PTA Committee Descriptions
Here is a working copy of the PTA Handbook. You can also download the original in Microsoft Word format or as a PDF. The handbook includes standing committee descriptions, special committees, officer duties and guidelines for chairpersons. Your comments are welcome, but you’ll have to scroll all the way to the bottom…
Thank you for your interest in Central School’s Parent/Teacher Association. Your support and involvement in our many programs, activities, committees and volunteer opportunities is greatly appreciated. We’re proud to be an organization that directly benefits the children of the community and that has almost 100% parent participation!
This Handbook describes each PTA committee so you can decide where you’d most like to share your time and talents. The duties and responsibilities listed will also help you organize the year’s activities. Or perhaps you are unable to offer your time this year but can look ahead at opportunities for future involvement.
To volunteer for specific committees and to help with programs, check your area(s) of interest on the PTA membership application or contact the committee chairperson(s) named on the current PTA calendar. Chairpersons will receive folders with more detailed information and examples of past years’ activities.
If you have any questions about your PTA, please don’t hesitate to call your PTA president or drop a note in the PTA mailbox in the school office. With supportive parents like you, Central will continue to thrive and succeed!
PTA HANDBOOK
TABLE OF CONTENTS
(committees listed alphabetically)
Aunt Diana’s Fudge Sale
Birthday Board
Book Fair
Budget
Calendar
Cultural Arts
Fifth Grade Activities
Gift Wrap
Halloween Play
Halloween Windows
Handbook
Ice Cream Social
Ice Skating Party
KidsCare
Kindergarten/New Parents Tea
Library Volunteer Program
Little Symphony
Living Classroom/Reading Garden
Market Day
Newspaper
Publicity
Reflections
Roller Skating Party
Room Parent Volunteers
School Directory
School Supplies
600 Minutes Reading Program
Sweatshirts and T-Shirts
Teacher Appreciation Luncheon
Teacher Appreciation Week
Young Authors
Young Entrepreneurs
Chronology of Events/Activities
Duties of Officers
Guidelines for Chairpersons
- Purpose: fund-raiser
- Volunteers: one chair and two to three assistants
- Responsibilities:
In June, schedule dates for the sale by contacting the PTA calendar committee chairman and Aunt Diana’s Old Fashioned Fudge. The goal here is to deliver the fudge to the students’ homes in time for the holidays. Check on the cost of fudge.
In November, distribute fudge order forms with a sale flyer through the school office. When orders are returned, tally completed orders and contact Aunt Diana’s with quantities. Give the PTA treasurer proceeds of the sale.
In December, pay Aunt Diana’s with a check from the PTA treasurer. Pick up and distribute fudge to the classrooms. This is where two or three volunteers can make this job go faster. Make arrangements for large orders to be picked up or delivered to students’ homes.
- Purpose: student and faculty recognition
- Volunteers: one or two chairs and several optional assistants
- Responsibilities:
Birthday bulletin board designs change every two months beginning with August-September at the beginning of the school year, continuing with October-November, December-January, February-March, April-May, and ending with June-July at the end of the school year.
At the beginning of the school year, ask the school secretary for a list of student and faculty birthdays. Photograph students who have birthdays in the appropriate months and use the photographs when designing the board. Teachers’ names are listed and not photographed. Distribute photos to classroom teachers when board is changed. Keep receipts from the expenses of the film and developing and give them to the treasurer for reimbursement.
Talk with the school librarian about books selected as birthday books. Record the students’ names in each month’s birthday card and affix it to the first blank page in the book. Teachers’ names are not listed.
- Purpose: to allow students to purchase books and for parents to donate books to classrooms and library
- Volunteers: one or two chairs and sixteen volunteers
- Responsibilities:
In June check with the calendar person to confirm Book Fair dates. Held in March, the fair takes place on Tuesday and Wednesday during class time, and on Thursday night in conjunction with the Ice Cream Social. The committee chair contacts the book seller’s representative in Spring after previous Fair (for discounts) to arrange the date. Confirm with the district office the space to be used during class time and during the ice cream social (they may be different).
Recruit volunteers for the week to set up, pack up, clean up, and assist students with their book purchases. Two weeks before the event, flyers are sent home with students describing the event. Families should be encouraged to set a spending limit for their children.
Put up sign up sheet in teacher’s lounge two weeks prior so teacher’s can choose times for classroom shopping trips.
From about 9:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday, volunteers help as students come to the book fair by class and make book selections. Their choices are reserved for them, and the volunteers prepare a notice with titles and prices to be sent home to parents. The students bring the amount owed to school the next day. If parents don’t approve the children’s choices, volunteers alter their selections per parent requests.
