PTA at your School.

If you have a couple of minutes could you please indulge me and answer these questions? - thank you!!

Do you have a PTA at your School?

Do you know how many board members there are?

Are there a lot of parent volunteers or just the usual handful?

Do you think they do a good job at communicating with the parents / teachers?

Do they raise a lot of funds for the school or are they running on a very tight budget and therefore can only offer a limited number of events for the kids?

Do you volunteer? ( This is a Yes / No as I know there are 1000 reasons why people can / cannot or do / do not.

Is there anything that YOU would like them to do or change?

Thank you so much.

Re: PTA at your School.

My answers:

Do you have a PTA at your School? Yes

Do you know how many board members there are? Yes, 13.

Are there a lot of parent volunteers or just the usual handful? The usual, but my school is big, so there are lots of volunteers.

Do you think they do a good job at communicating with the parents / teachers? Yes

Do they raise a lot of funds for the school or are they running on a very tight budget and therefore can only offer a limited number of events for the kids? They raise a lot of funds. The events they do for the kids are successful and some of them end up raising more money for the school.

Do you volunteer? ( This is a Yes / No as I know there are 1000 reasons why people can / cannot or do / do not. Yes

Is there anything that YOU would like them to do or change? Not really. The PTA does surveys periodically and they are very open to suggestions, and make changes if possible.

Re: PTA at your School.

Do you have a PTA at your School? YES

Do you know how many board members there are? Not sure. Maybe 10 - 14

Are there a lot of parent volunteers or just the usual handful? Yes, we have a big school with over 400 students (grades 1 - 5)

Do you think they do a good job at communicating with the parents / teachers? Absolutely

Do they raise a lot of funds for the school or are they running on a very tight budget and therefore can only offer a limited number of events for the kids?
Yes. We do several fund raisers. I am a chairperson on the Dine to Donate, we also do the frozen foods, color run, selling items on a cart each morning, Spirit Sticks, school spirit stuff, etc

Do you volunteer? ( This is a Yes / No as I know there are 1000 reasons why people can / cannot or do / do not.
Yes and I also chair a couple of events in addition to volunteering for cart, several after school events like parties, etc.
Is there anything that YOU would like them to do or change?
Nope
Some of the fund raisers and events can be a bit much. For example there is a Lego event, Valentines PJ party, frozen food sale, Jump rope for heart and a dine event I'm doing all this month.

Re: PTA at your School.

Do you have a PTA at your School?

Yes

Do you know how many board members there are?

7

Are there a lot of parent volunteers or just the usual handful?

I feel that there are a decent amount - there are always the same people who do everything but, I feel a lot of parents get involved.

Do you think they do a good job at communicating with the parents / teachers?

Yes - I feel they do a good job - we constantly get reminders of things via email, fliers and social media

Do they raise a lot of funds for the school or are they running on a very tight budget and therefore can only offer a limited number of events for the kids?

They raise a lot of funds for the school. I was under the impression that every time they do something to raise money, they also have to give funds back to the school. They've done a lot of large projects since I've been involved (2.5 years), have nice assemblies, etc.

In the fall they offer wrapping paper, Kidstuff books, Spirit Wear. tricky tray... Winter they have a big book fair and the Harlem Wizards come. Spring they have a Yankee Candle fundraiser. plant sale, mom's night out (I think I'm forgetting something. They also do meal deals at local restaurants and Box Tops for Education.

Do you volunteer? ( This is a Yes / No as I know there are 1000 reasons why people can / cannot or do / do not.

Yes

Is there anything that YOU would like them to do or change?

We had an issue my K year - the President wanted to control EVERYTHING so it wasn't a well run operation. Now, the President delegates to the committee heads (she is very involved still though) and things run a lot better.

Message edited 2/8/2018 1:05:51 PM.

Re: PTA at your School.

Do you have a PTA at your School? YES

Do you know how many board members there are?
2 PRESIDENTS
6 VP'S
2 SECRETARYS
1 TREASURER

Are there a lot of parent volunteers or just the usual handful?
I'D SAY MAYBE 25% VOLUNTEER

Do you think they do a good job at communicating with the parents / teachers? YES

Do they raise a lot of funds for the school or are they running on a very tight budget and therefore can only offer a limited number of events for the kids? WE WORK VERY HARD TO RAISE A LOT OF FUNDS.

Do you volunteer? ( This is a Yes / No as I know there are 1000 reasons why people can / cannot or do / do not.
YES (currently on the board and chair a bunch of events)

Is there anything that YOU would like them to do or change? WE ARE CURRENTLY WORKING ON PROMOTING HOW MUCH WE DO FOR THE KIDS SO THAT MORE PEOPLE WILL VOLUNTEER.

Thank you so much.

Message edited 2/8/2018 1:30:50 PM.

Re: PTA at your School.

Do you have a PTA at your School? YES

Do you know how many board members there are? 14 (I AM A BOARD MEMBER) WE HAVE 2 CO-PRESIDENTS, A VICE PRESIDENT, A TREASURER, RECORDING SECRETARY, CORRESPONDING SECRETARY, VP OF CULTURAL ARTS, HISTORIAN, VP OF PROGRAMS, VP OF FUNDRASING PLUS 3 OTHER FUNDRAISING POSITIONS ON THE BOARD, HOSPITALITY

Are there a lot of parent volunteers or just the usual handful?

