Thanks for all the info. I just wrote to them to get samples. Hopefully the teachers will like something cheaper. We asked our teachers this year to come up with a wish list for the PTO. This was one item we still haven't gotten. I'm not sure how they've been paid for in the past but this is something they've asked for this year. We are hoping we have a surplus of funds at the end of the year so we'll be able to pay them for next year.
Our 4th and 5th graders at the elementary, and all the middle school students use the same planner by Premier. Ours is labeled "Premier Discover Agenda". It has a flexible plastic cover, spiral binding, pages for each day, plus tons of extra info interspersed. The kids use them every day.
At the elementary school, the PTO pays for the planners at a cost of about $4 each. I assume the MS PTO must pay for them too, because I don't remember sending money in. In any event, it's a good tool that reinforces good habits.
Our school implemented them various ways in the last few years and used different sources.
When they first started using planners, the teachers made them with photocopied pages in a 3--prong school folder - one for fall, one for winter. Some years, they asked the parents to send money ($3-$5) to purchase them at the beginning of school. Now our kids just get them, so I think the school put it in their budget. (I could be wrong, maybe they asked parents to send in money in the beginning and I forgot. [img]tongue.gif[/img] But I know the PTO doesn't provide funds for this.)
Note - if you do make your own, it probably doesn't cost much less than buying them if you track the copier charges. But often that's buried in high volume copying, so it doesn't get really tagged as a separate expense.
I just looked at my son's. It's done by Premier - www.premieragendas.com
I think our PTA pays half the cost. Our ms kids get a different agenda by the same company. They are expensive.
Our elementary school uses the exact type of planner/journal you described, so I looked inside of my 3rd grader's and here is the info.
Success by Design, Inc.
1-800-327-0057 www.successbydesign.com
Our 3rd grade teachers have asked the PTO to buy assignment books. Basically they are books that show one day per page. On each page are separate sections for 6 different subjects and a spot to write the homework for that subject. Also on the bottom is a section for teacher notes and parents notes. They have a source they have been using but the books are$4.15/each and they need 200. Does anyone know a company that makes these type of books? They are sometimes called agenda books too.