Organize teacher wish list by asking teachers to select books in advance of ice cream social. Indicate on flyer the opportunity for parents to purchase books for teachers’ classrooms either by purchasing them at the social or by sending money to school towards book donation.
Volunteers display books for the evening of the ice cream social. Families select books together, and volunteers handle the sale and help clean up after the fair.
Work with PTA and Librarian to select free books earned through book sales.
- Purpose: develop a budget for the year’s PTA activities
- Volunteers: Seven
- Responsibilities:
As soon as possible after officers are elected and appointments are made, study figures from the current fiscal year. Project funding requirements for the next year’s projects and sources of funds; prepare a budget.
Prepare worksheets for the budget committee meeting. In June, schedule and host a meeting with the PTA president, past president, treasurer, chair and past chair of the ways and means committee (second vice president), and one additional PTA member. Discuss proposed budget.
Make copies of the proposed budget for the September PTA meeting, and present it for adoption at the meeting.
- Purpose: prepare Central School’s calendar of events with representatives from the other schools in the district
- Volunteers: one
- Responsibilities:
Obtain the date - set by previous year’s committee — for the all-schools (district) calendar meeting.
At the May and June PTA meetings, ask new committee chairs to supply dates for their events at least two weeks before the all-schools meeting. Log these dates on a blank calendar. Prepare a list of committee chairs and room parents with their addresses and phone numbers. Printing the calendar is rotated among the five schools in the district. Every 5th year it will
be the chair’s responsibility to print the calendar.
Follow up with any committee chairs who have not submitted dates or whose dates conflict. If help is needed, talk with the PTA president.
Take the calendar to the all-schools meeting. There, each school representative will read the dates of their school’s events. Conflicts between schools will be resolved if possible. (If necessary, suggest changes pending approval of the committee chairs and the PTA president.)
Submit proposed calendar with committee chair list to the district calendar coordinator. About one month after the all-schools meeting, the district coordinator will request you pick up the proof. Proofread it, make corrections and return it.
The district coordinator will assign a deadline for final changes. Check with the PTA president about further changes before this date.
Pick up printed calendars from the district coordinator. Distribute copies to the PTA officers and leave the balance with the first vice president who distributes them to PTA members.
- Purpose: to develop students’ appreciation of painting, sculpture, multi-media artworks, and architecture — and of the rewards of artistic self-expression.
- Volunteers: one chair, two or three committee members plus one to four volunteers (picture persons) per classroom
- Responsibilities:
Committee Chairs: In September, recruit classroom volunteers (picture persons). Prepare personal folders for each volunteer including curriculum, procedures, reference material and guidelines. Organize a newcomers workshop.
During the year, check with classroom volunteers and teachers to see that presentations are progressing as scheduled.
Interface with cultural arts volunteers throughout the Cultural Arts Committee of District 96 (CAC 96). Coordinate any district events that may be available, like the Halloween picture windows, with the other schools in District 96.
Write articles or press releases for the Central School Newsletter, The Landmark or The Suburban Life to publicize cultural arts activities.
When needed, hang new pictures or rotate pictures in the hallways; clean frames and glass. Make sure pictures needed for presentation in the upcoming three months are on display close to the classrooms where they will be needed.
Provide a list of pictures and where they are hanging. Staple list to storage room bulletin board. At the end of the year, inventory the PTA art collection (pictures and sculpture), store everything for the summer and clean the storage closet.
Picture Person: During the year, give 45-minute classroom presentations about six artists. The number of picture persons per class may vary. Coordinate how responsibilities will be divided among the picture persons for your classroom. Presentations may be divided by month or presenters may pair up, with one person delivering the oral presentation and the other organizing the hands on project.
Familiarize yourself with the information folder on the artwork for the month; and prepare a 20 to 25 minute oral presentation and a 20 minute hands on project. Gather needed materials from supplies in the cultural arts closet. (Additional materials can be budgeted if needed. Please speak with the chair about this budget.) Complete a summary about your presentation and return folders and pictures to their original locations after presentations.
Arrangements may be made to display students’ artwork on the PTA bulletin boards, or other appropriate place before returning them to the children.
Coordinate the schedule of the May field trip with the teacher. Ask the field trip coordinator about reservations for the tour and bus. If applicable, give a classroom presentation on the field trip material prior to the field trip.
Folder Person: Make sure enough copies of the folders are available and have been returned to the storage room. Video tapes must be returned to the library. Update folders and discard obsolete documents.
