There have been several postings on schools being joined together and how to handle all the emotions, finances, etc. (One of these was a topic I started in my frustration of how snooty people can be.) I thought I would drop a note to let folks know how far we've come and the success we've had. We started last year with joint PTO meetings and sharing communication back and forth which helped in some ways and started to bring to a head some of the bad attitudes that existed. We then did a joint spring carnival which was very successful and went a long way to get people together. We teamed classes from both schools together to work on games, and used volunteers from both schools to help in the restaurant, bake shop, t-shirt sales, and raffle. It really seemed to help people meet and get to know each other better.
Next came board elections. Unfortunately, only one parent from the other school stepped forward for a position(she's my V.P.). It was a little disappointing, but we are all hopeful that at the end of this year, everyone will feel like this is THEIR school and get in there and help.
Now we come to registration. We always have a table, but we sometime feel like there is some invisible barrier that keeps people from coming over. This year the school secretary made a point of giving us the first set of tables as people walked in the door(so they had to visit). It was great! They board members staffed the table and really chatted it up with everyone. We had pamphlets that told about our programs and answered some common questions people have about the PTO. We had a calendar telling about the events we were having before school started and on the first day and when the first meeting would be. The parents all had to pass by the volunteer and room parent sign up sheets and we pointed out how many simple things you could do that would benefit your child's class. We also sold 108 t-shirts!!
Open House was 2 days before school started. We had a pizza dinner with the profits going to our playground fund. We served up 376 slices of pizza and gallons of pop. We had volunteers from both former schools working so there would be familiar faces for everyone. People mingled and chatted and toured the new school. We also had pizza delivered early and served the staff so they would have dinner before all the visitors came. It was really wonderful.
The first day of school we designated as spirit day and asked the students to wear their new shirts. Alot of kids did and it was just very nice to see. We also had a breakfast for the parents and had a nice turnout for that. the extra donuts and juice we served to the kindergartners, which helped them feel a lttile better. Then one other mom and I went to every classroom and gave the teachers Hershey kisses and hugs. We even gave some real hugs to some staff who asked. It was a great way to make all the teachers feel special on that first day.
So far we have received a ton of positive feedback and I have had lots of people asking questions and saying they will be at the first meeting. It wasn't all perfect--there were some people with attitude problems and some of the teachers were a little taken aback by our welcome(the shock quickly turned to pleasant surprise--I don't think the principal had warned the new staff about how outgoing the PTO board is here.) I do have a really positive outlook for this year and hope that anyone else in a similar situation will take the high road like we have and ignore the naysayers and go forward with your ideas and events in the hope that those folks will see how much fun you're having and join in. I reminded the rest of the board a few times that we are doing this for the kids and they are what matters. We all are carrying that attitude and I think we will prevail!!