PTO Today

Sonya Branch wants what’s best for kids, and she’s not about to let the fact that she works three jobs and is raising two kids on her own get in the way of making a difference. Branch is also a brand new PTA president,  working to establish a parent group at her son’s middle school. This article chronicles her efforts to recruit officers and get parents more involved at a struggling school. Fantastic work!

What’s better than a parent group? A parent “supergroup”!

Parents from five elementary schools in West Springfield, Mass. have formed a new group that “transcends school boundaries,” The Republican newspaper reports. As one of the leaders explained, each school PTO will continue its own work, but by coming together they “can do a lot of great things.”

Nice summary here of a new middle school PTO’s process. The stapler story rings so: a) true, b) classic, and c) kind of sad. Only correction I’d make is the idea that a lawyer is needed to get started as a 501(c)(3). These guys must not have found our Start-Up Guide.

Now it’s the Dallas PTA council that has its charter revoked by state PTA. Similar story in Maryland this past spring. Bureaucracy is a lovely thing.

Maryland feature takes look at why PTOs need insurance. Need more info? Here’s our feature on same topic. And details on the PTO Today insurance program for parent-teacher groups (with lower rates than ever before!).

Love it! This Mississippi school celebrates launch of its new PTO. Good things already happening. More on the way.