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:
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)
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
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
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
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
March is National Reading Month
March is National Reading Month in honor of Dr. Seuss’s birthday on March 2nd. Reading is the foundation of student success, and developing a love of reading can unlock a world of adventures to last a lifetime. Your PTA can help families support children’s literacy and love of reading by hosting a Family Reading Experience … Continue reading March is National Reading Month
5 Nominating Committee Problems (and How to Fix Them)
The nominating committee is an essential part of a successful PTA. The committee’s charge is to slate one person for each officer position at least 30 days before the election. However, nominating committees often run into problems in completing this seemingly simple task. Here are five problems that nominating committees most commonly have and how … Continue reading 5 Nominating Committee Problems (and How to Fix Them)
National PTA Standards for Family-School Partnerships Video Series
National PTA’s Standards for Family-School Partnerships are the basis for effective family engagement. And effective family engagement is critical to student success, as a recent study demonstrated that schools with better family engagement practices had students that did better after returning to school from remote learning during the pandemic. National PTA has recently released a … Continue reading National PTA Standards for Family-School Partnerships Video Series
Busting 5 PTA Membership Myths
Membership is one of the basic parts of PTA, but there are a lot of myths and misunderstandings about it. Here are five common PTA membership myths busted. Myth #1: Membership campaigns are only at the start of the school year. Busted: Sure, most of your members will join PTA at the start of the … Continue reading Busting 5 PTA Membership Myths
Show Your PTA Volunteers Some Love This Valentine’s Day
PTA runs on volunteers, from the person helping out at the book fair all the way up to the National PTA President. One way to build your PTA’s volunteer base and strengthen your PTA as a whole is to support your volunteers. Here are some ways you and your PTA can make sure your volunteers … Continue reading Show Your PTA Volunteers Some Love This Valentine’s Day
Time for Take Your Family to School Week
National PTA’s Take Your Family to School Week is February 11-17, 2024. The week celebrates the founding of PTA on February 17, 1987 and is designed to engage families in their children’s schools and build partnerships with teachers and administrators. The time to start planning how your PTA will celebrate Take Your Family to School … Continue reading Time for Take Your Family to School Week
Learning New Ways to PTA
National PTA has been using PTA as a verb for a couple of years now, emphasizing the idea that PTA is taking action for your child’s and every child’s success. National PTA has also been sharing reports on how grant recipients and other PTAs have been implementing the PTA mission through programs and other activities. … Continue reading Learning New Ways to PTA
Have Fun, Grow Membership, and Win Prizes with Membership Mania
As a PTA leader, you’ve probably often heard that you should integrate membership into everything your PTA does, but perhaps you’re not sure what that means exactly. Is it having a PTA membership table out at every event? Is it always having a join our PTA link in every e-mail? All of this and more? … Continue reading Have Fun, Grow Membership, and Win Prizes with Membership Mania
Embracing Inclusivity and Diversification: 7 Ways to Foster a Welcoming Holiday Season
The holiday season is a time for joy, unity, and celebration. As PTA members, we have the opportunity to make this festive season contain monumental joy by promoting inclusivity and diversification within our events, and creating opportunities for representation. Let's explore ways to embrace the richness of our differences and create a holiday season that … Continue reading Embracing Inclusivity and Diversification: 7 Ways to Foster a Welcoming Holiday Season
Building a PTA Meeting Agenda
Do your PTA meetings seem to run on forever? Does it feel like nothing ever gets decided? Do you actually have a published agenda for your meeting? Building an effective agenda for your PTA meeting is probably the most important thing you can do to improve your meetings, and in doing so, you’ll also improve … Continue reading Building a PTA Meeting Agenda
It’s Tax Time (for Many PTAs)
I know, you thought tax time was in April. But for PTAs (and other 501(c)(3) organizations), tax time depends on when their fiscal year ends. For many PTAs, that’s June 30th. And yes, your PTA is a non-profit organization, but you still need to file a form with the IRS. Your tax form is due … Continue reading It’s Tax Time (for Many PTAs)
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