I'm now at the high school level, but my middle school PTO experience was non-existent and the parent group that was in place disbanded, due to lack of involvement.

The High School sports teams in our district are reaching down to the middle school for talent, as well as the booster clubs, so the fundraising tends to overlap between the parent group and the booster clubs (need to keep the communication lines open and friendly, for sure!)

There is a new principal at our middle school and he was attempting to get the group going again.

I think it depends on your principal and their energy level.

My (personal) middle school experience with my child was absolutely terrible, and we eventually discovered that she was allergic to wheat!

Hang in there. High school is *much* better. The counselors seem to truly want to help you. And you can focus your energy on a specific booster (Music, sports, debate, arts, etc.) I've met so many awesome parents this past year in the Marching Band Boosters.

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JHB, thanks for the advice. Have emailed the principal and one of child's teacher to see if they feel like a PTO would be helpful....doinig a little "research" and then hope to have a meeting with the principal...she is open to it. Any other advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you !!!!!!!

I think we have about 950 students with approximately 90 staff.

Parents seem to expect there to be a PTO, but most rely on "others" to run it, so actual parent participation is very small. Parent apathy is particularly difficult once you reach middle school. Plus, many of the active parents have already found a niche to which they are donating their efforts (Band parents, athletics, Science Olympiad, etc.)

The kids are usually involved in several activities, and many school organizations do fundraisers, so it seems like someone is always selling something.

Until about 3 years ago, the PTO used to sell the (required) PE uniforms, that being their primary fundraiser. Since they stopped doing that, they've been exisiting more or less off the bank balance with a few odds and ends that bring in funds. I don't have the exact numbers, but my guess would be our PTO currently brings in / spends less than $500 per year. Most of what they organize is donations.

Thanks for the responses.....so from what I am reading....at the middle school level...not much fundraising to do....but you obviously have to sell some things to do the teacher appreciation and "events".....Our businesses are so supportive of our schools, so getting donations is not a very big deal....How many students/teachers does your school have.....about how much in funds do you "raise" for the year? Do you feel like the parents really do appreciate having a PTO at the middle school or are you constantly trying to convince people it is a good thing?????

Thank you.

I re_Started ours two years ago.

You start by talking to the principal. You feel them out for what a PTO could do for the school. You get their support for starting one. You get their help in using whatever communication vehicles they have at their disposal.

At the first meeting, we attempted to define our mission.

Some time well into our first year, we attempted to start working on bylaws once, but the year ended and we never got enough traction. We are not a 501 (c) 3, yet, but I am starting discussions about this with the school and school district to determine need.

We have a couple of teachers that are our "sponsors". We mainly do after school events, starting at 6pm so teachers and staff can get home at a reasonable hour, but working parents have time to get there after work to help volunteer.

We have one meeting a month and one event a month.

The events are what keep people coming back to the meetings. They are better attended by parents also. We have a plan at the beginning of the year for all the events. We usually spend most of our time at each meeting making sure we know what will happen at the next event, quite often talking one to two events ahead.

We don't charge dues, because we need the people more than the money, so the money can come in time. The sports also need money, so we don't focus on fundraising. Mom and Dad are hit up enough already.

Our biggest expense last year was also the teacher appreciation lunch. I took off a couple of hours from work and showed up to make sure the competely sub shop catered event went well.

At our events, we set up a table and sell pizza by the slice and canned drinks. Occassionally we also do candy bars and individual bags of chips.

The reason I set out on this endeavor is I saw the school had a weak reputation in the community. They had all these teams that has games, and as a parent (of a student that didn't participate in these) couldn't even find out about the games.

Let me encourage you to think heavily about what it will take to communicate effectively to the parents, without knowing who they are and how to reach them.

My way of reaching them was to show up whenever they were likely to be around and have a table to collect names, addresses, email addresses and phone numbers.

It can take a considerable amount of time, just organizing the information you receive, but it is essential.

Then you have to be self discipliined to communicate as frequently as you can afford to, without being overbearing. For me this means an email or two per month.

Last month, at a meeting, I brought up the cost of mailing to members that did not have email. It costs about $40/mailing to reach the 1/3 of our members without email. Since most never participated, they decided not to spend that money. I'm hopeful that will eventually be reversed.

I didn't start it, but I'm active it ours. It has fairly good bylaws and organization but we decided to stay informal as an unincorporated association. Our gross income is less than the $5000 threshold per year, so we have no plans to formally file for 501(c)(3) status.

The PTO doesn't charge dues and really doesn't have many financial transactions. The main activity is teacher appreciation and that's primarily a role of coordinating donated goods. The PTO may run a concession stand or sell glow sticks at one or two school dances, bringing in a bit of income.

It also organizes the 8th grade prom, which is held at the school. Again, it relies heavily on parent donations. The year my daughter was in 8th grade, the PTO budget for the prom was about $100.

This year, it is selling school T-shirts. But by the time you get to middle school, there are usually several different school shirts, some specific to band or a particular club, some more general. I haven't heard yet how they did on T-shirt sales yet.