Prepare new folders for recently acquired artwork. New folders should include, if possible: the artist’s photograph and biographical information, color reproductions of some of his/her works, critical essays on the artist and art work, a lesson outline (or at least questions for classroom presentations) and suggestions for hands-on projects.
Purchase new pictures and frames, and label all new purchases, gluing engraved brass plaques on donated pictures or artwork. Replenish art supplies for the storage closet as needed.
Set up a rotation schedule for the PTA bulletin boards; at least one display per classroom per year. Encourage picture persons to use the board. If they cannot, you may put up the display and dismantle it for the next class’s artwork.
Field Trip Coordinator: Several months in advance of the field trip, coordinate dates with teachers and picture persons and make bus reservations through the school secretary. Make arrangements for the Kindergarten to visit the Riverside Arts Center; reservations for fourth graders’ visit to Frank Lloyd Wright’s home and studio in Oak Park, and for fifth graders’ visit to the Art Institute in conjunction with a walking tour of downtown Chicago.
Recruit volunteers as needed for the kindergarten and fourth grade trips. For the fifth grade tour recruit at least eight volunteers and take them on a preview tour one to two weeks before the field trip. Modify the route of the tour and add new material, updating the folder if necessary.
If possible and appropriate, arrange for sculpture or other art demonstrations at the school. Consult with the Third Vice President about ideas. Coordinate schedules with teachers and administration and reserve gymnasium or auditorium space as needed.
- Purpose: to coordinate special activities for the 5th grade class
- Volunteers: one chair, the room parents and as many volunteers as needed
- Responsibilities:
Coordinate 5th Grade Games Night, Order 5th Grade tee shirts, organize pizza party for patrol people and organize the 5th grade picnic.
5th Grade Games Night involves coordinating a social night for all the future incoming Hauser Jr. High students. This is coordinated with representatives from the other schools in the district. Ask PTA president when and with which other school Central representatives will be assigned.
5th Grade Tees: During the first school quarter, design and order special tee shirts for the 5th Grade (see PTA folder for ideas). Pass out and collect a flyer requesting size information. Order the shirts. Give the invoice to treasurer and distribute tee’s. The PTA purchases the tee shirts as a gift to the 5th grade class.
5th Grade Picnic: In April, coordinate a date for the picnic with the teacher (to be held in late May or early June). If it is decided to have the picnic at one of the National Groves, a reservation must be made and deposit left with the Cook County Forest Preserve on Harlem in River Forest. Decide upon the arrangements for food (most
recently, the students have brought their own lunch and PTA has provided a snack and extra drinks) and games with room parents and volunteers.
The patrol pizza party is held at the end of the school year during lunch time. The 5th grade teachers will provide a list of the patrol people who will be invited. Set a date and check with the Hospitality chair to see if there are paper goods available. If not, purchase paper goods. Order the pizza, and get a check for the pizza from the
treasurer. The students bring their own drinks.
- Purpose: fund-raiser
- Volunteers: the PTA second vice president and a room parent from each class
- Responsibilities:
In the spring, set up dates with the gift wrap supplier.
In the fall, arrange with room parents to pass out materials before the sale and collect funds during the sale. Prepare a display for fall parents’ night.
Collect completed order forms from room parents, tally them and place the order with the company.
Ask room parents to double check the gift wrap when it arrives. Arrange for janitors to help unload the gift wrap from the truck (buy Market Day pies as a thank you).
Distribute gift wrap to students after school.
- Purpose: students’ (and parents’) entertainment
- Volunteers: one or two chairs and as many cast members as needed
- Responsibilities:
Written or obtained by the chair, the play is presented on Halloween (or the school day closest to Halloween) in the Hauser auditorium. The play precedes the students’ costume parade and classroom parties.
All volunteers can participate either as cast or stage crew members. Cast members provide their own costumes; many are available from previous years.
Two weeks prior to the performance, one to three meetings are held, and there are daily rehearsals (usually in the mornings) during the week of the performance.
- Purpose: fun for students and community
- Volunteers: one or two chairs and five per school
- Responsibilities:
Organize schools to paint Halloween themes on business district windows after school during the week before Halloween.
Contact presidents of all schools’ PTAs (grades 1-8 participate) for volunteers from each. Obtain merchant approval (in writing) in the business district. Procure professional window washers for cleaning windows the day after Halloween.
Circulate family sign up sheets at each school and send flyers home 1-2 weeks before 2-day event noting that an adult must accompany children, pay nominal fee towards window washing and supply own paint and brushes.
Tape and number merchant windows in advance. Have all children come to Central for window assignments and let them paint with supervision after school.
