My kids school does not sell things. We are a small public school. My husband went there, he is 33, he says they may have sold stuff but he didn't think they did while he was there. I on the other hand was forced to sell candy bars in elementary. I could use a box of them right now, but I am glad my kids do not have to go through that.

Thanks for your help. So you all know while the montessori philosphy is quite different than traditional school, this school is still a public school. That means the PTO runs the same here as anywhere else. Some of the things we do are different but that is because we stick with what is montessori. For example, we would never have a fundraiser that would target the kids to sell things because of getting a pizza party for their class. Anything that promotes competition like that is out of the question. However I want to find out what is montessori and what is tradition. We also have never had the kids sell anything like gift wrap or entertainment books or anything. I am not sure that is based on montessori philosophy. I think that is from past PTO people who wanted to link every fundraiser with a social event at the school. This is one of the things I hope to get parents and teachers input on and decide if we want to change it up a bit.

I am not sure how Montessori schools work. So I what I think may be irrelavent.

First of all your off to a good start. You have gotten people talking about changes and ready to do them. Now set goals and execute the plans. Keep people informed. You may also want to remind people how to get in touch with you and your board. Encourage suggestions and questions. Get everyone involved. Of course they will look up to you. I was often afraid that people would think of me as a dicatator, but you are in charge so most people are waiting for you to give the word. It's not like you are taking this on yourself and ignoring everyone else's opinions. And remember Rome was not built in a day.

I would start by informing people that there are changes being made and invited them to come to a meeting and see what they are. We had some significant changes at the beginning of this school year and we sent a newsletter to every staff member before school even started. The best advise I can give you is to make sure you have support because you may need it when someone is unhappy-because someone always is-and make sure to think things through and discuss them with your team before acting to make sure that everyone is on the same page. Good luck.

I was elected as a co-president for an elementary school last year and have experienced total dissarray. The past 4-6 years has been the same 4-6 people doing everything the PTO needed done. Because of that past history the PTO has a very negative reputation. Now I came on board because I wanted to invoke change. My co-president is having personal issues and has given me all the resposibilities that go along with it. She is fine with me changing our structure. I have talked with the principal who is an "everything you all do is wonderful" kind of person and I have about 5 people that will talk my ear off about the changes we should do. My question is, How can I positively begin changes that will encourage our existing board and get the PTO organized. We have to change our executive board around and I do not want to come in all Fidal Castro like but we need to make the changes and I think I will be the one to start the process. Any ideas would be helpful