Thank you for taking the time to reply to my post. We never have enough time so I really appreciate your sharing some of yours!
Hope everyone has a great year!
Allie

in reply to: mykidsmom note from way above.

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As a mom of 5 and have two in school, I suggested to our group to wait a week. ........

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the year that our PTA decided to do just as you suggested and we waited about a week to send home our PTA Back To School Packet - our membership went way down and parents were very dissapointed in not getting their PTA Back to School packet with the rest opf the things that needed their attention.

I know that when I was a mom employeed outside the home, I always enjoyed getting my PTA back to school packet with the rest of the forms (emergency contact cards, nurse form, etc.) The PTA letter from the president was like a note from an old friend and felt good to read - then I proceeded to complete the forms, fill out my membership check, put in in the envelope and all the papers in the stack were sent back to school all together - for the school office, the teacher, the nurse, the PTA etc.

Be careful when you mess with tradition - everyone notices.

Best of luck to all of you as you prepare for this new school year.

Lu,
I have designed an arch pattern using our School PTA name to go on the breast of the Polo-style t-shirts. You can buy white transfers for white & light colored shirts or dark transfers for dark colored t-shirts. I can send you the design if you would like to see it...very simple...nothing fancy. Just the name in an arch and the person's position (i.e. President, Treasurer, etc.) straight across the bottom. We will use our school colors in the lettering.

We are toying with the idea of making t-shirts for other members for future events with a logo or phrase on the back...using same color shirts and front design as the officers'...only where position is stated, use members' names instead.

They are fairly easy to do and when you put two or three members together with irons, they get done a lot faster.

[img]smile.gif[/img] Jess

Marylandmom, That's a neat idea. What do you put on the t-shirts?

Great ideas everyone!

Allie, our PTA has decided this year to send home a new parents' packet...for incoming Pre-K, Kindergarten and newly registered parents. This packet includes a letter directed specifically to new parents to the school, list of officers & committee chairs, PTA & School Board meeting dates, first newsletter of the year, parent survey, and membership application. For our 'veteran' parents we have another letter, the survey, and newsletter (which also has a membership form at the back, list of officers, and calendar of events). The new parent packets will go home in folders sporting our county public schools' logo, courtesy of the county (the folders were ordered several years ago and have just been sitting in the central office collecting dust, so when we asked for them, Central staff were glad to get rid of them and see them go to the PTA cause of generating more involvement in our schools), and the veteran parents' packets will simply be stapled and sent home.

We will be setting up a table at the Open House, & have members greet parents as they enter the school, show them to their classrooms if they are unfamiliar, and make them aware of PTA goals for the year. At the table, we will have membership forms, brochures (again made on our pc), poster about our playground project and another poster listing our other goals for the year. We will also be wearing specially made t-shirts to "stand out" and be easily identifiable(we bought shirts, and using our "picture it publishing" on the pc, printed our own iron-on patches...much cheaper than ordering them!).

I think the first couple of days are when you are going to catch parents' attention at it height. We take advantage of this and send our info home in the first couple of days, but allow parents until the end of the month (for instance) to return forms and such. Then we have a set day of each following month to send home newsletters, memos, event ads, etc, and are sure to let parents know what day it is, so they will know when to look forward to correspondence from our PTA.

Hope this helps! [img]smile.gif[/img]

We always have School Spirit Day the first Friday the kids return to school. We always give the kids something that has the school logo on it. This year will be a 2 pocket folder and a pencil... last year was a bumper sticker. No strings attached. I think this eases our way back into the parent's hearts. The following week, we do send our first fundraiser... Sportswear. I will say that this year... new Principal and my first year as President... I want to send a newsletter home to the parents toward the end of August. This way they have a heads-up on what is happening in September and hopefully everyone is a little excited about going back to school and they actually read it! [img]smile.gif[/img]