- Purpose: To inform parents about PTA volunteer opportunities
- Volunteers: one
- Responsibilities:
In the spring, PTA committee chairs write a job description of the work they have completed during the year. The PTA president collects these before the end of school.
Over the summer, the Handbook editor, under the direction of the PTA president, standardizes and updates the descriptions and prepares for printing or copying. (The text is stored on diskette).
Handbooks are made available to all new Central School families before school starts; they may be distributed at the Kindergarten/New Parent Tea and/or the PTA table during registration.
- Purpose: family fun
- Volunteers: one chair and at least ten helpers
- Responsibilities:
Coordinate the date with the annual book fair; these events are on the same night.
Recruit volunteers to serve ice cream and toppings and help with set up and clean up. Distribute a flyer to determine the number of persons planning to attend and asking for donations of baked goods. Check PTA mail box in the school secretary’s office for responses and tally supplies needed. Order ice cream at least one week in advance. The PTA treasurer will issue a check for purchasing supplies or you may give your receipts to the treasurer for reimbursement afterward.
Make sure the janitors have been advised of the event and inform them of the layout of tables and chairs in the cafeteria. Set up the cafeteria after school following the diagram in the PTA folder.
The evening of the event, pick up the ice cream and coordinate the volunteers who are working at the event.
- Purpose: family fun
- Volunteers: one chair
- Responsibilities:
Before the calendar goes to print, reserve the ice arena for an afternoon when students are not in school. Our best response has been during a day in January. Sign the contract and leave a deposit. Distribute a sign-up sheet during PTA meeting prior to event and/or call room volunteers to ask people to bring cookies and hot chocolate to rink. Prepare a publicity flyer and distribute it to all Central students at least two weeks before the event. Attend the party and make sure everything goes smoothly.
- Purpose: to promote the importance and impact of charity
- Volunteers: one chair and unlimited volunteers
- Responsibilities:
The committee organizes child-involved, charitable activities for the needy in the surrounding communities.
Pass around a sign up sheet at the first PTA meeting for those interested in being on this committee. There are several teachers on this committee as well.
Monthly meetings are held to coordinate approximately four activities throughout the year. Focus on activities where students can be involved as much as possible. If the activity involves a monthly contribution, suggest that the students should have in some way earned this money.
Communicate and promote the activities to the students. Carry out the activities and report the success back to the students and PTA.
- Purpose: to welcome Central School kindergartners’ parents and parents of all students new to District 96, and to inform them about the school and PTA
- Volunteers: one or two committee chairs
- Responsibilities:
The second week of August, obtain a list from the school secretary of kindergartners’ parents and parents of students new to the district. Prepare and distribute invitations on the first day of school or by mail.
The tea is held in the media center (library). Notify the superintendent, principal, school secretary, kindergarten teachers and the PTA president of the date of the tea and ask them to participate in a presentation. The chair plans the tea, and coordinates volunteers who help with set up, provide refreshments (juice, baked goods, fruit cookies) and, if desired, fresh flowers or decorations for the tables, and clean up. Coffee and tea are prepared with PTA supplies, and Market Day samples are displayed.
The morning of the tea, welcome parents, provide name tags and introduce the superintendent, principal, school secretary, kindergarten teachers and the PTA president.
- Purpose: To allow the librarian as much time as possible to teach the students library skills and encourage their appreciation of books and reading
- Volunteers: one to three chairs plus unlimited number of volunteers
- Responsibilities:
Volunteers serve on a weekly basis. Some jobs are a firm commitment of day and time, others can be done at a time convenient to the volunteer. The library cannot accommodate preschool children during any volunteer hours. Volunteers must make outside arrangements for preschool children’s care during their work time. Opportunities include:
Book checkout/Reading: A firm time commitment (teachers, students and the librarian count on you being there). Check out books students have selected during their library time, and/or read to the class. Most K through 5th grade classes use two volunteers.
Shelving: At a time convenient to you (1 to 1 1/2 hours per week), re-shelve books the students have returned or used in the library.
Book processing and/or maintenance: At a time convenient to you, affix protective covers to new books, mend older books adding new spine, labels, etc.
Clerical assistance: At a time convenient to you. Typing, alphabetizing, updating the card catalog, and other work as needed by the librarian.
Bulletin boards: During the first week of each month at a time convenient to you. Create and put up bulletin boards and other library decorations and displays as needed. The librarian provides many of the ideas, references and materials.
- Purpose: to provide cultural enrichment and education through professional musical, dance, mime or related programs
- Volunteers: one volunteer from each school in District 96, three district music teachers and an administrator
- Responsibilities:
Students in grades two through eight from the district elementary schools and Hauser Jr. High attend three programs per year at the Hauser auditorium. (St. Mary’s students are also invited to attend.) Each 45 minute program is presented twice. Grades two through five attend the first performance; grades six through eight attend the second performance.
