Spring, 2001, No. 10 National Network of Partnership Schools
Potluck PTO Meetings Involve Families in School Improvement Process
When the Antigo School District established a School Effectiveness Team, composed of parents, teachers, administrators, and other school staff, it asked each school to form its own building-level team. We wondered how we were going to get parents to come to these meetings, recognizing that most PTO meetings attracted only the PTO officers and a few school staff members.
Whole Family Invited
The meetings with the greatest attendance were our occasional school potluck dinners. We decided to incorporate school effectiveness goals into parent-teacher organization meetings, and invite the whole family to come along. The 3-4 annual PTO Potlucks have been a great way to motivate parents to come to meetings, talk with teachers and other parents in a relaxed setting, and help all parents—especially those new to our school—feel that they belong. We publicize the potlucks in our monthly school newsletter and in the school calendar. The children really love to come, and they make sure their parents know it!
School staff and families eat together from 6 to 7 p.m. At 7 p.m., children play in the gym under the supervision of a volunteer who receives a small stipend from the PTO. Parents move to the school library for the night’s program. We wrap up the meeting no later than 8:30 p.m.
Topics Discussed and Student Work Featured
Some of the topics we addressed include discussing district and school goals, ideas for age-appropriate learning activities at home, child discipline, and what families and teachers could do together to improve student reading and writing.
We try to make the meetings fun. Each spring, students receive a packet of seeds to plant at home. We kick off the first potluck of the school year by inviting students to bring their produce back to school and show off their gardening efforts. We award prizes for the most creative, biggest, roundest produce, and other categories. We also used one potluck to have students exhibit and demonstrate their science fair projects to parents. This was a learning experience for everyone.
The potluck dinners cost virtually nothing because everyone brings a dish based on the “food theme” for the meeting. Occasionally, the PTO contributes funds for a special menu item in addition to the stipend for the volunteer who supervises students while parents meet. A local fast food restaurant also donated juice for some of the potlucks.
Our PTO meetings combine potluck dinners, important discussions, and celebrations of students. This agenda helps to build a strong school community.
Adapted from: Promising Partnership Practices—2000, National Network of Partnership Schools at Johns Hopkins University.
