Our PTO is having problems with attendance at our monthly meetings. Any suggestions on how to encourage people to come?

Have you thought about organizing speakers or events to go along with your meetings? We have something tied to every one of our meetings like the superintendent speaking or an art show from the kids or other stuff.

It seems that every organization that you talk to whether it is a PTA or a PTO have the same problem. Our PTO this year has started a sign in sheet that circulates during the meeting for the parents to sign and the class with the most representation the PTO gives that class a bag of chips. In our school we also have students of the month (picked by the teacher)the PTO sends them an invitation to come to the monthly General Meeting and then we present the child with a certificate and pin congratulating them on their job well done. We also take a picture of the group and put it in the local newspaper. The PTO has gotten positive feedback on this. We have gotten a few parents who return the following month because they became interested in what they heard.This month one of the teachers has volunteered to come and put on a play for the parents. The PTO has made it a goal for next year to try and get the teachers to participate at our meetings more.

Excellent ideas MadamPrez......! Let us know how the play with the kids goes over. Good Luck

Send a notice home about a week or two prior to the next meeting with each student. List a few of the "more interesting" or those topics of the most concern on the notice. Also, have an agenda at the meeting. Try to stick to it and keep the meeting no more than an hour long. When word gets out that the meetings don't go on forever, you may get a rise in your attendance.

Hello Kaylee! The play at our PTO meeting was a huge success! We had alot of parents and grandparents in attendance and we have gotten a few more volunteers that we normally do not have for a few upcoming committees. The children had a great time too. Thanks for asking.