Parent Involvement Archive

Want to find ways to get more parents active and engaged at your school? The articles below have tons of ideas and tips about connecting with dads, reaching out to families, and more. When you're done reading, head over to the Message Boards to share your thoughts with other leaders.

Articles with a plus sign () are available to PTO Today Plus members only.

• 13 Keys to Strong Involvement - A step-by-step guide for parent group leaders who want to reach out and engage more parents.
• 26 Ways To Build Involvement - Getting more parents to participate is as easy as A, B, C when you follow this list of best practices.
• 7 Steps To Grow Involvement - Use the approach to parent involvement taken by the most successful parent groups. These resolutions will change how you think about attracting members and volunteers.
• A Giver Receives - One Hawaii mom's kidney transplant allows her to continue volunteering.
• A New Way To Get Volunteers - According to their own policy, PTO leaders can't ask parents for help directly; instead, they have to find ways to encourage interested parents to volunteer their willingness as well as their time.
• Adjusting to Middle School Involvement - Ways to maintain an active role even after the kids get older.
• Basic Marketing That Builds Involvement - There's a simple reason why some parents haven't gotten involved: They don't know what your PTO is or what it does. Change that by communicating with parents the right way.
• Build a Multicultural PTO - Reach out to diverse groups and bring them together with these effective involvement and communication strategies.
• Build Your Volunteer Base: 11 Ideas - Tried-and-true ideas to nurture volunteers and make sure that every involvement experience is a positive one.
• Classes in Parent Involvement - Two moms who wanted to move beyond traditional involvement roles learned how through parent involvement education programs, which range from monthly workshops to in-depth, yearlong curricula.
• Confront the Fear of Quitting - Concerns about how they'll be treated if they stop volunteering makes some parents avoid getting involved at all.
• Connect With Immigrant Parents - One group's innovative event to help immigrant parents adapt to U.S. school culture provides lots of lessons for reaching out to families.
• Create a School Tradition - Ambitious events build excitement and involvement. They make your PTO look great, too.
• Create an Effective Survey - Gathering feedback from parents and teachers can help build support for your programs. These tips will help you create a survey and evaluate the results.
• Creating a New Sense of Pride - Faced with challenges, leaders focused on building school spirit, and they tripled volunteer hours while maintaining a full calendar of family events. These accomplishments earned them recognition as the 2008 Parent Group of the Year.
• Creative Ideas Help PTO Thrive - Using creative solutions to make it easier for parents to get involved was the hallmark of PTO Today's 2005 Northeast Region Parent Group of the Year winner.
• Customer Service Secrets You Can Use - The most successful businesses know how to create loyal customers. You can learn from their techniques to build strong parent involvement.
• Diverse Community Shows Strong Bonds - With the PTO Today 2006 Parent Group of the Year Runner-up, differences are celebrated and all voices are given a chance to be heard.
• Eagle Project Really Soared - A combined literacy and community service project to save the bald eagle really took off for PTO Today's 2007 Parent Group of the Year national runner-up.
• Embracing Change Makes PTO a Winner - Rezoning and a significant shift in school demographics energized rather than paralyzed PTO Today's 2007 Parent Group of the Year.

Dads

• "Computer Nerd" Takes Charge - He gave them a piece of his mind. They elected him president.
• Dad in Charge of the PTO - Single father Rich Linden wants everyone who gets involved with the parent group to have fun.
• Dad Pulls Out All the Stops - A committed crossing guard keeps students safe.
• Dad's New Job: PTA President - A bank manager turned stay-at-home parent puts his skills to good use running the parent group.
• Dads Are Different - For more participation from dads, meet them on their level.
• Dads Make a Difference - When dads get involved, kids perform better in school. PTO fathers talk about how to get more men to participate.
• Dads Plant Trees - A PTA group enhances its doughnuts with dad event by adding a school beautification project.
• Filmmaker Dad Finds Role in PTO - Even someone who doesn't see himself as a leader can make a difference by using his talents.
• Get Dads Involved - You can get dads connected and volunteering. It just takes a concerted effort and a different approach than you use for moms.
• Great-Grandfather, PTO Leader - When others would retire, this Navy veteran is just getting started.
• PGY 2008: Completed Major Project - The 2008 PTO Today Parent Group of the Year for Outstanding Job on a Completed Major Project simultaneously engaged dads while serving parents as a whole.
• Start a Dads' Club - Fathers want to be involved, but they aren't necessarily going to respond to traditional parent group roles. A dads' club can give them a low-pressure way to take the first steps.
• Superintendent Starts Dads' Clubs - Overcoming the skeptics, a superintendent created thriving involvement among dads at all of an urban district's schools.
• This Dad Is Having a Blast - A background in design and illustration can make for one explosive family night.
• When It's Time To Change - This time, Dad has to volunteer.