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. Find more information on the Parent Involvement resources page. (For articles about volunteer recruitment and building your PTO’s volunteer base, go to the Volunteer Recruitment archive.)

  • Small School, Powerhouse Parent Group

    PTO Today’s Midwest Region Parent Group of the Year proves that the reach of your accomplishments doesn’t have to be limited by the size of your group.

  • Dads Plant Trees

    A PTA group enhances its doughnuts with dad event by adding a school beautification project.

  • Troubled Times, Proactive PTO

    With their school getting media exposure for all the wrong reasons, the leaders of PTO Today's 2005 Southern Region Parent Group of the Year stepped in to help administrators and students.

  • Nine Schools Merge Into One

    A district-mandated mega-merger came at the end of a trying time, which might have spelled disaster under other circumstances—but these parents focused on community-building to get through it in one piece, making the newly created group a clear choice as PTO Today's 2005 Mid-Atlantic Region Parent Group of the Year.

  • Married to the Principal

    Firsthand advice to make the PTO-principal relationship a successful one.

  • Great-Grandfather, PTO Leader

    When others would retire, this Navy veteran is just getting started.

  • Connect With Immigrant Parents

    One group's innovative event to help immigrant parents adapt to U.S. school culture provides lots of lessons for reaching out to families.

  • Maryland Gets Serious

    Interesting piece (research results, recommendations, next steps) here about a Maryland initiative to make sure parent involvement is taken seriously by school districts. Good work.

  • Too Much Involvement?

    First Time, and now the Chattanoogan? Article looks at value of involvement and also when involvement goes too far. Wish writer spent more time on the great examples of just-right involvement that i'm sure are all around her area. Also included is a sidebar with teacher's tips for parent involvement.

  • Involvement Focus

    California piece describes well how involvement is becoming an increasing priority, even among school policy-makers. Finally!

  • Timely Appreciation Tips

    Love the frank opinions here. Susan Ellis -- a noted volunteer management expert and the keynote speaker at our 03 Philadelphia conference -- offers these strong, dead-on thoughts on volunteer appreciation events. How can you apply her lessons to your efforts?

  • Dad Involvement

    This interesting feature -- ironically distributed right around Mother's Day --was picked up in several papers across the county. Here's the Arizona Republic version, including commentary from PTO Today.

  • Don't Miss It

    Even if you never click on any of these articles -- if you're a crazed parent group leader, you've got to read this one: "Stop Me before I Volunteer Again." Love it.

  • Involvement Overview

    Comprehensive piece from school research think-tank.

  • Involvement Efforts

    Parent training.

  • PTO Merit Badge

    Enjoy!

  • The One-Hour Pledge

    You'll get a lot more people to volunteer if they know there's a limit to their commitment.

  • Build Your Volunteer Base: 11 Ideas

    Tried-and-true ideas to nurture volunteers and make sure that every involvement experience is a positive one.

  • The Truth About Cliques

    If people say your group is a clique, it is. In this case, perception matters.

  • Learning About Ellis Island

    This simulation of the Ellis Island immigration experience taught kids and engaged parents in a dynamic way.
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