I never thought of this but, we as a elementary PTA ,have a newsletter that we produce once a month and include all the school information in it too. For instance we have a letter from the Principal, we interview two teachers a month, have a section for donation needs for the staff, upcoming events, our PTA President letter, upcoming event and advertisements from our Central Offcie in it (for free), nurse notes on illness etc., grade level reviews of what they are studing. Maybe you should approach your Principal and do this?! That way you get your information out and so do they. Our PTA publishes and pays for it. The principal also proof reads it but I make it very clear we are a seperate identity and we are here to inform parents... there are ways around everything!
OregonTreasurer;149577 wrote: As far as communications go, something new that we're trying this fall is having a wall calendar printed up with every school and PTA event for the entire year already printed on it. This does require some advance planning, both to figure out the dates so far in advance and to get the artwork required (this year we did student art, but next year we plan to change it to photographs of our events).
Our intent is to give one away for free to each family and staff member, and then sell additional ones at our cost to anyone who needs more than that. We're hoping that this will increase participation in events and activities while decreasing the need for so many reminder flyers throughout the year. We have no intention of ever completely eliminating the backpack express, but we'd like to limit the amount of printing we have to do.
Just remember to not limit yourself to just e-mail . we would like to think everyone has access to the Internet and e-mail however there are a number of families without this service and those need the information too. I suggest standing out side and passing the flyers out. It really concerns me that this would happen they are setting theirselves up for non support on bond passings etc. They want your money but not yor help or time....hmmm!
Lisa @ PTO Today;149342 wrote: Busymomof3-
hmrdaisy has a great suggestion. More schools are moving away from backpack mail and using email. If you can get the emails at the start of the year from the emergency cards, you'll be on your way.
As far as communications go, something new that we're trying this fall is having a wall calendar printed up with every school and PTA event for the entire year already printed on it. This does require some advance planning, both to figure out the dates so far in advance and to get the artwork required (this year we did student art, but next year we plan to change it to photographs of our events).
Our intent is to give one away for free to each family and staff member, and then sell additional ones at our cost to anyone who needs more than that. We're hoping that this will increase participation in events and activities while decreasing the need for so many reminder flyers throughout the year. We have no intention of ever completely eliminating the backpack express, but we'd like to limit the amount of printing we have to do.
Our board is very supportive and always comes to each schools PTA events. So many of our programs wouldn't exist without parents and the community.
But our communication does need to be better. We are launching our website this year - only content posted will be approved by the PTA President and the Principal but we formed a website table of contents and approved it. We kept it simple.
As for email the PTA sends home a separate sign up sheet at the beginning of the year allowing parents to "opt in." The school emergency card is private and not the place to get your information. Next year we want to start an email system because you also need to allow parents to "opt out."
Another hint - don't send too much email. It is as irritating as the chain mail my Mother-in-Law always sends and it will be thought of as Spam. It is the same rule for backpack mail. To communicate effectively you don't need to send all the time.
Try a newsletter with a reat calendar for events. We have school and PTA events on the front cover side bar and complete on the back cover so it can't be missed!
The last thing we did this year was have the same look and style to ALL PTA fliers and information. It is a simple way to 'brand" your group.
Email is a Teachers friend. She can tell the students to tell mom she has a email from me and it is all done. I have had several teachers get my email and it works great. Each school system is diffrent, but if it is up to each teacher it makes life for everyone easier. A quick note says it all. And you can have confrences over web cam. Sometime is is hard for parents to get away. It just helps everyone that has access to the net. Good Luck with it.
<br>email <a href=""This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it."">This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
All communication home - papers from parent group, letters from teachers, community activities, etc go home once a week in what we call Wednesday folders. All info is to be in the office in the teacher's mailbox by noon on Tuesday in order to be included - that means enough copies for each child in that class.
This was set up because too much was being missed. The school provides a special folder for each child and the teachers give special class incentives (such as stickers) for bringing the folder back each week.
As far as the board - it sounds like there is some of them without a clue as to just what the parent clubs are doing in the area. Time to educate the individual board members, the school district superintendent (they usually have a lot of pull with their board) and don't forget to start some communication with your local paper as to what your group is funding in your school and get the other local groups to do the same. TOOT YOUR OWN HORNS ON THIS! We spend too much time trying to stay behind the scenes and not take credit. Time to take credit and send a notice to the paper about what you are doing. Also make sure that you are inviting the newspaper to send a reporter out for each of your activities - or get a student who is a good writer to do up an article and include pictures and send that in to the paper. Letters to the editor thanking participants and stating what the funds went to work as well.
