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.

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• 13 Keys to Strong Involvement - A step-by-step guide for parent group leaders who want to reach out and engage more parents.
• Family Focus Creates Fast Start - Communicating their new emphasis on families early and often generated excitement and strong parent involvement for PTO Today's 2005 West Region Parent Group of the Year.
• Multicultural Outreach: Group Thrives on Personal Contact - Translation services, a mentor program, and personal outreach to parents helped make this group our 2006 Parent Group of the Year winner for Outstanding Outreach to a Multicultural Parent Base.
• National Runner-up: 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.
• National Winner: Fun Factor Pays Off - Emphasizing fun for its events and activities created excitement and helped an inner-city school build tremendous involvement. That helped make them PTO Today's 2006 Parent Group of the Year.
• Partnership Model Builds Involvement - The National Network of Partnership Schools focuses on helping schools build broad-based parent involvement using a team model.
• Build a Multicultural PTO - Reach out to diverse groups and bring them together with these effective involvement and communication strategies.
• 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.
• National Winner: 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.
• Middle School: A Role for Parents - Involvement can be a harder sell in middle school, but there are still plenty of ways parents can participate.
• 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.
• Make Your Family Night a Winner - Fun family nights are a great way to build involvement. Get started with these ideas and tips for success.
• Giant Games, Huge Involvement - Oversize Twister, Yahtzee, Scrabble, and others put a popular twist on a PTO’s family board game night.
• Hmong Parent Group Connects Cultures - St. Paul, Minn., junior high school teacher Ann Hebble talks about the parent group she founded to serve the school's population of Hmong families.
• Family Events Better With Bunco - Faced with parents’ lack of interest, one PTO risked it all on a throw of the dice—with positive results.
• 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.
• Prisoners Help Renovate School - PTO leaders coordinate with the state's prison work-release program for a minimum-security makeover of the school's building.
• 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.
• 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.
• Is Your PTO a Clique? -  You work hard to make your parent group welcoming, but to other parents it still might seem like a closed circle. Here's why—and what to do about it.

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.
• Dads Make a Difference - When dads get involved, kids perform better in school. PTO fathers talk about how to get more men to participate.
• 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.
• 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.
• Dad's New Job: PTA President - A bank manager turned stay-at-home parent puts his skills to good use running the parent group.
• Great-Grandfather, PTO Leader - When others would retire, this Navy veteran is just getting started.
• 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.
• Dad Pulls Out All the Stops - A committed crossing guard keeps students safe.
• Major Project: Dads Create Resource Room - 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.
• Dads Are Different - For more participation from dads, meet them on their level.
• More Dads Involved at School - School-based dads' clubs and parent group events geared toward dads may hold greater interest for fathers now than they did a decade ago, according to a 2009 survey by the National Center for Fathering and the National PTA.