Thank you for your advise it is greatly appreciated. I guess I should have mentioned in my original post that the our high school has only 200 students and no other organizations (no booster, no type of sports, no band) other than a few select clubs as we are an early college high school on the local community college campus. So we are not traditional. I am trying to bring a little more fun to the school instead of it always being academics (yes, they are most important). The principal is hardcore and not really supportive of the PTSO so not sure how to handle that. Any ideas or suggestions for anything at this point is very helpful. We need to boost membership, attendance, and participation.
High school parent groups are the toughest because there's so much competition from sports and many other school groups.
My advice is to scale the PTO to be a valuable central organization and don't try to replicate the core importance an elementary PTO would have (as pretty much the only org).
Ours is a PTA and pretty small. We're always trying to do the best we can but we focus simply on 1) being a central communication channel for ALL families 2) supporting select school programs 3) awarding a few scholarships, and 4) teacher appreciation.
The communication role is really key. Some families are really plugged into band or athletics and their parents are already over-volunteered. Others have absolutely nothing to do with school. And of course, lots in between.
It's nice to have one central group that serves everyone and makes it a point to try to streamline information and communication for parents.
You don't have to limit yourself, but don't over-commit either. Look for the gaps and see how the PTO can be an asset to the school.
I was elected PTSO president in May for the 2010-2011 school year. However like most I have no idea where to start. I find this site very informative. I am finding the biggest hurdle being finding information geered more toward high schools. Our PTSO has not been very successful in past years and I am looking to change that. Any ideas?
