Does your PTO president serve on your school board? I am a member of our private school board because I am PTO president and they are very thankful for all we do.
Have you had any fundraisers yet? One of the many things we do for our teachers is to give them a $200 allowance for classroom supplies at the beginning of the year.
Perhaps you should get together and have lunch or a meeting with the Chairman of your school board. ASk them how you can help the school. There is no way they'd have a problem with that. Make it clear that your goal is to HELP THE SCHOOL. Keep your lines of communication open with your principal, too. When they start to see the things you do for the school, there's no way you'll be seen as a threat.
The private school setup is a unique one because we each deal with our school boards usually. Let me know if I can help you in any other way...
Shelly
Thanks for the responses. We have no teacher involvement but we continue to do things for and support our teachers in all ways. i think the biggest problem we have to overcome is our board. The for some reason are not for the PTO. I believe they think we are planning to "take over" the school. On the contrary.... I don't want that job!!! Have any of you had a difficult time with board or principal? For instance the PTO asked for donations to give the teachers a christmas gift(giftcards etc...) the Board is furious with us about that. They took offence thinking we did it to make them look bad!!! I don't know if there is hope for us or not? thanks again.... [img]smile.gif[/img]
We are also private but have LOTS of teacher support. They appreciate all that we do for the school, kids and teachers. We've been in place for years, but perhaps an outline of your plan of action and project you plan to implement? We do lots of small things for our teachers, Free lunch fridays, parent room reps to help out, providing things for their classrooms, etc, etc. We also ask them at the beginning of each year for suggestions for projects they would like us to fund or organize. I know most private schools don't really include teachers but we love ours and really want to give them a voice in what we do.
We are a private school and our organization is called "Parents' Club" so we don't really expect teacher participation(we don't really even ask for it).
What exactly are your struggles? How big is your school? Can you start small and build it up slowly?
Tell us a little more...
Shelly
We have just started a PTO last year and are flailing. We are a private school and have no teacher involvement and have felt like we are rowing upstream with the board. Any one else been through similar situations, any advice. Its so overwhelming I'm not sure where we should start. We do have a bare bones set of bylaws in place. Anything would help!! thanks
