At our school, the newsletter is prepared by the secretary and principal. There is usually a section called "From the Principal's Desk" which has a direct message from him. The rest of the newsletter is comprised of reminders about ongoing activities a school, lunch menus, activity calendars and sometimes a reprinted article about study habits, getting enough sleep, the benefits of reading at home, etc. If the PTO has something to report, the secretary includes it also. I think it would really be hard to prepare a newsletter solely by the PTO. There's so much going on at school, someone would almost have to be there daily to compile all the information. I feel that's more the job of the secretary. I know that's what works best at our school anyway.
Our PTA has a person who does the newsletter. We put mostly PTA news, but I agree there has to be some kind of collaboration. If you think the school would go for it, have the Principal review the newsletter, perhaps have her own little "corner" and you share the costs of copying.
For several years, our school secretary prepared the school newsletter. Last year, our Family Support Coordinator took over the task and I as a parent/volunteer with some desktop publishing experience offered my assistance. It worked great. She coordinated getting all the articles and I put it all together. We found some fun things to add for the kids like a word search, jokes, hidden names etc. This year we are trying out having the monthly calendar on the back page ready to stick on the fridge! We have a section just for the PTSO to send out information. So, in response to your question, I think it helps greatly to have a school employee as a central contact for content.
Hi everyone,
I would like to know who writes and puts out your school's newsletter. I was just approached by our
school secretary if PTO would do it. I know that PTO did it in the past, however, I feel that the school newsletter is a main source of communication between the school and parents--that someone on staff who is there every day and able to communicate with all parties involved should be editor of the newsletter. Just my opinion -- what does your school do???
