Wow you guys, what great responses! I definitely feel better about this whole thing now and I've decided to go ahead with sending out the FAQ's letter I wrote.

I talked to my principal about some of the responses and she said she would like to read every paper that got sent back to us. She took them all home for the weekend and we are going to sit down this week and talk about what she thinks.

I'm taking this whole thing in a different direction. You guys are right. They've told me what needs changing, they could have said nothing. Now I need to prove that someone heard them, because if I was them, that's all I would want.

Thanks again!
A.

You have to see all feedback as an OPPORTUNITY. Why ask for feedback just to have everyone say great job? Your parents just laid out your whole game plan for you. Run with it.

Put your smile on and say I can address these concerns and keep smiling.
They told you what they wanted answers to so go ahead and answer them and say thanks for giving me the OPPORTUNITY to answer your concerns.

As someone else mentioned - walk yourself through the scenario of no one responding - how would you feel then?

Kudos go to you for having the leadership to send out a survey - don't be afraid of the responses. Your responders feel that you can make these changes or they wouldn't have bothered to respond. People don't want a lot of info they just want some info on a regular basis. Keep them in the loop.

Remember you are one of those parents too just more involved.

I congratulate you - you sent a survey, you got responses and you asked for help with what to do the the responses. You did everything right!!








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theptaprez;137171 wrote: This is my 1st year as president. I decided to send out a survey to get a feel for what our parents are thinking and what types of programs they would like to see offered.
Today is only the first day of receiving responses, but I gotta tell ya...I got a whole lot of responses to "what areas can PTA inprove upon?" that said "spend more money on the kids."
I swear i felt like crying. What do parents think we spend money on? It all goes back to the school.
I got some people that said it would be nice to know what happens at PTA meetings. Ummm how about showing up to one??? I got still others that said they don't join the schools PTA because they have in past years and never got told what to do, they don't know what joining does for them.
I am just so frustrated. Our membership chairperson should be making it very clear to people when she tries to sign them up, what they get for it...what meetings they are invited to, that they get a vote in things...etc. Our parents don't have one clue what PTA is or what we do. How is this possible? I don't even begin to know what to do with these responses. I thought of maybe compiling a FAQ's letter with some random responses off these papers and addressing some of the comments. But again, if my parents aren't aware of the simplest things, what's the chances that they'll even read a letter? Where do I go from here? Suggestions?
Thanks
A.

I am sure the teachers would love to translate the newsletter but don’t have the time.

You can use the Alta Vista website to translate the newsletter. It’s easy to copy text from your newsletter, paste it into Alta Vista, get the translation, and copy and paste the translation into the newsletter. Then all you would need is to have a bilingual teacher or parent simply read and edit the translated version. (Things are sometimes lost in the translation).

It’s especially quick if you know to use the shortcut key combinations: CRTL-C when you want to copy and CTRL-V when you want to paste. I use my mouse in my right hand to highlight and position the text, and my left hand to hit the shortcut key combinations.

It seems that as leaders we like to think everyone loves us but in reality we will receive hundreds of words of wisdom usually from people who don't even support the work we do. I can remember the first time we did a survey and the results, it is funny how one bad comment can make you forget the good comments.
Everyone has given you great advice, just advertise what you do over and over, eventually they will get the picture but still probably not help out! Stay focus, I like to say that negative comments make you regroup and that is not always bad.

Here's another suggestion to help with attendance at meetings. Can you have babysitting available? Older children of pto members, high schoolers that need service hours, interns all make good sitters. We had many people that wanted to attend but child care kept them from coming. (I was one of them!) That one change has lead to a lot more families coming to meetings, especially single parents and people on limited budgets. Good luck!

theptaprez;137262 wrote: ...I am having issues with getting it translated as we are mandated to offer a spanish version for bilingual students ... If I can't get it translated, I will not be allowed to send out any future newsletters until I can ...
A.

Check with the local high school. There may be Jr/Sr Spanish students who could do the work for extra credit. Or, if you have a large hispanic community, there may be local services that could do it for you.