I haven't had to deal with the Middle school issue personally yet but we do have several active MS PTA's in my council. Fundraising isn't the big issue at that point although they do act as a sort of booster club for all the groups. They also organize the dances and such. It's the parental involvement that really becomes the issue at that point.
We recently had a Parent Group leader reception where parental involvement was talked about at every level (including college) They may not act as though you are as needed at that point but you really are now more than ever. These are the years where their biggest choices will be faced and there should be a parental presence. So stick it out. I could put you in contact with some of the Middle school leaders in my area(with their permission) if you need some advice.
At our K-12 we are more involved with the K-6 and high school and just seem to skip over the middle school. They the ones that attend the skate parties and go home with flyers for the days off skate events, otherwise, we really don't hear too much.
I have talked to the teachers (they refer to themselves as teams)and each team knows we are here....that's it!
Now like the newsletter, I do have an e-mail list that is ever growing to our middle school parents and there is a constant push from them for the school to take better care of the website.
What if the PTO was more of a Booster Club or "organized volunteers" to help the other groups during fundraisers etc?
Tell ya what, my oldest is 13 (this will be a long year ) and my baby is almost 2... I might know more in 10 years [img]smile.gif[/img] .
Middle school is definitely a different world. I'm in the final stretch of my two year stint as PTC co-president at our middle school. We do one big fundraiser annually (QSP/magazines), two pretty small bookfairs in the fall and spring, and charge a family rate ($25/family) for dues that we've had about a 65% response rate to for the last 2 years.
Our monies provide during school and after school enrichment grant funding, scholarship money for an outward bound kind of trip that all 6th graders take, Creative Arts programming that is planned booked and scheduled by working with the Grade Level House Administrators, Staff Allotments for all staff at the start of the school year, publishing a PTC post that is mailed to all parents at the start and conclusion of the school year, a bulk amount of money for purchasing new books in the media center since that funding has disappeared over the last several years, a Poetry Workshop in the 7th grade, a chunk of funding for the annual student musical, producing and printing a student directory (without emails), and the emails are used on a list that is set up at a paid provider so that we can mail the whole school, by grade, or by cluster. We started the email list just a couple of months ago and we've also given the school access to the list so that if the grade level administrators has something they need to get out, they can use our list. It's been a helpful tool. As one parent said, "My child would never be a candidate for the pony express! Thank goodness for PTC email."
To run all that is pretty low key -- the biggest problem is the intense time around the magazine fundraiser. We are looking at moving that effort online next year to ease that burden.
We run our PTC meetings once every other month in conjunction with a Principal's coffee in the morning. Making the decision to go with just morning meetings was tough, but the numbers are clearly with us. We would get 4-6 parents at an evening meeting. We get 45-50 for a morning meeting. There's no contest on which meeting does a better job of getting the word out. We pick an academic subject area that is the focus for each meeting and teachers (and sometimes students) are involved in the presentation of key work and issues in that area. Other discussion needs are covered as appropriate. That seems to work.
Bulletins in the backpack didn't work terribly well for us at the middle school. Both kids and parents seem so busy. The email is helping though.
Good luck. There's some halfway point to be found.
We're a PreK-12th grade so our PTO covers it all. We have Booster Moms instead of Homeroom Moms who coordinate the MS/HS activities. We have holiday parties, but it's in one location and the kids come their during their break or advisory time. We serve snacks and drink and provide a treat bag per student. We have an entertainment coordinator per school level (Elem/MS/HS) and they are budgeted a set amount to work with each year. The person for the older kids usually coordinates with STUCO or NHS to plan dances or other activities. As the president, I am in contact with all of the teachers and so they ask me if they need help with this or that. We do everything for the upper levels that we do for the lower ones. My upper levels parents are just as active if not more...I think that it because the older kids tend to need just as much attention, but tend to push us away. It's our way of staying in tune with what happens at their school.
My thoughts...Set up your group as more of a volunteer provider than a fundraiser. Your school probably has team leaders per grade or per area of study: set up a group with them so you are aware of what they need and can help out with them. Middle Schoolers need parental support so much, I hope you can find a way to keep your group, but tweak it to fit the school's needs. Good luck! :cool:
) and my baby is almost 2... I might know more in 10 years [img]smile.gif[/img] 
