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Parent Group Hall of Fame

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Parochial School: A Strong Vision of Service

PHOTO BY JASON WATSON

PTO Today’s 2008 Outstanding Parent Group at a Private or Parochial School worked hard to inspire, inform, and involve parents.

Parent group leaders at Trinity Christian School in Shorewood, Ill., have worked hard to make its Parent Teacher Ministry and the school a welcoming place for families. Speakers on topics of interest are featured at three mandatory PTM meetings, for example, and each family new to the school is paired with a more experienced one. Fun events throughout the year include an ice-cream social, Thanksgiving feast, Grandparents’ Day, and field day. The group also serves parents by posting meeting minutes in a visible spot in the lobby, as well as attending monthly meetings of the school staff and board of directors.

What the judges loved: Everything this outstandingly organized group does is in service of its vision: “Be Inspired. Be Informed. Be Involved.” Leaders distribute survey forms after each event and at the end of the year to find out what parents loved (or didn’t) or why they didn’t attend.

Cool fact: At the mid-year PTM meeting, administrators and school board members answer parents’ questions and share information about the “State of the School.”

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