This is our first year of even having family type nights. Previous PTO boards just didnt think it was necessary. Our Chick Fil A Family Dinner is scheduled for FRI 10.28 and I'd say half of the volunteers who said yes to help out in September now said no because it WAS on a Friday night. As far as attendance, we are lower that we expected, but it still will be a fun night. We have a Family Fun & Games night slated for 11.18 and I fear that the same thing may happen. Like alot of the other people that have posted said, families are involved in so many extra cirricular activities that you cant really accommodate everyone. I like the idea of having Friday evening events..maybe once they see how great they are they will plan ahead for the next one!
What a great question for a Jepordy or Millionaire show! It's an impossible situation but as long as you remember that you can please all of the people some of the time you can't please all of the people all of the time!
This is the one time I really work close with the school to see what is on the calendar and what would work for each school (K-12 but each "school" is taken into consederation)then hope that each family can plan! I have found when I can tell parents about our skate parties a month or two in advance (with reminders) that they not only appreciate the info but can plan. The best you can do is just ask your parents what nights are better than others. Like Luv, Wedesday is "church night" and Monday night football is difficult, and when hockey season starts...forget it!
It seems impossible to avoid all of the time conflicts people have on various evenings. My best advice is to pick the night that works best for you and stick with it consistently for all of your Family Events throughout the school year. That way, everyone will be able to plan and/or prioritize accordingly. (Sometimes we miss one thing one month and the other the next.)
Try not to conflict with other events within your school district, either. (A PTO night during a Friday night football game would never go well around here.)
And keep in mind bedtimes on school nights. Anything that doesn't wrap up by 7:30 or 8:00 can cause problems for parents.
I love the declared "No Homework Night" idea for PTO events!
all of our family nights are on Thursday or Tuesday nights, the only thing we do on Friday is our Staff/Parent Volleyball game. We do get some comments but find that most people truly don't want to be at school on Friday, time to go out to dinner, etc. Also around her sports, dance, scouts, etc are usually on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Most events start at 6:00 or 6:30 and go to 8:00. We do have two nights that oocur on conference days that start at 4:30 and go to 7:30! Attendance is GREAT no matter what the time, the fact that they are all free helps!
"When you stop learning you stop growing."
When we plan our calendar in the spring, we try to plan as many events as possible with the last day of a quartar/semester, teacher inservice, and conference time because these are the times when parents are looking for things to do with their children and children don't usually have homework.
The irony of commitment is that it’s deeply liberating-in work, in play, in love. The act frees you from the tyranny of your internal critic, from the fear that likes to dress itself up and parade around as rational hesitation. To commit is to remove your head as the barrier to your life. --Anne Morris
We hold a roller skating party in November. By then, most of the kids are finished with soccer practices and football, etc. The prinicipal declares it a no homework night (one night of freedom!!). We run it from 7-9pm at roller rink about 20 minutes from here. Parents can skate if they want or socialize along the sidelines. We are a K-8 school and usually get a great turn out.
