Make Your Group a Resource
If people think of your group as welcoming and helpful, they'll turn there first when they have questions—and the PTO will gain their support and loyalty.
by Evelyn Beck
A key way to grow that connection is to make your group a resource for parents. You have access to valuable information and contacts that can help parents. You just need to put them to use.
Help for Newcomers
The PTO for the Maine School Administrative District 51, based in Cumberland, has a mentoring program for new families. Newcomers receive a list of names they can call, or they can request that someone contact them. The advice sought ranges from recommendations for pediatricians to where to get the best pizza in town, says PTO cochairwoman Gloria Nicholson. A more formal mentoring program at Our Lady’s Christian School in Erie, Pa., matches new and veteran families who have children of the same age.
Some parent groups assemble handbooks with tips on everything from what to do if your child is sick to the school’s visitor policy. Information like this is posted on a new parent webpage at Sylvan Park Elementary Paideia Design Center in Nashville, Tenn. It includes a map to illustrate the drop-off and pickup route and the ending time for kindergarten. The website address is posted on the school marquee as well as on a magnet sent home with students. “We encourage people to make it their homepage,” says PTO president Julie James.
PTOs also offer more general parenting resources. For example, the Lincoln Park (N.J.) Elementary PTO links to “Questions Parents Ask About Schools,”a free pamphlet from the U.S. Department of Education.