plenty who do.

In our case the other staff have their own special day .. The teachers don't get anything when the principals take out the sec. for sec. day .... ??? SO I think it is fair to say that everyone gets their appreciation awarded in their own special way .... But it is important to include everyone of there is going to be food or somehting simple to that matter ,,, But in my opinon everyone in the school is VERY important no matter what the job is. So I hope each school honors them on their special day .....