You'll get lots of ideas and help from this site. When I started out, the single biggest tool that helped me was a picture of all the activities for the whole year laid out.

As a committee member, I was often frustrated because the then-president (nice person, but disorganized) never presented the big picture. We'd have an event planned for May, so maybe it didn't warrant much discussion at the February Board meeting. But then later we'd discover a deadline for a decision or vote was needed before the March meeting. You can't afford to just look 30-60 days out.

I tried a "real" calendar, but that didn't work for me. I needed to see the whole list - and it kept growing. What I ended up using was a spreadsheet (Excel), with the following columns:
date, event, previous date, notes/comments. And the date field was formatted so it showed the day - like Tues, Nov. 1. (You could also do this in a table in Word, but I think a spreadsheet is easier.)

This list included school holidays, school events, major tests, PTO activities, financial deadlines, when fundraisers began and ended, etc. The list changed constantly, but the fact that it could be so dynamic made it a great planning tool. And the next year, I'd just move all the dates to the "previous year" column and have a great template to start filling in with current data.

Format-wise, I skipped a couple spaces between months. If something didn't have a date, I'd just stick it in the month it usually occured and note last year's date. You can put in milestones, too. So, say your Spring auction is in May. Maybe "start soliciting" company donations goes in January. (You don't want EVERY committee task on this list, but maybe the really important ones.)

This really helped us in planning. It showed things like gaps where that events might fit nicely, testing periods where extra volunteers might be needed or extracurricular activities should be reduced.

We're all here to help you. Just keep reading and asking questions and sharing back what works.

Like PTOMOMOF5 I started here with PTOTODAY! I took an old agenda and gathered ideas from the things I read and put them on the agenda. We start by reading the minutes from the last meeting, and then the treasures report. Next is Old Business, then the Chairperson of any standing committee that has anything to present talk, we vote on any items they have go to new business after that and I added the Principals report in case they have any information they want to share and a Presidents report, because I am also on the School Districts Advisary Council and I try to share any information I get from those meetings with the parents. Participation is low at meetings, parents work and shuffle kids back and forth to this sport event practice and that church event and at some point they have to fix supper and go over homework. So this year we are going to try to have 3 school wide meetings, with family events following the meeting. The rest of the year we will continue to have our monthly meetings with the board and the committee chairs, members are welcome at ALL meetings but our focus is to get the participation at the Family events.

Hope this helps! [img]smile.gif[/img]

Hi super mom, best suggestion is to begin at the top and read everything you can on here. it's a great place for advice, opinions, and help, you'll learn a lot I did. Good Luck!!!

Hi there!
I am a new president of a small PTA. 3 out of 4 of the officers are new this year, and our organziation is small. Only 6-12 members at any given meeting. My question is, where do I start? I have this new job title and don't know what to do with it. Conversations with my past president go like, "oh you'll be fine." It's easy. Well, I would feel more comfortable with more specifics. Does any body have any good tips for beginning? Most of the school programs that we currently have are popular and have been running for a while, so Ideas at this point is not the issue, but just learning what is necessary, and what do I do now, types of questions. Thank you.