A PTO

A Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) is a formal organization that consists of parents, teachers and school staff. The organization's goals may vary from organization to organization, but essentially the goals include volunteerism of parents, encouragement of teachers and students, community involvement, and welfare of students and families. It is not affiliated with Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) or Parent-Teacher-Student Association (PTSA.) PTA is a national association of millions of members and thousands of local units that provides leadership training and staff support.

Source

Benefits of PTO

All funds stay at the school- With a PTO schools don't have to send money away to a larger organization. This amount can be $1,000 or more. Wouldn't that money be better used back in parent's pockets or for other school activities?

Membership is open to any parent- With a PTO parents don't have to pay to join. PTOs are more inclusive and don't exclude people just because they don't pay to join. With a PTO membership is limited to parents and teachers (staff). One odd thing about the PTA is that anyone can join. So in theory an outside interest group could join a school PTA and take over. Should that be an option at our schools?

The parents and teachers can write their own bylaws, rules and policies with a PTO. They can customize the rules to meet the needs of their school. With a PTA the bylaws, rules and policies are written by the larger organization who may not know what is needed at the local level. They are totally out of touch and what one school needs may be totally different from what another school needs.

Take the great parents at a school + PTO = a well run parent organization

PTO in Canyons

If you are interested in learning more about the policy and process of changing to a PTO within the Canyon's school district leave

PTO in the Utah News

I found this article to be an interesting read.  More than bake sales: Utah parents debate merits of PTA vs. PTO. The full text is at the end of this post.

The quote below is from the article. It is exactly why

Looking Back

As I talk to parents at other schools about their PTA programs, I am constantly reminded how little I knew about PTA a year ago. Across the board,

Stop Once Your Goal is Reached

This blog is obviously a blog about the benefits about PTOs. I like PTOs. I think they are great and would be great for my school. Occasionally I read articles on PTO Today. I came across one about fundraisers and one point in the article really hit me. It is so true and I wish the PTA at my school would understand this point...

Stop Once Your Goal Is Reached

Involvement Matters

Research shows that when parents are involved in their children's education, the children are more likely to: