One of the great benefits of being a PTA is that National PTA offers a large number of grants on a variety of topics. This year, National PTA is offering over $1 million in total funding, with awards ranging from $1,250 to $10,000, including: PTA Connected: Build Up and Belong – $2,000 to 20 PTAs (high school focus, … Continue reading Don’t Miss Out on the Fall Grant Opportunities!
Steps to Plan & Implement an Early Bird Spring Membership Campaign:
WHAT: Get a jumpstart on building your membership for the upcoming school year. End selling current year memberships and close current year’s sales Plan how you will implement your early membership campaign Promote & sell early memberships in spring/early summer before the rush & expense of back to school. WHY host an Early Spring Membership … Continue reading Steps to Plan & Implement an Early Bird Spring Membership Campaign:
Membership: Teaming Up with Your Teachers & Staff
Summer may be ending, but it’s time to build your PTA team for a great school year. PTA is a partnership between families, teachers, school staff and administrators and the community. Making a personal invitation to your different stakeholders can go a long way to assemble your collaborative team for success! Now is the perfect … Continue reading Membership: Teaming Up with Your Teachers & Staff
Membership: Teaming Up with Your Parents
Summer may be ending, but it’s time to build your PTA team for a great school year. PTA is a partnership between families, school staff & administrators, and the community. Making a personal invitation to your parents and families can go a long way to assembling your team for a year of success! It’s not … Continue reading Membership: Teaming Up with Your Parents
Spring 2024 Legislative Successes
This spring’s legislative session had some conflicting tensions that shaped the budget. It is an election year, so there was pressure to fund items with popular support. But there were also factors pressing legislators to limit spending—including the end of COVID funds and handling the influx of migrants—as well as finding new revenue sources that … Continue reading Spring 2024 Legislative Successes
Starting a Special Education PTA (SEPTA)
In our schools, special education programs are designed to meet the unique needs of students with disabilities and ensure their inclusion in the school community. Similarly, a Special Education PTA (SEPTA) is a PTA organized to support the needs of families with special needs students, whether those needs are academic support and accommodation or gifted … Continue reading Starting a Special Education PTA (SEPTA)
Understanding and Advocating on School Discipline
How does your child’s school approach school discipline and school climate? The University of Chicago Consortium on School Research recently released a toolkit called Family Playbook: School Suspensions, Discipline & Restorative Justice. The playbook summarizes research and data on school discipline and includes actions you can take to learn more about how your child’s school … Continue reading Understanding and Advocating on School Discipline
13 Tips to Help Anxious Kids Enjoy Summer Camp
Child Mind Institute provides a lot of resources for parents and caregivers with a particular focus on those families with children dealing with mental health or disability issues. With summer camp season coming up, your child may have some anxieties about heading off to camp even if they aren’t typically an anxious child. Here are … Continue reading 13 Tips to Help Anxious Kids Enjoy Summer Camp
The PTA President’s Exit Strategy Guide
If your term as PTA president is coming to an end, you’re probably looking forward to having a bit more time to yourself (unless, of course, you’re going on to be a PTA officer at another school or PTA Council). You’ve worked hard to make your PTA a success this year, and before you kick … Continue reading The PTA President’s Exit Strategy Guide
Sign Up Now for School of Excellence
How is your PTA doing? Awash in volunteers? Families eagerly joining your PTA and appreciating all you do? Moving PTA meetings to bigger rooms to accommodate the crowd? If not, the National PTA School of Excellence program could help improve your PTA’s performance with volunteers and family engagement. And if your PTA is already checking … Continue reading Sign Up Now for School of Excellence
Have School-Aged Children? You May Be Eligible for Grocery Benefits During Summer
Summer EBT provides families with a monthly grocery benefit to feed their children for three summer months (June, July, August) when children are not receiving free or reduced-price meals at school. In summer 2024, families will receive a one-time benefit of $120 for the summer for each eligible child. Benefits are distributed on an electronic … Continue reading Have School-Aged Children? You May Be Eligible for Grocery Benefits During Summer
How to Have a Successful PTA Audit
Every PTA and PTA Council needs to conduct an audit at the end of the fiscal year. For most PTAs, the fiscal year ends June 30th. That means that your PTA or PTA Council needs to be setting up the audit committee now. Here’s how your PTA can have a successful audit. The Audit Committee … Continue reading How to Have a Successful PTA Audit
Your Guide to Transforming Literacy in Illinois
Last year, Illinois passed a law requiring the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) to develop a comprehensive state literacy plan. The plan was developed through the summer and fall of last year before being adopted in January. ISBE now has resources available to help you and your PTA or PTA Council both understand and … Continue reading Your Guide to Transforming Literacy in Illinois
3 Steps to Take If Your PTA Can’t Fill an Officer Position
It’s PTA election season, but what does your PTA do when your nominating committee can’t find someone to run for an office? Here are three steps to take. Start with your bylaws. Your PTA bylaws spell out how electing officers takes place. They spell out how long a term is and how many terms a … Continue reading 3 Steps to Take If Your PTA Can’t Fill an Officer Position
May is Mental Health Month
Mental Health America has been supporting mental health since creating Mental Health Month in 1949. This year’s theme is Where to Start: Mental Health in a Changing World, and they have created a free toolkit full of resources you can use to educate, support, and advocate for mental health in your community. The chaos of … Continue reading May is Mental Health Month
Get Ready for Teacher Appreciation Week
Teacher Appreciation Week is coming up May 6-10, and National PTA has resources you can share with your members and use as a PTA to send the message that “Teachers Are Shining Stars!” National PTA’s Thank a Teacher toolkit has everything you need as a PTA to celebrate your school’s teachers. In the toolkit, you’ll … Continue reading Get Ready for Teacher Appreciation Week
Accommodating Special Needs at Your PTA Events
We’ve often said that one of the best things about being a PTA versus other parent organizations is that you are never alone in this. Not only do you have resources from Illinois PTA and National PTA, but other state PTAs as well. Late last year, we published an article on ways your PTA could … Continue reading Accommodating Special Needs at Your PTA Events
Plant-Based School Meals Have Arrived—Here’s How to Make the Most of Them
Today’s guest post comes from Madeline Bennett, MS, the Food System and Nutrition Policy Analyst at Balanced, which is part of the Plant-Based School Lunch Collaborative. She advocates at the federal level for regulatory and legislative initiatives that improve school nutrition for all. Today, she shares how families can access plant-based school meals made available … Continue reading Plant-Based School Meals Have Arrived—Here’s How to Make the Most of Them
New National PTA Connected Program Ready, Tech, Go!
We’ve highlighted the programs in PTA Connected from National PTA before. Now, in partnership with AT&T, National PTA has a new PTA Connected program called Ready, Tech, Go! The program is aimed at families trying to decide when their child is ready for technology of their own, known as screen readiness. As with all the … Continue reading New National PTA Connected Program Ready, Tech, Go!
How to Safely Watch the 2024 Solar Eclipse
Just under seven years ago, a total solar eclipse crossed over southern Illinois. Now, on Monday, April 8, 2024, another total solar eclipse will pass over southern Illinois. Unlike the 2017 eclipse that moved northwest to southeast, the 2024 eclipse will move from southwest to northeast, bringing the path of totality closer to northern Illinois. … Continue reading How to Safely Watch the 2024 Solar Eclipse
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