Thoughts on joining the PTO?

azaretsky · September 2014

Hi ladies - if you are/have been a member of the PTO or decided against joining, can you please share your experience and reasoning? I'm home with the baby now, but will go back to work by the end of the year. I'm worried about how much time the PTO actually takes up between meetings and actually doing whatever it is that we'd be doing and events, but I also want to ensure that I'm involved with my son's school. Thanks!

ppants · September 2014

It cost $5 to join PTO here and nearly everyone joins. When my kids were in K, I went to all the meetings and was on the Bingo Committee. It was quite a bit of work, but fun. We got further along into our home construction and although we've lived in our home a year, I haven't really participated much since then. I've made cookies for the opne house and helped serve at our Christmas event.

Check out a meeting and only sign up for what you feel comfortable doing. Enjoy!

JENandJEH · September 2014

We moved the summer after DS1's Kindergarten year so I've got 2 PTO experiences.

First school - K-5th Grade

No dues, meetings held at 4pm in the library and they strongly discouraged bringing kids under age 5 because they didn't want them tearing up the library. They asked for volunteers for some activities but mostly, there was an established clique that ran it and did it all themselves. Very off putting and frustrating.

Second school- K-2nd Grade

$10 dues for the year, meetings held at 6pm and they welcome you to bring your kids. They've already held one fundraiser/activity for the year that was a lot of fun and had a great turnout. The board members are super friendly and outgoing and just seem happy to have people willing to volunteer. There are a ton of different things to sign up to help with and there was a place on the membership form to list if there were certain days/times that worked best for you so they could specifically ask you for help on events that matched up with your availability. So far, extremely welcoming and a great experience.

I want to be involved in his school so we joined and I'm going to help with whatever I can. The teachers at his new school are a lot more involved in the PTO, too, which gives me a more positive outlook on it as a whole.

MirandaHobbes · September 2014

Ours doesn't have formal membership, but it is ran by a small clique of women. They were all friendly and outgoing, but I got the impression they enjoyed running the show. I want to be a worker bee, not a leader in our PTO. Last year I signed up to be Room Parent and it wasn't for me. I didn't like the scrutiny of other parents second-guessing me. I've talked to other parents who haven't been at all involved in PTO or volunteering and they complain that it is too cliquey and exclusive. But they also say they haven't even attended a single PTO meeting or volunteered. I want to at least say I've tried, I think it is disingenuous to complain about something that you haven't tried to help with. So this year I've taken the worker bee mentality and will volunteer for whatever I am able to do, but I'm not worried about taking any leadership roles.

The time contraints of working parents and parents with small children is real. At our school I believe the majority of the daytime work (volunteering in the school office and lunchroom) is done by SAHMs and the evening work (events) is done by working moms. Our PTO meetings start at 7 pm which is nice, and events don't start until 6 or so.

neverblushed · September 2014

Ditto others. There are several levels of commitment. I always join, because membership dues are the #1 fundraiser the PTA/O has. But I don't generally volunteer much.

You may want to start by volunteering for one event (like working one shift at the book fair, helping staff the spirit-wear table on conference days, etc.)

You may want to attend monthly meetings and also volunteer.

My kids have attended 3 different elementary schools, and the culture of the PTA/O at each one was somewhat different. School 1 was run by an "in crowd" of moms who did everything and weren't really looking for help. School 2 has always been very open and inclusive. There's a core group of SAHMs who are always involved, but they are welcoming to people who just have a few afternoons a year to spare. You can just show up to help, and they'll put you to work. They're also welcoming to dads! School 3 has a mix of moms, teachers, and admin staff who cooperate and ask for help.

You can sort of join on your own terms!

emberlee3 · September 2014

I missed the first PTO meeting, but I am planning to join. I might only be able to volunteer a few times during the year.

skategirl128 · September 2014

I am a part of the PTA at DS school and at the school I work for. Dues are $5 for DS and I volunteer when I can. They know they can count in me for baking! I often get calls asking me to make treats for their variety of events. It isn't much but at least I feel like I'm involved!

74dragonfly · September 2014

I think it is good to try and get involved at any level. I joined and i plan on volunteering for something, like the book fair. I am about to go back to work so I dont have much time but i think being involved at school is super important.

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