The Central School PTA volunteer attends the programs to evaluate and to act as a hostess between performances. Refreshments (fruit, juice, baked goods, coffee etc.) are provided by the committee members and served to the performers during their half hour break.
Funding for the programs is provided by the district and augmented by student fees. Individual volunteers were formerly reimbursed for refreshments, but they have donated them in recent years.
Committee members meet in the spring to share their evaluations and to select programs for the following school year.
The search for quality programs continues throughout the year. Customarily, each selection has been viewed by at least one committee member prior to the meeting. Several showcases of programs are held in the Chicago area each year and are a good source of programs. Brochures describing programs are available in a PTA folder.
LIVING CLASSROOM/READING GARDEN
- Purpose: to develop an appreciation of nature and provide a resource for teachers to use with appropriate curriculum
- Volunteers: one chair and volunteers as needed
- Responsibilities:
Assist with the use and maintenance of the Centennial Reading Garden year round.
- Purpose: fund-raiser
- Volunteers: chairs are PTA second vice president and an optional co-chair; plus 11 volunteers
- Responsibilities:
Publicize and promote the purchase of Market Day foods via flyers, signage, sampling, etc.
Market Day is usually the third Wednesday of the month. Two weeks before Market Day, mail order forms to people on the mailing list and place order forms for each student in teachers’ mailboxes (in school secretary’s office).
One week before Market Day, collect all completed order forms from the school. Check each form for the correct item count, names and phone numbers. Total the order and send it via second-day mail. Call the Market Day representative with any late orders. One day before Market Day, deliver reminder sheets to the teachers’ mailboxes.
On Market Day, arrange tables in the multi-purpose room for volunteers at 8:30 a.m.. Unload boxes from the Market Day truck onto tables. Check all items against the tally sheets from the representative. Fill teachers’ orders; put their food in the freezer.
At 10:00 a.m. be ready for customers. At 10:45 a.m., call customers who haven’t picked up their orders. Between 11:00 and 11:15 a.m. remaining orders are filled.
Arrange for evening pick ups and food storage.
NEWSPAPER - THE ROADRUNNER EXPRESS
- Purpose: to display students’ writing talent
- Volunteers: one chair plus one to three volunteers
- Responsibilities:
Two issues are published each year. Every child in kindergarten through fifth grade has writing published in at least one of the issues.
Committee volunteers collect students’ work from classroom teachers after a specified deadline. These are photocopied and reduced. Fifth grade reporters prepare articles on school day programs, evening family activities, books and movies, new staff member interviews, performances, etc.
Committee volunteers photograph every school event listed on the PTA calendar plus classroom plays, special projects, field trips and school news (e.g., development of the take home science program and D.A.R.E. program). The spring issues features Central School awards and Fifth Grade Memories.
The Roadrunner Express is professionally printed. Each issue averages 60 pages.
- Purpose: to inform and promote Central School internally and to the general public
- Volunteers: two or more (may split publicity & flyers)
- Responsibilities:
Meet with the PTA president and first vice president about ways to promote and inform all potential PTA members, current members and the public about PTA activities throughout the school year.
Prepare press releases and photography sessions with committee chairs and local newspapers to publicize upcoming events, fundraisers, programs, social functions, etc.
Coordinate with committee chairs to prepare flyers as needed and distribute them via the students’ backpacks to inform and remind families of PTA events.
Publicize PTA meetings via flyers and signs outside the morning of meeting.
Educate parents about the purpose and merits of PTA to encourage participation and support.
- Purpose: to promote artistic expression
- Volunteers: one chair
- Responsibilities:
Distribute information about the statewide program in September. As the deadline draws near, remind students about submitting work. Collect the applications and artwork submitted by the students. Send the artwork submitted to the appropriate place designated by the Illinois PTA. Pass out rewards to the students who submitted work and/or received recognition.
Announce outcome during the PTA meetings. Pass out certificates at Awards Assembly.
- Purpose: family fun
- Volunteers: committee chair plus an optional volunteer who helps the night of the party
- Responsibilities:
Schedule the party at the Fleetwood Roller Rink. Most recently this event has taken place on the first scheduled in-service day (late September). Sign the contract and return with the deposit. Prepare a publicity flyer and distribute it two weeks before the event. Attend the party to make sure everything runs smoothly.
- Purpose: assist teachers with class projects, parties and field trips and assist PTA as needed
- Volunteers: up to two leads and several assistants and helpers
- Responsibilities:
Lead Room Parents: List name, address, telephone number and e-mail address in PTA calendar.