WE GET A DECENT AMOUNT OF PARENT VOLUNTEERS. WE ARE A BIG SCHOOL, K THROUGH 6TH GRADE, ABOUT 760 STUDENTS. MOST PARENTS WORK, BUT WE GET A GOOD AMOUNT OF VOLUNTEERS FOR OUR BIG EVENTS, SUCH AS THE HALLOWEEN CARNIVAL AND HOLIDAY BOUTIQUE. BUT A LOT OF THE SAME PEOPLE VOLUNTEER MOST OFTEN.

Do you think they do a good job at communicating with the parents / teachers?

YES, BUT IT COULD ALWAYS BE IMPROVED.

WHEN MY DS WAS IN KINDERGARTEN, I DIDN'T THINK THEY DID A GOOD JOB OF COMMUNICATING, AND OFTEN RAISED THAT ISSUE. AND THAT'S PART OF WHY I GOT INVOLVED. WE TRY HARD NOW - IN ADDITION TO SENDING FLYERS HOME WITH KIDS, WE HAVE A FACEBOOK PAGE THAT WE POST ON, AND WE OFTEN SEND EMAIL BLASTS TO OUR MEMBERS. WE ALSO HAVE A PTA WEBPAGE ON THE SCHOOL WEBSITE WHERE WE TRY TO POST INFO ABOUT UPCOMING EVENTS. WE ALWAYS INCLUDE CONTACT INFO FOR THE BOARD MEMBER IN CHARGE AND TRY TO BE ACCESSIBLE FOR QUESTIONS AND FEEDBACK. WE ALTERNATE DAY/EVENING MEETINGS EACH MONTH TO ACCOMMODATE AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE, AND ALWAYS TAKE QUESTIONS AND HAVE A SUGGESTION BOX IN THE BACK IF PEOPLE FEEL MORE COMFORTABLE SPEAKING UP THAT WAY.

Do they raise a lot of funds for the school or are they running on a very tight budget and therefore can only offer a limited number of events for the kids?

WE RAISE A LOT OF MONEY. OUR ANNUAL SPRING AUCTION ALONE IS A HUGE MONEY MAKER, AND WE HAVE MANY OTHER SUCCESSFUL FUNDRAISERS. WE HAVE A LOT OF "GIVE BACKS" FOR THE KIDS -- FAMILY FUN DAY, FIELD DAY, HALLOWEEN CARNIVAL. I AM VP OF CULTURAL ARTS AND I HAVE A LARGE BUDGET TO BRING IN ASSEMBLIES AND WORKSHOPS AND VISITING ARTISTS... THINGS TO ENHANCE THE KIDS' EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE.

Do you volunteer? ( This is a Yes / No as I know there are 1000 reasons why people can / cannot or do / do not. YES

Is there anything that YOU would like them to do or change? I THINK COMMUNICATION CAN STILL BE HIT OR MISS DEPENDING ON WHO IS RUNNING AN EVENT, SO THAT IS STILL SOMETHING TO BE IMPROVED. I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO SEE MORE INNOVATION/NEW IDEAS. SOMETIMES OUR PTA IS VERY STUCK ON DOING THINGS THE WAY THEY'VE ALWAYS BEEN DONE. IT'S LESS WORK THAT WAY. BUT MORE AND MORE WE ARE MAKING CHANGES TO EVEN OUR LONG-STANDING EVENTS TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT FEEDBACK FROM PARENTS AND FACULTY.

Message edited 2/8/2018 2:02:09 PM.

Re: PTA at your School.

Do you have a PTA at your School?

Yes

Do you know how many board members there are?

No Clue

Are there a lot of parent volunteers or just the usual handful?

Seems like it always the same people

Do you think they do a good job at communicating with the parents / teachers?

No. I never know when PTA meetings are. A lot of activities for the school I do not find out about until last minute.

Do they raise a lot of funds for the school or are they running on a very tight budget and therefore can only offer a limited number of events for the kids?

It seems like they do a lot.

Do you volunteer? ( This is a Yes / No as I know there are 1000 reasons why people can / cannot or do / do not.

Yes.

Is there anything that YOU would like them to do or change?

My child is special needs. And a lot of the activities do not feel inclusive to our family. We sit out a lot because it would be too much for my son to attend. We also have a district SEPTA but it for the entire district and not school specific. Their activities seem more aimed at parents.

Re: PTA at your School.

Do you have a PTA at your School? YES

Do you know how many board members there are? I THINK ABOUT 8

Are there a lot of parent volunteers or just the usual handful? SEEMS TO BE A LOT

Do you think they do a good job at communicating with the parents / teachers? NOT REALLY- I HAVE EMAILED THE PT DIRECTLY ABOUT 2 THINGS AND BOTH TIMES NO ONE RESPONDED TO MY EMAIL.

Do they raise a lot of funds for the school or are they running on a very tight budget and therefore can only offer a limited number of events for the kids? THEY SEEM TO RAISE A LOT

Do you volunteer? ( This is a Yes / No as I know there are 1000 reasons why people can / cannot or do / do not.
NOT CURRENTLY- WE ONLY JUST STARTED KINDERGARTEN THIS YEAR- AND 2 OF OUR PTA MEETINGS HAVE BEEN CANCELLED SO I ONLY MADE IT TO 1 SO FAR.

Is there anything that YOU would like them to do or change?
I WISH THEY WOULD RESPOND TO EMAILS HAVE A MORE UPDATED WEB SITE