Does your principal use e-mail? I e-mail our principal (sometimes several times a day) and just ask a question or give him some info about something coming up. this way, I KNOW that he is kept informed and I'm not bothering him with phone calls all day.
I am happy to hear you have thought through this. As a building Principal, I have to work closely with my parent organization. With all of the good intentions of my parents there are often decisions made that could have the adverse reaction. The building principal knows the entire student population and the staff and will have worked through other building wide events so can be a real help if you have a healthy relationship. Always remember, ultimately you are both working towards the same goal- student improvement- it just may take some time to get on the same page.
I think that's a great idea, start the new year fresh and pretend that nothing has happened. You'll soon learn how far you and go and take it from there. Good luck!
Well after having a few days to calm down, I see that I need to work with the principal. See the other 4 schools have principals that don't care what the PTO members do, so I just assumed this is how he works but it's not. Which is fine. I plan to tell him I'm sorry that I did things without asking him and only cleared it through the committee chairs and teachers. Hopefully this will smooth things over and we can start over.
I would NEVER do anything without the Principles go ahead on anything. I have had my go rounds with her and believe me I have want to take this job and shove it. But who do I hurt... The kids, Teachers as well as families who rely on us.
There is a site here and I'm suprised nobody has told you to check it out. If you go to the begining of the PTOToday web-site along the top in the blue bar. There is a topic called "Improve Your Group" Click on that. When it comes up if you look right in the middle/top there will be a Topic on "Make your Principle your Partner" Read and reread and then go from there. I used it and I survived.
Good Luck, Let us know how things work out. [img]smile.gif[/img] )
I actually had soemthing like this happen the first year I was running the group, we had planned something that had been in the works for a few months, teacher reps never said anything against it until we actually started the project. the principal called me in , closed the door(i knew that meant trouble) and told me we had to withdraw the project. I was so mad and I basically told my principal why, she told me where she was coming from. It was one of many disagreements we had, I soon learned that there are reasons why everything is ran through her, and I did have to learn to respect her when we wer told no. Funny thing is now if a parent approaches me about a project, etc I can pretty much guess what she would say.After a while you learn the "politics" and what you can and can't do or say.We ended up having a great working realtionship, your principal can make or break you...at least if you use the kids to get info home, etc. Bottom line is the pto represents the school and my actions are a reflection on them...it will get better!
"When you stop learning you stop growing."