By the first day of school, give a list to assistant room parents designating which parents they will call in case of school closing or other emergency. Determine which room parents will collect fees and forms outside the classroom on the first day of school, and give names to the PTA first vice president.
Attend the fall PTA room parents gathering and school fall open house.
Maintain close contact with the teacher and other room parents. Talk with the teacher at regular intervals to determine what help is needed. At the teacher’s request, arrange for assistant room parents to help with special events. At the request of the president or first vice president, arrange for assistant room parents to help with PTA events.
Call assistant room parents to relay information from the PTA board and /or teachers to parents, when instructed by the first vice president or president.
Assistant Room Parents: Assistant room parents are the PTA link between school and home. All instructions about helping at school are given to the assistant room parents by the lead room parent after consultation with the teacher. Assistants may be asked to collect school fees and forms on the first day of school.
Assistants shall give the teacher additional help as requested; plan and help with the Halloween party (refreshments, class activities); assist in the classroom on special projects; go on field trips (Preschool children are not allowed to go on field trips for insurance reasons.); and contact parents with information about fund-raisers or ask for additional help with PTA events.
Call designated parents in case of emergency or school closing. Names are given to you on the first day of school. These calls must be made promptly. Identify yourself as a room parent from Central School PTA, and notify the lead room parent if you are unable to reach someone.
Helpers: This position allows parents with limited free time, especially during school hours, an opportunity to become involved with Central School at the classroom level. Direction is provided by the lead room parent after consultation with the teacher.
As a helper you will be asked to provide snacks or party favors for class parties or other special events and assist after school or at your convenience, e.g., run or complete projects at home.
- Purpose: to provide a listing of student names, addresses, phone numbers and e-mail addresses by classroom
- Volunteers: chair with one or two additional committee volunteers
- Responsibilities:
At the end of the school year, contact the school secretary for student lists by classroom. The directory is kept on computer diskette. Once the lists are prepared, adding or deleting student information at the end of each school quarter makes the end of the year job easier.
Prepare each page as camera-ready copy. Select a printer that will do the printing, collating, binding and trimming. Cover stock may be purchased through the printer or supplied from another source. In the past, cover art has been supplied by Central students. One or two volunteer helpers should proofread the copy.
In late August when the school secretary is in school, make sure she has the appropriate “directory form” with information needed for the directory to be included in the school mailing. Collect the completed forms after the first day of school and check with the school secretary for new students who have been registered before sending the directory to the printer. Add names as necessary.
One directory is given to each family. Prepare a label with each student’s name, homeroom teacher and grade. Affix the labels to the back cover of the directories and distribute the directories to the classrooms at the PTA open house in September.
- Purpose: convenient way for kids to get pre-packed school supplies per teacher specifications
- Volunteers: one and several optional volunteers
- Responsibilities:
In late fall, arrange dates with pre-packed supply vendor. Decide on prices by marking up slightly and rounding off numbers. In February, send home flyer/order form for parents to order supplies for their children for the following year. Promote with signage and reminders. Mail similar flyer with cover letter to upcoming Kindergarten parents via Mrs. Catalano’s list.
Set deadline for before spring break. Collect order forms with accompanying checks.
Place order with company and try to get discount with early ordering. Arrange for delivery into Multi-purpose room and meet driver to assure proper sorting of boxes.
Ask volunteers to help distribute supplies during two or more times, i.e. first thing in morning, after school and one evening time. Arrange back-up plan for supplies not picked up. Let parents know that supplies are too heavy for small children to carry home.
- Purpose: promote reading
- Volunteers: one chair
- Responsibilities:
Between June and September contact the company sponsor of this reading program to inform them of our intent to participate. In January look for a packet of information from the corporate sponsor. Distribute a flyer informing the students of the program along with their application for the program.
At the half way point and at the end of the allotted reading time, send out a reminder to the students. Collect the applications from the students who have completed the program and send them to the corporate sponsor.
The reward for completing this program is a pass to Great America. Watch for the packet and distribute the tickets to the appropriate students.
- Purpose: to encourage school spirit through the sale of sweatshirts and t-shirts with the school logo
- Volunteers: one chair
- Responsibilities:
Early in the school year find a reputable company (see PTA folder). Check on dates with the Calendar chair. Order sample shirts with the logo and display them in the school secretary’s office. Distribute order forms for each student through the teachers’ mailboxes in the office.
When order forms are returned, collect them and tally quantities for each size. Complete the manufacturer’s order form, obtain a check from the PTA treasurer and mail the order form and check.
