Involving teachers and administrators is one of the best ways to strengthen communication between families and schools. Encouraging them to join PTA in a collaborative partnership between home and school should be one of the focal points of your membership campaign.

IDEAS FOR GETTING TEACHERS INVOLVED

Put an enthusiastic and supportive teacher member on your membership committee.
Enlist the help of the principal. A principal’s encouragement to join goes a long way.
Send out personalized invitations to teachers and staff to join PTA at the beginning of the school year. Be sure to include a membership envelope.
Send out reminders to teachers who have not joined PTA including another membership envelope.
Survey all teachers mid-year asking if they joined PTA and why, and if not, why not.
Remind teachers and staff that PTA is more than a local fundraising group for their school. It is an advocacy organization focused on student success!
Hold a grade level or departmental membership competition. Provide winning group with bagels or danish.
Challenge the staff at a nearby school to a friendly membership competition.
Provide monthly opportunity drawings for teachers and staff who join with donated items from local merchants.
Reward teachers and staff with a breakfast or luncheon when 100 percent membership is achieved.

Putting the “T” in PTA

Who do we mean when we say “teacher”? While the “T” stands for teacher, school-based PTAs should engage all educators, administrators and adults in the building. Don’t forget about principals, school counselors, librarians, aides, specialists, front office staff, custodial staff, cafeteria workers, etc.

Tips for Engaging Teachers

• Start with relationships. Focus on having ongoing communication throughout the school year. While teacher appreciation festivities are great, developing a rapport with teachers takes more than complimentary lunches or free coffee. Intentionally build relationships with educators at your school and learn about them as individuals. If you have a strong working relationship with teachers in your building it becomes much easier to offer help and ask for help in return.

• Provide different ways for teachers to get involved. Not all educators have time to come into school on a weekend or can attend an evening fundraiser. Get to know an educator’s strength and interests and ask them how they most want to engage. Use a teacher’s expertise by inviting them to suggest books for a read aloud or learning focused games and activities for events.

• Learn more about what teachers need. PTAs should support teachers’ work too. Many PTAs offer teacher grants or stipends for supplies which are always appreciated. Take it a step further and talk with teachers to learn their goals for the year and how families can support teaching and learning at the school. They will likely have strategies for how you can support your own child’s learning—and they may even need help making copies, cutting laminate or assisting in the classroom with a project. You won’t know unless you ask!

• Invite them to become members! Don’t forget to ask teachers to join the PTA. Once you have developed relationships with educators in the building, remind them how important it is to have them become PTA members. Having a teacher’s voice in your membership, and ideally on your Board, ensures an important perspective is represented.