Victory Villa Elementary PTA - The Future Starts Here
Why Your School Needs a PTA:
 
Harnessing the Power of Volunteers
Shrinking budgets. Increasing class sizes. Government mandates. The challenges of delivering quality education are daunting. There is help. It’s the PTA.
It doesn't take much time to get a Parent Teacher Association started either. Find just one parent in your school to take the lead, and before you know it, there will be a group of dedicated parents doing what PTA does best: providing resources and programs to all families.
PTA's Benefit Everyone PTA addresses issues that are important to parents and public school administrators. We fight for full funding, quality teachers, and capabilities for schools to thrive. If your school or district does not have a PTA, now is the time. Membership is open to everyone. Your PTA is autonomous but supported by a national structure. It sets its own dues.
Some of PTA’s benefits.
  • Leverage Volunteer Power. PTA organizes hard-working, dedicated volunteers. Parents are ready to help implement school improvement programs.
  • Improve Communication. PTAs frequently coordinate production of a school newsletter and information fliers, keeping the entire school community informed of current events, issues, and accomplishments. Regular meetings allow PTA's to share information with members.
  • See Measurable Results. More than 85 research studies conducted over the past 30 years prove that kids do better when parents are involved. Grades are higher. Test scores improve. Attendance increases.
  • Discover More Dollars. Local PTA's are self-funding. By inviting the entire school’s parent community to join, they generate membership fees to pay for programs. Local PTA fundraisers support school programs, building improvements, and educational events.
  • Tap into Proven Programs. Local PTA's have access to ready-made, easy-to-use programs with proven success records. From health and safety topics, to collaborating with teachers and community members, to fundraising, the programs get results.
  • Boost Children’s Well-Being. PTA's focus on what students need to be successful in their learning, including nutrition, health, school safety, physical fitness and general well-being. PTA works with schools to ensure that children succeed.
  • Enjoy Informed Parents. Involved parents understand the challenges schools face and become part of the solution. By developing a closer relationship with parents, student achievement improves, and the school develops a positive reputation in the community.
  • Fulfill NCLB Obligations. Finally, PTAs can help schools fulfill the parent involvement requirement of the No Child Left Behind Act. PTA understands the needs behind NCLB. In fact, it’s PTA’s definition of parent involvement that is used in NCLB.
 
Back to School Central PTA:
Provides Back to School Central as a comprehensive resource of information for the back-to-school season. Content will cover topics such as preparing your child for school, adjusting from a summer schedule, evaluating schools and more. Stories and articles will be added throughout the summer. Check back for valuable advice on how to wind down from the summer and get ready for a tremendous school year.
Content is arranged under four categories:
  • Back-to-School Preparation
  • Nutrition
  • Homework Help and Study Skills
  • Parent Involvement and Communication.
 
 
Back-to-School Preparation
PTA's mission to be a strong advocate for the education and well-being of every child starts with making sure that children and their parents and caregivers are prepared for the new school year.
Back-to-school time can be stressful for parents and kids. This resources aims to reduce the stress by providing important information on back-to-school preparation and helpful tools to make the transitions easier. You can find information on adjusting kids from a summertime schedule back to a school time schedule, tips for safe routes to school, ways parents can help teachers, and more as well as a list of resources on other websites.
Please refer to these resources and check back frequently for more relevant content to help make your life a little easier.
 
Cost-Cutting Tips for Back-to-School
By Randy Craig, Editorial Manager
As expected, the economy will have an impact on back-to-school spending. The National Retail Federation says the average family with students in kindergarten through 12th grade will spend an average of $548.72 on back-to-school merchandise, down 7.7 percent from last year, according to the group's annual survey. The survey goes on to say four out of five Americans have made some changes to back-to-school spending plans. More than half (56.2 percent) will hunt for sales more often. Nearly half (49.6 percent) will be spending less and more than 40 percent will be using coupons or purchasing generic products more frequently.
Consumers might be feeling pinched by the economy, but these tips can relieve some of the pressure. Check out these cost-saving measures:
Online Coupons
Coupon sites are valuable, but there are hundreds of them on the Internet. This only breeds confusion. SmartMoney analyzed the slew of coupon sites and recommended these five:
In addition to online coupon sites, customers can often do their comparative shopping online to find the best bargains. Look for free shipping deals. These might make it less expensive to buy online than buying at the physical store.
Tap into your networks
Whether it is your circle of neighborhood friends or an online community, your social networks can be a good place to start. Ask if anyone has an item you need and be willing to swap for something they need. These swaps can be for clothes or supplies or both. If someone has a membership at a discount club, you can all go in on bulk purchases.
Prioritize
What really needs replaced? Sure, junior probably wants a new bookbag, but will the old one last one more year? It might be possible to let the child choose which item he or she wants to be brand new this year (a new bookbag or new soccer shoes, for instance). Also, set a budget and stick to it. Resist the urge to buy impulse items. Identify what is truly needed.
Stock up
Don't just buy for back-to-school during the summer. Take advantage of sales throughout the year on common items such as pens, paper and folders. The same concept applies to food for healthy lunches. Shop at discount and club stores for staples like chicken, apples and foods that will keep for a long time or can be frozen.
New shopping venues
Goodwill stores, consignment shops and even yard sales can house incredible bargains. Don't be misled by your perceptions...these outlets often have plenty of items in perfectly good (even brand new) condition at incredibly low prices.
For more cost-cutting advice, visit the PTA Great Idea Bank. This growing social network has a forum dedicated to users’ best ideas for cutting costs during the back-to-school season.
 
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Overcoming Obstacles to Parent Involvement
 
Obstacles to Parent Involvement: Roadblocks and Detours
 
To make parents feel more comfortable visiting the school, post Welcome signs in all languages spoken at the school at each entrance and on each classroom door. Create a special place in the school that is set aside especially for parents, such as a parent center.
 
Not Knowing How to Contribute
Roadblock: Some parents believe they have talents but don’t know whether they are needed or how to contribute them to the school or PTA.
Detour:
  • Don’t wait for parents to offer to help; seek them out.  Suggest a few different but specific options of ways they could volunteer.
  • Have teachers and administrators create a list of specific volunteer actions that are needed from parents.  Refer to this list and share it with your PTA.
  • Ask non-PTA parents as well as members what they’d like to do in the school.
  • Faculty and parents could share their list with each other and begin to discuss and form realistic expectations to more effectively use parents’ many talents.
 
 
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