When shirts arrive, verify the order. Keep a list of back orders. Distribute shirts by classroom. Remind the company of back orders and when they arrive, distribute them. If back orders do not arrive, refund students’ money.
- Purpose: to show appreciation to teachers and staff
- Volunteers: two chairs plus at least ten volunteers
- Responsibilities:
Central School teachers and staff are guests each spring at the appreciation luncheon prepared by PTA volunteers. Chairs are responsible for the following duties.
Before school ends, select next year’s luncheon date so it can be included in the calendar. Reserve the date with the Riverside Methodist Church. There is a rental fee; verify the charge.
Select a theme, generally based on the cuisine, e.g., a garden party, comfort foods, taste around the world, etc. Obtain the budget from the PTA treasurer and allocate money for church rental, baby-sitting, paper goods and centerpieces (the church has cutlery; PTA has an assortment of tablecloths and baskets).
Two to three months prior to the luncheon, pass a sign up sheet at the PTA meeting for volunteers to cook/bake. The chairs of PTA standing committees are requested to contribute. Categories might include: entrees, salads, appetizers, desserts, beverages. Also include a category for set up and clean up.
Three weeks before the luncheon, send reminders to volunteers asking for their recipes. They should be received in the PTA mailbox two weeks before the event. Duplicate or retype them and assemble recipe books to give to luncheon guests and volunteers. One week before the luncheon, remind all volunteers of their duties. Arrange for a baby-sitter from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. for luncheon and clean up time.
Request checks from the PTA treasurer for the baby-sitter, church, etc.. Collect receipts from committee members, make an itemized list and give them to the treasurer for reimbursement. Write a thank you note to the church.
- Purpose: to show appreciation to teachers and staff
- Volunteers: one or two chairs and optional volunteers as needed
- Responsibilities:
One week in the spring is designated as Teacher Appreciation Week, during which a volunteer purchases or prepares special treats and recognition for the teachers, e.g., a basket of fruit for the teachers’ lounge, flowers, posters, etc.. The volunteer should involve the students as much as possible. Check with the treasurer for the budget on this event.
The Teacher Appreciation Luncheon also takes place this week.
- Purpose: to assist teachers by preparing students’ books for display
- Volunteers: Chair plus six to twelve volunteers
- Responsibilities:
The Young Authors program encourages students’ writing skills and creativity by helping the children write and illustrate their own books. One teacher oversees the program; students are encouraged (or mandated) by their classroom teachers to participate.
At the January PTA meeting, the chair recruits volunteers to work one or two mornings in mid-February. Six volunteers are needed each morning. (The teacher in charge contacts the chair with the dates and theme for the year.) Each student’s book is recorded, possibly laminated, bound and a book plate is affixed inside by the volunteers. (Students may choose to use pre-bound “Bare Books”, ordered earlier in the year. Teachers may make special requests for preparing their students’ books.
A name plate –displayed on a bulletin board in the library — is made for each student. The teacher in charge designs the bulletin board. Books are displayed in the library according to classroom.
- Purpose: to provide students with the opportunity to experience the rewards and responsibilities of the business world
- Volunteers: one or two chairs and unlimited volunteers (especially 5th grade parents)
- Responsibilities:
With the input of the students and teachers, decide on a viable product to be manufactured and sold by the 5th grade class. This decision may have to be made before the end of the school year in June for sales in September. Decide when manufacturing and sales are to occur.
Arrange to discuss financial, marketing, packaging, product development, sales and civic responsibility with the students. This can be accomplished by inviting various speakers with some expertise in these areas. (i.e., parents who are bankers, accountants, artists)
Make a business plan and carry it out using student input in all areas. When and if a profit is made, allow the students to decide on how they would like to make their contribution to the Central School community (with some guidance from the principal, teachers and chairs).
Chronology of PTA Activities & Events
Calendar
Budget
Handbook
Young Entrepreneurs
School Directory
Kindergarten/New Parents Tea
Gift Wrap
Reflections
Roller Skating Party
Sweatshirts and T-Shirts
Halloween Windows
Halloween Play
Aunt Diana’s Fudge Sale
600 Minutes Reading Program
Young Authors
Ice Skating Party
School Supplies
Book Fair
Ice Cream Social
Teacher Appreciation Week
Teacher Appreciation Luncheon
Ongoing Projects
PTA Standing Committees
Birthday Board
Cultural Arts
Fifth Grade Activities
KidsCare
Library Volunteer Program
Little Symphony
Living Classroom/Reading Garden
Market Day
Newspaper - The Roadrunner Express
Publicity
Room Parent Volunteers
PTA Special Committees
- Purpose: to certify the accuracy of the PTA’s financial records
- Volunteers: two to three (the treasurer should not be a member of the committee, but should be available to answer questions.)
