I love hearing the follow-ups.. thanks for sharing! Congrats on your perseverance, it certainly paid off.

Thought I'd come back to share how this all turned out.........

The night was ABSOLUTELY fantastic! Being our first ever 6th grade social, attendance was about what we expected - 40 out of 100 kids arrived ready to have fun! There were no fights, nobody cried, there was no negative carryover into Monday's school day (all fears of the school admin). The DJ was EXCELLENT and kept the kids engaged in 2 hours of activities and group dances - limbo, macarena, electric slide, chicken dance, even the hokey pokey and Simon Says. We had great snacks and decorations that the students helped with and had plenty of chaperones and cool prizes.

Students from both schools came and all kids talked about all weekend was waht a great time they had. We got letters from parents at the other school thanking us for including their 6th graders and congratulating us for a job well done. We received positive feedback from both principals who were VERY skeptical in the beginning.

Can't wait to help next year's 6th graders host an even bigger and better 6th Grade Social next year!

Thank you to EVERYONE here for the great advice!

onthe go.. maybe the principal got down wind of the fact that all the famillies had been contacted, and everyone was thrilled with the idea.. so to save face.. he decided to jump on the bandwagon!

you are doing a very nice thing. if it can be worked out, it will benefit the kids.
we do something similar for our 5th graders. we have 4 elementary schools and we run an end of year 5th grade event (picnic) so that all 4 fifth grades can mix and mingle before entering middle school together in the fall.
parents meet several months ahead and plan the event. the school gym & classroom teachers run relay/team building games in the morning. the kids get mixed into groups, so that they meet other kids. after a picnic lunch there are open activities, DJ,s, basketball, whiffle ball, etc. that they can participate in. it is a great event and sends the kids off to middle school with a great sense of relief, in that they know others kids they will see in Sept.
Again, I think what you are doing is terrific and hopefully you can persuade teachers and administrators to see that and support your efforts!
Good LucK...

Not sure if it was the warm weather of April vacation, other parents speaking up, or simply a change of heart but....

Yesterday I got a message from the other school's principal asking for flyers and tickets so they can help their 6th grade students participate in our event! I printed everything up and ran it right over there - it's so exciting. I didn't question why the change of heart just can't wait to prove we can do this and see the kids having a great time!

Well....it's no longer a dance...it's a get together that happens to have music because kids LOVE music - don't we all??? The parents from the other school, several of the teachers and ALL the kids we've spoken to LOVE the idea so we're rolling with it. The other principal did not have a change of heart. I think the main concern on her part is that she did not want the event to appear to be supported or sponsored by her school admin and staff. Orginally we asked her to allow flyers to be sent home with her 6th graders and for her secretary to sell tickets and they were not comfortable doing that. Instead we are working with parents from the other school to get the word out through contacts at work, baseball practice, etc. Because the other school chose not to be involved, we now just have to be EXTRA, EXTRA diligent to make sure ALL of the kids get invited and that has presented an obstacle because we don't know who they all are! We certainly don't want anyone to feel they were not a part of this!

The event is 2 hours long - originally it was 3 hours then we all looked at each other and simultaneously said - if we're stumped how to fill two hours how the heck would we fill three??

We're putting a lot of faith in the DJ to keep things rolling along and he'll have group dances - the chicken, macarena, electric slide, etc.

I like the hula hoop contest - maybe see who can hula through a whole song?

The banner idea is great for us sentimental mushy moms. We could save it and roll it back out at middle school or even high school graduation to "remember when."

I like the idea of having it outside - maybe next year's class could have the "dance floor" on the bball court with other activities on the sidelines.

REALLY grateful for everyone's input here!!!

Face painting is always good for kid events - what do you guys think of temp tattoos?

We were thinking of having "guess how many" jars set up around the gym - m&m's, jelly beans, lollipops, (any other ideas), and have kids write their guess on a paper and give the jars to the correct guessers at the end of the night?

We could give a raffle ticket to each guest then draw door prizes at the end OR give a small gift bag to each child at the end - any ideas for prizes or gifts?

We're not selling food - just charging a $3 admission to cover the DJ then the PTO and parents are going to pick up the tab or get donated the decorations, activity stuff, and food.