Idea Bag

  • Message Boards 75K

    Kind of cool to note that our PTO Today message boards -- by far the most active sharing site dedicated exclusively to parent group leaders -- have recently passed 75,000 archived posts. That's a heck of a lot of insight, sharing, idea-swapping, supporting (we know your pain!) and (occasionally) screwing around.

  • Fun greetings for your school's families

    Just had to share this Smilebox greeting Misti Steger from John Paul II PTO shared with us. She created it to encourage her school's families to attend the next PTO meeting.

  • Students helping students

    Talk about an educational partnership. A Fayetteville, Ark. elementary school is teaming up with the University of Arkansas to build an outdoor classroom. The PTO raised the money, and students from the School of Architecture will handle the project through construction. What a great way to support students of all ages!

  • Trick or Treat Math Night

    Here's a creative family & academic program from an Indiana school.  Take a theme, add some fun and refreshments, get creative.... love it.

  • Podcasting the PTA Meeting

    Wouldn't say that parent groups are known for being on the bleeding edge of technology, but this Texas group is certainly trying hard.  Check out this story about how they are making podcasts available of all of their meetings.  Will be interesting to see how effective it is, but we love the "let's do all we can to serve parents" spirit of this effort.

  • Involvement in any language

    Parents at Galway Elementary in Silver Spring, Md. may not always speak the same language, but they all want the best possible education for their children. That's why the PTA started the Galway Guides program, in which parents mentor families whose first language is not English.

  • File Exchange Tool - Coming Very Soon!

    If you're a regular on our message boards you'll know how often folks are looking to share documents with each other. Why design a brand new 'Donuts with Dad' flyer or 'Welcome Letter' when others have already done the work and are willing to share?

  • Celebrating the Arts

    Oregon groups comes up big.

  • National Honors

    One of my favorite times of the year -- Parent Group of the Year! We received more entires than ever before and -- as always -- saw great work in pretty much every one. Tells us that there are some really lucky kids and schools out there.

  • Add clipart to PTO/PTA newsletters, emails, websites

    The old proverb says 'a picture is worth a thousand words'. I also think a picture or graphic can add a splash of color and fun and make the whole communication piece (including the words) a lot more interesting and engaging. A couple of months ago we added a clipart gallery to our website. Lots of parent group related graphics that you can use in your newsletters, emails, websites, letters, flyers, and any other piece you use to communicate with parents.

  • Fundraising dilemma: food or fitness?

    The increasing pressure on schools to promote healthy lifestyles has put many parent groups in a bind. Keep selling delicious (and high-calorie) treats, or find new ways to raise money?

  • British PTAs' events getting serious

    Always love to read about parent-teacher groups around the world.  No huge surprise that the British versions sounds fairly similar to ours here in the U.S.  And just like here, a good number of British groups are taking big steps beyond standard PTA fare, really professionalizing their events and activities.

  • PTO Today's new Yellow Pages

    We just completely rebuilt our "Find Your Next PTO Vendor" Yellow Pages.  You should check it out and bookmark it as a starting point for all of your PTO vendor needs.

  • File Exchange is Live - Grab a Doc, Share a Doc

    Last week I wrote a post about the File Exchange tool that we expected to launch this week. Thanks to our technical, marketing, and editorial teams we pulled it all together and the File Exchange went 'live' yesterday afternoon. If you have any questions or you're having trouble downloading/uploading documents please let me know.

  • TV Turn Off

    Activity turn on.

  • Friday Night Out

    Nice program idea.

  • Auction, Fire Truck, Nice.

    Big $$ assured.

  • One-Day Blitz

    Wisconsin group dedicates one day to multiple fundraisers (chicken dinner, auction, more...) and sees nice success.

  • A Dad on Donuts

    Donuts with Dads from the Dad's perspective. Great column from California.

  • Around the World

    Nice. New Jersey Middle School PTA sponsors world fair, celebrating customs and cultures of 17 different countries.
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