- Responsibilities:
The treasurer’s records should be audited annually, or whenever the position changes hands during a term of office. The auditor’s report must be voted on before a new budget can be presented for consideration.
Detailed procedures are given in the PTA folder. In brief, the procedures must accomplish the following.
Verify beginning balance was correct, that funds have been deposited and outstanding checks received and canceled by the bank.
Check all receipts and disbursements against ledger entries, treasurer’s reports, vouchers, invoices, and canceled checks, as applicable. Verify treasurer’s reconciliation of each bank statement. Reconcile final figures and determine the amount on hand to begin the new year.
Detailed instructions for preparation of the auditing report are included in the PTA folder. The auditing report must be accepted by a majority vote.
- Purpose: to serve as a contract among PTA members and provide specific rules to govern the association.
- Volunteers: PTA Parliamentarian
- Responsibilities:
The bylaws are reviewed every two years.
- Purpose: to select a slate of candidates for PTA office
- Volunteers: five plus two alternates
- Responsibilities:
Committee members select nominees on the basis of what is best for the organization. They list officers to be elected, the qualifications needed for each office, and members who are eligible and best qualified to fill the office.
Committee members should be knowledgeable about the PTA and qualifications necessary to serve, and be aware of eligible, qualified and willing nominees. They should be willing to spend the time necessary for the job, aware of the importance of their decisions, and be able to keep confidences.
The committee chair notifies possible nominees. The consent of each candidate should be obtained before the name is placed in nomination.
- Purpose: to determine how PTA funds will be spent to benefit the school
- Volunteers: the executive committee plus the co-chairs for the Market Day and Gift Wrap committees
- Responsibilities:
From January through April, the committee meets once each month with the principal to discuss school and teachers’ needs, and to decide how PTA funds should be spent for gifts to the school. A list is prepared, presented and voted on at the May PTA meeting.
DUTIES OF OFFICERS
President: To preside at all meetings of the PTA, the executive board, and the executive committee. To be an ex-officio member of all committees except the nominating committee. To coordinate the work of the officers and committees so that PTA objectives may be promoted.
To attend monthly brown bag meetings; to meet with the school principal once a month; to appoint special events chairs; to appoint special committees such as budget and gifts to school (philanthropy) as needed; to fill committee chair positions. If necessary, may authorize expenditures up to $60.00.
First Vice President: To find volunteers to help committee chairs as needed; to find room parent volunteers in early June and hold the annual room parents’ gathering in August; to distribute calendars, handbooks, directories and membership cards.
As membership chairs, to introduce all new members at meetings and make visitors feel welcome at executive board meetings, either personally or by proxy.
Second Vice President: To coordinate and oversee all fund-raising efforts; to chair the gift wrap and Market Day fund-raisers; to research new fund-raising ideas.
Third Vice President: To pick programs for school assemblies in conjunction with the principal, faculty and executive board; to organize and run Family Night Out.
Recording Secretary: To record and read the minutes of all meetings of the organization and the executive board, and keep a current copy of the bylaws. To hold a copy of the membership list; to hold and maintain copies of all previous years’ minutes.
Corresponding Secretary: To conduct PTA correspondence as directed. To purchase gifts and remembrances in accordance with the guidelines; to organize and run the annual installation luncheon; to distribute mail in the PTA box to the appropriate PTA member.
Treasurer: To distribute ledger sheets and budget amounts to committee heads; to file tax forms as needed; to file incorporation papers as needed; to chair the budget committee and present the budget for approval at the September general meeting; to sit on the audit committee.
Parliamentarian: To revise the bylaws and standing rules on an ongoing basis; to advise the president on parliamentarian procedure.
HELPFUL GUIDELINES FOR COMMITTEE CHAIRS
Check with the PTA president and/or first vice president(s) about volunteers who have expressed interest in your committee on the PTA application. Contact these parents as soon as possible.
When creating flyers, remember that they must be approved by the principal. Allow yourself enough time to make changes if necessary and to copy and distribute flyers.
Attend PTA meetings regularly to promote interest and enthusiasm for your event or committee.
Publicize your committee’s work in meetings and in the school newsletter. Coordinate your ideas for flyers and press releases with the PTA Publicity Committee and the Roadrunner Express school newspaper Committee.
Review your committee folder containing information about what has been done in the past and make sure you update it with your ideas and experiences for the next person.
revised 8/2001 - posted 10/2005