I started the Bay PTO this year. It took about a years worth of planning. It is great that you have the principal involved. You also need a teacher that would be willing to be the Parent Advisor. He/She would be able to help you a lot!!! My advise would be to talk to the teachers for things that they see with parents and their children and build from their thoughts.The way I got Parents involved was to employ them to be involved in their child's school without embarssing them. My students are teens that are worried about image. (Some of the Planning).
Also another way would be to "Remember the Fun we had with PTO when we were in school"

You have already made your first step by getting the principal involved and on board. While it is always a struggle to get parents involved, one way to get something going is to have an event that involves the children such as a Math Night, Art Show, Talent Show, Science Fair, Muffins for Mom, Donuts with Dad or some type of Family Fun Night like a Movie Night. Food always brings people out as well. When you have your event, have the principal talk about parent involvement and some of the things you would like to see happen for the kids. Have a sign-in sheet so parents can leave phone numbers/e-mail and then be diligent on contacting them. Make sure you have goals for your PTO to accomplish so folks know you have a reason for its existence and not a PTO just for the sake of having one. Does your school have room parents? That might be a place to start. It may take a while but like gena2431 stated, ....."don't get discouraged".

I purchased a book entitled "Robert's Rules for Dummies". I know that the title is not very nice, but it is a very informative book about Parliamentary Procedure (rules that most organizations base their By-Laws on). If you do start a PTO I would suggest getting yourself a generic set of By-Laws and customize them to your organization. I cannot tell you how many times in the past two years that I have had to refer back to our By-Laws to get us through certain situations. Also, if you already are experiencing problems getting parent involvement, that probably will not change. In my experience you will have a core group of parents that will attend meetings and volunteer their time and then you will have the majority that do not want to be bothered. I know what the excitement is like, to think you can make a difference at your child's school. Don't get discouraged, but be prepared to work hard and not get a lot recognition. I do have to say that this has been one of the hardest jobs I have ever had, but also the most rewarding. When I see all of my hard work pay off and see the faces of the kids when we do something really great for them. That is the best feeling in the world. It is like when you give your child a really great gift and multiply that by 430 kids. Hang in there and don't get discouraged.

Hi, this is my first time to sign on. I have been reviewing your sight now, and am so excited on what I am learning.

I am new to volunteering, and agreed to join a site council meeting at my sons school. At on of our meetings we discussed parent involvement, which is almost non-existant. out of 100 people asked to be involved with site council, only 6 of us came. My sons teacher also has indicated this, and the lack of involvement with parents helping children with home work. One parent actually pulled her child out of school, and transfered because she said the expectations were to high. For me this is very confusing.

Anyway, we do not have a PTO at the school. I have heard they had one started years ago, but something bad happened, and it ended. This is the situation. We decided that we should try to get a PTO started. We thought we would send a letter home to parents prior to parent teacher conferences, then have a couple of displays, or posters out to promote during the meetings.

My problem is trying to find something that will stand out and grab attention, and get parents to notice. The principal and I seem to be about the only ones really excited about this right now, and so I have taken on this project. Can you given me any suggestions on poster ideas, or other ways to get parents interested. Its me alone right now, I am determined, and would love your help.

once this is done, I need to figure out how to actually start a PTO, from nothing. any advice, help, or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

thanks again, hope to hear from you soon