Hi again all. I've been away for a while and love the new look here. This topic is always a popular one in different PTO/PTA circles and it most likely is because the increased need for communication always is prevalant.
I love the idea that volprez added in that earlier post - idea was including students surveys! Wow what a great thing and parents always are interested in seeing kids input.
One year the students at our elem. school sent the PTA thank you notes for items that were purchased (new globes for the classrooms) and we published many of the thank you notes on the front page and further into the newsletter. I rec'd many wonderful and positive comments on those thank yous!
We also involved the fourth graders that were inproving their TAAS writing to submit an article to the newlstter. Deadlines were provided and the teacher had to approve the submission. These articles were precious and were the begining of another new itemn that drew more readers to the newsletter.
We also publish a PTO newsletter with PTO news only. It comes out maybe 6 times per year. Included are upcoming plans,projects,and requests for ideas and help on special projects. More frequently a shorter e-mail update is sent. This is a new idea that we have tried this year and it has been really well received. We set up an e-mail address for PTO correspondance only and logged in more than 100 addresses. It was a lot of work to set up at the beginning but now that it is up and running, parents love it! It is a great way to reach parents for an emergency need. When we had our Red Cross penny drive this fall we were very quickly overwhelmed by pennies. One short e-mail got the volunteers we needed to help cart them to the bank. Good luck with your newsletter!
<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>She heavily edits what is sent out and once, after she had added several items to my report, I strongly suggested she write her own article and leave mine alone.<hr></blockquote>
Our parents really appreciate the principal's column in our newsletter. Many feel much more comfortable approaching him with a concern because of that regular communication. It also provides him with an opportunity to express his thoughts about what is happening at the school. When he doesn't have anything in particular to say, he pulls out a recent article he especially liked (e.g. reading at home, study skills) and shares that information.
Emphasize to your principal these types of benefits from writing their own column. When they write their own, the won't need to make sure your column says the things they want said.
Concerning a newletter - we publish weekly any week we have school on Friday. Our principal does not publish a separate newsletter and only occasionally writes anything for the PTO one. She heavily edits what is sent out and once, after she had added several items to my report, I strongly suggested she write her own article and leave mine alone.
Does anyone have a thought on this?
We do a newsletter monthly and it is a joint communication from PTO and faculty. PTO lists all the fundraisers' updates and upcoming events. This is also where we thank our voluteers and parents each and every month for participating in PTO and our fundraising events. We also remind parents of our on-going fundraisers. The teachers give an update on what's happening at each Grade Level. Our newsletter is focused towards the parents, since it is a K-5 elementary school and our main communication tool from PTO/Faculty to parents. You can take a look at it through our school web site (www.cabarrus.k12.nc.us/wolf/index.htm
) and click on Wolf Prints. Good luck!
Shirlm brings up another good point. You need to decide who your newsletter is for. Is it for the parents? Is it for the students? Is it for the families?
It sounds like theirs is for the families. Ours is for the parents. That affects what items get put in.
