• Make sure your group is in the know when it comes to all the important dates for the coming year, like school staff appreciation days (like Teacher Appreciation Week and School Custodian Appreciation Day) and fun national holidays that are worth celebrating at school! For example, stock the teachers' lounge or your teacher treat trolley with the fixings to celebrate National Root Beer Float Day (August 6) or National Trail Mix Day (August 31).  Get our free printable planning calendar and social media graphics

• Spruce up your school. Efforts like tidying up the front of the school, washing main windows, stenciling stall doors with messages of kindness and positivity, and updating your bulletin boards can give new parents a welcoming impression.

• Hold a welcome event for new families. Check out 38 Ideas To Start the Year Right!

• Schedule a boohoo/yahoo breakfast (sometimes called "Cheers and Tears") or a Kindergarten "signing day" for incoming kindergartners and their families.  

• Update your website and social channels with any information pertaining to back to school. Here are 10+ ideas to keep parents engaged on social media over the summer. 

• Ramp up your recruiting! The beginning of the year is a crucial time to get new parents on board. Make a point to make personal contact with new families and parents of kindergartners in particular. Consider starting with a meet and greet for families at the school playground, like "Popsicles on the Playground". And, use social media to your advantage! Grab parents' attention while they're scrolling their Facebook, Instagram or TikTok feeds. (You might want to grab our bundle of volunteer and "join the PTO" memes!)

• Make sure your parent group is insured before you plan any fall events or fundraisers. Many parent groups assume they're covered under their school or district policies, but more often than not, this isn't the case, so always, always check. 

• Do a final check of your organization systems and make sure everything is in order.Back-to-School Ideas for PTO Officers

• Hold a casual get-together for board members. First, get our free 45+ page editable school year planner (designed just for parent groups) - a great way to organize and plan for the coming school year. It includes "meet the board", monthly calendar pages (with tasks, reminders and to-do's) school appreciation days  and fun national holidays to celebrate at school, social media highlights, resources, and more. Encourage board members and new volunteers to fill out a questionairre (get our free printable). This is also a great time to brainstorm new ideas - here are 20+ fun ideas for school events and more to get you started! 

• Firm up your roster of major events and fundraisers, and have a one-page calendar to note them.  

• Add any finishing touches to your welcome packet.
  How To Create a Welcome Packet

• Schedule a meeting with the principal as close to the start of the school year as possible to discuss ideas and goals for the year.

• Review your bylaws. Be sure you’re familiar with them and that overall they’re up to date.
  How Good Are Your Bylaws?

• If you’re planning a fall fundraiser, double-check with the fundraising representative. Determine how many volunteers you need. Develop a master schedule of important dates for promotion, sales deadlines, delivery, volunteer appreciation, and evaluation.

• Make sure your school’s back-to-school supply lists are online at TeacherLists.com.

Suggested Back-to-school Teacher Appreciation Ideas

Stock the Teachers' Lounge: Stock the lounge with snacks and beverages at back-to-school. Try printing out memes for a fun take on this stock the lounge idea. Check out our stock the teachers' lounge shopping list 

Hydration Station: Here’s everything you need for a teacher hydration station, from a shopping list to teacher-themed recipes (like "It's 3:30 somewhere") and signage.

Welcome-Back Breakfast: Teachers will love starting the year with a back-to-school welcome breakfast. They’re easy to organize and generally not expensive, and can be as simple or as elaborate as a group likes. You’ll find ideas plus tips in “Celebrate With a Teacher Appreciation Breakfast.”

Originally posted in 2016 and updated regularly.