We give our teachers and staff an annual holiday luncheon that is held in the school library. The PTO pays for small gifts, tableware, decorations, and all of the meat. We always ask parents to bring in side dishes and desserts. Last year was a disaster. Parents didn't bring in anything and a PTO mom had to run to the grocery store to buy sides and desserts. It was so pathetic! This year we are having the event catered. We are spending a little more than we normally do, but we feel our teachers and staff are worth it! Merry Christmas everyone!
Our PTO hosts an annual holiday brunch. The PTO donates a roast, ham, turkey and sandwich makings and all of the room captains and board members donate a dish. This year we had a TON Of food. The year of Katrina we actually catered the whole thing since not a lot of people had kitchens to cook in. The teachers really appreciate this. They are able to join us on their lunch hour and we decorate the library all up. The favors are ornaments from us. This year it was Mariachi snowmen. We had a lot of fun with it. I think it is important to recognize the staff and teachers. We will also hold a Teacher Appreciation week and luncheon for everyone on one of their planning days. Our parents take great care of our teachers and staff for the holidays. I personally always give quilts to teachers and a special gift for the staff.
We are giving everyone on staff cocoa mugs, with cocoa packets, a dipped and sprinkled spoon and a small treat bag of white chocolate pretzels. We do this at CHristmas because we give each classroom something off their wish list once a month as a RAK
We're a small private school, and while not all parents are able to volunteer time, most parents (80%) are more then willing to go in on a classroom gift for teachers at Christmas or End of Year. We have room parents that ask each teacher what their holiday wish list is for their classroom. Some teachers just need basic class supplies, while others may need larger ticket items. One teacher really needed a new DVD player (her's had gone out and she hadn't been able to utilize the TV in the classroom since). Each parent was more then willing to forgo the individual gift from their child and chip in $7 towards a new DVD player for her. It just took a little pre-planning from the room parent to organize a classroom effort.
We also had a parent that owns a catering business donate a catered holiday luncheon for our teachers. We made sure we had enough volunteer parents scheduled that day to assist with lunch and yard duty, so that the teachers could all lunch together at the same time.
When I was President of our PTO, we did not do any organized event FROM the PTO. Our parents give lavishly to our teachers. Then, last year, a very energetic mom organized something where she and another mom cooked a meal for EACH teacher and staff member: a casserole, bread, bottle of wine (can't remember what else). She got parents to underwrite it by donating money. I promise you, when she gets tired of this, this event will drop but in the meantime, it's a lovely gesture. Who wouldn't love this?!
I heard of a school in San Antonio whose parents offer each teacher a sub for half a day so they can get Christmas shopping done.
Good luck!
In the past we have given the staff and teachers (total of 75 people) a holiday lunch. Nothing fancy, everything is purchased from Costco and dessert donations. But this year, our PTA had to really cut back due to low fundraiser totals. So no holiday lunch for the staff this year. The staff has been completely understanding, but the PTA is discussing the idea of a Happy New Year mini-breakfast the week the staff returns to school. It would be simple like coffee, juice and muffins. Our locate Starbucks will donate coffee for staff appreciation.
Our school is also low income, but during Staff Appreciation Week parents bring in home made food all week for the staff. The staff has really enjoys it and parents show off their wonderful cooking skills. This is a treat because our school district does not allow home-made food in the classroom.
