pam1500,

I got your e-mail address and will contact you. So you can remove your e-mail address from your message if you want.

Thanks.

When we set up our Yahoo group, our concern was not to generate discussions among parents but to disseminate information effectively and quickly. It has been wonderful in this area. We are able to get communication out to our parents in a heartbeat rather than having to make hundreds of copies and put them in backpacks. Now, you have to hope that people have e-mail and read it.

I think that now that we have started our e-mail list, there would be riot if we stopped it! Our group is not one in which parents can post, it is only one in which a moderator can send out communications. It has just been invaluable, IMHO.

Good luck
SHC

movingforward:

I did find these yahoo groups. As a non-member, you can't see what's going on, but you can email the group moderator(s) if you have questions.

groups.yahoo.com/group/luxmanor/

groups.yahoo.com/group/WyngateParents/

I also asked if parents tended to get snarky. I didn't think that would be a big problem; on a closed list for school parents, you're really not anonymous. Both moderators confirmed that that was NOT a problem for them; both also said that the discussions are not really lively.

I haven't had much luck in this area myself, although I still think it's a great way to pass information and get acquainted. Our PTO prez was nice enough to ask the other PTO presidents in the district if they use a discussion board; none of them do. She said she thought that any such board should not be affiliated with the PTO, and I haven't had the juice to get it going all alone. However, I haven't given up entirely yet!

If you have an email, and I come up with anything or we manage to get something rolling in our school, I can keep you posted. I'd love to hear how other ppl got this going as well!

Edited to add my email: pam1500pa @ yahoo.com (remove spaces)

[ 10-26-2005, 06:33 PM: Message edited by: pam1500 ]

Thanks to everyone for your input! A special thanks to <b>pam1500</b> for sharing information that could benefit all users here! I’m going to look into the information you provided further.

The internet is a veritable diamond mine! And as diamonds, still in the rough yet to be cut or refined to be used for good.

<b>Pam1500 stated:</b>

I wish our school had a message board, not just for sending out info but also to have a place to ask questions, share info between parents, etc., <u>but a lot of people in our school seem to be a bit afraid of the idea.</u>

We seem to have the same concern:
<b>The parents</b> at our school think that an electronic bulletin board is a great idea…but…I can’t get much feedback beyond that. This indicates to me they are unfamiliar with the concept probably due to limited computer/internet knowledge. I have learned that people fear what they don’t know therefore they resist change. If my previous assumption is correct then I think it would be safe to assume that few people would utilize a bulletin board / forum at the beginning and it would possibly take as long as two years to catch on.

<b>The staff</b> has been very resistant to the idea sighting inappropriate or slanderous remarks about the faculty or policies being voiced in a public forum. They also have concerns that it would create more work for them, in addition their already overloaded schedules. Due to these reasons the PTO thought it would be best to peruse it as a “parent only” communication tool.

I would like to hear from people that have a functioning bulletin board / forum to see if it is feasible.

I put this link in another area of this board, but I forget where.

At any rate, try this:

www.ourschoolforum.com/

Follow the link to your state and then your town. Chances are your school will be there.

I don't know who has set this up! It's free, and there are no ads. I joined, and got a contact email, which is:

Roger Thweatt [This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.]

Here's a copy of what I wrote, and what he replied (replies are in bold):

> First, who are you? Is this board a public or private endeavor? How long have you been around? You seem to be funded entirely by donations, which is unusual for a free board. Do I understand that no one who uses the forum is obliged to pay, ever? Do you have a long-term plan, in the event that donations are inadequate?
>

We are a private endevor. No one is obligated to pay, but we hope some do donate.


> And second, if a school takes advantage of this forum, can access be restricted to members only? Can the forum topics be customized? Are there any schools currently using this, and can I see those boards and/or contact their moderator?
>

We have just started promoting the site, we can customize the forums.
Memnbers have to sign uo to use it, and the moderator can restrict users. God Bless!



I stumbled onto this from this article:
www.bloggingbaby.com/entry/1234000787056734/

I thought it was interesting, but entirely untested. I was also unsure if I should be concerned about the misspells...

I wish our school had a message board, not just for sending out info but also to have a place to ask questions, share info between parents, etc., but a lot of people in our school seem to be a bit afraid of the idea.

Then again, our PTO has no procedures formally documented (to my knowledge.) They rely on oral tradition, and still think that diskettes are the way to pass electronic info around...

phpBB are good bulletin boards, the big problem Ive seen from most is </font>

• Price</font>
• Lack of knowledge to implement</font>
• Upkeep</font>
• reliability/ security</font>
• Some school servers dont allow (if PTA/PTO website is on school server)</font>

Our Elemnetary school and PTA (site is embedded in School site) would like to have one but the school server doesnt allow offsite access to a bulletin board.

I have to physically be on campus and connected to system just too upload/update site.

[ 10-22-2005, 02:41 PM: Message edited by: Shawn ]