We do a back to school luncheon for our elementary teachers the day before school starts. As the new President, I will introduce myself to them at that time and then I get to do the best part: give them money!
Our PTO includes in our budget every year a certain dollar amount that is then divided equally among the teachers for their own classroom use. Usually it amounts to about $75 each but it varies depending on the number of staff we have each year. Specials teachers (music, art, PE, Spanish) get a bit less than the classroom teachers. Our Teacher Appreciation Director organizes the luncheon (also included in our budget) and then I get to say a few words about the coming year, etc., while the treasurer passes out the money.
It's a nice note to start the year off on. Even if it's a small amount, the teachers love to have the extra money to buy little things for their classrooms...books, supplies, rewards, etc.
I ended up just sending a brief email to all the teachers and staff that have email addresses introducing myself, telling them I'm looking foward to working with each of them and that they are welcome to contact me anytime with questions, comments, concerns. Wished them a fabulous summer, and called it a day. The end of school came quickly and we had some flooding in the Nashville area so I had to work with what was available.
I'm going to be working with some local companies to see about getting donations so that I can re-do/spruce up the Teacher's Lounge. It's very dated and there is tons of wasted space. Hopefully I can make a few great changes to welcome the Teacher's back from Summer break. If you have comments or suggestions for this project feel free to let me know.
I should note I'm only say I because the PTO didn't vote to use money on the project and being summer already I am not sure how many people I will be able to get on board.
We combined 2 of the suggestions mentioned above! Last year our board did a simple breakfast for teachers on their clean up day (after school let out). The board did the serving so the teachers could put a face with our names. We also had a out a brief survey. Basically, how did we do this past year, what would you like us to do differently, how do you want us to communicate to you, what do you think was our best event or program and why. We did not ask about fund allocation because that is between them and the principal. Worked out well. We felt like we started off on a good note and that we got very valuable feedback on the surveys. I don't think they would have taken the time to do the survey if they were put in their mailbox during the school year. Good luck!
ss-pto-
Good point about being pro-active about getting input from teachers! Think that sending out a survey sends the message that your serious about being collaborative and communicative.
Mrs. B- our file exchange has a bunch of surveys that you could use or at least use as a jumping off point.
Our new board sent a letter introducing ourselves and our goals to the teachers. We also did a survey about programs etc. We felt that if we just said give us your input anytime, they would likely not get back to us but if we gave them concrete things to comment on we'd let them know we are serious about asking for feedback and get off on the right foot. Not a ton of teachers filled it out - like 30% - but it was still worth it.
