You sound like you think you failed in your efforts so far, but you didn't. You had 100 people who enjoyed a dinner with family and friends. You had kids who got to see a movie in a safe environment and be with their friends. You HAVE made a difference! For everyone of those 100 who came to dinner and discovered that your group wants the school to be a welcoming place-they now feel a little more comfortable there. For all the kids who came to the movie-they know that you think they are important, and that their school is a place they can go to learn and have fun. Just keep trying and see success in not the size of the group, but the happiness you have brought to the people who are there.
Thanks for the support. We have done lots of free things...a movie night that no one responded to..so we held it on an afternoon and allowed the kids to come without parents. We had a spaghetti dinner (free) with 100 people. We had a spelling bee and a family math night. Transportation is sometimes an issue. Probably 50% or more of our families don't have cars and it isn't safe to walk around at night here. The language barrier is so hard. And the sad truth is...many of our parents DON'T value education. Plus, as a middle school...it's hard to have parent volunteers in the classrooms....I don't know....I know I'm being a nay sayer..but I'm so disheartened right now.
Hi - I'm new at this and this place is great for ideas and support! Just wanted to say when I got the phone call to start a PTO, I wasn't sure how much interest there would be. I gathered a committee of parents/teachers (only 6 of us) and started brain-storming on how to introduce the PTO to parents. On Back-To-School night, we had forms in the teacher's classrooms. The teacher's were ask to have the parents fill them out - very easy-as we did all the work and they only needed to circle yes/no. We asked: 1. Are you interested in joing the PTO. 2. Are you interested in being an officer for the PTO. 3. Are you interested in being on a committee to support the PTO. We attached the labels that had all their information (address/phone) and the teachers put their names on them for us. At the end of the night we collected over 400 of these. We received almost 300 positives!!! Even the principal was shocked. Our ESL teacher even translated forms for us. This has been a great beginning for us - let's hope the enthusiasm continues! Good Luck!!
I'm not sure what to say, except, don't give up. Start to look for no cost or low cost ways to get parents into the school. Don't worry about meeting attendance-just get them there for fun. Do potlucks, game nights, and encourage volunteering in the classrooms. Making parents feel comfortable in the school can go a long way when you're trying to get involvment. It will also help the kids see that their parents value education and want to be involved in their children's lives. I wish the best for you.
I've been combing this site for great ideas. I printed out so many things and found out today that my co-president withdrew her child and is sending him to a private school. Our PTO just got going in January, 2003 and was made up of me, my co-president and our treasurer! We are an urban middle school with 950 kids and we are about 76% Hispanic. I made a great inroad with the mom of one of my son's friends and she was going to contact parents in Spanish but I'm really at a loss right now. How do you get parents involved when there is so much apathy?? How do you give YOUR kid and all of his schoolmates what other (richer) districts take for granted?? Guess I just needed to vent!! thanks for listening and feel free to offer support!! Oh, and if anyone is in western mass and wants to help out give a yell!!!!!
