TNmom-Sorry it's taken me so long to respond I've been sick. I'm not sure what else to tell you. I guess we were just lucky in that our Superintendant and Principal both were/are very supportive of PTA and in parent involvement. Have you sat down one on one with the principal and discussed this or has it been on the fly? Maybe if you sat down in a meeting with him/her and presented a sort of plan on how you think both groups could benefit from having joint goals and working together they could be persuaded. I'm just not sure what else to do since I didn't have this problem. We had a little more resistance or unsurety from the teachers but after 2 or 3 meetings things started moving and the rest is history.
Thanks so much for responding. My only question is
How did you accomplish it?! You seem to work very well together! To have that type of cooperation in our school seems, at this point, impossible. Like I said, our BLT seems to be a secret society! Many of our parents have not a clue as to what BLT stands for. They think it is a sandwich!! I am really serious! What can I do that I have not already done to open the communication between PTO and BLT? I have expressed my sincere desire to those involved and requested we put our heads together. I have not received a negative response, just no response at all. I have been directed to this person, then that person, and back again, and still have no confirmation either way. Please help! I can't imagine that it would not be a positive merger that would only serve to further benefit our kids! Thanks
TNmom- The elementary where I am at has a site based decision making team also. We have a main team and off of that we have sub groups for our school focuses which are literacy, building responsible citizens and math. We have at least one parent rep in each group and we have teacher reps that come to every PTA exec. board meeting and general meetings. The PTA and our Council (site based team) decided to merge our goals and work jointly. It has worked out wonderfully. Besides the 3 focuses I mentioned we have also jointly worked on volunteerism and making parents feel welcomed and valued in our school. In addition to these meetings, every time our staff has an in service training parents are also included in those and each year we take 2-3 teachers to PTA convention with us. As a whole this situation has been a wonderful experience for both sides and has really brought us together. . . . . . now if only it were this wonderful at the middle school, isn't that the way things always are...you get things the way you want it and it's time to move on (and start all over again it would seem, oh well!). I hope I've helped a little. If there is something in here you want more specifics on, just ask!
I am the PTO pres. of an elementary school which designated as a site based management school. We have a Building Leadership Team and 7 correlate teams. I would like to know from some of you how, or if, your PTOs work directly with the BLT for a more cohesive school plan. I have inquired as to workings of our BLT and have no been successful at obtaining to questions by the Chairman or Principal of our school. It appears to our PTO Board to be a secret society!. Please give me some feedback.
